Month: June 2022

After matching the DNA samples of the people who died in the fire incident that took place at an office building near the Mundka metro station on May 13, the Forensic Science and Laboratory (FSL) identified four DNA profiles on Wednesday which are yet to be handed over to their family members, the police informed on Thursday.

As per the reports at least 27 bodies were recovered after the incident took place, of which 22 dead bodies have already been handed over to their respective families.
Of the remaining five bodies, two DNA reports were pending from the FSL, which the Delhi Police discussed with the laboratory’s director on Wednesday late night.

Of these two pending bodies, one was identified as Ranju Devi, which will be handed over to her family today, while the other one is yet to be identified and hence will continue to remain in Mortuary till then.

In the early stage of the case, eight dead bodies were handed over to their family members on June 7. Further, the FSL authorities handed over DNA profiles of three unknown dead bodies on the evening of June 7.

Earlier, Forensic Science and Laboratory team has given DNA sample reports to the Delhi Police team. Forensic teams have matched several samples with the missing persons’ family DNA.

The four-storey building was used as office space for multiple companies. According to the Delhi Police’s FIR, the building did not have a fire safety protocol in place.

Following the incident, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) suspended two officials including a section officer.

On May 23, a Delhi court granted three days of police custody of the building’s owners– Harish Goyal and Varun Goyal in the said fire tragedy case. (ANI)

A coalition of scientists formed against the Covid-19 threat has declared the Monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Global Concern.

This comes days after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee has been convened due to the spread of the Monkeypox virus to 32 non-endemic countries.
The experts will meet on June 23 to assess whether the continuing outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest level of global alert, which currently applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio.

This designation of Monkeypox as a public emergency by the World Health Network (WHN) indicates that this outbreak is not limited to a single country or region and should be addressed by immediate actions to prevent community transmission.

“The World Health Network declares the monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Global Concern, by which it indicates that this outbreak is not limited to a single country or region and should be addressed by immediate actions taken wherever community transmission is taking place in order to ensure that the least effort is needed and the smallest impact is suffered due to this outbreak,” the WHN said.

The growth of Monkeypox in 58 countries through local community transmission around the world, with 3,417 confirmed Monkeypox cases reported across 58 countries, and the rate of growth of cases increasing week by week across multiple continents

“The World Health Network @TheWHN has just declared monkeypox a pandemic emergency. Will the @WHO declare #monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) later today or by end of Friday?” said Eric Feigl-Ding, Epidemiologist and health economist.

The severe pain, scaring, blindness, and death, which has been observed in cases of Monkeypox historically.

The greater severity of Monkeypox in children, who have thus far been spared during the current outbreak but are likely to be infected increasingly as community transmission expands.

The danger of transmission to wildlife, including rodents such as mice, rats, squirrels, and domesticated pets, which would become a reservoir that will expand across the world leading to ongoing risk of human infection and the need to modify daily life due to this ongoing risk to avoid exposure in many contexts.

The WHN said actions are needed to prevent widespread public communication about the symptoms that identify monkeypox.

Also, efforts are needed for widespread availability of testing, without restrictions based upon specific measures such as travel, known contact with infected individuals, or membership with specific communities that are hithertofore high risk. (ANI)

With the polling underway for the Lok Sabha bypolls in two constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, about 9.21 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Azamgarh while Rampur witnessed 7.86 per cent voter turnout till 9 am.

The Lok Sabha seat is considered the bastion of the Opposition Samajwadi Party in the state.

Over 35 lakh people are eligible to vote in the polls and will be deciding the fate of 19 candidates.

The bye-elections to the Azamgarh seat were necessitated due to the resignation of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly as an MLA in the elections earlier this year.

Seats fell vacant in Azamgarh and Rampur after Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan resigned as MPs from the seats after winning in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Akhilesh was elected as an MLA from the Karhal assembly seat while Azam Khan was elected from the Rampur Sadar constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party had contested the polls in alliance with the BSP and Azam had won from Rampur.

Total 13 candidates are in the fray from Azamgarh, where 18.38 lakh people are eligible to vote. Six candidates are contesting from Rampur, which has 17.06 lakh voters.

