Will ensure 70% reservation for SC/ST in education and public sector: Siddaramaiah

The Himachal Pradesh police have confirmed the arrested a man for injuring a pregnant cow by feeding her wheat flour ball laced with firecrackers. 

The cow’s jaw was blown off-- reprising the tragic story of a pregnant elephant that lost its life after eating a pineapple stuffed with a firecracker in Kerala.

While the incident took place on May 26 in Jhandutta area of Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district, it came to light only on Saturday, May 6, when the cow’s owner, Gurdayal Singh, uploaded a video of the injured animal on social media.

In the video, Gurdiyal Singh describes how the cow’s mouth had been injured after one Nandlal fed her explosives.

He confirmed that Nandlal works as a mechanic in Singh’s neighbourhood. Singh said that Nandlal has no remorse for his action. Nandlal has said that he is not scared of the repercussions and that he will continue to do whatever he deems fit. “Even the village sarpanch cannot harm me”, challenged Nandlal when confronted by Singh. 

The cow has given birth to a healthy calf since but Singh said the animal is still not able to eat because of an injured jaw and is being administered Glucose.

The video went viral with people demanding strict action against the person who fed firecrackers to the animal.

The practice of studding dough balls with firecrackers isn’t uncommon in Himachal, and farmers resort to this to keep wild animals, especially boards, off their fields. In the Kerala incident too, the explosive-filled-fruit was meant for wild boars. In many parts of the country, including Himachal, the method is also used to hunt for bush meat -- an illegal practice.

Bilaspur superintendent of oolice (SP) Devakar Sharma confirmed the incident and said the cow was fed a highly explosive firecracker popularly called “aalu bomb”. 

Aalu is Hindi for potato. He said a case under Section 286 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has been registered and the role of the neighbours named by Singh is being investigated.

Bengaluru, May 1: Karnataka has reported 11 new cases of coronavirus, taking the State's count to 576, informed the Health Department on Friday.

Out of the total COVID-19 cases found in the State, 235 people have been discharged and 22 people have died.

"11 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Karnataka from April 30, 5 pm till noon today, taking the total number of cases to 576, which includes 22 deaths and 235 discharges," said the State government COVID-19 bulletin.

Bengaluru, Jan 7: Slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ rent the air at Town Hall on Monday evening as thousands of students, social activists, lawyers, doctors and theatrepersons among others staged a protest to denounce Sunday’s attack on the students and faculty of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

“This is unacceptable. As students living in hostels, we are now worried about our safety,” said Prakruthi Kishore, a student of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru.

Rishi Kumar, a student of Indian Institute of Science, pitched in. “JNU is an extremely protected university located in the national capital. It’s surprising that such an incident occurred amid tight security.”

Delhi police and the government need to wake up and take stringent action against the goons, Kumar said, adding: “Students can’t be treated like puppets. The government needs to act immediately.”

“The government is behaving shamelessly by sending goons to threaten students and professors of JNU,” said Alokanath Pandit, a lawyer.

With “Zor se bolo-azadi, tum din me maaro-azadi, hum raat me ayenge-azadi,” drowning the cacophony of traffic at the intersection, the sloganeering reached a crescendo around 6pm as the protesters raised their hands in a show of solidarity with the beleaguered JNU community.

Theatrepersons Prasanna and Arundathi Nag, farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar and social activists Tara Krishnaswamy and Srinivas Alavilli were present at the protest venue. “It is not fair that educational institutions are now becoming the target. First, they hiked fees and now they are attacking students. What is the government doing,” Arundathi asked.

“JNU has always been an institution which has raised its voice against atrocities across the country as its students harbour no fear. This is an alarm bell for the country and the government to wake up. Students are the future and can’t be targeted,” she added.

Chandrashekar said Narendra Modi is unfit to be the Prime Minister as he doesn’t keep his word. “Modi said he will help farmers but has done nothing for them. He said he will provide employment to students but is now making them furious,” he said.