Month: December 2019

New Delhi,  Two doctors — a man and a woman — have been missing from the national capital since Christmas afternoon, police said on Monday.

A police complaint was lodged by Dr G Sridhar, a senior resident at AIIMS who reported his wife, Dr Himabindu Saginatham (29), and his friend, Dr K Dileep Satya, to be missing.

Sridhar, who is a senior resident in the Department of Paediatrics at AIIMS said that Satya, who resides in Chandigarh with his wife, had reached Delhi from Chennai on December 25 and visited their home.

“We three are very good friends and have done our undergraduation together. Satya treated my wife like his sister and for my wife, he was more than a brother. Whenever, I was not available I would always tell Satya and his wife to take care of her.

“Satya had gone to Puducherry on December 20 for DM counselling and on December 24 he took a flight from Chennai for Delhi. He was in touch with us all the time,” Sridhar recalled.

Satya had done his post-graduation from PGI Chandigarh after which he completed his senior residency at the same hospital. He had resigned two months back and was preparing for DM exam.

Sridhar’s wife works as a senior resident at N C Joshi Memorial hospital in Karol Bagh. She has done her postgraduation in Dermatology at AIIMS.

Sridhar cliamed that Satya also called him in the morning on December 25 after landing at the Delhi Airport.

“I was on morning duty (8 am to 2pm) so left home for hospital around 7.30 am. My wife informed me after he reached my residence in Gautam Nagar at 8.45 am. They had breakfast together and then went to church with Satya’s luggage.

“He was to take a train to Chandigarh in the afternoon,” Sridhar said.

Sridhar said that at 2 pm, after his duty got over, he tried calling his wife and friend but their phones were switched off.

He said he kept calling them for two hours after which he visited nearby churches but could not find them. He then informed Satya’s wife and the parents of Himabindu.

In the meantime, their friends and colleagues were also alerted.

He filed a police complaint at around 8 PM.

“I feel something terrible has happened to them. It has been several days and they have not contacted anybody. They have not used any cards and there has been no (online/ATM financial) transaction since December 25,” he said.

According to police, Satya in his complaint said that he was on duty and last spoke to his wife at 11.30 am when she told him that she was going to the church. Since then, he has had no contact with either of them, the FIR stated.

According to a senior police officer, they registered a case under section 365 (kidnapping) IPC on December 25 at Hauz Khas police station.

Multiple teams have been sent to different parts of the country, including Chandigarh and Andhra Pradesh, but the duo are yet to be traced, the officer said.

The complainant said the three are friends since their first year of MBBS in 2007.

The Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS has launched a campaign on twitter, Facebook and whatsapp seeking help to trace the two doctors. AIIMS RDA has also written to the Home Secretary seeking intervention to trace Dr Himabindu.

“We would like to inform you that no information about her whereabouts has been found till date though the incident took place 6 days ago. It is to humbly request you to direct the concerned officials to pursue the matter on priority basis. An early action in this regard would be deeply appreciated,” they said in their letter.

New Delhi, Dec 31 Outgoing Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Tuesday thanked all the army personnel and their families for extending full support to him in his three year tenure at the helm of the 1.3 million force.

After a farewell Guard of Honour, Gen Rawat also hoped that the Army will rise to greater heights under the new chief Lt Gen M M Naravane.

When asked wether the Army is better prepared now to face the security challenges facing the country he said: “Yes, we are better prepared.

New Delhi,  A 25-year-old man was arrested on Monday for his alleged involvement in the violence near Jamia Millia Islamia here around a fortnight ago, police said.

The accused, Asad Ansari, was arrested from Kalkaji area, they said.

According to police, the man, a resident of Jamia Nagar, was previously involved in a case of Arms Act. He was identified through videography and technical surveillance, they said.

Ansari was found indulging in violence outside the Jamia Millia Islamia and seen pelting stones, a senior police officer said.

So far, a total of 11 people have been arrested in connection with violence near Jamia Millia Islamia, he said.

On December 15, the university had turned into a battlefield as police entered the campus and also used force, following protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to violence and arson in which four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes were damaged.

New Delhi, Dec 31  The Congress on Tuesday raised several questions over the appointment of Gen Bipin Rawat as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), saying the government has started on a “wrong foot” on the issue.

The party also asked whether the country was headed on a portentous path.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the government has started on a wrong foot on the appointment and only time will unfortunately reveal the implications.

“With great regret and fullest of responsibility may I say that the Govt has started on a very wrong foot with regard to CDS. Time alone unfortunately will reveal the implications of this decision,” he said on Twitter.

He also asked why the appointment of a CDS is fraught with difficulties and ambiguities.

“What implications does nomenclature Principal Military Advisor to Defense Minister have in relation to the three service chiefs in terms of Military advise tendered to the government?Will the advise of the CDS override the advise of the respective Service Chiefs,” he asked.

Tewari wondered if the CDS as Permanent Chairperson of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee outrank the three service Chiefs.

“Would the three Chiefs report to Defense Minister through Defense Secretary or through CDS now,” he asked.

