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Bengaluru, March 6 (IANS) A shocking incident of a youth killing his older homosexual partner, over fears that their affair would become public, came to light in Bengaluru on Monday, police said.

The incident happened in the house of the deceased in the Metro Layout area in the limits of Chandra Layout Police station on February 28.

DCP, West Lakshman Nimbargi said that the deceased has been identified as Liyakath Ali Khan, 43, while the accused was identified as Ilyas, 26. Both were in a homosexual relationship for 2 years in the lockdown time.

"Liyakath was married to Shabana Khanum and had two kids out of wedlock. However, he wanted to marry again and got married to Muskaan on February 26, two days before his death," he said.

"The engagement of the accused Ilyas had been cancelled in the past and his parents were looking for a new bride for him.

"Since, he and Liyakath were in a homosexual relationship, Ilyas was worried about his future as he wanted to get married. He was also worried that his family might get to know about the homosexual relationship," the DCP said.

"On the day of the incident, the accused and deceased were engaged in a sexual act. During the course, they both had an argument about Ilyas' future and in fit of rage, Ilyas had hit Liyakath with a hammer and later stabbed him with scissors he had bought to give to Liyakath's second wife Muskaan."

The DCP also said that the reason for Ilyas' rage was that Liyakath was forcing himself on him and was not concerned about his future. The accused, who had suffered injuries during the incident, was discharged from hospital and produced before court on Monday.

--IANS
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By Yashwant Raj
Washington, March 6 (IANS) Kshama Sawant made history last month when Seattle adopted a resolution moved by her to ban caste-based discrimination, become the first US city to do so. She took and stared down critics like the Hindu American Foundation, a powerful advocacy group, and many Hindu Indian Americans who argued the ban discredits and singles out Hindus.


Sawant is determined to take on the Hindu right wing and, at the same time, both the Republican and Democratic parties alike for not representing workers adequately. Her own political outfit is called Socialist Alternative. Sawant says the caste ban was borne out of the movement she and others had launched three years ago to oppose India's Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

Here are excerpts from an interview:

IANS: What would you say to critics of the ban on caste-based discrimination that that okay cost is bad and we are dealing with it internally but with this resolution, you have put a target on the entire community of Indian Americans and South Asians?

Kshama: First of all, it's i's completely dishonest to say that there is any target on Indian American community or South Asians because the Seattle anti-discrimination law already bans discrimination on the basis of religion or national origin. And my question to these people is, if you oppose discrimination based on caste, why would you oppose a law that bans caste discrimination. It's contradictory to what you claim to stand for.

In fact, throughout history, we have seen right-wing forces start their right wing talking points couched in progressive sounding rhetoric, like 'Oh, I'm against discrimination, but this is not the way to go'. So no matter how you put a fight against discrimination, they will say, 'Well, this is not the right way to go about it'.

It's not surprising that it's the Hindu American Foundation (an advocacy group that led the opposition to the caste ban) and coalition of Hindus in North America that are opposing this, because they, you know, their entire agenda as you can see from their website is very aligned with Hindutva ideology. And they actually don't want to address caste discrimination because they are some of the purveyors of caste oppression because it's an integral part of Hindutva ideology.

Although it's far from the only one. So it's not surprising that it's not only that they oppose this legislation. They are also the right wing Hindu, right wing forces, who are the purveyors of Islamophobia as well. So it's not just about this issue. And this argument that it's somehow anti-Hindu, it's all a fake argument, it's, as I said, it's a right wing talking point.

IANS: Critics of the ban also argue that Seattle already banned all sorts of discrimination, including on the basis of ancestry, which would include your country, religion, background. Why add caste to it, specifically?

Kshama: They're grasping at straws to oppose something that is clearly -- was clearly -- needed. And, in fact, you can see from the response that we've gotten globally, just this overwhelming support shows that this is actually needed. Even from a legal point of view, the reason this kind of case was filed in California was because the state does not have a specific discrimination (law) against caste (refers to a case filed by a tech company employee).

And if you look at the pre-existing discrimination law in the city, you know, before we won this ordinance, for example, it bans discrimination on the basis of gender, and also bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. At that time when people were advocating for having sexual orientation also, in addition to gender, the right wing at that time said 'Well, why do you need to do that, it's already protected by the ban on discrimination based on gender'. But that's not true.

