Tragedy due to suffocation: Patna dist admn

October 4, 2014

Patna, Oct 4: Facing flak for the stampede at Gandhi maidan that left 33 dead and 29 injured, Patna district administration today denied lapses and said the tragedy "seems to be result of suffocation" due to the huge gathering of people for Dusshera celebrations.

Suffocation"People appear to have died due to suffocation," District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma told reporters at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj echoing him attributed the tragedy to 'asphyxiation'.

"CCTV footage shows movement of a huge mass of people and there is no clear picture of stampede visible in the footage ... The incident (the deaths) seems to have happened due to suffocation," he said.

"Some people are seen falling and others picking them up ... Light was dim as the high mast light was not functioning near Ramgulam chowk... CCTV footage due to poor light is not conclusive," the SSP told a press conference at the PMCH principal's chamber.

He denied lathicharge by police, which eyewitnesses alleged triggered the stampede and at the same time did not rule out the role of rumours as part of a 'conspiracy' behind the tragedy.

Some people are being questioned in this respect and the police was in the process of registering an FIR in the incident.

"We are also checking how far the falling of an electric wire or a ditch in which the feet of some people were trapped caused panic among crowd are true," Maharaj said.

Verma dismissed allegations that the gates of Gandhi Maidan was kept closed, except for the one that opened near Ramgulam chowk.

"Gates were not closed. All the four gates including the one for VIPs were open... This can be seen in CCTV footage which cannot lie," he asserted.

Asked about the poor light condition in Gandhi maidan, the DM said lighting arrangement was the responsibility of the Puja committee. He said some lights were functional while some others were not working.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: Amid calls for boycotting Chinese products after India-China face-off in eastern Ladakh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government claiming that imports from China have increased under the NDA regime.

"Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Gandhi tweeted along with a graphic of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government.

The graphic claims that imports from China were at 12-13 per cent when the Congress-led UPA government vacated office in 2014 but now stood at 17-18 per cent in 2020.

The Congress leader has been vehemently targeting the Centre on the India-China border situation after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan valley earlier this month.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties, including dead and seriously injured, in the face-off.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will definitely get its economic growth back as the government continues to pursue various reforms.

Speaking at industry association CII's annual session, he said the government has taken tough steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic and has also taken care of the economy.

"On the one hand we have to safe lives of our people and on the other hand we have to stabilise the economy and speed up the economy," he said.

He said he gets the confidence from farmers, small businesses and entrepreneurs for getting the economic growth back.

"Corona may have slowed our speed (of growth) but India has now moved ahead from lockdown with the phase one of unlock. Unlock Phase-1 has reopened a large part of the economy," he said.

He said intent, inclusion, investment, infrastructure and innovation are crucial for India to revert back to a high-growth trajectory.

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Agencies
January 22,2020

Kochi, Jan 22: The Left front government in Kerala on Monday decided to inform the Centre it would not cooperate with the updation of the NPR, saying there were fears among the public about the process and it has the "Constitutional responsibility" to alleviate them and ensure law and order.

A special cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here, decided to inform the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Union Home Ministry that it was unable to cooperate with anything with regard to the updation of the NPR.

"The decision was taken as it was the Constitutional responsibility of the government to alleviate the fears of general public and ensure law and order situation in the state," a Chief Minister's Office release said.

However, the state would fully cooperate with the census procedures, it said.

The LDF government, which has been on a warpath against the Centre over the Citizenship Amendment Act, has last month stayed all activities related to updation of NPR, considering 'apprehensions' of public that it would lead to NRC in the wake of the controversial CAA.

"As the NPR is a process that leads to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), there is a sense of fear among the people that its implementation could lead to widespread insecurity", the CMO release said on Monday.

The experience of the state which had already compiled the NRC was an example for this, it added, in apparent reference to Assam.

Kerala had already stopped all procedures regarding the NPR updation, the release said adding there was also a report of the state police that the if the government went ahead with the procedures, it would adversely impact the law and order situation.

The district collectors have also informed the government that the Census procedures would be affected if the updation of the NPR was done along with it, the CMO release said.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government had recently convened a meeting of political parties and socio-religious organisations here on December 29 in the wake of the concerns among people in various stratas of the society, it said.

A special assembly session was convened and a resolution was passed requesting the Centre not to implement the CAA and the government had also approached the apex court against the law, it added.

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