New Delhi: Indian Railways has hiked platform ticket prices to reduce unnecessary travel as part of its fight against Covid-19. The platform ticket price has been tripled from Rs 10 to Rs 30. Besides, it is proposed to increase the minimum fare for second class travel from Rs 10 to Rs 30. The fare hike is aimed at preventing passenger train tickets from getting on the platform.
The platform ticket price has been hiked to Rs 50 at several stations in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Mumbai from March 1 due to the sharp spread of Covid.
For the common man, the fare increase is double that of the railways. But Indian Railways explain that this is temporary.
Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has filed a charge sheet in the special court in connection with the death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput. 35 names are included in the charge sheet. The charge sheet was filed by NCB Mumbai zonal director Samipar Vankade, who was overseeing the case. But he was not ready for further response.
The charge sheet names Sushant’s ex-girlfriend and actress Riya Chakraborty, brother Shovik Chakraborty, Rajput’s former manager Samuel Miranda, and housemaid Dipesh Sawant.
Anuj Keshavani, who was arrested on a large scale with LSD and marijuana, is also on the list along with two college students, foreign nationals Agisilavos Demetriades and Arjun Rampal’s brother’s partner. Kshitij Prasad is also named in the charge sheet. Five of the accused are absconding.
Following Sushant’s death, the NCB registered a case on August 6, 2020, in connection with a drug deal. Sushant was found dead at her residence on June 14, 2020.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today rejected the plea of the Enforcement Directorate seeking a stay to bail granted for Chief Ministers former Additional Principal Secretary M Shivashankar. The court issued notice to Shivashankar in the case and, the case was postponed to consider after six weeks.
ED said Supreme Court that Shivashankar used a poor girl to smuggle gold. The granting of bail to the Shivashankar will affect the inquiry of the case.
Under Section 45 of the PMLA Act, Shivashankar is not eligible for bail. So the bail order should stay ED said in the court.
Kochi: Nandakumar, who was the editor of Crime weekly, appeared at the Kochi office of the Directorate of Enforcement based on a letter he had sent stating that he was ready to hand over information on financial crimes in cases including Lavlin. Called. Nandakumar told media persons that he had received a notice yesterday that he should appear before it this morning. He was in Kozhikode and got the notice of the ED to appear this morning at noon yesterday. Therefore, the documents in his possession will not be handed over to Idi today. But he will give the information he knows orally. He has detailed documents. He kept it safe so as not to ruin it. Nandakumar told reporters that he could not trust Pinarayi Vijayan and that it was his responsibility to prove that his complaint was true. The documents would be handed over in two or three days. Nandakumar said that there are allegations that money was given to sabotage the case in the Supreme Court.
Palakkad: The Palakkad edition of the International Film Festival will end today. The fair started on February 10 in Thiruvananthapuram and will end in Palakkad after the Kochi and Kannur editions. For the first time in the history of the quarter-century, the fair was held at four places.
Over 80 films were screened at the festival, including Oscar-nominated films, including Wife of a Spy, The Man Who Sold His Skin, Qua Wadis Ida, Dear Comrades, and Rome. Malayalam films like Churuli, Hasyam, and Biryani also attracted special attention. Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony to be held at 6 pm at Priya Theater. Artistic Director Bina Paul will announce the awards at a ceremony presided over by Academy Chairman Kamal. Academy executive committee members Sibimalayil, VK Joseph, and secretary Ajoy Chandran will be present. After the closing ceremony, a picture of the winner of the gold medal will be displayed in the competition category.
Kochi: Customs with serious allegations in the dollar smuggling case of Swapna Suresh accused. An affidavit filed in the Customs Court states that the Chief Minister and the Speaker were involved in the dollar smuggling case.
There was a dispute between the prison department and customs over the interrogation of the Swapna while in prison. A petition is pending in the High Court in this regard. Customs has now made a crucial disclosure as part of this petition. According to Swapna Suresh’s secret statement under section 164, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan are directly involved in the dollar smuggling. The Chief Minister had close ties with the Consular General of the UAE, who is under investigation for gold smuggling.
The Chief Minister and the Speaker did not know Arabic. Therefore, it is said that she mediated between them and the Consular General and that all the three ministers in the cabinet besides the Chief Minister were involved in illegal activities. According to Swapna, the Chief Minister and the Speaker smuggled dollars with the help of the Consular General. They made illicit transactions with the Consular General. According to the affidavit filed in the Customs High Court, Swapna Suresh had given shocking information in the court that he had received crores of rupees in commission in various transactions.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Covaxin is effective against Covid. Covaxin is effective against genetically modified UK viruses. The CM said there was no need to have any doubts about Covaxin. The Chief Minister was speaking at a press conference.
“There were some doubts among the people regarding Covaxin. There was a reluctance among the people to take the vaccine as part of the delay in getting its third phase test results. Currently, the ICMR has released the interim results of the third phase of testing. Accordingly, the vaccine was found to have an efficacy of 81%. It has been reported that this vaccine can prevent severe Covid and Covid deaths. Therefore, based on this evidence, the people should be prepared to accept Covaxin without hesitation, ”the CM said.
As of yesterday, 3,47,801 health workers had received the first dose of the vaccine. Of these, 1,31,143 health workers received 2 doses of the vaccine. He said 91,916 frontline fighters, 1,14,243 election officials, 30,06160 people over the age of 30, and those over 45 years of age with other illnesses had been vaccinated.
The state currently has a stock of the vaccine. Also, 21 lakh doses of the vaccine will arrive on March 9, according to the Union Health Ministry. Kerala asked the center to facilitate registration on the Cowin site. The number of Covid vaccination centers will be gradually increased. Sessions at each center will be planned and sessions will be created for the next 15 days on the Cowin site. A spot registration system will be implemented in the districts to reduce congestion.
Cape Town: A strong earthquake off the northeast coast of New Zealand. A tsunami alert was issued following the incident. Residents of the area were advised to move to a higher area.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck 180 kilometers northeast of the New Zealand city of Gisborne. The incident took place at 2.27 am local time. The USGS concluded that the initial intensity was 7.3 but later confirmed to be 6.9. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km. Gibson residents said they experienced moderate tremors. No serious damage was reported.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that a screening committee is needed to scrutinize content on OTT platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime. The bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, passed the order on a petition related to the web series Thandav being aired on Amazon Prime. The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Aparna Purohit, video head of Amazon Prime, against the Allahabad High Court’s decision denying them anticipatory bail.
The court also ruled that content published on OTT platforms should be subject to scrutiny before it is made available to the public. The court also issued a notice seeking the opinion of the Central Government in this regard.
At the same time, Aparna Purohit’s lawyer argued that such FIRs are widely filed by those who want publicity.
Kochi: The High Court has said that the status quo should be maintained in the matter of stabilization of temporary employees. The court also directed the government, concerned departments, and institutions to defer.
In the petition, the court sought an explanation from the government. Justice Devan Ramachandran passed the order on a petition filed by some candidate, who is on the PSC rank list, challenging the stabilization of temporary employees.
The court sent speed post notices to various departments and directed them to reply within ten days. Notices have been issued to KILA, Keltron, Eeta Workers Welfare Board, C-DIT, Forest Industries Travancore Limited, Literacy Mission, Youth Commission, Bureau of Industrial Promotion, LBS, Women’s Commission, School Kerala.
