A massive forest fire sweeping through the dense foliage of the mountains of Uttarakhand has gutted over 108 hectare of forest land in the State. With the fire reaching the vicinity of an Air Force Station near the Nanda range, Indian Air Force activated its aerial firefighting capability and deployed a Mi-17 V5 helicopter to douse the fire through Bambi Bucket Operations.
The Indian Army too has deployed two columns for firefighting in Kumaon, on the request of the forest department.
Talking to The Hindu, District Forest Officer (DFO) Nainital, Chandra Shekhar Joshi informed that the forest fire was first reported earlier this week in the Nanda range, and later spread downwards reaching the IAF establishment. He added that the fire is about 10 km away from the vicinity of the city and all efforts are being undertaken to control the same.
Meanwhile, residents of Nainital and nearby areas are complaining of thick blanket of smog engulfing the region due to the leaping flames of the forest fire.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the government is working hard to control it and help from the Army has also been sought. “The forest fires are a challenge for us. This is a big fire. We are working for all the essential needs. We have asked for help from the Army... I am going to conduct a meeting in Haldwani today. We have conducted a meeting in Dehradun also regarding this. We will try to control the fire as soon as possible,” Dhami said adding that the respective district administrations have been asked to ensure action is taken against those trying to ignite fire in hills.
In a similar action, the forest fire protection team formed under the leadership of Divisional Forest Officer, Rudraprayag caught a person named Naresh Bhatt from Tadiyal village, Tehsil-Jakholi. He was trying to set fire in the forests to pave a way for grazing of goats, a communique from the district administration said.
In another arrest, Hemant Singh and Bhagwati Lal were caught red-handed while setting fire in the Dangwal village of North Jakholi. The accused were booked under the Indian Forest Act 1927 and were sent to jail.
Arrest is a ‘classic case’ of assault against the Opposition, Kejriwal tells Supreme Court
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has told the Supreme Court that his arrest in the Delhi Excise policy case is a “classic case” of assault mounted on the Opposition against the tenets of democracy, federalism, and fair elections.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is scheduled to hear Kejriwal’s case against his arrest on April 29.
Kejriwal, in his rejoinder to a counter-affidavit filed by the ED, accused the BJP-ruled Union government of using the agency as a tool to crush its competition in the electoral arena.
The Aam Aadmi Party has maintained that the real intention behind Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21 was to prevent him from campaigning during the ongoing general election. The party had claimed that the ED had not uncovered even a shred of evidence against Kejriwal, adding that there was no money trail linked to him.
PM Modi has ensured doom, not development for all, says Kharge
In a play of words on the BJP slogan — ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’, meaning ‘all together, development for all’ — Kharge said that the PM had instead ensured ‘sabka satyanash’, meaning ‘doom for everyone’, and had failed to fulfill any of the promises he has made over his last decade in power.
“He guaranteed two crore jobs [per year]. So, there should have been 20 crore jobs. He promised to bring back the black money he claimed was stashed abroad during the Congress rule and give ₹15 lakh to everyone. He promised to double farmers’ income and build a house for every family by 2022. He could not implement any of these promises,” Kharge said, speaking to the media in Guwahati.
He said that, unlike the Congress, the BJP had never fought for the country’s independence but it keeps boasting about patriotism. “They talk about it so much that Nehruji, Indiraji, and Lal Bahadur Shastriji are nothing in front of them. Modiji is everything,” he said.
Kharge said that his party was fighting the ongoing Lok Sabha election to save the Constitution of India and democracy, and to check the problems of inflation and unemployment. The farmers, in particular, are angry because of the hardships heaped on them by the BJP-led NDA government, he said.
Further, Kharge also declined to end the suspense over the Congress’ candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh. The party was expected to announce its candidates for the seats on the day, but Kharge asked everyone to wait “for a few days”.
After 20 years, Nagaland to hold civic body polls with 33% quota for women
Scheduled on June 26, it will be the first-ever municipal elections in the State with a quota for women. The last such polls were held in 2004.
On April 27, Nagaland’s Municipal Affairs Department said that the State Election Commission approved the election schedule, which specified the number of wards reserved for women on rotation as mandated by the Nagaland Municipal Act of 2023.
According to the schedule, nominations can be filed from June 7 to 11 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature will be June 20. After the polls on June 26 and re-polls, if needed, on June 28, the votes will be counted and declared on June 29.
Nagaland has three municipal councils – Dimapur, Kohima, and Mokokchung – and 36 town councils. Six of the 19 wards in Kohima, eight out of 23 wards in Dimapur, and six out of 18 wards in Mokokchung have been reserved for women.
The Nagaland Municipal and Town Council Act was passed in 2001 without the provision of reserving 33% of the seats for women, as required under Article 243T of the Constitution. This was amended in 2006.
The first election under the Act was conducted in 2004 without the reservation of seats for women, except in Mokokchung, as it was deemed to infringe upon the special provisions granted to Nagaland under Article 371A of the Constitution.
‘I can’t breathe’: Black man in Ohio tells police before he died, video shows
Ohio police released video of a Black man who died at a local hospital after repeatedly telling officers “I can’t breathe” as they pinned him to the floor of a bar and handcuffed him, evoking memories of the killing of George Floyd in 2020.
In a body camera video released on April 25 by the Canton Police Department, officers are seen apprehending the man, identified as Frank Tyson, 53, who was suspected of leaving the scene of a single-car accident on April 18.
The 36-minute clip begins with a patrol officer coming upon a car that had struck an electrical pole and a bystander telling him that the driver of the vehicle had fled into a nearby tavern.
Officers are then seen entering the establishment, where they find Tyson standing at the bar. An altercation ensued as they attempted to grab his arms, and he repeatedly shouts “They are trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff.”