I mean, they're separate things. In fact, the law is stronger when it recognises and stops a very specific form of discrimination. And the reason you need to put in caste is because this type of discrimination is very real, and it is becoming more widespread as the concentration of South Asian immigrant workers increases.

IANS: The last point that critics have brought up is that caste-based discrimination is not so rampant in the US and, in fact, it's very rare. So why bother? And that some of the data cited in support for the need for a caste ban is suspect, specially those coming from Equality Labs (a Dalit civil rights organisation in the US).

Kshama: All the data that we have, which is a lot, completely defies this talking point from the Hindu American Foundation. Yes, we have the Equality Labs study. We're very clear that none of these studies has perfect methodologies but they do reveal something very important about what's happening in relation to caste discrimination. And it's not just a study by Equality Labs.

There's also another study which used a different methodology, but reached the same conclusion: that there is a serious issue of caste oppression and that it is pervasive in the United States where we have South Asian community members. That study was by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Carnegie study also acknowledged limitations of their own methodology. What they said, and this is a very important point, given how much fear oppressed caste people feel in even coming out as Dalits or oppressed caste, if anything, there's under-reporting. In addition to the statistical studies, we've also seen hundreds upon hundreds of Dalits and other oppressed caste workers speak up about the kinds of discrimination that they face in the workplace. It ranges from being denied raises and promotions to being treated unfairly in reviews, peer reviews and appraisals, and also include day-to-day harassment, day-to-day indignity of being the target of so-called jokes on the basis of caste.

IANS: So just to be clear, this discrimination based on caste is by Indians on other Indians?

Kshama: I wouldn't say only Indians because other people from South Asia also face discrimination. For example, the ban on caste discrimination that was achieved by the movement in California State University was spearheaded among others by a Dalit activist from Nepal. This type of discrimination which, as I said, is very specific, is faced by oppressed castes - South Asian immigrant workers - from dominant caste South Asian bosses.

IANS: So it's basically a brown-on-brown kind of thing?

Kshama: I wouldn't use that term because that's a phrase used by the right wing to dismiss the real racism in our society.

Question: So essentially, it's South Asians on South Asians?

Kshama: Again, I wouldn't put it in that way. I wouldn't use that phrase, because it's important to explain that the reason this is happening has nothing to do with them being South Asian. Under capitalism, we see different types of oppression. And so there's racism in the United States; and that's not just by South Asians, racism is rife in all of society.

There is sexism in India and other countries as well. What it really points to is what Malcolm X once said, which is, you can't have capitalism without racism. Similarly, you can't have capitalism without sexism. You can't have capitalism without caste oppression. Different types of oppression have a common thread running through them which is originating in a very class based society, a society that benefits a very few people at the top, and then divide-and-conquer strategies are used to divide masses at the bottom.

IANS: So when did you start thinking of bringing a resolution to ban caste-based discrimination?

Kshama: In many ways, the genesis of this movement goes back to our fight against another type of oppression, which is discrimination against Muslims. It really began with many activists - Hindu, Muslim, Dalit and other activists - fighting alongside Socialist Alternative (her political organisation) and my office three years ago for another historic resolution we won that year -- in February of 2020 -- condemning the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRCA (National Register of Citizens) citizenship laws of the Modi regime.

And based on that we won another resolution in solidarity with the farmers movement in India. So you know, this movement has been maturing where activists have been fighting alongside us on many different issues and in December of last year, it was clear that organisations and other activists in in our movement wanted -- and I agreed with them -- to really push for a big, progressive measure related to caste and that's how we came up with the idea of banning caste discrimination.

In fact, when we started researching how to do this, we found out that actually there are universities across the United States that have already banned caste discrimination on their campuses. So that was really heartening for us. You know, that was good, but there was already momentum around that issue. And so we built a movement here that united Dalit activists alongside dominant caste progressive Hindus -- organisations like the Hindus for human rights -- were on our side and also Muslim and Sikh activists, union members, Alphabet workers union -- the union that represents Google workers -- were also on our side and of course Socialist Alternative, my organisations.

IANS: And so now, are you planning to take this movement to other cities and states?

Kshama: We absolutely need this to spread around the country and inside. It's clear, just from the overwhelming response we have got that 1000s of activists across the nation want to win it and we want to actively help them win. And it's like the most important thing we are sharing with them are the lessons from how we won. If we don't build fighting movements like the one we've built here, you will not be able to defeat the Hindu right wing, and you won't be able to overcome the opposition of the Democratic establishment in your city either.

