Former CM Siddaramaiah unhurt, 5 SUVs damaged in serial crash

Kolkatta, Mar 19: A local leader of BJP has been arrested for organising a cow urine consumption event in Kolkata, claiming that it will protect people from coronavirus or cure those already infected, leading to a civic volunteer falling ill after drinking it.

The police said that 40-year-old Narayan Chatterjee, who had on Monday organised a cow worship programme at a cowshed and distributed cow urine, was arrested following a complaint filed by the victim.

He had vouched for its "miraculous" properties while offering gaumutra to others.

A civic volunteer, who was on duty near the cow shed also consumed gaumutra and fell sick on Tuesday, following which he lodged a complaint with the police against Chatterjee.

Reacting to the arrest, the state BJP leadership criticised the state government.

"Chatterjee had distributed cow urine, but he didn't fool people in consuming it. When he distributed it he clearly said it was cow urine, he didn't force anyone to drink it. It has not been proved whether it is harmful or not.

"So how can just police arrest him without any reason. This is completely undemocratic," state BJP General Secretary Sayantan Basu said.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has said there is no harm in drinking cow urine and he has no qualms in admitting he consumes it.

His party colleague and MP Locket Chatterjee, however, differed, terming it an "unscientific belief" that should be shunned.

The cow urine distribution as a cure for coronavirus had drawn sharp criticism from the doctors.

Mangaluru, Feb 19: The Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) of the Latin Church elected Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha, Bishop of Mangalore, Karnataka, as the new Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy.

The Conference also elected 26 Bishops of the CCBI to participate in the three-week Golden Jubilee Conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) to be held in November 2020 at Bangkok in Thailand. The one day meeting of the CCBI discussed various matters affecting the Latin Catholic Church in India, which consists of 132 dioceses and 190 Bishops.

The CCBI animates the Church in India through its 16 Commissions and 4 Departments. Its main Secretariat is in Bangalore with extensions in Goa, Delhi and Pachmarhi (MP).

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) which is the Canonical National Episcopal Conference is the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.

Bengaluru, Feb 18: Passengers of the Ahmedabad bound GoAir flight had a providential escape when the engine of the aircraft while on the roll of take-off hit by a foreign object at the Kempe Gowda Bengaluru International Airport on Tuesday.

'The right engine of GoAir flight G8 802 from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru is suspected to have suffered from foreign object damage (FOD) while on take-off roll,' an official statement said.