OP IMPACT: DG orders probe into GIET student suicide
Gunupur: The director general of police Friday directed DIG-Sunabeda and SP-Rayagada to probe the suicide of Niroj Mishra, an engineering student of Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology (GIET) here. Mishra, a native of Bihar, ended life December 27 but the police didn’t bother to investigate the matter. Only a case of unnatural death was registered. Orissa POST highlighted the issue in its Wednesday edition following which the DG ordered a probe. Mishra was a fourth year student of civil engineering department and studying in GIET-Gunupur and shared a rented accommodation with his collegemates at Tulsinagar. The roommate went to appear for a semester paper December 27 but found Mishra hanging from the ceiling fan when he returned.
Sitalapalli wagon plant proposal put on hold
Bhubaneswar: The railway ministry has decided to put the Sitalapalli wagon factory proposal on hold, according to a RTI reply provided by the East Coast Railway. “As wagon production is surplus in the country, there is no need for a new wagon factory,” the reply given by the Railway Board in response to an RTI query filed by Hemanta Kumar Panda of Bolangir stated. The factory had been announced by Mamata Banerjee in 2011-12 when she was the railways minister. In the Railway Budget for 2016, only a token amount of Rs1,000 was allocated for the plant and no funding was sanctioned in Budget-2017. The state government had identified about 101 acres for the project that was to come up in the public-private partnership mode.
Seashore MD Prashant Das out of prison
Bhubaneswar: Prashant Das, the Seashore Group MD who was enlarged on bail in the multi-crore chit fund scam, was released from the Jharpara circle jail Friday. Sources said Das, the main accused in the case, was granted bail in cases registered against him by the CBI and at district level. Prashant Das had been arrested by state Crime Branch from Mumbai June 20, 2013, before the case was handed over to the CBI following a Supreme Court order. He had been lodged at Jharpara jail in Bhubaneswar since.
India lowers growth forecast to 6.5 pc
New Delhi: India lowered its forecast for the current year’s economic growth Friday, as businesses were hit by the chaotic launch of Goods and Services Tax last July. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier estimated the economy would grow around 7.5 per cent in the 2017/18 fiscal year, generating enough tax to keep the fiscal deficit at 3.2 per cent of GDP after meeting spending targets. Gross domestic product is now estimated to grow an annual 6.5 per cent in 2017/18, slower than a provisional 7.1 per cent growth in 2016/17, Ministry of Statistics said in a statement. Most private economists have pared the growth forecast to 6.2 to 6.5 per cent for this fiscal year, citing the teething troubles faced by businesses during the roll out of GST.
HC ruling favours women’s Territorial Army entry
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Friday paved the way for recruitment of women in the Territorial Army (TA), saying any provision that bars them was ultra vires fundamental rights provided under the Constitution. The Territorial Army is the second line of defence after the regular Army. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said the words “any person” in section 6 of the TA Act, shall include both men and women. The court also said that any provision of the Act which bars or bans recruitment of women into the TA would be ultra vires the fundamental rights of equality provided under the Constitution. The court’s ruling came on a PIL, filed by lawyer Kush Kalra, alleging discrimination against women in recruitment in the TA, in which actor Mohanlal and cricketers Kapil Dev and M S Dhoni are honorary members holding senior ranks.
Al-Shabab dy leader is ‘global terrorist’
Mogadishu: The United States government has designated the deputy leader of the Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group a “global terrorist.” A State Department statement says the designation of Abukar Ali Adan blocks any assets of his that are subject to US jurisdiction and prohibits US citizens from making any transactions with him. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab is the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa. It has been blamed for the October truck bombing in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, that killed 512 people. Little is publicly known about the reclusive Ali Adan. The US has designated al-Shabab as a foreign terrorist organization, and the Trump administration early last year approved expanded military efforts against the group. More than 30 US drone strikes were carried out against al-Shabab last year.
Pyongyang missile hit own city, says report
London: A North Korean missile reportedly crashed into one of its own cities after it failed just minutes following its launch. US officials said the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was initially thought to have disintegrated mid-flight after it was fired on 28 April last year. However, new data suggests it landed in the city of Tokchon, around 90 miles north of the secretive communist country’s capital, Pyongyang. Tokchon has a population of around 200,000. The missile likely exploded on impact, causing significant damage to a complex of industrial or agricultural buildings, ‘The Diplomat’ magazine reported, citing a US intelligence source alongside satellite imagery.
US to lift ban on offshore drilling
Washington: US President Donald Trump’s administration has announced plans to roll back a ban on new offshore drilling off the coasts of Florida and California and was considering over 40 sites for leasing of natural gas and oil production, the media reported. Thursday’s proposal comes just after the Interior Department issued a stop-work order on a National Academy of Sciences study reviewing the offshore oil and gas operations inspection program to enhance safety, reports CNN. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said that 47 proposed leasing areas could increase federal revenue by $15 billion. “It’s better to produce energy here and never be held hostage by foreign enemy needs,” Zinke said, adding it was a “clear difference between energy weakness and energy dominance”. The five-year proposal would increase drilling sites off the coasts of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico and it would reinstate leasing sites in Pacific and Atlantic waters.
Rajkot prof kills mum throwing her off terrace
Rajkot: A 36-year-old assistant professor, who allegedly killed his 64-year-old mother by pushing her off the terrace of their residential building last September, was arrested Thursday. Sandip Nathwani, who teaches in a local Pharmacy college, allegedly pushed his mother Jayshreeben to death September 29 as he was “fed up” with her illness, police said. Initially, the Nathwani family had claimed that Jayashreeben fell off the terrace after she lost balance as she was suffering from some brain disease. However, police changed the direction of the investigation on receipt of an application sent by an anonymous writer. “After receiving the application, we checked CCTVs installed in the apartment and the recording clearly suggested that Sandip was with Jayshreeben when she fell off the terrace,” said DCP, Zone II, Karanjraj Vaghela. He said Sandip Nathwani initially denied the allegation against him, but later “confessed” to his involvement in the crime.
20 killed in Kabul suicide bombing
Kabul: At least 20 persons have been killed and 30 others injured here in a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State terror group, an official said. The attack Thursday night in Banaee area of Kabul happened in the middle of a protest, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. A police officer told Efe news that the suicide attacker was on foot and wore a vest loaded with explosives that he detonated near the policemen watching the demonstration. Earlier, the police said 11 people, including five police personnel, were killed. The number of fatalities jumped to 20 Friday. The Islamic State took responsibility for the attack through its news outlet Amaq. It said a suicide attacker with an explosives vest had targeted “a gathering of Afghan intelligence and police”.
RBI’s new Rs10 notes bears Sun Temple motif
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a new design chocolate brown ten-rupee note bearing a motif from the state. The new note will have the same height of 63mm as the current ten rupee note but the width will be 123 mm — slightly lesser than the 137 mm width of the existing note. Besides colour and size, another main difference is that the reverse of the note will carry a motif of the Konark Sun Temple. The existing ten rupee note carries the image of fauna of India — rhinoceros, elephant and tiger. The RBI said that it will shortly be putting out the new note into circulation bearing signature of governor Urjit Patel. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse. Existing banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.