Yogi govt to act against madrasas, where national anthem wasn't sung

New Delhi, Jun 4: India on Thursday witnessed a record single-day spike of 9,304 coronavirus cases taking the country's tally to 2,16,919, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The ministry informed that 260 more deaths due to coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 2,16,919 including 1,06,737 active cases, 1,04,107 cured/discharged/migrated and 6,075 deaths.

Maharashtra has so far reported 74,860 cases, more than any other state in the country.

In Tamil Nadu, 25,872 cases have been detected so far while Delhi has reported 23,645 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,39,485 samples were tested in the last 24 hours whereas 42,42,718 samples have been tested till date.

Kolkata, Jan 15: The arrows of Mahabharata's Arjuna had atomic power, claimed West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, drawing sharp criticism from academicians, even as he joined a long list of politicians who have in recent years given bizarre interpretations linking mythology with science.

Speaking at the 45th Eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday, Dhankhar also claimed that flying objects existed during the period of Ramayana.

"It is said that the plane was invented in 1910 or 1911, but if we delve into our old scriptures we will see in Ramayana, we had 'uran khatola' (aircraft)," he said.

"Sanjaya narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it," Dhankhar said, asserting that the world can no longer afford to ignore India.

According to Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, Sanjay, even after staying away from the battlefield, had narrated what was happening there to Dhritarashtra, who was blind.

Dhankhar, who has been in news for clashes with the Mamata Banerjee government ever since he assumed office in July last year, joins politicians such as Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma to give odd interpretations of mythology.

While Deb had claimed that the internet existed during Mahabharata, Sharma suggested that godess Sita was a test tube baby.

Recently, Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi was trolled online for sharing a doctored video that claimed, "NASA recorded sound of sun -- Sun chants Om".

Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said governors appointed by the BJP government at the Centre are delving into everything and behave "as if they are know-alls".

"They fail to understand one thing that great writers have very strong power of imagination," Bhaduri said.

Scientist Sandip Chakraborty said such comments only hurt the scientific progress in India at the global forum.

"The ancient writers described all these things based on their imagination. It is true that India made a lot of progress during the ancient period, but such comments only damages the progress made by our scientific community," he said.

Motera, Feb 23: A day before US President Donald Trump's visit to Ahmedabad, a makeshift VVIP entry gate erected outside the newly-built cricket stadium in Motera area here collapsed due to gusty winds on Sunday morning, an official said.

The entire incident was recorded by a bystander and aired on local television channels.

The makeshift entry gate was made of welded steel rods and covered in flex banners.

After some time, a portion of another makeshift gate structure at the stadium's main entrance also collapsed due to the windy weather, another official said.

No one was injured in both the incidents and work was underway to put the structures back in place, he said.

"The (VVIP) entry gate collapsed when fabrication work was going on. It was not a major incident. No one was injured in the incident," said Special Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ajay Tomar said.

President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a roadshow here on Monday and later address the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera area where over one lakh people are expected to be present.

The stadium has already received 'Building Use' permission from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, an official earlier said.

It is the world's largest stadium with a capacity to accommodate 1.10 lakh spectators.

The stadium has been rebuilt after demolishing the old one which had a seating capacity of 49,000 spectators.