Regional

Chennai, Jan 14(IANS) The Madurai Police on Sunday said that the bull owners and tamers with passes issued by the police will only be allowed to entry the famous Avaniyapuram Jallikattu, which will take place on Monday, Pongal day.

Avaniyapuram Jallikattu is the famous bull taming event held annually in Madurai district as part of the Pongal harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.

Madurai City Police Commissioner J.Loganathan said that the passes with photo identity cards have already been issued and owners and tamers should also carry fitness certificates issued by the medical officer.

He said that if bull owners and tamers are found to be in an inebriated state, they will not be allowed to enter the arena.

He said that the police have informed the bull owners and tamers not to use knives or sharp weapons to cut the nose rope of the bulls.

“The district administration has already appointed a trained person to cut them. Police have also directed the owners of the houses along the Jallikattu venue not to allow any persons other than their relatives to witness the event from their premises,” he said.

He said that if any law and order situation arises due to the presence of strangers, the owners of the houses who permitted them inside will face stringent action.

He said that the bull owner and one assistant will be allowed to take the bull to the venue through Mullai Nagar and Avaniyapuram police station to join in the queue after midnight of Sunday to proceed towards the Jallikattu venue.

He said that traffic has also been regulated, anticipating huge crowds at the Jallikattu event.

--IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 25 (IANS) As part of the 2021 agreement between the various partners of the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front ( LDF), two Ministers in the Pinarayi Vijayan government have quit and their replacements would be sworn in on Friday.

The two ministers -- Antony Raju and Ahamed Devarkovil -- resigned on Sunday

In May 2021, when the second Pinarayi Vijayan government took office, there was an in-principle decision to share cabinet posts among the parties having single MLAs.

Under that formula, Antony Raju was given the Transport portfolio and Ahamed Devarkovil took over the Ports department and both on Sunday submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Vijayan.

As per the agreement, after the completion of 30 months in office, the two ministers had to make way for film actor-turned-politician K.B. Ganesh Kumar (to replace Raju) and veteran Kadanapally Ramachandran ( to replace Devarkovil).

But speculation is rife that there might be a reshuffle of the portfolios of existing ministers, especially the CPI(M), but that is being held as a closely guarded secret and it will be decided by none other than CM Vijayan, who is the final word not just in the government but also party and the LDF.

The talk of the rejig arose after Ganesh Kumar, who shifted his loyalty from the Congress-led UDF to the LDF ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls, had said that he did not want the Transport portfolio.

Ganesh Kumar as a Minister in the 2001 A.K. Antony government handled Transport, and according to sources he has expressed his desire that if possible he would like to get a different portfolio, as the state run Transport Department is having a hand to mouth existence, with salaries and pensions never paid on time.

Kumar, 57, has been a legislator since 2001. He was a minister in the cabinet of Antony in 2001, but made way for his father after a few years. Then again in the Oommen Chandy cabinet in 2016 and following a domestic issue with his then wife, Kumar quit and since had been upset with the Congress-led UDF. Finally, he along with his father moved their party -- Kerala Congress(B) -- to the Left fold.

Now Vijayan has to take the final call on the change in portfolios.

The Congress-led opposition has already announced that they will boycott the swearing in as Ganesh Kumar was largely instrumental in attacking the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the Solar scam case (2014) and in which Ganesh Kumar is facing a case filed by a Congress worker close to Late Chandy.

--IANS

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Srinagar, Dec 25 (IANS) Minimum temperature remained several notches below the freezing point on Monday as intense cold wave swept Kashmir.

A Meteorological (MeT) department statement said, “Minimum temperature was minus 2.3 degrees Celsius in Srinagar city today while it was minus 2.6 and minus 4.3 in Gulmarg and Pahalgam respectively.

“Leh town in Ladakh region had minus 6.7 and Kargil minus 8.1 as the night’s lowest temperature.

“Jammu city had 7.3, Katra 8.1, Batote 5.9, Bhaderwah 2.4 and Banihal 6.2 as the minimum temperature.”

The 40-day long period of harsh winter cold known locally as the ‘Chillai Kalan’ started here on December 21 and will end on January 30.

--IANS

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Etawah, Dec 25 (IANS) Four jail staff members have been suspended after an inmate escaped from the Etawah district jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Superintendent of Etawah district jail Kuldeep Bhadauria said that Ajay Kumar, resident of Jariya village under the limits of Bidhuna police station of Auraiya district, was sent to jail on October 27 in a kidnapping case.

On Saturday morning, he was sent to work in a garden inside the jail along with other inmates. Later, Ajay went missing, he said and added, “A search was conducted, but he managed to escape by scaling the wall.”

--IANS

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Lucknow, Dec 25 (IANS) A woman in her early 30s has been booked for marrying another man without revealing her marital status to him.

She has also been accused of extracting money from him and intimidating him with the help of her aides, including her husband.

In November 2022, Parmanand Singh of Senani Vihar locality got married to the accused through a matrimonial website where he had uploaded his bio data.

A month later, a man who identified himself as Anupam Soni called him and told him that he was the husband of the woman Singh had married. He also threatened Singh of dire consequences if he continued with the marriage. Singh talked to the woman about it.

“I came to know that my wife was already married to Anupam Soni, and before him to Ashutosh Pathak,” Singh said.

He said that the accused duped him of cash. “She hid her marital status from me and lied to me about her job. On the matrimonial site she had made the false claim that she was a professor at government degree college. When the negotiation for marriage was underway, she asked for Rs 25,000 as monetary help from me to purchase a mobile phone. Then she told me that the mobile phone broke in an accident, but I came to know that her former husband Anupam had broken it while fighting with her,” Singh said, adding that the woman decamped with Rs 2.67 lakh in cash and ornaments from his house in December 2022,” he said.

