SRINAGAR: Curfew remained in force for the second day today in all major towns of Kashmir, while rest of the Valley was placed under restrictions to prevent protests against the firing incident in Ramban district that left four persons dead and dozens others injured.

Amarnath yatra also remained suspended for the second day today in view of curfew imposed in many parts of Kashmir Valley and Ramban district on Jammu Srinagar National Highway due to the firing incident in Gool area. No fresh batch of pilgrims was allowed to proceed towards Kashmir from the base camp in Jammu, official sources said.

An official spokesman last night said the decision to suspend the yatra was taken as a precautionary measure. "Due to the prevailing situation, and the restrictions imposed in the parts of the state, the Amarnath yatra shall remain suspended," the spokesman said.

Over 2.50 lakh pilgrims have participated in this year syatra to perform the darshan of the naturally-formed ice lingam at Amarnath cave in south Kashmir Himalayas. Four persons were killed yesterday when security personnel opened fire at a mob that had gathered at a BSF camp in Ramban district to protest against alleged manhandling of an Imam of the area by the force.

The curfew, which was imposed in the early morning on on Friday, remained in force in all areas of Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal and Bandipora districts and Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam, Anantnag, Bijbehara and Sopore towns, official sources said.

Restrictions under section 144 CrPC, which does notpermit assembly of four or more persons, have been imposed in rest of the Valley, the sources said.

Curfew was imposed yesterday as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order problems in view of the separatist calls for protests and march to Lal Chowk. The restrictions continued today in view of large scale protests and clashes in many parts of the Valley that left 22 persons including 17 security force personnel injured.

Police and paramilitary CRPF have deployed in large numbers across the city and sensitive towns of the Valley to maintain law and order. The law enforcing agencies have erected barricades at many places within the city and other trouble spots of the Valley.

Meanwhile, traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained suspended for the third day today due to the tension prevailing across the curfew-bound areas. A spokesman of the Traffic Department said the vehicular movement on the highway will remain suspended till further orders. — PTI

SALEM: Special police teams have been formed to trace the assailants who hacked to death BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit general secretary V. Ramesh even as the party called for a state-wide bandh on July 22 to protest the murder.

52 year-old Ramesh, alias Auditor Ramesh, was attacked with sharp-edged weapons near his house in Salem on Friday night by unidentified assailants.

Salem range Police DIG Sanjay Kumar said the BJP leader had gone to his office to discuss party affairs around 9 pm and was attacked by four persons while returning to his residence.

A case has been registered, he added.

Speaking to the press, BJP state unit President Pon Radhakrishnan accused the state government of not providing adequate security to his party leaders.

Condemning the murder, he claimed in the last year, three state-level leaders — Arun Reddy, P. Murugan and Velliyan — were murdered and the culprits were still at large.

He alleged that police had not taken action on their pleas to provide protection to party leaders.

A BJP release said party activists would stage a demonstration in Chennai on Saturday condemning the murder and seeking speedy action to trace the assailants and a probe.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had called and enquired about the murder, he said. — PTI

PATNA: The Bihar government will attach the property of Meena Devi, absconding principal of the government primary school in Saran district where 23 children died after eating contaminated food, an official said.

A government inquiry report has blamed her for the deaths of the children who had consumed midday meal on Tuesday.

R. Lakshmanan, director of the state mid-day meal, said the school in Gandaman village would be merged with the nearest middle school having a better midday meal infrastructure.

"There is no trace of her. The administration has decided to attach her property to put pressure on her to come forward," Saran SP Sujit Kumar said.

According to district officials probing the incident, Meena Devi had forced the cook to use the oil despite the latter's complaint that it had a pungent smell.

Lakshmanan said that government had taken a policy decision not to run schools from rented and dilapidated structures and equip new units with full-fledged kitchens.

The official said the decision to shift the school was taken after angry villagers had declared they would not allow it to run there. "Moreover, after parents buried their children near the school, the administration was forced into relocating it," he said. — IANS

NEW DELHI: Amid the blame game between the Centre and Bihar government over the mid-day meal tragedy, the Human Resource Development Minister Pallam Raju on Saturday said it is time to “wake up” and take “collective responsibility”.

The minister said government wants that the Central government scheme is implemented properly and has hence constituted a review committee, which will look into the quality of the programme.

“It is certain that we will be strengthening the mechanism towards implementing the scheme,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

The Union Minister said he has received the report by the Saran administration over the incident, which talks about “shortcomings in the way food was stored and how that one factor led to the unfortunate incident. But we are awaiting forensic report, which will give greater detail about what is happening.”