IANS: Did you get support from the four Indian Americans in Congress - Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna?

Kshama: I wrote a letter personally to Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna. I don't believe we heard back from Ro Khanna at all. And the momentum was so strong that we did get, I think, some sort of social media tweet from Pramila Jayapal.

IANS: Can you speak a little bit about the international response to the ban? From India?

Kshama: We received an overwhelming response from people in India. It is clear that it has really captured their imagination. We've received letters of excitement and congratulations from ordinary people, including young young people and we got a letter of support from the spokesperson of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

IANS: What about the Indian diaspora? In Canada, England? Any of these countries?

Kshama: Yes, definitely. We have received letters of support from direct and other activists in the UK, Australia and also, as I said, people from Canada literally came and joined us for the vote here. And since then, we've also received a couple of letters of support from other people and other organisations in Canada as well.

IANS: So what next? Is there a new agenda that you are working on now?

Kshama: Yeah, I don't know if you have heard yet. But this is an election year for the City Council, I'm not going to run again. This coming Saturday, actually, Socialist Alternative and I and other activists are going to launch a new nationwide movement called Workers Strike Back . We are demanding $25 an hour minimum wage (it's $15 currently), Medicare for All and continuing the fight against oppression and discrimination, and also a call for building a new party. You know we believe that the working class in the United States needs a new party of its own because our interests are not being served by the Democrats or Republicans.

--IANS
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Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) In a significant move, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Monday that it will issue orders within a week providing a third window for transgender persons to access government jobs and education.

State Advocate-General Birendra Saraf said that a committee would also be set up under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2019, and police recruitment rules would be amended to include physical standards for transgender persons in certain posts like constables or drivers.

His submission came before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne in a petition filed by one Vinayak Kashid, seeking modifications to a recruitment process for 170 vacant posts of the MahaTranso which did not specify reservations for the transgender persons.

Kashid had filed his petition last year seeking compliance of the Supreme Court's verdict of 2014, making and implementing a policy to include transpersons in government jobs.

The Central Rules of 2020 under the Act were issued to provide for procedures facilitating the identification of a transgender person for employment purposes, formulate policies to implement the Act within two years, and in December 2022, the High Court directed the state government to do the needful in the matter.

Saraf told the high court that the committee will be formed in a week to prepare its report on guidelines for transgenders within two months.

The move will come as a breather for thousands of transgenders hoping to apply for various government jobs in the recruitment drives that are undertaken or will be taken up in the coming weeks.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Feb 17 (IANS) Airbus has tied up with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru to expand access to aerospace education and research in the country, an official said on Friday.

An MoU was signed in the presence of institute representatives and senior Airbus management at Aero India 2023, a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held here.

The partnership will help foster relevant skills and develop a leading pipeline of talented workforce that will power the future of the aerospace sector in India.

Under this agreement, both Airbus and IISc will collaborate to develop curriculum, training, modules and promote research and innovation on topics such as sustainability, engineering, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and big data, that are relevant to the aerospace sector.

It will also give students an opportunity to engage with Airbus experts who will mentor them on their research projects and help them apply their learnings to address future challenges of the aerospace sector.

"The Indian aerospace sector is on a growth trajectory. This is further broadening the scope for talented professionals in the country who have the right skills to meet future needs. The partnership with IISc will foster potential synergies in the aeronautical sector that will help develop the next generation of aerospace professionals in the country," said Suraj Chettri, Director, Human Resources, Airbus India and South Asia.

Both entities will develop online training programmes for students that are in line with Airbus' current and future needs. This will entail matching IISc capabilities with Airbus' traditional competencies to meet new emerging priorities.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) A Class 12 student died by suicide due to exam pressure in Southwest Delhi, an official said on Friday.

According to a senior police official, the information regarding suicide of an 18-year-old boy namely Vishnu was received at Safdarjung police station following which a police team was rushed to the spot.

"He was 12th standard student. His mother is staff nurse. Initial enquiry pointed out suicide due to exam pressure," said the official.

The CBSE exams for Class 10 and 12 have commenced from February 15.

The Class 10 exams will end on March 21, and Class 12 exams will conclude on April 5. The examinations for both Classes will begin at 10.30 a.m. and will end at 1.30 p.m.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) India currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and AI talent concentration and fifth in AI scientific publications, a Nasscom report said on Friday.

