Gorakhpur hospital tragedy accused Dr Kafeel Khan’s brother shot at

The brother of Dr Kafeel Khan, who is an accused in case pertaining to the death of 63 children in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly shot at by some unidentified miscreants. Kashif Jameel, 34, was rushed to a private hospital following the attack and his condition is said to be critical.

According to Kotwali police station in-charge Ghanshyam Tiwari, the assailants shot at Jameel at around 11 pm on Sunday. He suffered injuries in hand, neck and face. However, no complaint has been filed with regard to the attack so far.

The assailants were reportedly on an Activa, and allegedly fired three rounds of bullets on Jameel, fleeing soon after.

Jameel’s brother, Dr Kafeel Khan, was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in April, eight months after being arrested over Gorakhpur hospital tragedy wherein at least 63 children had died due to shortage of oxygen.

Sixty-three children, including infants had died in August 2017 within four days due to disruption in supply of oxygen to medical oqing to non-payment of dues to the vendor.

Dr Khan's wife Dr Shabistan Khan had in a press conference alleged that her husband and other doctors were being denied medical care in jail. The district prison authorities, however, had rejected the charges.

In her press conference, Dr Shabistan had apprehended that the doctors lodged in the prison might be "killed. "She said her husband suffered a heart stroke on March 29 but was not given proper treatment."

"Former BRD Medical College principal, Dr Rajiv Mishra, is suffering from liver disease and diabetes but he is also not getting proper medical attention," she had claimed.

Unhappy Air India pilots hint at strike over delayed salaries

In another setback for Air India,the regional pilots union of Air India has said they would stop complete cooperation with the management in lieu of the delay in salaries.

The airline has delayed salary payments of around 11,000 employees for the third month in a row.

In a letter to Central Executive Committee of the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), the Regional Executive Committee (REC) said the non-cooperation would continue until salary payment is regularised and normal functioning is restored.

This comes as Air India seeks short term loans worth Rs. 1,000 crore to meet its 'working capital requirement'. The national carrier, which recently failed to get even a single bidder for its disinvestment plan, has called for financial bids by June 13 for the tenure of one year.

"In the REC meeting held in Delhi on June 06, Delhi REC unanimously decided that no wages on time amount to financial stress and mental agony, thereby resulting in undue fatigue, which is severely affecting flight safety. With no notification about delayed salary payment, members are being hounded by financial institutions constantly, severely affecting their day to day life. Keeping in view of the above consideration, REC has decided to STOP Complete Co-Operation with the Management till the time salary payment is regularized and normal functioning is restored," the letter read.

The REC further claimed that the airline management has prioritised the interest of its current employees "much below" that of its retired employees, thereby stagnating the moral and career progression of its serving workforce.

On Thursday, Airline Head Quarter staff told to ANI that no communication has been received from the management as to when employees of the national carrier would get their salary for the month of May.
Sources said that the airline has been facing a cash crunch since April, thus causing a delay in sanctioning salaries of the employees.

On a related note, sources also revealed that other employees unions may extend support to the ICPA's movement against salary delay.

Army Chief Promises Exemplary Action Against Major Leetul Gogoi If He's Guilty

Days after an army officer was detained by the police in Srinagar after a row in a hotel involving a Kashmiri woman, Army Chief Bipin Rawat said today that "strictest action would be taken" if anyone in the army did any wrong.

The officer who was detained is Major Leetul Gogoi, backed by the army amid a major row last year when he tied a Kashmiri man to his jeep as a "human shield" during by-polls. The army has ordered a court of inquiry.

"If anyone in the Indian Army, at any rank, does any wrong and it comes to our notice, then strictest action will be taken. If Major Gogoi has done something wrong then I can say that he will be given due punishment and the punishment will be such that it will set an example," said the Army Chief, who was on a visit to Srinagar to review the ground situation and open goodwill schools run by the army.

After his detention on Wednesday, Major Gogoi was handed over to his army unit. A senior police officer was asked to investigate what happened.

According to some reports, a room was booked online for him at a hotel near Dal Lake and he had checked into the hotel on Wednesday morning.

After some time, a woman came with a man, apparently to meet the officer, but weren't allowed to go to the room. When Major Gogoi allegedly got into a row with the hotel staff, the police was called in and all three were taken to a police station.