To a question about the Bihar government denying receiving any alert as claimed by his ministry, Raju said, “I know there is a monitoring mechanism committee whose job is to find out loopholes and shortcoming. They have particularly pointed out to those 12 districts.”

He, was, however, quick to add, “Now this is not a question of who has done what.”

“It is the time that all of us should wake up...It is a collective responsibility. It is not responsibility of state alone. It is the responsibility of local community, school management committee and district administration to ensure things are going to function,” Raju said.

The minister said when we know that this is the scheme, which is going to provide nutrition to our children, “we should strengthen it and the focus should be on that”.

The mid-day meal tragedy has sparked a blame game with the Bihar government refuting Centre’s contention that it had sent alerts to 12 districts, including Saran, where 23 children died after consuming food, over implementation of the scheme. — PTI

Azamgarh (UP): A sub-inspector has been arrested in connection with the killing of BSP leader Sarvesh Singh Seepu in Jiyanpur area.

Station House Officer of Jiyanpur Police Station Vijay Singh was arrested late on Friday night, official sources said on Saturday.

Singh has been named in two cases, including murder of Seepu Singh, his guard and the killing of two persons in police firing later, they said.

Meanwhile, the body of Sarvesh has reached Dohrighat in Mau district where his last rites would be performed.

The former SP MLA and another person were shot dead by unidentified assailants in front of the former’s house on Friday, following which his supporters clashed with police resulting in the death of two persons and injuries to 18 others, including policemen.

As the mob clashed, police had to open fire and two persons identified as Jitendra Gupta (25) and Chandra Bhanu (48) died due to gunshot injuries.

The mob also snatched rifles from policemen, indulged in brick-batting and tried to set a police station afire. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Heavy rainfall lashed the national Capital today, flooding almost all arterial roads in the city and throwing traffic out of gear.

Throughout the city, streets were flooded as drains overflowed and rain beat down with intensity.

Heavy traffic snarls were reported in almost all areas of the city due to waterlogging as well as non-functional traffic signals.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic was witnessed at major intersections such as ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Moti Bagh, Kashmere Gate, Munirka, Dwarka and Dhaula Kuan.

Commuters had a hard time navigating the roads in most parts of the city as visibility also dropped a bit.

Pedestrians were seen wading through streets flooded by overflowing drains.

"It took me 40 minutes to reach the Akshardham metro station from my home, a distance which I cover within five minutes every day. Traffic was moving very slow," said Ridhi Chouhan, who works at a private bank in Noida.

People were stuck at metro stations and bus stops waiting for the showers to subside while autorickshaw and taxi drivers had a field day charging hefty sums from those in a hurry to reach office.

"I had to shell out Rs 180 (for an auto) from my home in Munirka to my office at Connaught Place today. On normal days, the fare is not more than Rs 100," said Ashok Ojha, who works at a telecom company. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Khurshed Alam Khan, a former Union Minister and father of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, died on Saturday at the age of 95.

Khan, who had served as Minister of State under the late Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, was admitted to a private hospital here six days ago after he complained of chest pain.

Dr T.S. Kler, Executive Director of cardiac sciences department, Escorts Hospital, said that Khan was admitted with fever and chest infection.

“But he already had a major problem of Aortic Stenosis (AS), a disease of the heart valves. He (breathed his last) at around 3 a.m. on Saturday,” Dr. Kler said.

Khan, who was in a major way responsible for creation of the Jamia Milia Islamia as an independent university through a Parliamentary law, had served as Chancellor of the university.

Born in Pitaura village in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, he had represented Farrukhabad in Lok Sabha between 1984 and 1989.

Son-in-law of the late President Zakir Hussain, Khan served as Member of Parliament for 15 years. He was in Rajya Sabha from 1974 to 1984.

He resigned from the Lok Sabha in July 1989 Governor of Goa. Then he shifted to Karnataka in 1991. As union minister, he had held portfolios of education, textiles, tourism, and transport besides external affairs.

As External Affairs minister he had travelled extensively abroad and had addressed the United Nations and the Security Council.

Condoling his death, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India had lost a true son and servant of the nation.

The Prime Minister said Khan had served the nation with distinction throughout his life and in many capacities. His death was an “irreparable loss”.

“His leadership in India’s foreign policy, education system and legislative affairs contributed immensely to the country’s modern, liberal and democratic polity.

“His commitment to the nation was deeply rooted in the abiding values of our Constitution and the idea of an India envisioned by our founding fathers,” the Prime Minister added.

Dr. Singh said that Khan’s work as a Foreign Minister, Parliamentarian and educationist leaves a legacy which future generations must emulate and nurture. — PTI