From Rampur, the BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who recently joined the party, while the SP has fielded Asim Raja, handpicked by Khan.

Mayawati-led BSP is not contesting from Rampur.

The Azamgarh seat will be contested by BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’, a famous Bhojpuri actor-singer, SP’s Dharmendra Yadav, and BSP’s Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali.

Meanwhile, SP leader Azam Khan said that the opposition ‘wreaked havoc overnight’ ahead of the polls.

“If polling percentage (for LS bypolls) drops, the blame is also on govt. They wreaked havoc overnight. Jeeps and sirens were everywhere in the city (Rampur); they took people to the PS, beat them up and I’ve heard of some money transfers as well. It’s shameful,” said Azam Khan.

“I’m a criminal, I accept… so my city has also been presumed to be the same. They can do whatever they want, we have to endure. If I want to stay, I have to endure,” added SP leader Azam Khan, after claiming police violence in Rampur.

The four assembly constituencies – Azamgarh, Mubarakpur, Sagdi, Gopalpur and Mehnagar – falling under this Lok Sabha seat were won by the SP in the recent assembly elections earlier this year. (ANI)

Probe into death threats to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha is underway, the Delhi Police said on Thursday.

Sanjeev Jha is the AAP MLA from the Sant Nagar Burari region in North Delhi.
According to the police, Jha has constantly been receiving calls for extortion in the name of notorious gangster Neeraj Bawana. The caller also threatened him to kill if he fails to provide extortion money.

Neeraj Bawana, one of India’s most wanted gangsters, is currently lodged in the Tihar jail of the national capital.

Meanwhile, on May 19, the Delhi HC refused to grant interim bail to Bawana’s brother Pankaj Sehrawat and ordered him to surrender before the jail authorities, as he had violated conditions imposed on him on April 6.

The petitioner, in a petition filed in Delhi HC on May 19, said that during his interim bail, Sehrawat went on to show off his armed men to the general public in the hospital which was clear from CCTV footage and he had violated the bail conditions imposed by the court.

Pankaj Sehrawat had undergone surgery at Aalok Hospital on May 8 and was discharged the next day. He was advised by the medical professionals to visit the hospital for follow-up after three days but he did not turn up.

The application seeking extension of interim bail stated that the applicant was suffering from Chronic ligament Rupture of the left knee with ACL graphed (Articular Cartilage in Lateral Tibia Femoral Condyles) repulse. The applicant was having acute pain and was not able to walk or sit properly and he had been advised an operation. The said surgery was performed on May 8, 2022, and his left knee has been under bandage/plaster and he requires complete bed rest for about 8 weeks.

The counsel for the State opposed the application by arguing that the applicant was granted interim bail for six weeks on April 6, 2022, as he was given the date for his operation by the Safdarjung Hospital on April 7, 2022, but he did not report to that hospital. For one month, he was taking treatment from another hospital. He went to Aalok hospital on May 7, 2022, the date which was about to expire within six weeks.

While opposing the application, the counsel for the State also referred to the CCTV footage from the hospital from 8-9 May, 2022 showing the petitioner, along with two armed persons and others, coming to hospital on both days. Inside and outside the hospital, there were 3-4 cars and over 8 people armed with weapons along with the petitioner 24×7 in the hospital. (ANI)

All 23 resolutions were rejected at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general council meeting held on Thursday.

AIADMK Presidium Chairman Tamil Magan Hussain announced that it has been decided to hold next General Council Meeting of AIADMK on July 11, 2022 at 9.15 am.
After the resolutions were rejected supporters of O Panneerselvam, who wanted to have the dual leadership format in the party to continue, staged a walkout from the meeting.

“All members rejected all the 23 resolutions and the only demand of General committee members is on single leadership. When the next General Committee meeting is convened, all these along with resolutions for single leadership will be adopted,” said AIADMK Deputy Coordinator KP Munusamy.

He further said that when the next General Council Meeting happens, all the 23 resolutions and a single leadership resolution will be passed.

AIADMK’s General Council meeting took place at Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Chennai’s Vanagaram.

Former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and other leaders of the party were present at the meeting.

