1. Vyapam Scam: 96 Candidates Lied That Middlemen Had Died
The CBI probe into the Vyapam scam has found at least 96 instances where candidates lied that the middlemen who hired proxies to appear for the entrance test were dead.
The original candidates were approached by middlemen who further engaged other middlemen to identify bright students in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi and Rajasthan who could impersonate those taking the entrance exam.
The strategy was such that the actual candidate did not know the second middleman or the impersonator.
When the scam surfaced, candidates were asked to give the names of middlemen. The candidates instead gave the names of poor people unrelated to the scam so that the police could not reach the actual middlemen and the impersonators who appeared on behalf of them.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Delhi's Iconic Centaur Hotel to Be Razed for Aircraft Parking
Centaur Hotel, a city landmark built for the 1982 Asian Games, will soon be consigned to history.
The Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) says the site of the hotel will be needed by December 2019 — by when it would have completed 37 years — to make way for aircraft parking bays as part of the terminal 3 expansion plan.
The site is not needed for the fourth runway as that will be built slightly ahead of it towards the existing third runway. But we have to make additional parking bays and the Centaur site is needed for that.Senior Airport Official
Run by Air India, the 376-room Centaur was a landmark when it opened because of its glitzy interiors. Its glass elevators, visible from the central lobby, a novelty back then that only Le Meridien at Janpath boasted of, were a big hit.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. 'Trump Has No Comment': White House Faces Backlash for Silence over Indian Techie's Death
As Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s family tries to deal with the young aviation engineer’s cold-blooded murder by a hate-driven shooter, questions are being raised about the lack of attention it has received from the White House, especially in comparison to similar circumstances in the past.
Questions are also being raised about why the shooting has not been a bigger news story, given the charged atmosphere of surging social tensions fuelled in part by the Donald Trump administration.
There was no comment or reaction from the White House until Friday, when the shooting was raised at the daily briefing.
Any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, that kind of – to suggest that there’s any correlation (to the president’s rhetoric), I think is a bit absurd.Sean Spicer
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. ISIS Planned Lone-Wolf Attacks in Gujarat, Two Arrested: ATS
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested two brothers from Bhavnagar for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired “lone wolf attack” on a temple in Surendranagar.
The father of the young men, a retired employee of Saurashtra University and a district-level cricket umpire, said both his sons had bachelor’s degrees in computer application.
One of the arrested men is a graphic designer; the other is a scrap dealer in Bhavnagar. ATS officials said the brothers, Vaseem Ramodiya and Naeem Ramodiya, were “guided by an unknown ISIS handler” with whom they were allegedly plotting to attack places which could create “big news”.
“Policemen came past midnight and arrested Vaseem. They also seized a knife, an axe and some material which they claimed is an explosive. They have not allowed me to meet my sons,” Arif Ramodiya said.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Army Recruitment Exam Paper Leaked, Retired Officer Among 21 Suspects Held
In a coordinated pre-dawn action, the police in Pune, Nagpur and Panaji detained 21 suspects for leaking the question papers of an army recruitment exam held on Sunday. The joint action was led by Thane police's crime branch, which detected the paper leak.
The detainees include a retired army officer and a senior paramilitary officer.
Army and police sources confirmed that the leaked papers matched with the original papers set by the army recruitment board. The paper was being circulated through a cellphone messaging service to the beneficiaries, police said.
The recruitments were being conducted for the posts of soldiers (general duty, clerk and tradesmen). The education qualifications for the jobs ranged from Std 8-12 pass.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. On Board S6 of Sabarmati Express, 15 Years Later from Poll-Bound State
The gutted S6 coach of Sabarmati Express still stands at the Godhra railway yard, a grim reminder of one of the worst tragedies in India’s recent history. The rusting coach, its doors protected by a mesh of barbed wires, is guarded by two security men from the railways. Barring investigators and snakes, say the guards, no one has entered the coach after 27 February 2002 when it was set on fire at the station, killing 59 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya.
In the new S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express that The Indian Express boarded at Ayodhya, few have any connection with or recollection of the 2002 incident. Most are busy discussing the elections in Uttar Pradesh.
In the past 15 years, politics may have remained relatively static, but a lot has changed on board Sabarmati Express. “We used to call it gadha gaadi (donkey train). It was slow and stopped at so many stations that it was perpetually late,” says Shyam Kumar, a lecturer at a college in Faizabad district who has travelled in the train several times since 2002.
On that fateful day too, the train was late. It reached Godhra station at 7.45 am, late by four hours.
(Source: Indian Express)
7. Bahubalis, Royalty and Satraps to Fight It out in UP 5th Phase
The fifth round of the battle for UP's crown will be fought on Monday in 51 assembly constituencies of 11 districts located in Awadh, Terai belt and East UP where election discourse is dominated by bahubalis, royalty and local satraps.
Besides Muslims, Brahmins and Thakurs, substantial number of non-Yadav backward classes and non-Jatav Dalits will play a crucial role in this highly backward, but agriculturally rich region.
Pollsters do not rule out possibility of communal polarisation following series of caustic remarks by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Some, however, believe, more than 3.07 lakh first time voters (18-19 years) in these 51 constituencies can also tilt the balance at some places by breaking caste and communal barriers.
In 2012, SP dominated by winning 36, out of 51 seats, Congress won 5, BJP 5, BSP 3 and Peace Party 2.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Shankaracharyas Multiply, so Do Legal Tangles
The recent episode of a Haridwar-based sadhu, Swami Achyutananda, who anointed himself as Shankaracharya of the Dwarka Sharda peeth on Maha Shivaratri day has brought into focus the proliferation of shankaracharyas across the country.
Adi Shankaracharya who started the monastic order set up only four ‘maths’ whose chiefs were to be ordained as Shankaracharyas. But it is estimated that over 50 seers have proclaimed themselves as Shankaracharyas of various peeths, although exact numbers are hard to come by. Disputes and litigation are ongoing in many.
Haridwar sadhus say that the move by "a few individuals who are desperate to grab high religious offices by any means" is giving the seer community a bad name. “These things are very disappointing, and put the sadhu community under a cloud," said Swami Ravindra Puri of Mahanirwani Akhara.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Delhi Varsity Professor Assaulted by Students Diagnosed with Internal Injuries
Delhi University associate professor Prasanta Chakravarty, who was allegedly beaten up by students during clashes at Ramjas College last week, was rushed to a hospital after he “passed out” with a “shooting abdominal pain” on Sunday.
In a post on a social networking site, Chakravarty said he was taken to the emergency department of the Fortis in Noida and diagnosed with “contusion and concealed spasms on the right abdomen and on spinal extensor muscles”.
This means the abdominal region and spinal muscles had bruised due to rupturing of the thin blood vessels and had involuntary muscular contraction, doctors said.
“Effected by heavy boot kicks perhaps. a couple of ribs also impaired – will require protracted treatment. pain needs to abate first now. intravenous meds and drips on. if that does not work, other possibilities will be explored. MLC report of Feb 22 followed up by the hospital authorities (sic),” the professor posted.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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