New Delhi : The Congress's day-long hunger-strike at Rajghat to highlight alleged atrocities against Dalits, tribes and minorities in the country began on a controversial note on Monday with 1984-riot accused leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar leaving the stage before party President Rahul Gandhi joined the event.

Tytler and Kumar were seen leaving the Mahatma Gandhi's memorial soon after their arrival for the Congress' anti-government protest, apparently after being told to leave with their alleged links to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi continuing to haunt them.
Tytler, who was later seen in the crowd, has been long accused of instigating rioters against Sikh following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh security guards. Kumar, who left the venue, is also accused of his involvement in two cases related to riots.  The charges have been proved against neither.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Maken, however, clarified that the two leaders were not asked to leave.  He said the stage and its enclosure at the venue were reserved for some Congress office-bearers.

"We are praying for togetherness and for brotherhood, for all religions and castes in the country so that we can send out a message that all Indian are one and there is no division on caste basis," Maken said.

The Congress said its leaders were fasting to "promote communal harmony" and protesting against the government's anti-Dalit policy.

Congress units across the country will also observe a fast that came days after Dalit groups called a "Bharat Bandh" against a Supreme Court order diluting a law aimed at to prevent atrocities against Dalits and tribes.

The government has filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking review of its order.

Bhubaneswar : Seven railway men were suspended for lapses after 22 coaches of an express train with passengers on board travelled a few kilometres without an engine in Odisha, a railway spokesman said on Sunday.
A possible disaster was averted after staff put stones on the track and brought the Ahmedabad-Puri Express to a halt on Saturday night, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) spokesman said, adding all passengers were safe. While two railway personnel were suspended soon after the coaches of the train rolled down the track at Titlagarh in Balangir district after detachment of the engine, five others were placed under suspension on Sunday, he said.
They included two engine drivers, three carriage repairing staff and two operating department employees, he said. The coaches travelled from Titlagarh station towards Kesinga in Kalahandi district after the engine was detached for attachment at the other end, the spokesman said, adding the section from Titlagarh towards Kesinga had a downward slope.

New Delhi : Over 7,000 buses, a majority from neighbouring states, were booked for flouting pollution norms in the national capital in the last six years, the Delhi government informed the state Assembly.

A total of 7,219 buses were challaned for not having valid pollution under check (PUC) certificates, from 2012-13 till February 2018, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said during the ongoing session of the Assembly.

The highest number of buses, 3,328, that were challaned for the lack of valid PUC certificates, came from Uttar Pradesh, followed by 2,064 from Rajasthan.

The number of buses registered in Delhi that were challaned for violating pollution norms, was 643, during the period.

According to the minister, action against buses causing pollution picked up manifold in last one year. A total of 5,086 buses were challaned for lacking valid PUC certificates, from 2017-till February this year.

The number was quite low in the previous years -- 244 in 2012-13, 216 in 2013-14, 506 in 2014-15, 189 in 2015-16, and 978 in 2016-17, he said in a written reply.

The enforcement wing of the Transport Department carries out regular checks of pollution standards of the buses coming to Delhi from neighbouring states. Buses not having valid PUC certificates are challaned, the minister said.

The fine for not having a valid PUC is Rs 1,000.

The State Transport Authority of Delhi has no power to cancel permits of buses from other states violating norms in the city under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

The Transport Department corresponds with their counterparts in other states in case offending buses belong to government undertakings.

As per a joint agreement among states sharing the National Capital Region (NCR), it is mandatory that buses entering Delhi are run on CNG.

Patna : The Bihar Cabinet has reduced the fee for various competitive examinations for women candidates of all categories of the state.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday, Cabinet Secretariat Department’s Principal Secretary Arun Kumar Singh told reporters.

The fee reduction would be applicable to the examinations conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), he said.

The examination fee has been reduced from Rs 600 to Rs 150 for preliminary test and from Rs 750 to Rs 200 for mains examination.

The cabinet also gave its nod for creation of posts for reconstitution and restructuring of the Bihar Administrative Service (BAS) cadre, Singh adding that the number of various posts of BAS had gone upto 1634 from current 1150.

The decision would increase the number of posts such as deputy collector, senior deputy collector, under secretary, deputy secretary, joint secretary and special secretary, he added.

It also gave its nod to Road Construction Department’s proposal to construct four state highways at a cost of Rs 1482 crore, Singh said and adding four SHs are - Kadiraganj-Khaira (SH-82), Akbarnagar-Amarpur (SH-85), Udakishanganj-Bhatgama (SH-58) and Bihiya-Jagdishpur Bihta (SH-102).

In an another decision, the Cabinet enhanced the corpus of Bihar Contingency Fund (BCF) from Rs 350 crore to Rs 7079.61 crore till March 30, 2019 for carrying out relief work in the event of natural calamities, the principal secretary said.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to certain amendments to ‘Affordable Housing and Slum Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Policy 2017’ for lower income group, he added.

Katni (MP) : Eight people were killed and five others injured when a speeding truck hit two auto-rickshaws near Majhgavan in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning, a police official said.

The incident took place around 10 am, an official from Badwara police station told PTI.
Eight passengers in two auto-rickshaws were killed and five others were injured, he said.

Katni District Collector KVS Choudhry and Superintendent of Police Atul Singh had reached the spot, and the injured were being taken to a nearby hospital, he said.
The auto-rickshaws were heading to Katni from Majhgavan when they were hit by the truck coming from the opposite direction, he said, adding that more details were awaited.