After the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016, the party has been following a dual-leadership formula with EPS as co-coordinator and OPS as coordinator.

Palaniswami is all for single leadership in the party and his camp is keen on passing a resolution in this regard in June 23 meeting while Panneersevelam claims that the general body cannot pass the resolution without his signature as per party by-law.

Voices grew louder for single leadership in the party since the district secretary meeting on June 14. Both camps have held several rounds of talks to resolve the issue but remained unsuccessful. OPS also wrote a letter to EPS demanding postponement of the general body meeting citing a “confused situation” in the party which the AIADMK co-coordinator rejected.

In comparison to OPS, EPS enjoys the support of a large number of party MLAs and district secretaries.

Amid all this drama, OPS’ long-time loyalists have also joined the EPS camp. On Tuesday, Thiruvallur District Secretary Alexander and Puducherry State Secretary Anbalagan extended their support to EPS.

Last week, amid controversy over the issue of single leadership in AIADMK between OPS and EPS, the former held an “individual meeting” with his supporters and district secretaries at the party office here. (ANI)

Indian comedian Kapil Sharma, on his Instagram, shared a happy group picture with his ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ gang, as the crew members reached Canada for their upcoming show ‘Kapil Sharma Live’.

The ‘Firangi’ actor shared a series of pictures, where he could be seen smiling with all his crew members Sumona Chakravarti, Rajiv Thakur, Kiku Sharda, Chandan Prabhakar and Krushna Abhishek, giving proper squad goals.
Sharing these pictures, Kapil wrote in the caption, “Crew that laughs together stays together!!”.

Fans flooded the comment section and dropped heart emojis, as all the crew members can be seen having a blast on their work tour.

Kiku Sharda, Krushna Abhishek and Rajiv Thakur shared some fun reel videos from their trip which went viral on social media.

The ‘Kis Kisko Pyar Karoon’ actor recently wrapped up the second season of his comedy talk show, where the star cast of ‘JugJugg Jeeyo’ arrived and had a blast with all the crew members and the audience.

The first ‘Kapil Sharma Live’ show is scheduled for June 25 in Vancouver, Canada, following up with the second show on July 3 in Toronto.

Post Canada, the crew is going to visit the USA for their upcoming live events.

Talking about the third season of the comedian’s chat show, the actor revealed that he will be back with the new season of the show soon after coming back from the USA and Canada tour. (ANI)

If we talk about villains of the industry, it’s hard to miss out on Sanjay Dutt’s contribution to the same. Be it ‘Khal Nayak’, Vaastav: The Reality’ or ‘Agneepath’, ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’, Sanjay has won many hearts with his strong antagonist roles over the years. And now he is once again to show his wicked side with ‘Shamshera’.

Talking about the same, Sanjay said, “It is always exciting to play the antagonist because you get to bend the rules, break the rules. I realised that when you play the antagonist, there are actually impositions or moral boundaries. You can be disruptive. You can take a character from paper and play it the way you want to. I have a lot of fun when I play an antagonist and I’m fortunate that people have loved my performances as the nemesis of a hero so far.”
On Wednesday, the makers of Shamshera unveiled the film’s trailer and since then netizens have been praising Sanjay for his spine-chilling act.

BrahMos Aerospace Deputy CEO Sanjeev Joshi received the World Disaster Management Congress for Disaster Risk Reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021.

The award ceremony was held in the national capital on Wednesday evening and presented by Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy.
The facilitation is envisaged to recognize and honour those engaged in the entire Disaster Management during the Covid crisis, the organisers said.

India is a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 to work towards making all stakeholders disaster resilient and significantly reduce the loss of lives and assets.

India is a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 to work towards making all stakeholders disaster resilient and significantly reduce the loss of lives and assets.

Joshi was in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) when the COVID crisis hit globally and collaborated on the efforts against the pandemic. (ANI)

Polling for the bypoll on the Rajinder Nagar seat of the national capital is underway where Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party are in a direct battle.

The seat remained vacated after the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Raghav Chadha was nominated for the Rajya Sabha from Punjab on March 21. the Kejriwal government has been criticised by the Opposition for its liquor policy.
Voting for bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and seven assembly seats is underway in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Tripura on Thursday.

