Regional

Hyderabad, Sep 17 (IANS) The Nehru Zoological Park here houses a Cheetah which was gifted by Saudi Arabia a decade ago.

During his visit to the Zoo on the occasion of CoP11 summit -2012 held in Hyderabad, Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al Saud had gifted two pairs of African lions and cheetahs.

The zoo had received the animals from the National Wildlife Research Centre of Saudi Arabia in 2013.

The female Cheetah died two years ago while the male cheetah, named Abdullah, is housed in the zoo.

Hiba, the female Cheetah, died in 2020 at the age of eight. She was diagnosed with paraplegia.

On a day when eight cheetahs from Namibia were released into Madhya Pradesh's Kuno national park by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the programme to reintroduce the feline in India, the Nehru Zoological Park organised a rally.

Cheetahs were declared extinct in India about 70 years ago.

The rally was organised in collaboration with Tejaswi Vidyaranya School, Jedimetla, Rangareddy district in which about 190 students participated.

The students also took part in events like talk shows, drawing, painting and essay writing competitions. Talk show on cheetahs was conducted at the cheetah enclosure.

The programme was organised as part of Telangana National Integration Day celebrations. S.Rajashekar, Curator, Nehru Zoological Park, hoisted the national flag in the presence of the entire zoo staff.

--IANS
ms/vd

Guwahati, Sep 17 (IANS) A student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati allegedly committed suicide in his hostel room on Friday night, police said.

The student hailed from Kerala and was pursuing a B.Tech course here.

A police officer of Amingaon police station informed that the body was found hanging in the hostel room, and sent for a post-mortem examination.

The reason for the student taking the extreme step is still unknown.

A statement from IIT-G reads: "It is with great sadness that IIT, Guwahati announces the untimely passing away of a final year undergraduate student of Design Department on campus on 16th September 2022."

The parents were informed by the institute and they were heading for Guwahati.

"We request everyone to respect the privacy of the family at this time of grief. The institute expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the student," the IIT-G said in its statement.

Though the institute has not revealed the identity of the student, as per police sources, the deceased was identified as Surya Narayan Premkishore.

There have been several suicide cases at IIT Guwahati in the last few years.

--IANS
tdr/vd

Chennai, Sep 17 (IANS) The latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that Tamil Nadu witnessed the second highest number of suicides in the country. Maharashtra tops the list with 22,207 suicides, and Tamil Nadu is second with a total of 18,925 suicides.

As per the NCRB data, in 2019 Tamil Nadu reported 13,493 suicides, 16,883 in 2020 and an increase to 18,925 in 2021.

Social activist and counsellor Sneha Abraham of Sradha, an NGO actively involved in the counselling of people with psychological issues, noted that there are various reasons for people to commit suicide. She said that most of the suicides in Tamil Nadu are due to domestic issues, followed by financial distress, chronic disease, failed romance, and poor results in examinations.

The study found that the average age of those who committed suicide due to family issues was between 35 and 40, while those who took their own lives because of failed love affairs were between 18 and 25 years. Students in the average age group of 16 to 21 committed suicide due to poor results and failure to crack competitive exams. Those who took their own life due to financial distress were in the age group of 28 to 45 and those who ended their lives due to chronic illness were 45 to 60.

The number of males was more than women among those who committed suicide in Tamil Nadu.

Sneha Abraham told IANS: "Several rounds of counselling are done to prevent people from committing suicide. However, according to the latest NCRB report, there is a steady increase in the number of suicides in Tamil Nadu. I feel that right from school days, there has to be proper counselling to students to make them mentally strong. Children have to be confident in life and then the tendency to commit suicide will be less."

--IANS
aal/bg

By Arun Lakshman
Chennai, Sep 17 (IANS) The National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), the all-India examination for admission to MBBS and allied courses, is turning into a reason for committing suicide in Tamil Nadu. Ever since NEET was introduced in the country, there was stiff objection in Tamil Nadu and students protested against its implementation.


The protest turned violent when a Dalit student, Anitha from Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu committed suicide in 2017 after she failed to crack NEET even after securing good marks in the Class 12 examination. The death of Anitha turned into a major political issue in Tamil Nadu on whether the state required NEET or it could revert back to the old system of admission to medical colleges in the state through the marks in the qualifying examination.

Since Anitha committed suicide, the number of students committing suicide has been on the rise with 12 students taking their lives after failing to clear NEET.

In 2018 and 2019 also two students committed suicide after the results of NEET came out. According to data available with the state crime records bureau, the majority of students who have committed suicide were aspirants who were appearing for the exam for the second or third time.

The year 2020 also saw two students committing suicide in the state but the year 2021 led to the death of twelve students. The Tamil Nadu government moved a bill in the state legislative assembly against NEET and the assembly passed the bill unanimously that the state does not want NEET for admission to MBBS and allied courses. The BJP legislators however walked out of the assembly.

