21 MLAs ask Modi to form a ‘popular government’ in Manipur
Twenty-one MLAs from Manipur have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to form a “popular government” in the crisis-hit state that is under the President’s rule.
They said such a step would ensure peace and normalcy in the state.
The Central government on Feb 13 imposed President’s rule in Manipur, where more than 260 people have been killed and thousands left homeless in ethnic violence since May 2023.
Kolkata hotel violated every possible safety norm, say officials
As the death toll in the fire at a six-storey hotel at Madan Mohan Burman Street in Kolkata reached 15 on Wednesday, senior officials of the West Bengal government pointed out severe lapses in fire safety management.
The director general of the state fire services department Ranveer Kumar said the fire licence of the hotel had expired three years ago, and the hotel authorities had not bothered to renew it.
Fire Minister Sujit Bose said the fire alarm was not working, while the fire-extinguishing equipment did not work at the crucial moment.
Initial findings by the investigation team have revealed other major lapses in ensuring proper emergency evacuation arrangements and ventilation facilities at the hotel, as a result of which the majority of those killed were suffocated by the smoke emitting from the fire.
New Case against former Delhi ministers Sisodia and Jain
The anti-corruption branch (ACB) of Delhi Police has registered a corruption case against former Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain for their alleged involvement in a Rs2,000 crore ($307 million) classroom construction scam. Both are members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Mr Sisodia held the education portfolio, while Mr Jain was in charge of the Public Works Department, which carries out such constructions.
The ACB said over 12,000 classrooms and school buildings were constructed at an exorbitant cost (Rs2,000 crore) during the previous AAP government rule. The contracts were awarded to 34 people with links to the AAP.
After 57 transfers over 33 years, IAS officer Khemka retires
Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ashok Khemka, known for his bureaucratic integrity and uprightness, retired from the service on Wednesday after a career spanning over three decades.
The 1991-batch officer of Haryana cadre was transferred 57 times in 33 years – nearly two postings a year – primarily for exposing alleged irregularities, taking on vested interests and refusing to toe the line in politically sensitive matters.
Khemka retired as additional chief secretary, transport department, a posting he got in December 2024.
Woman doctor dies in Jaipur, relatives allege murder
Five days after the death of a 24-year-old woman doctor at Jaipur’s SMS Hospital, police in Hisar, Haryana, on Wednesday began an investigation into what the family alleges was a brutal murder.
Ms Bhawna Yadav, who lived in Rajasthan’s Behror, recently completed her medical studies in the Philippines and was preparing for post-graduate exams. She left for Delhi on April 21 to attend a mock test but never returned. She was later found with severe burn injuries and multiple stab wounds, according to family members.
She was first admitted to a hospital in Hisar and then shifted to SMS Hospital, where she died on April 24. Family members have named distant relative Udesh Yadav as a suspect.
Court warns of action against actress Malaika in hotel brawl case
A court in Mumbai has granted actress Malaika Arora a last chance and warned of issuing a non-bailable warrant for failing to appear as a witness in a 2012 hotel brawl case involving co-star Saif Ali Khan.
The court was irked after Malaika failed to appear on April 29, days after a bailable warrant was issued against her.
She was part of a group of diners who accompanied Saif at a five-star hotel on Feb 22, 2012, when he allegedly punched a man who had compalined about the noise they were making.
17 women MPs, MLAs are billionaires
Seventeen women MPs and MLAs across India have declared themselves billionaires, while 28 per cent have criminal cases registered against them, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
The billionaire MPs and MLAs include six of the 75 women MPs in the lower house, three of 37 in the upper house and eight out of 400 women MLAs from state and Union territory assemblies.
There are criminal cases against 24 (32 per cent) Lok Sabha women MPs, 10 (27 per cent) of Rajya Sabha women MPs and 109 (27 per cent) of 400 women MLAs across all state Union territory assemblies.
Maharashtra acquires Raghuji Bhonsle’s sword for Rs47 lakh
The Maharashtra Government has acquired the famous “Raghuji Sword” of the 18th century Maratha general Raghuji Bhonsle for Rs47.15 lakh ($72,000) at an auction in London, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday.
Raje Raghuji Bhonsle, founder of the Bhonsle dynasty of Nagpur, had in 1745 led the battle against the Nawab of Bengal.
Sotheby’s, which conducted the auction, said that the basket-hilt sword was sold for 38,100 pounds. The estimate before the auction was between 6,000 and 8,000 pounds.
Six members of family drown in Gujarat river
Six members of a family, mostly teenage cousins, drowned in a river in Gujarat’s Kheda district on Wednesday evening, police said.
The incident took place at Kanij village.
“Six persons went to bathe in Meshwo river where they drowned,” Kheda Superintendent of Police Rajesh Gadhiya said. “The bodies of all six of them have been found.”
