Heavy downpour disrupts normal life in AP; 12 killed so far

Thiruvananthapuram, May 12: Kerala Government on Tuesday issued modified guidelines for infrastructure arrangements and procedures to be followed to ensure smooth interstate movement of stranded persons during the lockdown.

"Necessary permission, if any, required from the State where you are presently located need to be taken for ensuring a smooth journey till Kerala border," read the order by the state government.

It has also made it clear that people will only be allowed to travel if they have the permit from the state government and local authorities.

"You are requested to start the journey only after receiving the travel permit from the Government of Kerala and the local authority of your present location to avoid any problem during travel. Those who reach at the check post without passes will not be allowed entry," it further read.

The orders by the government further read:

*To maintain social distancing norms, only 4 persons will be permitted to travel in a car, 5 in an SUV, 10 in a van and 25 in a bus. The maximum number of passengers in a van /bus will be half of the seating capacity).

*Keep sanitiser, use masks and maintain physical distancing throughout the journey.

*An exit and entry pass/passes shall be issued by the District Collectors to those persons who seek to go outside states to bring back their stranded child/ children, spouse and parent/s.

*Everybody including those coming from red zones shall remain under home quarantine for 14 days from the date of arrival.

*Only priority groups and persons will be allowed entry passes:

a) Those from neighbouring states seeking Medical aid in Kerala

b) Pregnant ladies with family

c) Family members including children separated due to lockdown

d) Students

e) Senior citizens with family members

f) Persons who had lost a job.

The guidelines further added that all luggage must be disinfected and temperature checks must be carried out with Infrared flash thermometer among other things.

New Delhi, Mar 13: Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others to 10 years imprisonment for the death of Unnao rape survivor's father. Sengar is already serving life imprisonment for raping the minor.

While sentencing them, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "There can be no denying that rule of law was broken. Sengar was a public functionary and had to maintain the rule of law. The way the crime has been committed, it does not call for leniency."

Sengar and his brother Atul has been directed to give 10 lakh compensation to family of the victim for loss of their father. "There are four minor children involved, three girls and one boy. They have also been uprooted from native place," the judge said.

Seven people, including Sengar, his brother and two police personnel, were held guilty for culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy, earlier this month.

The case pertains to the death of rape survivor's father in custody on April 9, 2018. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case.

He was taken to the police station and then framed for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm. Pursuant to this, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court's directions in August last year. Both the death and illegal firearm case was later clubbed by the court.

During the arguments on sentencing on March 12, Sengar had told the court that he should be "hanged and acid poured into his eyes if he has done anything wrong".

The former MLA had also raped the daughter of the deceased in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and was sent to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life", last year.

New Delhi, Jul 19: Amid the political firestorm in Rajasthan following Sachin Pilot's rebellion, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday called for amending the anti-defection law to ban all defectors from holding public office for five years and fighting the next election.

Sibal also said that the "antibodies" against the "virus of corrupt means" to topple elected governments lie in amending the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law).

His attack comes in the wake of Pilot's open rebellion against the Ashok Gehlot government, which has been on shaky ground since, with at least 18 legislators backing the rebel leader.

Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the state Congress chief earlier this week.

The Congress has accused the BJP of making efforts to topple the Gehlot government by indulging in horse-trading.

"Need for Vaccine: Virus of 'corrupt means' to topple elected governments has spread through a 'Wuhan like facility' in Delhi," Sibal tweeted, in an apparent swipe at the BJP.

"Its 'antibodies' lie in amending the Tenth Schedule. Ban all defectors from: Holding public office for five years, fighting the next election," he said.

Taking a swipe at Pilot over his claim that he is not joining the BJP, Sibal on Thursday had asked what happens to his "ghar wapsi" and whether Rajasthan's dissident legislators are vacationing in Haryana under the "watchful eye" of the saffron party.

In the house of 200, the Congress has 107 MLAs, including the 19 dissidents who have been issued notices of disqualification by the speaker and they have challenged them in the high court.

The Congress has maintained the claim that the Gehlot government has the support of 109 MLAs, including the two BTP MLAs.