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While you were away: Here are the top stories to bring you up to date
India’s growth slows post-demonetisation, IAS toppers, techie shot dead in Noida, Rajasthan high court judge on cows and peacocks, Haqqani network blamed for Kabul blast, mosques refuse to bury Manchester suicide bomber: Here are the top stories
From India’s growth slowing post-demonetisation, declaration of UPSC exam results to the Haqqani network blamed for Kabul blast here are the top stories to bring you up to date:
India growth slows to 7.1% in 2016-17 as demonetisation hits consumption
India’s economic growth slowed to 6.1% in the fourth quarter ending March 2017, compared with 7.1% in the previous quarter, as the government’s note ban decision slowed activity in cash-dependent sectors. Government data showed the gross domestic product grew 7.1% in the full financial year 2016-17, slower than 8% recorded in the previous year. After November’s demonetisation drive, the government has come under criticism from opposition political parties and economists for putting a poke on India’s growth story and triggering job cuts. Read the story here.
UPSC 2016 results declared: Have realised my dream, says topper Nandini KR
Nandini KR of Karnataka’s Kolar who topped the Union Public Service Commission’s civil services examination for 2016, is a civil engineering graduate from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore. “This is a very happy moment for me, I have realised my dream,” Nandini told news agency ANI. “I put in a lot of effort. After getting selected in the IRS in 2014, I had taken the exam again in 2015 but could not crack it. I took the test again and topped it. It is a wonderful experience,” she said. The government in a statement said Nandini had qualified with Kannada literature as her optional subject. Read the story here.
90 killed in Kabul blast: Afghan intel says attack planned by Haqqani network, ISI
A powerful bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the highly secure diplomatic quarter of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing 90 people. The blast in the heart of the Afghan capital injured 400 people and damaged the embassies of India, Bulgaria, France, Japan, Turkey and the UAE. India’s ambassador Manpreet Vohra said the bomb went off nearly 100 metres from the country’s embassy, causing “considerable damage” but all members of the staff were safe. The National Directorate of Security said on Wednesday evening the attack was planned by the Haqqani Network in Pakistan with the “direct help” of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, according to Afghan media. Read the story here.
Techie employed with Lava mobile firm shot dead in Noida, murder caught on CCTV
A 23-year-old woman employee of a mobile handset company was shot dead by an unidentified person at Shatabdi Rail Vihar, a residential society in Noida Sector 62, on Wednesday morning. Police said CCTV cameras recorded footage of Anjali Rathour, a trainee engineer with Lava International Limited, being chased by a pistol-wielding man at a parking lot of the apartment complex around 6.34 am. However, poor video quality has prevented police from zeroing in on the murderer so far. Read the story here.
Cows exhale oxygen, Peacocks don’t have sex: Rajasthan HC judge
A Rajasthan high court judge asked the central and state governments to declare the cow as India’s national animal and ensure that those who kill it be given life terms. Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma also listed 11 benefits of cow urine. Among the things the judge he said in his order, “Cow is the only living being which intakes oxygen and emits oxygen and the animal is a hospital in itself”, “Drinking cow urine rids one of sins of the previous life.” He also said separately that peacocks don’t mate peahens but sire offsprings with their tears. Read related stories here and here.
Amit Shah eats at tribal home in Gujarat; coolers, LPG stove installed for visit
Continuing with his lunch-dinner diplomacy, BJP president Amit Shah enjoyed food with a tribal family at Devaliya village in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district in Gujarat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief started his lunch-dinner diplomacy to connect with the masses in West Bengal where he had lunch with a Dalit family, then he visited Varanasi and now he is in Gujarat. The VIP presence at his place turned into a blessing for the tribal party worker, as other partymen helped the Rathwa family put basic infrastructure in place, with the family getting a new toilet facility, a wash basin, an LPG stove and a couple of coolers. Read the story here.
Mamata pulls up Kolkata school for playing Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ to students
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday pulled up authorities of Shri Shikshayatan, a private girl’s school in Kolkata, for playing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Maan Ki Baat’ for students. The Trinamool Congress chief, however, did not name either Modi or his monthly radio show. “I heard that the Shri Shikshayatan principal is playing the video of a speech by a political leader in the classrooms and forcing the students to watch it. This is unfair,” Banerjee said a meeting with representatives of private schools in the state. Read the story here.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath visits Ayodhya, says Ram temple issue should be resolved through dialogue
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute should be resolved through dialogue and his government will support such a step. The 44-year-old priest-politician visited and prayed at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, the first chief minister do so in 15 years. “We will try for an amicable solution to the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, within the ambit of law. The dispute should be resolved by dialogue between the two communities,” he said at a gathering of seers. Read the story here.
Pilots of missing Sukhoi jet failed to eject before crash, died of injuries: IAF
The pilots of a Sukhoi-30 aircraft died in a crash near Tezpur airbase last week because they were unable to initiate the ejection process, analysis of equipment recovered from the site has revealed. Squadron leader D Pankaj and flight lieutenant S Achudev were killed on May 23, but the plane wreckage was located near Arunachal Pradesh’s Doulasang area only three days later. Read the story here.
Mosques in UK refuse to bury the body of Manchester bomber Salman Abedi
Mosques have refused to bury the body of Manchester-born suicide bomber Salman Abedi who blew himself up at a concert last week killing 22 people. The city’s authorities are reportedly doing “everything in their power” to stop the 22-year-old Libyan-origin bomber’s cremation, burial in any way in the Greater Manchester area. Councils, funeral directors and Mosques in Manchester have refused to bury Abedi’s body. It has emerged that his corpse is currently being held in a morgue outside the city. Read the story here.
