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BJP leader booked for killing 9 schoolkids

Agencies
February 27, 2018

Patna, Feb 27: Police have registered an FIR against BJP leader Manoj Baitha whose reckless driving resulted in the deaths of nine school children, all aged between 7 and 10, in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on February 24.

Meanwhile, the Bihar BJP admitted that the prime accused in the tragedy, Manoj Baitha, was indeed a party leader. The volte-face comes two days after Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai vehemently maintained on Saturday that "Baitha was not associated with the BJP."

The speeding SUV, which ran over several children who were waiting to cross the road after the school was over, thereby killing nine kids on the spot, was being driven by Baitha. The vehicle sported a BJP flag and had a nameplate as "general secretary, BJP Dalit Cell."

The Muzaffarpur police, meanwhile, have booked Baitha under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and other sections of the IPC. The FIR has named only one person (Baitha) as an accused although locals said that there were at least three persons in the vehicle which mowed down the children.

"The police have been raiding Baitha's house. He will be apprehended soon," said Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi here on Monday. Modi was responding to the charges levelled by the RJD-led Opposition which accused the government of "shielding the absconding BJP leader since Nitish Kumar was running his government on BJP's crutches."

"The SUV was registered in Baitha's name on September 21, 2010. He has been booked under Sections 279, 308, 338, and 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," said a cop, associated with the investigation into the case.

Meanwhile, the local residents, who blocked NH-77, have demanded a foot-overbridge near the school where the tragedy took place.  "The demand for foot overbridge has been accepted by the Chief Minister," said a government official.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: Newly-appointed Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the armed forces stay away from politics and work as per the directives of the government of the day, remarks that come amid allegations that the forces were being politicised.

Gen Rawat also said that his focus as CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.

"We keep ourselves away from politics. We act according to the directives of the government of the day," he said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

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Agencies
March 24,2020

New Delhi, Mar 24: Nearly 500 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far, according to Health Ministry data on Tuesday.

According to the data updated Tuesday morning, the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 492, including 446 active cases.

The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the nine deaths reported so far, the Health Ministry said.

West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday while seven deaths were earlier reported from Maharashtra (two), Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab.

Thirty-seven people have been cured/discharged/migrated, it added.

The number of active cases at 446 saw an increase of 22 from last night's figure.

As cases of the viral infection surged, authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31.

Kerala has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 95, including eight foreign nationals, followed by Maharashtra which recorded 87, including three foreigners, according to the ministry data.

Karnataka has reported 37 cases of coronavirus patients, while cases in Rajasthan increased to 33, including two foreigners.

Uttar Pradesh has 33 positive cases, including a foreign national.

Telangana has so far reported 32 cases, including 10 foreigners.

Cases in Delhi rose to 31, including one foreigner, while Gujarat has reported 29 cases.

In Haryana, there are 26 cases, including 14 foreigners, while Punjab has reported 21 cases.

Ladakh has 13 cases, while Tamil Nadu has reported 12 cases, including two foreigners.

West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have reported seven cases each so far.

Chandigarh has six cases, while Jammu and Kashmir has four cases.

Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have reported three cases each, while there are two cases each in Bihar and Odisha.

Puducherry and Chhattisgarh have reported a case each.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India's gold demand in 2020 is expected to fall to the lowest level in 26 years with domestic bullion prices hitting a record high and as falling disposable incomes could curtail retail purchases, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Lower demand by the world's second-biggest bullion consumer could limit a rally in global prices, which hit a record high earlier this month, although it could also reduce India's trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.

"Fast rising gold prices could act as headwinds," said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.

Local gold futures have jumped 35% so far this year after rising a quarter in 2019.

India's gold consumption in the first half of 2020 plunged 56% on-year to 165.6 tonnes. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-triggered lockdown also slashed demand by 70% in the June quarter to 63.7 tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Millions of Indians have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut after the country imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people to curb the spread of the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million Indians.

Consumption is generally high during the June quarter due to weddings and key festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, but lockdown restrictions kept shoppers indoors this year.

The weak demand in the first half could drag down India's gold consumption in 2020 to the lowest since 1994, when demand stood at 415 tonnes, Somasundaram said, adding that it is still difficult to provide an estimate for full-year demand as the coronavirus crisis is still unfolding.

"Indian demand has previously jumped as much as 300 tonnes in a quarter. Latent demand could come out in the second half," Somasundaram said.

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