HINDUSTAN T IMES, N EW D EL H I

TUESDAY, J ULY 25, 2017 hindustantimes nation 13

AlertinBengalasrivers
swell;rainfuryunabated
GRIM SITUATION Six districts worst hit; disaster management teams swing into action in
states facing floods; Army and IAF called in for rescue and relief operations in some places
HT Correspondents
n letters@hindustantimes.com
KOLKATA/MIDNAPORE/BERHAM-
PORE: Continuous heavy rainfall
since Sunday inundated large
parts of West Bengal, prompting
thegovernmenttosoundanalert
on Monday afternoon as water
level in more than a dozen rivers
kept rising.
State and national highways
were inundated and damaged at
severalplaces,cuttingoffanum-
berofdistricttownsandvillages.
The worst affected districts
includedBirbhum,WestMidnap-
ore, East Mindapore, Murshida-
bad, Bankura and Howrah. The
Met department has predicted
more rainfall till Wednesday.
Life inKolkatawas affectedas
several important roads
remained submerged since Sun-
day evening.
Anticipating a crisis, the gov-
ernment set up a special control
roomatNabanna,thestatesecre-
tariat. “All employees of the dis-
astermanagementandirrigation
departments and chief medical
officershavebeenaskedtoreport
for duty. Leaves have been can-
celled,” said irrigation minister
RajibBanerjee.Hesaidhewasin
constant touch with officials of
theDamodarValleyCorporation
(DVC) so that the government
could get information before
water was released from the res-
ervoirsatanyofDVC’sriverbar-
rages.
InMurshidabaddistrict,more
than50villagesinKandisub-divi-
sion were completely inundated
and thousands of people dis-
placed. “The situation is equally
criticalinKhargram,Bharatpur
and Barwan blocks. In Bharat-
pur, around 200 families are
trapped in their homes. We have
started distributing relief mate-
rial and food,” the minister said.
In West Mindapore district,
the Kanshabati, Shilabati and
Keleghai rivers were flowing at
danger level, officials said on
Monday afternoon.
ChiefMinisterMamataBaner-
jee, however, said there is no
flood-like situation in the state.
n Rescue work under way after a jeep was swept away in Kherwada area, Udaipur, in Rajasthan on
Monday. (Below) A family is rescued from a flooded locality in Ahmedabad, Guajarat.
“There is no flood-like situation
in the state as yet. Water levels
are still below (danger level)
though some low-lying areas of
Labhpur in Birbhum district,
Purulia, Ghatalin WestMidnap-
ore and Goghat, Arambagh in
Hooghly districts have been
inundated,” she said.
NORTH GUJARAT HIT
Torrentialrainspoundedpartsof
north Gujarat on Monday, with
overflowing reservoirs and riv-
ers causing floods in Banas-
kantha and Patan districts,
promptingthegovernmenttoput
thestateonhighalert.Army,IAF
and NDRF teams have been
called in for rescue and relief
operations. About 2,200 people
have been shifted to safer places
and over 460 others rescued.
ODISHA GEARS UP
The Odisha government has
rushed ODRAF personnel and
dispatcheddryfoodtotwonorth-
ern districts in view of a possible
flood-like situation due to rising
water level in some rivers.
“One Odisha Disaster Rapid
ActionForce(ODRAF)teameach
hasbeenrushedtoKeonjharand
Bhadrak districts, special relief
commissioner (SRC) BP Sethi
said. “We are fully prepared to
dealwithapossibleflood-likesit-
uation in the northern region of
the state,” the SRC said.
Thethreatofaflood-likesitua-
tion looms large with the water
levelofBaitarani,Subarnarekha
andBudhabalangrisingsteadily.
TWO DIE IN RAJASTHAN
Heavyrainfalloverthepastthree
dayshastriggeredaflood-likesit-
uation in four districts of Rajast-
han and claimed two lives. The
authoritiesalsosoundedanalert
andclosedschoolsinmanyareas.
In Barmer, Jalore and Sirohi
and Pali districts, people said
many areas were marooned and
lotsofmakeshiftstructuresdam-
aged due to thunderstorms and
PTI/HT PHOTO
heavy rains. In Jaipur, many
areas were submerged even on
Monday and local residents
reportedhavingtowadethrough
knee-to waist-deep water.
102 MM RAIN IN J’KHAND
Incessant rain for past four days
due to depression in Bay of Ben-
gal has inundated many clogged
pocketsofJamshedpur,Galudih,
Koderma and low lying areas.
Jharkhand has received 102
mm rainfall in last four days, 66
mm from Sunday evening to
Monday evening. People living
alongriverbasinsandareasclose
to water reservoirs are panicky
eventhoughthegovernmentsaid
there was nothing to worry.
(With agency inputs)
Solar energy to
health, UK to fund
projects worth
£225 mn in India
Prasun Sonwalkar
n prasun.sonwalkar@hindustantimes.com
LONDON:Researchprojectsrelated
to a ‘second green revolution’,
cheap eye tests for diabetes
patients, and solar energy in
Indiaareamongseveralinterna-
tionalprojectsforwhichfunding
worth £225 million has been
announced by Britain’s apex
research body.
Considered one of the most
ambitiousinternationalresearch
programmes,theGlobalChallen-
ges Research Fund of the
Research Councils UK (RCUK)
supports projects in the range of
£2-£8m over four years.
The projects involve experts
from India and Britain. The
money has been invested across
37 interdisciplinary projects to
address challenges in fields of
health,humanitariancrises,con-