The bill was sent for Presidential assent after the Tamil Nadu governor kept it for a few months and later forwarded it to the President.

In 2022, when the NEET results came out, a 19-year-old girl, Lakshmana Swetha from Tirumullavayal in Chennai committed suicide after she failed to clear the NEET. Her mother told police that the girl was found hanging in her room.

The Tamil Nadu government has set up a counselling centre for NEET aspirants and even before the results are out, counsellors speak to the students who have taken the exam.

--IANS
aal/bg

Hyderabad, Sep 17 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday alleged that communal forces who had no role in the integration of Hyderabad State into Indian Union are trying to divide Telangana society by spreading hatred.

Without naming the BJP, he said the disruptive elements were trying to distort Telangana's history by giving it a communal colour for their narrow political interests.

The Chief Minister was addressing the 'Telangana National Integration Day' celebrations organised to mark accession of erstwhile Hyderabad State with the Indian Union.

He said certain divisive forces who had nothing to do with history and developments of the past are trying to pollute the bright history of Telangana and derail its development with petty politics.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, hoisted the tricolour and addressed the gathering at Public Gardens a couple of hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah unfurled the national flag and reviewed a parade in the city at an event organised by the Union Culture Ministry.

While the Union government organised official celebrations as 'Hyderabad Liberation Day', the Telangana government celebrated the occasion as 'Telangana National Integration Day'.

Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy had invited the Chief Ministers of Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra for the celebrations. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde attended the celebrations while Karnataka was represented by its Transport Minister B. Sriramulu. KCR, however, stayed away and no one was present from the state government.

Hyderabad State, which comprised Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, acceded to the Indian Union on September 17, 1948 following India's military operation codenamed 'Operation Polo'.

KCR voiced concern over the attempts to spew venom and create communal divide in the country and in the peaceful and progressive state of Telangana.

He said that if religious fanaticism grows, it will destroy the very life of the nation and result in deterioration of human relationships. "For their narrow interests, they plant thorns in societal relations. They are spreading hatred among people with their venomous comments. This kind of division between people is in no way justified," he said

KCR cautioned people against the designs of the communal and divisive forces. He said people of Telangana should remain alert and foil the designs of those who want to create hatred.

Stressing the need for people to remain cautious, he said that Telangana itself is an example to understand how things would take a bad turn if the people are unmindful. "Telangana has lived a cursed life for 58 years due to a mistake that happened in the past," he said in an obvious reference to the merger of Telangana with then Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. He said that people had to sacrifice lives and languish in jails to achieve a separate state.

Stating that Telangana made all-round progress during the last eight years, KCR said some forces were trying to vitiate the peaceful environment in Telangana and create unrest in the state which is marching ahead on the path of progress and prosperity.

KCR, who earlier paid tributes at Telangana Martyrs' Memorial, recalled the sacrifices made by freedom fighters of Telangana. He said people unitedly fought against the autocratic rule to usher in democracy.

--IANS
ms/vd

New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court against the high court verdict declaring Amaravati as the only capital, in a bid to revive its plan to have three capitals.

The Andhra Pradesh government has filed the appeal in the apex court through advocate Mahfooz Nazki. On March 3 this year, the high court had directed that the state government should construct and develop Amaravati capital city and region within six months.

The state government was also directed by the high court to develop the reconstituted plots, which belonged to the farmers who gave away their lands for the capital city. The high court said the state government should provide drinking water, approach roads, electricity, drainage etc. within three months. The high court is likely to take up the matter in October.

The AP government, in its appeal, in the apex court said the issue had become infructuous since the impugned legislations had been repealed. It contended that under the federal structure of the Constitution, every state has an inherent right to determine where it should carry out its capital functions from. The state government further added that to hold that the state does not have the power to decide on its capital is violative of basic structure of the Constitution. And, the judgment is violative of doctrine of separation of powers since it preempts the legislature from taking up the issue, argued the AP government.

--IANS
ss/shb/

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 17 (IANS) After a year of successful operation of the Kozhikode Breast milk bank, the Kerala health department on Saturday announced that similar banks will be set up at the Women and Children hospitals at Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.

State Health Minister Veena George on Saturday after visiting the Kozhikode breast milk bank said this bank has been a huge succour to many mothers and kids.

The whole purpose of this state-of-the-art breast milk bank is to promote breast feeding and to give all the support to kids and new mothers. The Kozhikode breast milk bank since its opening a year back has so far helped 1,813 kids with 1,397 mothers donating breast milk to the bank. So far 1,26,225 ml of breast milk has been collected and 1,16,315 ml has been distributed," said George.

This bank provides collected milk to the needy babies, after all the mandatory tests are conducted at the state of the art laboratory attached to the Kozhikode Medical College hospital.

George said similar banks will very soon open at Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.

--IANS
sg/shb/

Kolkata, Sep 17 (IANS) An explosion took place on the roof of a school in West Bengal's Titagarh on Saturday while classes were on, but there were no injuries.

