NEWS IN BRIEF: Sena's silence over Thackeray's comment puts an end to spat
Raj Thackeray's comments have been ignored by Saamna, the mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena
The bonhomie that cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray shared a few days ago seems to be over.
A day after Raj slammed Uddhav's
gesture of sending him a hand of friendship through a newspaper
interview, Saamna, the mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena, chose to ignore the
MNS chief's comment. Not a single word from Raj's speech on Tuesday was
printed in the paper.
The snub is significant as Saamna had been carrying stories related to Raj ever since he visited Uddhav in hospital after the latter underwent an angiography.
'Nursery not under RTE'
The Centre on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that the Right to Education Act (RTE) does not cover nursery admissions as it is applicable to children in the age group of 6-14.
Appearing for the Centre, ASG Rajeev Mehra said children below six years do not come under the purview of the RTE Act, but added that the state government may make necessary arrangements for providing free pre-school education to underprivileged children.
A division bench of chief justice D Murugesan and justice V K Jain said it will pass the order next week (Monday) after going through the Centre's reply.
MCD doctors threaten stir
Over 1,500 doctors under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), who are on a two-hour pen down strike (9am to 11am) this week, are threatening to go on mass casual leave on February 20 and indefinite strike from March 4 if their demands are not met.
The doctors are protesting against the appointment of "under-qualified doctors" to higher posts.
The timing of the protest, when the Capital is facing a swine-flu scare, has compelled the Delhi government to convene a meeting to resolve the issue.
"We have circulated a notice that if anyone dies of swine flu, a criminal case will be registered against the striking doctors," said Deepak Hastir, additional commissioner, health.
'CBI gang' busted in Capital
Here's a story about a gang of criminals posing as CBI officers out to hoodwink a businessman into coughing up the dough.
Sounds familiar! Except this is no Special 26, but an incident which looks like a straight lift from Neeraj Pandey's celebrated movie.
Sudhanshu Shukla and five of his team members got themselves toy wireless sets and fake identity cards and raided a trader's office in Fatehpuri area of north Delhi on Tuesday, posing as CBI officers.
But unlike the movie, they failed to pull it off and ended up cooling their heels behind the bars, thanks to some quick thinking by the trader.
Shukla's men went to the office of Kalpesh Barot and claimed that he had to pay money to settle some issue. "They behaved as if I was a criminal," Barot said.
The gang allegedly demanded Rs 2 lakh before settling for Rs 20,000. This was when Barot thought something was wrong. The police were informed and all the six accused were arrested.
New figures show a six-fold increase in the number of deaths from air pollution in 10 years in India
Air pollution claims 6 lakh
As many as 6.27 lakh Indians die each year because of air pollution related diseases across the country, new data released on Wednesday has revealed.
This is a six-fold increase in number of deaths because of air pollution in 10 years.
In 2000, the number of air pollution related deaths was pegged at one lakh, which has climbed up to 6. 27 lakh in 2010. The estimate is part of a global study on disease burden.
Calculations were made using detailed estimates of air pollution exposure at national level. Air pollution caused deaths mainly due to heart disease, lower respiratory tract infections and lung cancers.
Household air pollution was the second leading risk factor for mortality in India in 2010 and contributed to around one million deaths.
EXCLUSIVE - The truth about the senior-citizen pimp who hosted Lamar’s near-fatal bender: Narcissist Dennis Hof ‘tries out’ his 500 prostitutes, claims to have bedded 4,000 women and has a string of young 'girlfriends'