“What will be the position of CDS qua Defense Secretary?Would the Defense Secretary in terms of Rule 11 of Transaction of Business Rules continue to be the administrative head of the Defense Ministry ?What is the remit/mandate of the proposed Department of Military Affairs?

“Would the CDS overide the Service Chiefs with regard tri Service agencies and organisations. What are the implications of the appointment of a CDS on Civil Military Relations- the equilibrium of which has been India’s singular Success since 1947? Are we down a portentous path,” he questioned.

New Delhi, Dec 31 Newly elected Congress Ministers in Maharashtra on Tuesday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence here.

The ministers were accompanied by Congress General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra, Mallikarjun Kharge and also senior Congress leader KC Venugopal along with AICC secretaries incharge of the State.

The new ministers will also be meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi soon.

New Delhi,  The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Monday said it will implement the new hostel manual from Wednesday, with its Vice-Chancellor appealing to the students to call off their strike.

After a meeting of all the three Rectors, the university’s Registrar, the Deans of Schools and Chairpersons of the Special Centres, a circular was also issued urging the students, who have completed their “academic requirements of Monsoon semester 2019”, to register for the new semester between Wednesday and January 5.

For those who have not completed the “academic requirements” provisional registration will be allowed during the same period, the varsity said.

It said the provisionally registered students are required to complete the “academic requirements” by January 20, 2020 to keep their registration valid.

The Deans and Chairpersons will ensure that evaluations, examinations and grading of all the provisionally registered students are completed on or before January 20, 2020, the varsity said.

For all the students, winter semester will start as per the academic calendar, it said.

According to a varsity official, the students who boycotted exams and did not take the tests even the question papers were sent to them through email and WhatsApp have been given another chance.

“They can provisionally register for the semester, take exams at their respective schools and the results will be declared by January 20,” a varsity official said.

Saket Moon, the vice-president of the JNU students’ union, said the students had a meeting with the varsity Registrar and Rector where some issues were discussed.

He said the students’ union will hold a meeting to decide whether they will take the exams or not.

The students of the university have been on a strike for over two months against the hostel manual as it has provisions for fee hike and levies service and utility charges.

However, a JNU official said the service and utility charges will be taken care of by the University Grants Commission and will not be levied on the students.

The varsity’s vice-chancellor, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, wished the students well for the New Year and cited the varsity’s achievements. He also expressed concerns saying, “certain recent incidents have deeply impeded the forward march of our university”.

“It is difficult to fathom what prompted our students to take the path of confrontation and disruption affecting the teaching and research work towards the end of the Monsoon Semester 2019,” he said.

Although the university administration and the relevant bodies followed the statutory process for revising the room rent and hostel charges, a false impression was created as if the administration was bringing about these changes to harm the students, Kumar said.

He explained that the nominal increase in the hostel charges was necessitated owing to a mounting fiscal pressure on the University budget, and to maintain a comfortable and conducive hostel accommodation.

The administration made several attempts to establish meaningful dialogues with the agitating students to explain the rationale behind the new hostel charges, Kumar said.

The agitating students prevented the teachers and other students from entering few school buildings, he added.

“The university is giving yet another chance to the students to complete their academic requirements of Monsoon semester 2019. I appeal to the agitating students to call off their strike and lockdown of certain school buildings,” Kumar said.

Thane, Dec 31 A zilla parishad employee here in Maharashtra has been arrested for allegedly taking bribe from a person for facilitating clearance of the latter’s payment, the ACB said on Tuesday.

The accused, Deepak Salve, a senior assistant in the zilla parishad’s education department, allegedly demanded Rs 15,000 from the person for forwarding his file to authorities concerned for payment of Rs 9.58 lakh for the construction work of a school at Asose village, it said in a release.

The aggrieved person approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which laid a trap and caught the accused while accepting the bribe amount from the complainant at the zilla parishad office on Monday, the release said.

The accused was arrested and booked under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ACB added.

New Delhi, Four medium intensity tremors with magnitudes ranging between 4.7 and 5.5 hit Jammu and Kashmir in a span of less than two hours on Monday night, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The first quake with a magnitude of 4.7 hit at 10:42 pm, followed by one measuring 5.5 six minutes later.

The two occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The third quake measuring 4.6 hit at 10:58 pm, followed by the fourth one at 11:20 pm with a magnitude of 5.4.

The third and fourth quakes occurred at the depth of 36 kilometres and 63 kilometres respectively.

There was no immediate reports of casualty and damage to properties.

Separately, a quake with a magnitude of 5 hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands at 10:29 pm.

Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar islands witness high seismological activities.

New Delhi, Dec 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condoled the death of Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu, describing him as a diligent leader who was devoted towards development of the state.

Yhoshu (67) died on Monday at a hospital in Mumbai after battling lung cancer for several months.

“Anguished by the demise of the Speaker of Nagaland’s Assembly Vikho-o Yhoshu. He was a diligent leader who devoted his life towards the progress of Nagaland. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in these moments of sadness,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, and undergoing treatment in Mumbai since then.

He is survived by wife and 10 children.