flict, the environment, the econ-
omy, domestic violence, society,
and technology in various coun-
tries, RCUK said.
UK-based eye expert Sobha
Sivaprasad willtrialsomecheap
teststhatcouldpreventblindness
in India. Researchers from insti-
tutesandeyehospitalsinthetwo
countries plan to roll out a new
hand-heldcamerathatcouldcon-
siderably reduce costs of testing.
A project called TIGR2ESS
seekstoframethequestion–how
to bring about a second Green
Revolution.Anotherprojectwill
address India’s plans for solar
energywhileothersincludeques-
tions relatedtocomputergames,
self-harm and suicide, making
dams less damagingandmaking
citiesfairerintermsofsocialine-
qualities. Jo Johnson, minister
foruniversitiesandscience,said:
“The successful projects receiv-
ing funding highlight the
strength of UK’s research base
and leadership in helping devel-
oping countries tackle some of
the greatest global issues of our
time.”
RESEARCHERS IN THE
TWO COUNTRIES PLAN
TO ROLL OUT A NEW
CAMERA THAT COULD
CONSIDERABLY REDUCE
COSTS OF TESTING
SHIMLA RAPE AND MURDER CASE
Forum wants suspension of
DGP, Nepalese join protests
HT Correspondent
n letterschd@hindustantimes.com
SHIMLA: The joint forum consti-
tuted to demand justice for the
Class-10 student who was raped
andmurderedinKotkhaionJuly
4th, demanded suspension of
director general of police (DGP),
Somesh Goyal, and staged a pro-
test march outside the deputy
commissioner’sofficeinShimla,
on Monday.
They were joined by Nepalese
migrants who demanded justice
for the Nepalese national, Suraj,
who was arrested as an accused
and later died under mysterious
circumstance in police custody.
United under the banner of
GudiyaNyayManch,around500
locals and Nepalese migrants
gathered on Mall Road on Mon-
day morning. They demanded
that the government fast-track
the CBI probe.
Meanwhile, the Gudiya Nyay
Manch also submitted a memo-
randumtochiefministerVirbha-
dra Singh and enlisted six main
‘No more permits
for casinos in Goa’
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
PANAJI: Goa chief minister Mano-
harParrikaronMondayassured
the state Assembly that no more
permissions for casinos — on
land and offshore -– would be
granted in the state.
Parrikar also told the House
that the legislation banning the
entryofGoansintooffshorecasi-
nos, that was enacted in 2012,
would be implemented with
changesinthenextthreemonths.
Inyetanotherannouncement,
Parrikar also said that the num-
ber of offshore casinos on the
Mandovi river would be capped
totheexistingfivevessels,which
would be shifted to land in the
next three years.
The chief minister was
responding to various issues
relatedtocasinosraisedbyoppo-
sition benches during demands
for grants for Home portfolio on
n Members of the Gudiya Nyay Manch protest for the ouster of DGP
Somesh Goyal in Shimla on Monday.
demands.Conveneroftheforum,
Sharda Damseth, said the
forum’sdemandsincludeGoyal’s
suspension.
DON’T POLITICISE: KIN
On the other hand, the victim’s
cousinalsoaddressedtheprotest-
ersandrequestedthattheprotest
should not be politicised.
Meanwhile,districtpresident
of the Akhil Bharatiya Nepalese
the floor of the House.
Parrikar saidthatin the exist-
ingact,thestategovernmenthas
power to cap the number of casi-
nos in a particular area.
“Wewillusethesepowerscap-
pingthenumberofoffshorecasi-
nos in Mandovi river to only five
which are existing. The sixth
casino will not be allowed,” he
said. Parrikar also assured the
Housethattheamendmenttothe
Prevention of Gambling Act
would be made during next
assembly session which will
ensure thatall the casinos on the
riverMandoviceasetoexistafter
three years.
“Wewilldeletethe clausethat
allowscasinoonvessel.Offshore
casinoswillbegiven anoptionto
movetolandinthespecial enter-
tainment zone where Goans
wouldbebannedfromentering,”
hesaid.Parrikaralsoassuredthe
appointment of a gaming com-
missioner for casinos.
DEEPAK SANSTA/HT
Migrant Workers Association,
SubarkharPant,threatenedthat
Nepalese migrants in Himachal
Pradesh will boycott work if jus-
tice is not ensured in the case. “It
is sad thateven though Nepalese
havebeencontributingin Hima-
chal’s progress, they are still
being ill-treated,” he said. 1.84
lakhmigrants labourers are reg-
istered with the state govern-
ment.Ofthese,17% areNepalese.
RSS man wants
several changes
in NCERT books
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The RSS-affiliated
Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas,
headed by Dina Nath Batra, has
sent a list of recommendations to
the NCERT demanding a host of
changes in its “baseless and
biased” textbooks, a national
daily reported on Monday.
The report said the Nyas
asked the NCERT to remove
English, Urdu, and Arabic
words, a poem by the revolution-
ary poet Pash and a couplet by
Mirza Ghalib, the thoughts of
Rabindranath Tagore, extracts
from painter MF Husain’s auto-
biography “Several things are
baseless, biased. There is an
attempt to insult members of a
community... The history of val-
our, of great personalities find no
place,” Atul Kothari, secretary
of the Nyas and a veteran RSS
worker, was quoted as saying.