At around 1 p.m., the teachers and the students of the Titagarh Free India High School heard a massive explosion, prompting them to rush out of the building. They also witnessed smoke from the roof.

The Barrackpore City Police, under which Titagarh comes, were informed and senior officials immediately reached the spot.

Bomb splinters were recovered from the roof.

The police are yet to ascertain whether the blast was from a bomb stocked on the roof or if anyone hurdled bomb an explosive from outside.

"Fortunately, the explosion took place on the roof of the school building and hence no one was injured. Had the explosion taken place anywhere else within the school premises, there would have been major casualties," said an officer of the Barrackpore City Police.

Meanwhile, political mud-slinging has started between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP over the incident.

"Crude bomb and unauthorised arms are the only industrial sectors flourishing in West Bengal. A reign of terror has been established in the entire state by the ruling party," said BJP Lok Sabha member Locket Chatterjee.

The local MP from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency, Arjun Singh, who recently joined Trinamool Congress from BJP, said that the BJP leaders do not miss a single opportunity to malign the state and the state government.

"However, I condemn the incident since a major mishap could have happened. I would request the new commissioner of Barrackpore City Police, Ajay Kumar Thakur to handle the matter seriously, identify those behind this explosion and arrange for their punishment," Singh said.

--IANS
src/ksk/

Kalaburagi, (Karnataka) Sep 17 (IANS) Kalyan Karnataka region popularly known as the Hyderabad-Karnataka region celebrated Amrit Mahotsav on Saturday with fervour and geity.

The region attained freedom one-year after rest of the country attained Independence from the British.

A part of former kingdom of Hyderabad-ruled by Nizams, the region includes Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Kalaburagi. The people of the region were subjected to unheard brutality when they raised banner of revolt against the Nizams and fought to unite into Indian nation.

Finally, the Indian Army marched into the territory ending the monarch of the Nizams. The land which attained freedom with lot of bloodshed, remains backward region totally neglected by successive governments.

Though, top leader ls such as Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge emerged as major player in state politics, not enough has been done to raise the standards of the region in terms of infrastructure and standard of living. Most of the districts are among most backward in the state.

Speaking after hoisting the flag on the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav of Kalyana Karnataka here on Saturday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that existing Bidar-Ballari road will be made as four-lane Express Highway.

He said the proposed express highway will play a vital role in improving the road connectivity in Kalyana Karnataka region.

Steps have been initiated to build the airports in Raichur and Ballari. With the assistance from Central Government, a ring road has been proposed covering Yadgir, Raichur and Kalaburgi.

Bommai said more encouragement is given to set up industries in this region. The Union Government has decided to set up a textile park in Kalaburgi, and the state government has resolved to establish textile parks in Raichur and Vijayapura.

The CM opined that politicians must forget and work if they wanted for the overall development of this region.

The BJP government has given Rs 100 crore and has resolved to make Kalaburgi City like an international city by providing WIFI connect, cable connect and other advanced facilities, he said.

At a time when the whole of Karnataka is progressing, the historically backward Kalyana Karnataka must grow just like the rest of state. Through Kalyana Karnataka, Nava Karnataka and Nava Bharath must develop, he added.

--IANS
mka/shb/

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 17 (IANS) The Congress in Kerala on Saturday demanded immediate intervention of the Prime Minister or the President in the ongoing tiff between State Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

State Congress president K.Sudhakaran told the media in Alappuzha that all levels of decency has been breached in the war of words between the two 'heads' of the state.

"Things have reached a low and all what we hear is the tiff between the two is akin to two groups of youth taking on each other. It's high time that either the president or the prime minister intervened. Also the point raised by the Governor that there has been a threat to his life has to be taken very seriously," said Sudhakaran.

Khan has been taking on the Vijayan government and his party frequently, but it was on Friday night for the first time that Vijayan broke his silence and slammed Khan saying that his utterances does not befit the post he holds terming it "nonsense".

Backing Vijayan was CPI-M state secretary M.V.Govindan who slammed Khan and said he is deeply upset because he was expecting "something" which he did not get and hence was upset.

"It's now being doubted by many if Khan is functioning according to the rule book. He is taking cover under the media and uttering things which he should not. Now he says his life came under threat at the Indian History Congress in the company of renowned historian Irfan Habib who conspired,is really not tenable," said Govindan.

Left Democratic Front convenor and veteran CPI-M leader E.P.Jayarajan said the post of the Governor should be abolished.

"Vijayan is one Communists who calls a spade a spade and always tells things on the face. He is not one who plays behind the curtain. So Khan stops engaging in things which lowers his status," said Jayarajan.

However, coming to Khan's defence was BJP Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.Muraleedharan who said there is no point in Vijayan trying to air threats against Khan.

"If he does it, then he doesn't know who Khan is. Khan is just taking forward the policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against corruption. Vijayan can do all such acts in his party committee's and it would be best if he keeps Raj Bhavan out," said Muraleedharan.

--IANS
sg/shb/