Top stories on 14th August in capsule
President Kovind encourages compassion, selflessness in 1st I-Day Speech
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100 deaths, 40 lakh lives flood affected in Bihar and Assam
Over 100 people were killed and around 40 lakh residents have been affected in last one month in Assam, Bihar and parts of West Bengal owing to the flood situation that is likely to worsen with the Met department forecasting heavy to very heavy rain in the next few days. Rail services in Assam has been suspended till August 16 even as PM Modi spoke to Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal extended his support to the state. Sonawal visited some of the flood relief camps in Assam to take stock of arrangements and supplies. Meanwhile, in order to carry out relief and rescue operations, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has asked for an additional deployment of 10 companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Air Force's helicopters._______________________________
Gorakhpur's Dr. Kafeel accused of stealing oxygen cylinders for his own clinic: Reports
Dr. Kafeel, who made headlines for his quick response to the fast enthralling disaster in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College on August 11-12 has been removed from all hospital duties after government officials claimed that he stole oxygen supplies from the hospital and used them at his own clinic. Doctors in Delhi and several independent news organisations however say that Kafeel has been made a scapegoat and all accusations against him are false and are being made to divert attention from the main issue of mismanagement. Around 68 children died in UP CM Adityanath’s constituency of Gorakhpur after the supply of oxygen cylinders were disconnected following the failure of the hospital in repaying bills to the tune of 67 lakh. Dr. Rajiv Mishra, the college principal has also been sacked along with Khan, after officials claimed he was also linked to Khan. Officials claim, Khan sent 3 oxygen cylinders only after he noticed the situation was worsening.________________________________
Cong accuses UP govt of ‘Massacre’; CM Yogi promises action against the culprits
Following Gorakhpur’s BRD hospital tragedy, where over 60 children died in a matter of 5 days, the Congress has accused the ruling party of BJP of “murders” and “massacre” and have demanded the intervention from the Supreme Court, on the same. The SC however has dismissed the petition for a court monitored probe over the issue. Earlier, the Opposition dismissed CM Yogi’s statement on the deaths being a resultant of vector-borne diseases, and charged the state government of trying to cover up the truth. On his visit to the hospital on Sunday, Adityanath criticized the Opposition for politicizing the issue and promised stringent action against those responsible, once the probe committee submits it’s report.________________________________
21 members of JD(U) sacked, over ‘Anti-Party’ Activities
The crisis in Janata Dal (United) continued to deepen as 21 members of the party were sacked by state president Vashistha Narayan Singh over charges of anti-party activities. The suspension of the members comes after the news of JD(U) electively removing senior party member, Sharad Yadav as its leader in the Rajya Sabha, after he repeatedly Opposed the party’s decision of allying with the BJP in the state of Bihar. The party members stay suspended from their primary membership, on the suspicion of being close aides of Yadav and also as they lent their support to Yadav during his Jan Samvad Yatra.________________________________
PM seeking to advance 2019 General Elections: Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi might be considering to advance the period of the 2019 General Elections up to six to eight months, holding it in the fall of 2018. If reports are to believed, the change of plans were decided upon, keeping in mind the enormous majority that the BJP had received in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, following which the party wants to retain its zest. Party president Amit Shah’s ‘Bharat Yatra’ is also said to be a constituent of the following plan, with the arrangement being 2470 party workers from all over the country, assigned to visit the polling booths, for the whole year.________________________________
Dinakaran holds rally in Melur amidst Merger talks in AIADMK
The infamous Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, T.T.V Dinakaran, is making a revival in the state’s political scenario by holding a rally today in Melur, Madurai. Dinakaran’s rally is being closely watched by the two factions of the AIADMK, one being that of CM Palaniswami’s that is desperately trying to patch up with ex CM Paneerselvam, which now boasts of the support of at least 10 lawmakers and few Parliamentarians. Dinakaran, who is the nephew of Sasikala, came under scrutiny when a case was registered against him by the Delhi police over an allegation of bribing the Election Commission to secure the election symbol for the AIADMK._________________________________
17 killed, 8 injured and three Jihadis dead in Burkina Faso restaurant attack
At least 17 casualties have been reported with 8 injured in what happened to be an open fire attack in a restaurant in Burkino Faso, late night by suspected Islamic extremists, three of whom were also gunned down by the security forces.
The upscale restaurant in capital city of Ouagadougou came under attack in wee hours of the night and saw heavy gunfire being exchanged between the terrorists and the security forces. A French national is the nation’s DNA”also reported to be dead in the attack.This is the second time that an incident of such nature has happened, the first being in 2016, carried by Al Qaida along with the jihadist group, Al Mourabitoun, which killed a total of 30 citizens.
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Sensex, Nifty gain after a 3.4% weekly decline
Indian benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gained after a five-day losing streak on Monday, after a 3.4% weekly decline. The Sensex gained 0.75% and closed at 31,449 while the NSE index Nifty climbed 0.86% and closed at 9,764. Both the indices thus broke their losing streak, their longest since 18 months, erasing most of the last month’s gain. The Sensex and Nifty had crossed the 32,000 mark and the 10,000 mark earlier and are now are comparatively low levels. Easing geopolitical conditions gave optimism to the markets.
