Bird-hit train

Madurai, Jan. 31: The assistant driver of Madurai-Shencottah passenger train was injured by a peacock which entered the engine’s cabin last evening in Virudhunagar district.

The bird entered the cabin while flying low across the track. It clawed at Alaguraja and broke the windscreen. The driver, however, was not hurt. The bird, dead by the time the train reached Sivakasi, was handed over to officials.

Gadkari quiz

Nagpur (PTI): Former BJP President Nitin Gadkari was on Thursday questioned for over four hours by IT authorities in connection with a probe into alleged dubious investments in Purti group of companies. Gadkari, who was earlier slated to appear on Friday, was quizzed by the director (investigations).

Amarnath

Srinagar: The board governing the annual Amarnath yatra has fixed this year’s yatra duration at 55 days against 39 days last year, ignoring the calls of civil rights and hardline separatist groups in Kashmir who favour a shorter 15-day yatra.

Jarawa zone

Port Blair (PTI): The Andaman and Nicobar administration has made Andaman Trunk Road, passing through the Jarawa zone, out of bound for tourists and made identity cards mandatory for locals to purchase tickets to travel in commercial vehicles. The move follows a Supreme Court order

HC order

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court has asked the city government to issue a direction to all the hospitals not to deny treatment to victims of criminal offences, especially those of rape and road accidents. “They be given… treatment depending upon their conditions,” the bench said.

Jagan remand

Hyderabad (PTI): A CBI court has extended till February 14 the judicial remand of Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in connection with an alleged disproportionate assets case. The YSR Congress chief, currently lodged in Chanchalguda jail, was produced before the court through video-conferencing.

Shivaji Park

Mumbai, Jan. 31: Bombay High Court has ruled that any organisation that wishes to conduct a non-sport event at Shivaji Park will have to seek its permission.

The verdict follows a tussle between the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation over whose responsibility it was to earmark 30 days of a year for non sports activities at Shivaji Park.

Bank official

Thane (PTI): The manager of UCO Bank’s Bhayander branch allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a train near Mira Road station on Wednesday. V.D. Narsale, 56, was under pressure over recovery of loans given to customers, sources said.

Rare bird

Dharamsala (PTI): Whooper Swan, a rare migratory bird, has been spotted in Pong Dam lake in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra valley after a hiatus of 113 years, Devinder Singh Dhadwal, an assistant conservator of forests in Dharamsala, has said.

Motorola fined

New Delhi, Jan. 31 (PTI): A consumer forum has directed Motorola India to pay Rs 18,000 to a customer for not rectifying defects in a mobile phone sold to him.

The forum said the set was twice sent for repairs, and not rectifying the defects amounted to deficiency in service. Vinay Girshar has been directed to return the handset to the company. No one appeared on behalf of the company at the hearing.

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur (PTI): The Malaysian government has decided that the cost of work permits for foreign workers will now be borne by the employees themselves instead of employers. The move will affect thousands of Indians. The decision will be enforced with immediate effect on new employees.

TN House

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea challenging the AIADMK government’s decision to shift the Legislative Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex back to its old building at Fort St George in Chennai. Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said the issue should be raised before another forum.

Scavenging

New Delhi (PTI): The Centre has directed all states to provide alternate jobs to those involved in manual scavenging so that they can leave the “dirty job”, Union minister Krishna Tirath said. She made the statement at a march held to eradicate the practice.

Souvik body

Bangalore (PTI): The body of Indian student Souvik Pal, who died under mysterious circumstances in Manchester about a month ago, was cremated on Thursday. Souvik’s father brought the body to the city in the morning and kept it at their house for some time before the final rites.

Boy suicide

Dehradun (PTI): A 12-year-old boy allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself after being scolded by his father for not going to school, police said. Sumit’s father had gone out along with his wife and had called to enquire about their children when he came to know Sumit had missed school and scolded him.