The AAP has fielded Durgesh Pathak for filling the Chadha’s vacant seat of Rajinder Nagar against the former Bharatiya Janata Party councillor Rajesh Bhatia and Congress’ Prem Lata.

The Chief Electoral Officer Delhi, Ranbir Singh, on Wednesday has appealed to the voters of Rajinder Nagar Constituency to serve the democracy by casting their valuable vote on the polling day, said a press release.

In a conversation with ANI, the voters at the polling booth put talked about their expectations and major issues they face.

According to the voters, they have mainly voted considering the issues of water, electricity and sanitation.

“One party has given proper attention to the issues of water and electricity, but our main concern this time is that of sanitation. There is no cleanliness on the roads. Any of our problems, be it the need to change the line of swear or pipe, earlier immediate action was taken, hence we do not have any complaints regarding that,” one of the voters said.

“The problems get easier to be resolved if all the departments are under the control of the same party, instead of two (water and electricity) being with one and the third one (cleanliness) with another,” he added.

Expressing satisfaction with Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in Delhi, another voter said, “Cleanliness and water are the main concerns here, else everything is going good with the current ruling party (AAP) in Delhi.”

The total number of voters in the Raajnder Nagar constituency are 1,64,698 comprising 92,221 Male; 72,473 Female; and four Third Gender Voters. There are 591 PwD Electors, 39 Visually Impaired Electors, and 64 Service Voters.

First-time voters within the age of 18-19 years are 1,899. The Gender ratio stands at 786 and a total of 190 polling stations have been set up at 21 different locations in Rajinder Nagar Constituency to help the eligible voters cast their valuable votes on the polling day.

CEO Ranbir Singh further added that a total of six companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the Bye-poll election in the Rajinder Nagar Constituency, which includes four men and two women companies. Besides this, 308 Delhi Police Personnel and 177 Home Guards have also been deployed to conduct a free and fair by-poll.

More than 1.64 lakh voters are eligible to vote at as many as 190 polling stations that will be in place at 21 locations for the MLA election. The counting of votes for the Rajinder Nagar Vidhan Sabha by-election will take place on June 26. (ANI)

Amidst the intensifying political turbulence in Maharashtra, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that it was essential for the party for its survival to get out of the “unnatural alliance” and asserted that only the constituent parties benefitted during the tenure of the coaliton government in the state.

Shinde’s remarks came a short while after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Facebook address in which he said that he was ready to step down if the rebel MLAs came forward and tell him on his face that they do not have the trust in him.

“In the last two and a half years, M.V.A. The government benefited only the constituent parties. It’s essential to get out of the unnatural alliance for the survival of the party. Decisions need to be taken now in the interest of Maharashtra,” tweeted Shinde.

Earlier today, the beleaguered Maharashtra Chief Minister whose government is facing a crisis due to revolt within his party, said that he was willing to give his resignation to party MLAs who can take it to Raj Bhavan.

Noting that a section of party MLAs was gunning for his ouster, he said instead of going to Surat, they could have conveyed their feelings to him. Thackeray said it is a matter of shame for him if “even a single MLA” was against him.

“If any MLA wants me to not continue as the CM, I am ready to take all my belongings from Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the CM) to Matoshri,” Thackeray said.

“I am ready to give my resignation to the MLAs, they should come here and take my resignation to Raj Bhavan. I am ready to leave the post of Shiv Sena party head also, not on the saying of others but my workers,” he added.

Thackeray said it is not about numbers but how many are against him and he will leave if even one person or MLA is against him.

“If you (MLAs) say, then I am ready to leave the CM post. It’s not about numbers but how many are against me. I will leave if even one person or MLA is against me. It’s very shameful for me if even a single MLA is against me,” he said.

The crisis in the Shiv Sena deepened after party leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde today claimed that he has the support of 46 MLAs, including six to seven Independent MLAs.

Shinde accompanied by other rebels from the party had left Maharashtra a day ago for Gujarat, where it stayed for about a day in Surat. They arrived in Assam’s Guwahati earlier today. (ANI)