Why no CBI probe Cross-voting sword ‘ATM FRAUD

into Bhopal SIMI INSTITUTE’
encounter: SC hangs over Gujarat BUSTED IN
Bhadra Sinha
bhadra.sinha@hindustantimes.com
Cong in RS polls BIHAR, 5 HELD
›
n

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court,

hasaskedtheCentreandMadhya
Pradesh government to explain
whytheCentralBureauofInves-
tigation(CBI) wasnotcalledinto
investigate last year’s gunfight
that left eight suspected SIMI
men dead after a jailbreakfrom
Bhopal Central jail.
The MP government faced
severe criticism after eight sus-
pected members of the banned
Students Islamic Federation of
India (SIMI)were killed in an
encounteronOctober31,forcing
it to order a judicial probe which
is still going on.
Policewereaccusedofstaging
the gunfight that took place
around 5km from the Bhopal
Central Jail.
MehmoodaMohammedSalim
Mucchhale — the mother of one
of the eight deceased requested
the court to order a probe by the
CBIorasetupaspecialinvestiga-
tion team andmonitorthe inves-
tigation. She has challenged the
MadhyaPradeshhighcourtver-
dict rejecting her prayer.
Hercounsel,SiddharthaDave
andFarrukhRashid,raisedques-
tions on the credibility of the
present manner of probe.
Theone-manCommissionhas
neither afforded an opportunity
ofbeingheardtothefamilymem-
bers of the deceased prisoners
nor permitted them to cross-ex-
amine witnesses.
Hiral Dave
n letters@hindustantimes.com
AHMEDABAD: TheCongressinGuj-
arat seems to be caught in a
catch-22 situation ahead of the
August 8 Rajya Sabha polls after
suffering back-to-back blows
withthe resignation ofparty vet-
eran Shankersinh Vaghela and
cross-votinginpresidentialpolls.
Thepartyneedsatleast47ofits
57MLAstore-electitslonecandi-
date fromGujarat, AhmedPatel.
But the election of the political
secretary to Congress president
Sonia Gandhi this time may hit a
roadblock,giventhat11Congress
MLAs cross-voted in favour of
NDA’s presidential candidate
Ram Nath Kovind on July 17.
Partyinsidersfeelthepossibil-
ity of another cross-voting when
Patel will seek his sixth consecu-
tive election to the Rajya Sabha
cannot be ruled out as at least 10
MLAs are staunch supporters of
Kapadvanj MLA Vaghela.
According to sources, these 10
MLAsmayfollowinthefootsteps
of Vaghela in the near future.
“The state leaders have a fair
ideaastowhoallhaveindulgedin
cross-voting (in the presidential
election). But the party is in a
catch-22 situation as it can nei-
therwaitnorthrowout thedissi-
dents,”saidaseniorpartyleader.
ThoughtheCongressdirected
its workers and MLAs to stay
The state leaders have
a fair idea as to who all
have indulged in cross­
voting. But the party is in a
catch­22 situation as it can
neither wait nor throw out
the dissidents
SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER
awayfromafunctiontocelebrate
Vaghela’s 77th birthday on July
21, two MLAs attended it. A few
others hadacloseddoormeeting
with him just before he reached
the venue in Gandhinagar and
announced his disassociation
from the party.
AsVaghelahassaidhewillnot
resign as an MLA before the RS
polls,thepartyseemstobetread-
ing with extreme caution, which
was evident from the reaction of
GujaratchiefBharatsinhSolanki
to the cross-voting.