India's 'AI Skills Penetration Factor' has been reported to be 3.09 -- the highest among all G20 and OECD countries.

It shows that India's tech talent is 3X more likely to have or report AI skills than other countries, according to the report by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in partnership with Salesforce and Draup.

India is also expected to witness high growth in the demand for data science and AI professionals with an estimate of more than 1 million professionals by 2024.

"AI-led disruption in India's core sectors alone has a potential impact of $500 billion on India's economy in gross value added (GVA) terms by 2026. However, this cannot be achieved alone and would require concentrated efforts from the government, industry and academia to ramp up AI skilling and initiatives at scale," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.

The recent announcement by the government to set up three Centres of Excellence to develop AI for India and to make AI work for India is acean excellent step forward in building the core capabilities in AI and design thinking needed to drive actionable impact," she added.

More than 1,900 AI-focused startups are providing innovative solutions, primarily in the areas of conversational AI, NLP, video analytics, disease detection, fraud prevention and deep fakes detection.

"People with the right domain expertise and business context have the ability to build predictive models, plan simulations and scenarios, and cluster data. These skills are in high-demand and have huge potential to optimise business efficiency and more importantly build trust among customers and employees," explained Deepak Pargaonkar, VP, Solution Engineering, at Salesforce.

As of August 2022, India's total demand for data science and AI stood at 629,000 with an installed talent base of 416,000.

The current demand-supply gap in data science and AI in the country stands at 51 per cent, significantly lower than major economies such as the US.

Currently, the top five roles -- ML engineer, data engineer, data scientist, data architect and DevOps engineer -- together constitute 73 per cent of all AI job openings in the country.

At the same time, the two top roles -- ML engineer and data engineer -- constitute 46 per cent of total installed talent.

With over 1.6 million digital talent pool (as of FY2022E), India has emerged as the prime destination for talent globally, said the report.

--IANS
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By Sharmila Vaidyanathan
New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS/ 101Reporters) It was a scorching summer morning in 2018 in rural Purulia in West Bengal, when geologist and palaeobiologist Dr Sanjukta Chakravorti, who was working on her PhD thesis then, had taken a break from her excavations and was approached by two school girls.



"Didi, what are you doing?" one of them had asked.

Dr Chakravorti had grabbed the opportunity to talk about her work in layperson's terms. Soon, her open-air classroom attracted more onlookers, and the researcher found herself addressing a small gathering of villagers, awed and inspired by her work.

This slice of memory is something Dr Chakravorti cherishes, but for many women fieldwork is fraught with anxiety. An article on how female scientists in the West had to forge their way ahead in fieldwork provides a nuanced look at the issue. Such an account from an Indian perspective, however, is largely missing.

Fieldwork is a vital part of scientific research in many disciplines like evolutionary biology, herpetology, palaeontology, marine biology, and environmental studies. But for female researchers and students, fieldwork continues to pose several challenges. Apart from safety concerns, lack of sanitary facilities, the need to balance family commitments, and dearth of support from authorities come in the way of completing their projects.

Furthermore, issues surrounding fieldwork are not specific to rural or remote areas either. Dr Harini Nagendra, Director, Research Centre & Lead, at the Centre for Climate Change at Azim Premji University, says women in the industry face safety concerns in urban settings, as well. As a precautionary measure, her team members never function alone, especially when conducting door-to-door assessments or exploring peri-urban and less-frequented parts of cities.

Dr Chakravorti adds: "A question that women get asked constantly is what fayda (benefit) they get from staying away from home in a remote location. Families question whether it is worth the trouble and also why they couldn't take on a job that would be much less hassle and more money."

While these challenges cannot be tangibly measured, their ripple effects are evident. For example, only 16 per cent of the subject editors of 10 prominent journals, focused on evolutionary biology and natural resource management, were women. A more recent publication reinforces this fact for the editorial boards of geology journals. These are the subjects that require extensive fieldwork and on ground research.

Despite these hindrances, several researchers today are paving the way for the next generation of women in science to incorporate field studies into their research seamlessly.

Taking care of mental health a priority
For Dr Divya Karnad, memories of her first on-field research project are still fresh in her mind.

My experience in fieldwork began after I completed my bachelor's. I got the opportunity to work on a biodiversity project in the Western Ghats, and it really changed my worldview. To be cut off from basic forms of communication while dealing with the day-to-day activities in the middle of nowhere was a huge challenge," she recalls.

An Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University, Dr Karnad has since travelled extensively along India's coasts for her research on marine ecology. She credits her interactions with fisherfolk and her on-ground experience as the impetus to establish her marine conservation initiative InSeason Fish, which shares sustainable seafood calendars to educate people on what fish to consume when, depending on their breeding time.

Her emphasis, though, is on taking care of one's mental health while on field. Since not many women opted for fieldwork earlier, it often became a lonely affair, besides all the problems arising from lack of sanitation facilities and access to healthcare.

"For the most part, fieldwork is still viewed as something that women can do while they are in their early 20s. Once they get married, they are supposed to snap out of it and settle down," she adds.

Karnad talks about how, during one of her initial projects on the conservation of olive ridley sea turtles, trained local residents refused to work for a woman.

"As a result, the people who landed up working with me were complete novices, and I had to train them."

Lack of awareness

"How many Indian families know about herpetology?" asks Dr Ashwini Mohan from her lab in London, where she is currently pursuing a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Natural History Museum.

Dr Mohan completed her PhD, wherein she studied the evolution of a group of geckos, from the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. She's spent a lot of time amidst the wilderness of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and other archipelagos in the Indian Ocean.

She explains that while people are unaware of what these field-based sciences entail, there's also a lack of communication from the scientific community, which exacerbates the problem.

For instance, Dr Mohan points out how existing prejudices, such as those around it being inappropriate for a woman to catch snakes, makes it harder for researchers to pursue these fields. She further explores a gamut of issues, such as obtaining permits from the forest department, finding female role models and trainers on the field, and getting the right guidance at the right time, in her article, Women in Herpetology, along with turtle biologist Sneha Dharwadkar.

According to Aashima Dogra, co-founder of the The Life Of Science, an online portal that documents stories of women in STEM, several women featured as part of the project in ecological sciences shared similar experiences of finding it difficult to obtain permits for their work. She also highlights how older women in science say they could have done much more had they pursued field options earlier.

If recognition at the family level is one piece of the puzzle, the other is acknowledgement by the academic community, says Dr Suparna Ghosh-Jerath, professor and Head of Community Nutrition at the Public Health Foundation of India. Her research focuses on understanding the role of indigenous foods in addressing food security and nutritional status among vulnerable communities, for which she's travelled to several remote areas of Jharkhand.

While mostly women choose to study nutrition, when it comes to working in public health or travelling to remote areas for research and nutrition programme-related activities, they often opt out because of family commitments or lack of childcare support, she says. Additionally, people don't associate this stream of science with field-based research, which makes it harder for women to justify their passion.

A sign of changing times?

Dr Vandana Prasad's first on-field research project took her to the hilly terrains of Meghalaya in 1995. She was the only female in a five-member team on a mission to explore microfossils in the region amid heavy rain. Dr Prasad recalls how she was keenly aware that her team members thought she wouldn't be able to handle the assignment. But today, she is the Director of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, and her fieldwork count ranges somewhere between 30 and 40.

"Things have definitely changed for the better," she stresses.

However, the challenges that women in science face are multifaceted. As Dogra says, "We are talking about people who come from different backgrounds and face different challenges. So there's no one solution."

Dr Nagendra shares that once safety measures are in place, it's essential to implement a facilitative approach where fieldwork is made flexible to accommodate the needs of the women. As Dr Mohan points out, the mental image of a scientist doing fieldwork is predominantly one of a man.

"Changing that image of what a scientist and a field researcher should look like, that should be the first step. Let's start there."

(This piece was originally published by Rukhmabai Initiatives, an endeavour by 101Reporters, to make Indian STEM more inclusive.:

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Average data consumption per user in India reached 19.5GB per user a month in 2022, which is equivalent to 6,600 songs, a report showed on Thursday.

Mobile data traffic in India jumped 3.2 times in the last five years, reaching over 14 exabytes per month, according to Nokia's annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report.

The report revealed that pan-India mobile data usage per month grew from 4.5 exabytes in 2018 to 14.4 exabytes in 2022.

Together, 4G and 5G subscribers now account for almost 100 per cent of the total mobile data traffic in the country.

"India has seen a massive uptake of mobile broadband based on successful deployment of 4G LTE networks. We believe that 5G will take mobile broadband consumption to the next level in India by enabling new digital use cases for both consumer and enterprise segments," said Sanjay Malik, SVP and Head of India Market at Nokia.

