Standoff between police, FTII students amid protest on Chauhan

January 7, 2016

Pune, Jan 7: Police used force to disperse and round up a group of about 40 FTII students protesting here against TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan who is expected to take charge as the institute's Chairman today.

protestNot withstanding a warning issued by police yesterday to maintain peace on the eve of the first meeting of the new FTII Society headed by Chauhan, members of FTII Students Federation (FSA) staged a protest demonstration at the institute's gate shouting "Gajendra Chauhan go back" which led to a scuffle between the students and police.

"We have been brutally targeted by police who lathi-charged us with the knowledge of FTII administration," alleged one of the students as he was put in a police van and whisked away.

The students of the prestigious institution here were on a strike opposing Chauhan's appointment since June 12 last year and called it off on October 28 and returned to the classes.

An FSA representative Vikas Urs said, "We had withdrawn the strike but we have not given up our resistance to the wrong appointments. Police have attacked on our peaceful protesters in connivance with the FTII administration. Our protest will continue".

"We had asked the students to demonstrate peacefully but we had to use force because they wanted to block the way to the institute and therefore we had to detain them. We used minimum force," said Tushar Joshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police who was on the spot.

The FSA has alleged that Chauhan lacks stature to head the FTII.

A tough posture by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which steadfastly refused to accept the FSA demand for removal of Chauhan, a crackdown on some students and their arrest subsequent to gherao of the institute director Prashant Pathrabe ultimately saw the long drawn out agitation by students fizzle out last year as they returned to academics.

Meanwhile, the first meeting of FTII Society scheduled to be held today at the campus, is likely to be attended among others by Anagha Ghaisas, Rahul Solapurkar, Shailesh Gupta and Narendra Pathak -- the members whose appointments have been objected by the FSA for being political and allegedly lacking in merit and stature for the post.

Asked to react to the students' continuing opposition to his posting, Gajendra Chauhan who remained confined to his hotel room in the vicinity of the FTII as police cleared the institute gate rounding up the students protesters, said, "we have come here for a job and we will do our job."

A female student of the FTII said," We were protesting peacefully at the main gate to register our dissent because politically appointed people are taking charge as members of the FTII Society. We got beaten up without any provocation and were taken to police station. Our protest is on and fight will continue."

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: Petrol prices in the national capital have reached Rs 80.13 per litre on June 26, up by 21 paise from yesterday’s Rs 79.92 per litre; while diesel prices in Delhi also rose to Rs 80.19 per litre – up by 17 paise compared to yesterday’s Rs 80.02 per litre.

This is the 20th consecutive day that fuel prices have been hiked by oil marketing companies (OMCs). The hikes began from June 8 after a 83-day halt on revised pricing during the lockdown period.

The state government’s increased value-added tax (VAT) on diesel since May is causing the fuel’s prices to soar in Delhi. VAT was increased to 30 percent for both petrol and diesel from 27 percent and 16.75 percent, respectively.

Coupled with the Centre’s hiked excise duty of Rs 3 per litre since March 14 and then Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel since May 5 has affected prices.

The hike on diesel prices is unusual, as the government traditionally keeps the price for the fuel low due to its impact on agriculture and other high consumption economic activities.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 31: Kerala Chief

Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the government has collected the details of those who took part from the state in recent religious congregations in Nizamuddin and Malaysia and it needs to be examined if they have any health issues.

"Police have already made detailed examination in this regard. Thelist of participants have been given through respectivedistrictcollectors. Necessary precautions will be made in the concerned districts in this regard," Vijayan told reporters here.

The government has the exact number of participants and thedetails of the districts they are hailing from, he said.

Meanwhile, Pathananthitta police said they have identified 6 persons in the district in connection with the Nizamuddin congregation.

"Three persons had taken part in the congregation, of them one hadalready died. One person is in quarantine in the district while theother is located now in Thiruvananrhapuram," a senior police officialtold PTI.

The others are not participants but had travelled to Delhi along with them, he said.

In the nearby Alappuzha district, three persons have been identified in connection with the congregation, police said.

"They have been in quarantine and under the surveillance of thehealth department since they have reached back the state from Delhi," another official said.

Several people, who had attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin in the national capital are suspected to be having symptoms of Covid19, even as at least 24 have tested positive.

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News Network
June 7,2020

Bhopal, June 7: In a shocking incident of medical cruelty, an 80-year-old man was tied to a hospital bed in Madhya Pradesh after he allegedly failed to make payment of fees for his treatment. The incident took place at the City Hospital in Shajapur.  

The hospital, however, claimed that he was having convulsions and as a result had his hands and legs tied so that he could not hurt himself.

The man’s family members have accused the hospital authorities of resorting to the heinous act after they failed to pay a fee of Rs 11,000 for his treatment at the. 

“We had deposited a bill of Rs 5,000 at the time of admission but when the treatment took a few more days, we did not have the money to pay the bill,” his daughter told the channel.

The hospital, however, maintained that the man was shackled because he was suffering from an electrolyte imbalance. “He was having convulsions because of electrolyte imbalance,” an unidentified doctor said. “We tied him so that he could not hurt himself.” 
The doctor claimed the hospital had waived off the man’s bill on “humanitarian grounds”.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognizance of the matter and promised strict action against the hospital authorities. 

The Shajapur administration has also ordered an inquiry and has sent a police team to the hospital for investigation, the district collector told media persons.

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