New Delhi, October 31

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Centre and state were helping the victims of the Morbi bridge tragedy, and that never in his life he had experienced such pain and grief.

Speaking in Kevadia, Modi said the cultural programme to be held on the occasion was cancelled following the tragedy.

"I am in Ekta Nagar but my mind is with the victims of Morbi. Rarely in my life have I experienced such pain. 

"On the one hand, there is a pain-riddled heart and on the other, there is the path to duty," an emotional Modi said..

Expressing sympathy with the families of all those who lost their lives, the PM said all efforts had been made for relief and rescue.

The Prime Minister, who is in Kevadia on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, said no effort would be spared in providing relief and rescue. 

 The rupee appreciated 15 paise to 82.32 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday tracking easing crude oil prices and a positive trend in domestic equities.

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) The Congress on Monday paid tributes to India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying the most fitting tribute to him would be to keep the flame of unity he ignited shining brighter than ever.

Patel is considered the chief architect of integration of the erstwhile princely states with the Union of India.

“Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s ironclad will united India. The most fitting tribute to him would be to keep the flame of unity he ignited shining brighter than ever,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

The Congress, from its official Twitter handle, said, “We pay our heartfelt tributes to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on his birth anniversary. It was for his iron will that the nation was weaved into a union.” “A great son of Bharat Mata, he continues to inspire us to fight the forces of hate & division,” the party said.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh hailed Patel on his 147th birth anniversary.

“In October 2011, I was privileged to deliver the Sardar Patel Memorial lecture in which I presented a side of his that is not very well know – his wit and humour,” Ramesh tweeted.

“Irrespective of whatever the Distorians peddle, Patel and Nehru former an unique jugalbandhi for almost 30 years that shaped modern India,” he said and shared a photograph of Nehru and Patel together. PTI

Kolkata, Oct 30 (PTI) Calling for increased collaboration between filmmakers of India and Bangladesh, the latter’s Information Minister Hasan Mahmud said “the barbed wire separating the two sides” has not created any divide among people.

Mahmud, during his address at the inaugural function of the fourth edition of Bangladesh Film Festival here on Saturday, said people of his country have always loved and revered Bengali matinee idols from this side of the border, such as Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen.

"The barbed wire fencing separating the two sides has not created any divide among people who speak the same language, have grown up in the same environment and share similar love for arts and music," the minister stated. 

Ahmedabad, Oct 30 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot will address different rallies in poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Kejriwal and Mann will jointly address two rallies in Palitana town of Bhavnagar and Dhoraji in Rajkot district.

 The two AAP leaders are on a three-day visit to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat from Friday.

AAP national convener Kejriwal has visited Gujarat multiple times in the recent past and offered a number of ‘guarantees’ to the people of the state if his party is voted to power.

Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress veteran Gehlot will also address three rallies in Gujarat on Sunday, the third day of his visit to the state where polls to the 182-member Assembly are due this year-end.

He will first address a public gathering at Virampur in Banaskantha, followed by rallies at Khedbrahma in Sabarkantha district and Bhiloda in Aravalli district.

On Saturday, Gehlot claimed the BJP was getting 95 per cent of the total donations made through electoral bonds as donors were not providing funds to other parties out of fear.

He accused the BJP of even “threatening” corporates, who wish to donate to the Congress and other political parties.
 

He also targeted the AAP and its chief Kejriwal, saying they spend money for suppressing any negative news against them.

The schedule for th Gujarat Assembly polls is yet to be announced. PTI 

 Mumbai, Oct 30 (PTI) The forest department caught a male leopard from Aarey Colony in Mumbai early Sunday morning, the second feline to be captured in the last five days, an official said.

The leopard walked into a cage trap set up in unit 15 of the Aarey Colony, a green belt in Mumbai’s western suburb of Goregaon and located close to the sprawling Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), he said.

It was later taken to a rescue centre at the SGNP, the official said.

Earlier, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl was attacked and killed by a leopard in a forested area in unit number 15 of the Aarey Colony on Monday morning when the child followed her mother who was on way to a temple nearby.

On Wednesday, a male leopard was captured in Aarey’s unit number 17 and was also taken to the rescue centre in the SGNP, the official said.

Forest officials suspect it is the same animal that killed the girl, he said.

After the incident on Monday, the forest department had put up three cages at strategic locations in and around the site to capture the animal, the official said.

Forest officials will continue to monitor the movements of other leopards through 30 camera traps and a cage put up in the area, he said.

Nearly 30 wildlife volunteers, members of NGOs, forest department officials and staff of the SNGP are working together to deal with the incidents of human-animal conflict in the area, he added. PTI 

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) The new amendments to IT rules impose a legal obligation on social media companies to take all out efforts to prevent barred content and misinformation, the government said on Saturday making it clear that platforms such as Twitter and Facebook operating in India will have to abide by local laws and constitutional rights of Indian users.

The new rules provide for setting up appellate committees which can overrule decisions of the big tech firms on takedown or blocking requests.
 

The hardening of stance against the big tech companies comes at a time when discontent has been brewing over alleged arbitrary acts of social media platforms on flagged content, or not responding fast enough to grievances.

