Shahjahanpur scribe killing: Five policemen suspended; family seeks CBI probe

June 14, 2015

Uttar Pradesh, Jun 14: The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended five policemen, suspected to be involved in the murder of a scribe in Shahjahanpur district this week, even as the family of the journalist sought CBI probe into the incident.

CBI probeUP minister Ram Murti Verma, who has been accused of orchestrating the murder and was named in the FIR, is reportedly on the run.

The deceased journalist's elder son sought a CBI probe into the incident. He said that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. He also alleged that he was being pressurised to hush up the matter by people "close" to the minister, who were also offering him bribe and a government job.

Meanwhile, SP leader Mithilesh Kumar was heckled and confronted by agitated family members of Singh when he went to his house in Shahjahanpur.

The action against the policemen came a day after Governor Ram Naik took up the matter with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after a massive outcry against the incident in which a minister Ram Murti Singh Verma allegedly conspired.

"SP Shahjahanpur has suspended five policemen, including Station House Officer Shri Prakash Rai, with immediate effect," IG (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh told reporters here.

The other four included Sub-Inspector Krantiveer Singh, Head Constable Subhash Chandra Yadav and constables Udayveer and Mansoor.

Journalist Jagendra Singh was allegedly set on fire during a police raid at his house in Awas Vikas Colony of Sadar Bazar area on June 1.

His family alleged that the police officials set him on fire. Singh succumbed to the injuries on June 8.

An FIR was registered against minister for Backward Classes Welfare Ram Murti Verma, Inspector (Chowk) Sri Prakash Rai, Gufran, Akash Gupta, Amit Pratap Singh and Bhure for killing Jagendra.

The journalist invited Verma's ire by posting reports on Facebook about illegal mining activities and land grabbing against the minister.

The FIR lodged against the minister by Singh's son alleged that the minister sent the team of policemen to his house who doused Singh with kerosene oil and set him on fire.

From his death bed, he narrated the incident to IG Amitabh Thakur and in his dying declaration went viral on news channels.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties termed the action taken by the state government as an "eyewash" and accused it of shielding the minister.

"First of all the action taken is too late. The government should have suspended the policemen immediately after the incident and arrested them," BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

He accused the government that instead of dismissing the minister, it was shielding it.

Even a ruling SP MLA from Lucknow, Ravidas Mehrotra has demanded sacking of the minister.

"Its a serious matter and henious crime. I request you (CM) to order a probe into the matter and remove Vermy from your ministry. Also, the guilty policemen should be immediately suspended and arrested," Mehrotra said in a letter to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: In a bid to keep its flock together, the crisis-hit Madhya Pradesh Congress has decided to shift its 92 MLAs either to Jaipur or some other place.

The move comes after 22 Congress MLAs loyal to former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned on Tuesday, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.

"We are going to take our 92 MLAs and those supporting our Madhya Pradesh government to a hotel," a senior Congress leader said on Wednesday.

The legislators would be taken either to Jaipur or some other Congress-ruled state like Chhattisgarh, a party source said.

Apart from its own MLAs, the Congress is also keeping a close watch on four Independents who are supporting the party-led state government.

On Tuesday, 22 Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh resigned soon after Scindia quit the party.

The development reduced the Congress government in the state to minority.

The state Congress unit is now making all efforts to save the Kamal Nath-led government.

The BJP on Tuesday night shifted its MLAs to Manesar at Gurugram in Haryana, sources in the saffron party said.

The Congress, whose tally before the rebellion was 114, has a wafer-thin majority in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly whose current effective strength is 228.

It also has the support of four Independents, two BSP legislators and one SP MLA, but some of them are now likely to switch sides to the BJP.

The BJP has 107 seats in the state Assembly.

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News Network
January 22,2020

Jan 22: Microsoft Corp’s chief executive officer said he worries that mistrust between the US and China will increase technology costs and hurt economic growth at a critical time.

Using the $470 billion semiconductor industry as an example of a sector that is already globally interconnected, Satya Nadella said the two countries will have to find ways to work together, rather than creating different supply chains for each country.

“All you are doing is increasing transaction costs for everybody if you completely separate,” Nadella said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead conference in Davos. That’s a concern as the executive said the world is on the cusp of a revolution around technology and artificial intelligence.

“If we take steps back in trust or increase transaction costs around technology, all we are doing is sacrificing global economic growth,” he said.

The agreement signed last week between the US and China was “not sufficient,” said Nadella, but represented “progress” on the issue of intellectual property protections for US technology companies working with China.

Nadella said he worries about the development of two separate internets, noting that to some degree they already exist “and they will get amplified in the future” with massive technology companies already in place in China.

The viewpoint clashes with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has been sceptical about the idea that ongoing US-China trade tensions could ever lead to a bifurcated system of two internets.

China and the US are the two leading AI superpowers, however the cooling political relations between them have slowed the international collaboration.

Nadella also warned that countries that fail to attract immigrants will lose out as the global tech industry continues to grow. The CEO has previously voiced concern about India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, calling it “sad.”

“However, Nadella said he remained hopeful.

“The fact that there is a 70-year history of nation-building, I think it’s a very strong foundation. I grew up in that country. I’m proud of that heritage. I’m influenced by that experience.”

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: The death toll in the communal violence in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law reached 32 on Thursday, senior officials said.

It was at 27 till Wednesday night.

"Five more deaths recorded at GTB Hospital, so death toll at that hospital has gone up to 30, taking total toll to 32," a senior Delhi Health Department official told news agency.

The Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital had reported two fatalities on Wednesday.

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