Singh said that the woman and her family members knew about his social standing and assets, and had an eye on it from the beginning.

SHO, PGI, B.C. Tiwari said investigation in the case has started.

--IANS

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Deoria, Dec 25 (IANS) There was chaos at Masihi Church in Uttar Pradesh's Deoria city when some anti-social elements entered its premises during Sunday prayer service, alleging that poor people were being tempted there to embrace Christianity.

After getting information, the police officials rushed to the spot and controlled the situation.

Confirming the incident, circle officer (CO), Deoria Sadar, Shreyas Tripathi said police have started a probe into the matter but complaints of conversion had no substantial grounds.

Father Rudra, the pastor at the church, alleged that some youths started videography after entering the church premises and also issued threats to those present there.

Meanwhile, the circle officer said police have got a video of the incident from some youths who were part of the chaos.

“We are identifying the miscreants for further investigation,” the cop added. He said no case has yet been lodged in connection with the incident.

--IANS

amita/dpb

Lucknow, Dec 25 (IANS) Continuing its crackdown on illegal construction linked to mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) has sealed the New FI Hospital, owned by Siraj Ahmed, who, according to officials, is a close aide of Ansari.

The LDA also initiated the demolition of illegal structures in the parking area of the FI Tower, another property owned by Ahmed.

This decisive action comes after the LDA earlier issued a notice declaring two floors of the FI Tower, comprising 24 flats and one penthouse, as illegal. The notice also highlighted violations of building norms in the New FI Hospital.

Following the notice, the LDA moved on Sunday to seal the New FI Hospital and commence the demolition of illegal parking structures at the FI Tower. The demolition was carried out under heavy security, with LDA vice-chairman Indramani Tripathi personally overseeing the operation.

The LDA also registered an FIR against Ahmed, along with his associates Shoaib Iqbal, Monis Iqbal, and Michael, at the Kaiserbagh police station for violating building norms. While Monis Iqbal has already been arrested and jailed, authorities are actively searching for Siraj Ahmed and Michael.

Tripathi, meanwhile, said, “The crackdown on the illegally constructed building will continue as per the rules. This action is part of our drive against such construction.”

--IANS

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Mathura, Dec 25 (IANS) Two women devotees, both above 60 years of age, who reached Vrindavan for ‘darshan’ at Banke Bihari Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura died "due to illness", officials said on Monday.

The two women died on Sunday. One woman was from Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh) and the other from Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). They died at two different spots at different times.

The Mathura police denied that the two deaths were due to crowd pressure at the temple.

However, sources said that both the women complained of uneasiness inside the temple and were taken to a hospital where they died.

Meanwhile, SSP Mathura Shailesh Pandey appealed to the aged, ill or young to not visit the temple at this time of the year when the footfall increases a lot.

The turnout in Mathura and Vrindavan rises substantially at the year's end. It is expected to rise further in the new year as devotees prefer an auspicious beginning of the year.

On Saturday, the number of devotees at Banke Bihari Temple was in lakhs and remained so on Sunday.

The passage towards the temple was chock-a-block.

“Police deny that the deaths were an outcome of crowd mismanagement. These two women died at different times at different places which were away from the temple premises,” said Pandey.

The SSP claimed that both women were above 60 years of age and had health issues.

The cause of deaths was presumably illness. They were shifted to hospital in Vrindavan but could not be saved. The family members have informed us that both had a history of illness,” he said.

--IANS

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Chennai, Dec 24 (IANS) A 25-year-old female techie was chained and burnt to death, allegedly by a transman, in the suburbs of Chennai, police said on Sunday.

The half-charred body of R. Nandini, 25, was recovered at Thalambur on Saturday night.

According to police, she was chained and had deep injuries from a blade on her neck, hands and legs.

Police on Sunday arrested a 27-year-old transman, who allegedly killed the woman for turning down his proposal.

The accused, identified as Vetrimaran, and Nandini, both natives of Madurai, had been working in a software company in Thoraipakkam for the last few months. They had become friends and later fell in love.

However, recently when Vetrimaran told Nandini about his gender identity and proposed to her, she turned him down.

Nandini had subsequently started a relationship with another man and this had enraged Vetrimaran. He wanted to take revenge by killing her.

On Saturday, Nandini’s birthday, the accused took her out saying he wanted to give her a surprise. The accused took her to an isolated place, tied her and after inflicting injuries with a blade set her ablaze, police said.

--IANS

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Patna, Dec 24 (IANS) A day after an undated video of DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran surfaced in which he allegedly made derogatory remarks about the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leaders in Bihar criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad for their silence on the matter.

"The leaders of Congress, JD-U and RJD should apologise for the way Maran insulted the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar should break their silence. The BJP has made a strong objection to the remarks and asked Dayanidhi Maran to apologize. If he does not apologise, the party leaders will launch an agitation," Bihar unit BJP president Samrat Choudhary said.

Criticising Maran, MoS Home Nityanand Rai said: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is building the nation with the concept of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' but the leaders of INDIA bloc are discriminating over North and South India. Their attempt would not be successful. PM Narendra Modi gives respect to sanitation workers. Some people talk like this and create differences. Dayanidhi Maran should apologise to the nation."

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said: "Will the leaders of INDIA bloc keep DMK out of the alliance now? Many people are engaged in the construction sector in Tamil Nadu and Dayanidhi Maran's toilet cleaners remark is highly objectionable. Why Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad are silent over the remarks of Dayanidhi Maran on the basis of state and language? Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin should take action against him."

Dayanidhi Maran, during an event, allegedly said that the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh used to come to Tamil Nadu and clean toilets.

"Those who speak Hindi come here and are involved in small-scale construction," he had allegedly said.

--IANS

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