Amid concerns over the rising clout of Big Tech globally, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, Elon Musk, on Friday completed his USD 44-billion takeover of Twitter, placing the world’s richest man at the helm of one of the most influential social media apps in the world. Incidentally, the microblogging platform has had multiple run-ins with the government in the past.

India’s tweaking of IT rules allow formation of Centre-appointed panels, that will settle often-ignored user grievances against content decision of social media companies, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, adding that this was necessitated due to the “casual” and “tokenism” approach of digital platforms towards user complaints so far.

That is not acceptable,” Chandrasekhar said at a media briefing explaining the amended rules.

The minister said that lakhs of messages around unresolved user complaints reflected the “broken” grievance redressal mechanism currently being offered by platforms, and added that while it will partner with social media companies towards common goal of ensuring Internet remains open, safe and trusted for Indians, the government will not hesitate to act, crackdown, where public interest is compromised.

On whether penalties will be imposed on platforms for not complying, he said the government would not like to bring punitive action at this stage but warned that if the situation demands in future, that could be considered too. The internet is evolving, as will the laws.

 Kolkata, Oct 29 (PTI) Bangladesh Information Minister Hasan Mahmud Saturday said the Sheikh Hasina government is committed to the safety of its Hindu minorities and the peaceful Durga Puja celebrations in the country this year is a testimony to it.

Mahamud, who is in the city to inaugurate Bangladesh Film Festival, said the Indo-Bangla relation is not dependent only on the Teesta water sharing agreement between the two nations.

“The Sheikh Hasina government is committed to protecting the rights of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. The recent peaceful Durga Puja celebration in the country is a testimony to it. This year the number of Durga Pujas held in Bangladesh was much higher than last year,” Mahmud said at a press conference at the Press Club here.

Referring to the communal violence in Bangladesh during Durga Puja in 2021, he said the country’s government was extra cautious to avoid any untoward incident this year.

“Those who had tried to create problems during Durga Puja stand exposed. We have taken special measures to ensure no untoward incident takes place,” he said.

Speaking on India-Bangladesh relations, the minister said more than the government to government relations it is the people-to-people associations between the two countries that have helped strengthen the diplomatic relations.

“Our bilateral relation is not only dependent on Teesta (Water sharing). Whenever I come to India, I am asked this question. Our relationship is diverse,” he added.

The Teesta river water agreement has been hanging fire for more than a decade due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. PTI 

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday produced an audio clip of an alleged BJP man purportedly discussing the party’s bid to poach AAP MLAs in the capital and demanded Home Minister Amit Shah’s arrest if he was involved in the matter.

The senior AAP leader played the audio tape at a press conference and said the BJP “dalal” (broker) heard in the clip was one of the three people arrested in Telangana over an alleged bid to poach that state’s ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLAs.

There was no immediate reaction from the BJP or Shah.

“In this audio, the BJP’s dalal (broker) can be heard luring a (TRS) MLA to the BJP, saying they were also trying to poach 43 Delhi MLAs and that money had been kept aside for this purpose. He is also saying that he has spoken with Shah and BL Santosh,” Sisodia said.

“If it is Home Minister Amit Shah the BJP’s dalal is referring to, he should immediately be arrested and questioned,” the Delhi deputy chief minister demanded.

He said the audio tape was a “proof” of the BJP’s failed attempt to poach AAP MLAs in Delhi and Punjab and demanded a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into the matter.

“It is very dangerous for a country if its home minister is involved in such a conspiracy,” Sisodia said. PTI 

 Aurangabad/Patna, 29 October (HS): In Bihar, more than two dozen people, including seven policemen, were injured in a cylinder blast at a house in Shahganj locality of Nagar police station area of Aurangabad city in the early hours of Saturday. The blast happened at Anil Goswami's house.

According to the police, preparations were being made for Kharna at Anil's house. During this, gas leaked from the kitchen cylinder and the fire spread. During this the cylinder exploded. The local people somehow tried to control the fire but without success. It is suspected that the gas leaking from the cylinder caught fire due to a short circuit.

25 to 30 people were injured in this accident. Out of this, the condition of about 10 people is said to be serious. People admitted in Sadar Hospital were treated. After this, people took their patient out according to the situation, seeing the nearby private hospital and serious condition. 10 injured were referred from Sadar Hospital in critical condition.

SI Vinay Kumar Singh of the city police station told that the police reached as soon as the information was received. An attempt was made to put out the fire. During this there was a loud explosion. Investigation is being done. Homeowner Anil Goswami says that the fire started due to gas leakage in the cylinder. Singh said that seven policemen were also injured in the accident. Among the injured were Prabhat Kumar, RN Goswami, Anil Kumar, Raj Kishore, Mo Nazir, Mo Meraj, Mo Bittu, Ashgar, Shahnawaz, Sonu, Monu, Mahendra Saw, Aditya Rai, Sudhanshu Kumar, Chhotu Alam, Arbaaz, Shabir, Pankaj Verma. , Abhay Kumar Thakur, Rajiv Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Aditya Kumar, Akhilesh Kumar, Mo Mozzam, Chhotu Alam, Preeti Kumari, Jaglal Prasad etc.

Hindusthan Samachar