Officers wrestled Tyson to the ground and handcuffed him. One of them is seen placing a knee on his back near his neck for about 30 seconds.
Tyson can be heard repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe. I can’t... get off my neck,” as an officer yells “Calm down” and “You’re fine” before standing up.
The video next shows Tyson lying motionless, face down on the floor for about six minutes, while officers speak with bar patrons.
The officers then check on Tyson, who appears to be unresponsive. They can be heard saying, “Is he breathing?” and “Does he have a pulse?”
Eight minutes after the officers handcuffed Tyson, they remove the cuffs and begin CPR. Paramedics then arrive at the scene and take Tyson out of the bar on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance, the video shows.
The Canton Police Department officers involved in Tyson’s death were identified as Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch, WKYC reported. Both were placed on administrative leave and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, the station reported.
IPL-17: DC vs MI | Mumbai Indians fall short by 10 runs against Delhi Capitals
Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma (8) early with the score at 35. Ishan Kishan (20) also fell at 45 in 4.1 overs. All the hopes fell on the shoulders of Suryakumar Yadav (26 off 13 balls) who thrashed three boundaries and 2 sixes.
However, with the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai Indians relied on its captain Hardik Pandya (46), who played some scintillating shots and took the team to 136 in 12.3 overs.
Nehal Wadhera (4) fell early and Tim David (37) and Tilak Verma (63) played brilliantly, almost seeing Mumbai Indians home but fell short by 10 runs. Mohammad Nabi and Piyush Chawla played useful knocks towards the end of the innings.
Rasikh Salam took 3 for 34, Khaleel Ahmed (2 for 45) and Mukesh Kumar (3 for 59) were among the wicket-takers for Delhi Capitals.
Earlier, after sent into bat, Delhi Capitals went on a run-spree scoring a daunting 257 in 20 overs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk (84 off just 27 balls) and Abishek Porel (36) started on a brisk note to put on 114 runs in just 7.3 overs. McGurk was particularly severe right from the first ball of the innings and scored at will despatching the bowlers to all around the Arun Jaitley stadium. He hit 11 fours and 6 sixes in his innings. Porel played second fiddle to McGurk.
With the quick wickets of McGurk and Porel at 127 in 9.4 overs, it was Shai Hope (41 off 17 balls) and captain Rishabh Pant (29), who scored briskly and added 53 runs in just 4 overs. Shai Hope innings consisted of five sixes. Later, Tristan Stubbs (48) and Axar Patel (11) took Delhi Capitals innings past the 250-mark.
Jasprit Bumrah (1 for 35), Luke Wood (1 for 68), Mohammed Nabi (1 for 20) and Piyush Chawla (1 for 36) were the wicket takers for Mumbai Indians.
While DC is ranked sixth on the points table, MI is placed ninth.
Poll roundup:
- The BJP announced on April 27 its decision to replace incumbent Lok Sabha MP Poonam Mahajan, daughter of former Union Minister Pramod Mahajan, with lawyer Ujjwal Deorai Nikam for the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat. In 2014, Poonam Mahajan secured victory from the Mumbai North Central seat, triumphing over incumbent MP Priya Dutt, daughter of the late actor and Congress leader Sunil Dutt. She repeated this success in the 2019 general elections. Nikam, a known figure in the legal circles, served as a government counsel in the Mumbai terror attacks case. While speculations of replacing the sitting MP have been circulating, BJP leaders said that the party’s search for her successor was time-consuming and cited organisational feedback as the rationale behind her replacement.
- Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on April 27 claimed that the ruling BJP’s top leadership may be pretending to be in denial mode now but the party will change the Constitution if it returns to power. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation, she called him a “mehengai” man. “BJP leaders and candidates are saying that they will change the Constitution. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is denying it. This is their tactic,” she said at a public rally at Dharampur village of tribal-dominated Valsad district held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.
- The polling percentage for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala has been updated to 71.16%. The “final official” figures for the elections on April 26 will be made available soon, the office of Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Sanjay Kaul said on April 27 after issuing the update. As per the latest update, of the total electorate of 2,77,49,159 as many as 1,97,48,764 voters exercised their franchise on April 26. This includes 1,02,81,005 women, 94,67,612 men and 147 transgender voters. 71.72% of women voters, 70.57% of male voters and 40.05% of transgender voted on April 26. 1,65,205 voters made use of the home voting facility. Postal votes cast by voters engaged in essential services and government officials numbered 39,111.
In Brief:
34,388 Palestinians killed in Israel’s military offensive since October 7: Gaza Health Ministry
At least 34,388 Palestinians have been killed and 77,437 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on April 27. Some 32 have been killed and 69 others wounded over the past 24 hours, the Ministry said.
Yemen’s Houthis say their missile hit India-bound Andromeda Star oil ship in Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthis said on April 27 their missiles hit the Andromeda Star oil tanker in the Red Sea, as they continue attacking commercial ships in the area in a show of support for Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war. The ship’s master reported damage to the vessel, British maritime security firm Ambrey said. Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Panama-flagged ship was British-owned, but shipping data shows it was recently sold, according to LSEG data and Ambrey. Its current owner is Seychelles-registered. The tanker is engaged in Russia-linked trade. It was en route from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, Ambrey said.
Delhi Court grants bail to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a complaint case of ED for not attending summons
The Rouse Avenue Court on April 27 granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with a recent ED complaint against him for alleged non-attendance of the summons in Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case. Khan appeared before the court following summons issued to him by the court. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Divya Malhotra, noted his presence, granting him bail on a personal bond of ₹15,000 and one surety of like amount.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
Published - April 27, 2024 09:14 pm IST