At an aggregate level, total mobile data consumed in India is expected to more than double by 2024.

Over 70 million 5G devices are estimated to have been shipped to India in 2022, indicating a strong traction for 5G in the market.

According to the report, enterprise spending on private 5G networks will be driven by new use cases in diverse industry verticals, including manufacturing, utilities, transportation and healthcare, among others in India.

The country's investment in private wireless networks is expected to reach around $250 million by 2027.

"It is essential that this growth is managed in a sustainable manner while supporting India's aim to become a trillion-dollar digital economy," Malik added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) To empower 'Make in India' in dam safety, IIT Roorkee in collaboration with the Central Water Commission (CWC) will develop International Centre of Excellence for Dams (ICED) under externally funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project Phase II and Phase III.

Officials said that this memorandum of Agreement (MoA) will remain valid for ten years or till the duration of the DRIP Phase-II and Phase-II Scheme, whichever is earlier, from the date of signing.

ICED, Roorkee will provide specialised technical support in investigations, modelling, research and innovations, and technical support services to the Indian and overseas dam owners. The Centre will work for agreed dam safety areas to support and provide solutions to various emerging challenges faced in dam safety through scientific research and latest technological innovations.

It will also carry out applied research, education, and technology transfer in dam safety management at local, regional, national, and international levels.

As per Ministry of Jal Shakti officials, the Centre will presently start with the focus on the two key areas, including Reservoir Sedimentation and Seismic Hazard Mapping and Analysis in the initial years. The new areas shall be added as per the need arises from implementation of the Dam Safety Act in the near future. In the long run, the Centre shall aim to deal with the complete life cycle of the dams.

The ICED is being set up at a cost of Rs. 109 Crore, being borne by theADepartment of Water Resources, Ganga Rejuvenation & River Development, Ministry of Jal Shakti as non-recurring grant in six tranches towards procurement of goods, machineries for establishment of new laboratories as well as strengthening of existing laboratories, initiation of research activities, construction/ modernization of infrastructure for setting up of ICED by IIT Roorkee.

IIT Roorkee will endeavor to reach a level of self-sufficiency within ten (10) years by generating income streams through the knowledge and capabilities developed on dam safety & rehabilitation in general, and in the core areas of reservoir sedimentation and seismic hazard mapping and analysis in particular.

In addition, ICED Roorkee will have Centre Development Fund, accrual to which will come from sources like, a part of the consultancy charges, short term training programmes and any other revenue earning activity will be contributed to this fund.

At the MoA signing ceremony, Secretary (WR, RD&GR) expressed that ICED will give the right impetus to the Government Mission "Atmanirbhar Bharat" and will also provide a window of opportunity for disseminating knowledge and expertise in the dam safety area to many underdeveloped and developing nations in future.

Prof K.K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, said that the formation of ICED will empower 'Make in India' in dam safety, plus augment advanced research and developing technologies and application products. We are eager to contribute to the mission of the Ministry of Jal Shakti."

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) The 23-year-old Nikki Yadav and her alleged killer-cum-live-in partner Sahil Gehlot were planning to elope and had even gone to Nizammudin railway station but failed to get tickets for Goa, said an official privy to investigation.

According to the official, on February 9 night, the accused Gehlot, a resident of Mitraon village, went to meet the woman at her Uttam Nagar residence where she lived with her younger sister.

"Gehlot stayed there for two-three hours and later both of them went to Nizammudin railway station. But as they could not get tickets to Goa, they changed their plan to Himachal Pradesh and reached ISBT, Kashmere Gate," said the official.

"When the duo reached ISBT, an argument broke out between them. In between the fight, Gehlot kept receiving back-to-back calls from his family, which he says triggered him to his threshold point and he turned violent," said a source.

He then strangled Nikki with his mobile phone data cable inside the car, probably around 8 a.m on February 10.

The murder was committed near the Kashmiri Gate area and Gehlot, a B. Pharma graduate, then drove with the body all the way to his dhaba near village Mitraon - a distance of around 45 km - where he stuffed it in a refrigerator and proceeded with his wedding on February 10.

The disclosure by the accused is yet to be verified by police and currently, the probing team is scanning CCTV footage of the whole route to ascertain the crime sequence.

--IANS
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