A report by news agency Press Trust of India said the army officer, along with his driver and a woman had approached the front desk to check in but was told that he could not go to his room with the woman because she was a local resident. The officer told the police he had come for a "source meeting".

Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy to face floor test today; BJP fields nominee for speaker's post

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy will face a floor test on Friday, which he is widely expected to sail through, barring any unforeseeable events, ending the 10-day political uncertainty in the state.

BJP's BS Yeddyurappa, who was sworn in as the chief minister + on May 17, had stepped down two days later in the face of imminent defeat without going through the motions + of a floor test.

Unfazed by Yeddyurappa's unceremonious exit, the BJP today fielded its senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the speaker + whose election will precede the trust vote.

Ramesh Kumar of Congress too filed his nomination for the post as the candidate of the ruling coalition.

"Based on the strength of numbers and various other factors, our party leaders have confidence that I will win. With that confidence I have filed my nomination," the BJP candidate said, indicating that the saffron party was keen on giving the JD(S)-Congress alliance a run for its money.

When asked about his chances of winning, the BJP nominee said, "I have filed my nomination. There is election tomorrow at 12:15 pm. After the election you will get to know."

Congress Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah exuded confidence about the coalition candidate's victory.

"I got to know that the BJP has also filed nomination. I hope they will withdraw. If election happens, Ramesh Kumar's victory is certain," he said.

The 224-member assembly has an effective strength of 221, as election for Jayanagar seat was countermanded + following the death of the BJP candidate, and deferred in RR Nagar + over allegations of electoral malpractices.

After taking oath, Kumaraswamy had voiced confidence about winning the floor test, but said he had an apprehension that the BJP would try to repeat "Operation Kamala" to bring down his government.

The term "Operation Kamala" or "Operation Lotus" was coined in 2008, when the BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa took over as the chief minister. The party was short of three MLAs for a simple majority.

As part of "Operation Kamala", named after the BJP's election symbol lotus, some Congress and JD(S) MLAs were persuaded to join the saffron party, relinquish their membership of the assembly, and recontest elections. Their resignations brought down the numbers required for a victory during the trust vote, which Yeddyurappa won.

What is Indian Railways VIKALP scheme? If your train ticket is on waiting list, you should know this

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) has from time to time introduced various facilities for train passengers in making their journey enjoyable. The Indian Railways catering service provider has taken care of passengers booking their tatkal tickets to reserved ones as well. But many of us are not even aware of a scheme launched by IRCTC namely ‘VIKALP’, which takes care of passengers who are under waiting list. Being under a waiting list is very common for those who travel frequently by trains, and there have been times when, despite booking tickets one month or weeks prior to departure, we sometimes do end up under  the waiting list category. Indian Railways VIKALP scheme is the solution.

In case your train ticket goes into the waiting list, here’s what you need to know about VIKALP scheme.

The scheme is applicable to all waiting list passengers irrespective of booking quota and concession.

Under this scheme, passengers will opt max 5 trains for VIKALP scheme.
VIKALP opted passengers who booked in waiting and remain fully Wait listed after charting will only be considered for allotment in the alternate train.
    Fully WL passengers opted for VIKALP should check PNR status after charting.
    No extra charges shall be taken from passenger or any refund shall be provided for difference of fare.
    Either all passengers of a PNR or none will be transferred to alternate train in same class. The passenger can be considered for shifting to a train leaving from any station amongst the cluster of stations defined by Railways based on the convenience of the passengers to a station serving the destination station on the same analogy.
    The VIKALP opted passengers who have been provided accommodation in the alternate train will not figure in the wait listed charts of their original train. A separate list of passengers transferred in alternate train will be pasted along with the CONFIRMED and WAITLIST charts.
    The passenger allotted alternate accommodation can travel in the alternate train on authority of original ERS/SMS.
    In rare situations, passengers who have been provided alternate accommodation might get dropped/re-allotted in alternate train due to last minute change in composition of the alternate train at the time of chart preparation. So, passengers who have been provided alternate accommodation should check PNR status also after preparation of charts of the alternate train for final status.
    Train list once selected under VIKALP scheme cannot be changed.
    VIKALP Scheme once successfully opted cannot be changed.