“The matter will be discussed
with the high command before
taking any step,” he said. If the
dissidents come out in the open
before the poll, Congress will be
banking on three MLAs from
otherparties,includingtwofrom
its ally Nationalist Congress
Party and one from Janata
Dal(United).
Ajay Kumar
n htpatna@hindustantimes.com
MUZAFFARPUR: With the arrest of
anallegedATMfraudster,police
in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district
claimed to have unearthed an
“institute”whereheusedtotrain
jobless youths the art of duping
gullible bank customers.
“ThearrestofPankajSahni, a
BSc student at RDS College,
Muzaffarpur,hasalsosolvedthe
mystery behind the PBM mark
hewouldleaveattheATMkiosks
after looting them,” police said.
“PBM actually stood for ‘Pan-
kaj business management insti-
tute’whereSahnihadbeentrain-
ingunemployedyouthstheartof
duping bank customers,” Vijay
PrasadRai,stationhouseofficer
of Mithanpura police station of
Muzaffarpursaid.The ‘institute’
has 55 members, he added.
Sahni revealed that his gang
was operating in Jharkhand,
West Bengal, UP and Bihar.
Sahni told the police that he
would stand behind a customer,
whom he suspected would
need help. “When the customer,
after entering the PIN, looked at
meforhelp,Iwouldpressakeyto
turnthescreenblack.Afterwait-
ing for some time, the disap-
pointed customer would leave
the kiosk and I would complete
the transaction,” Rai quoted
Sahni as saying.

Dalits to fast against social boycott

Srinivasa Rao Apparasu
n srinivasa.apparasu@htlive.com
HYDERABAD: Around1,200Dalitsat
Garagaparru village in West
GodavaridistrictofAndhraPra-
deshwilllaunchanindefinitefast
from Tuesday to protest against
social boycott by the upper caste
people in their village.
Nearly 360 families belonging
to Mala community, a predomi-
nant Scheduled Caste group in
Andhra, have been facing the
social boycott since April 26, fol-
lowing a dispute with the upper
caste Rajus (belonging to Kshat-
riya community) over installa-
tion of a statue of Dr BR Ambed-
kar in the village on April 23.
“Forthepastthreemonths,we
have been deprived of our liveli-
n Nearly 360 families belonging to the Mala community have been
facing boycott.
hood. We have been barred from
doinganyagriculturalwork.We
are also not allowed to work in
thepondsbelongingtothepeople
HT
from the upper caste,” G Rajesh,
a Dalit youth, who has been
spearheading the movement
against the social boycott, said.
“Some of the Dalit farmers,
who had taken lands of upper
caste people on lease for cultiva-
tion, were also driven away and
their leases were cancelled. Our
womenfolk,who usedtowork in
theirhouses,havebeensacked.”
“Afterthesocialboycottcame
tolightinthelocalmedia,allthat
the district administration did
was distribute some rice and
other provisions to the Dalit col-
ony,” Rajesh said.
“We want two acres for each
Dalit family so that we can live
withdignity,ratherthandepend-
ing on the mercy of the upper
caste people. We also want that
each family be given a monetary
compensationof₹1lakheachand
thatourcolonybedeclaredasep-
arate gram panchayat,” he said. Printed and distributed by PressReader
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