HC grants advance bail to Seashore Director

-- Interim protection of company CMD extended till Oct 9

CUTTACK: The High Court on Monday granted advanced bails to Seashore Group director Surath Das along with six other company officials in the illegal money circulation case. The court also extended interim protection of company CMD Prashant Das till October 9.

The High Court has not taken any decision in the case on Monday. The court would hold the next hearing on company CMD’s bail plea on October 9 and till that date he would be given interim protection from the court.

The Crime Branch alleged that the company yet to give the details of the investors’ money Rs 333 crore out of the total Rs 506 crore collected from the investors. The court directed the company CMD to give details about the collected money from the investors before the Crime Branch on October 5.   

It may be noted that Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch had conducted raids on Seashore Group on July 18 and the police had lodged cases against the CMD and directors of the company for cheating the investors and illegal money circulation. The Crime Branch police had seized 14 bank accounts after the raid on the company. 

Four dengue positives found in Capital Hospital

BHUBANESWAR: Four Dengue positives were found in the Capital Hospital on Monday. They were tested positive in the NS1 test out of five samples. The affected persons, two locals and other duo from Khurda, are under treatment in the hospital.

Following the death of one dengue-affected on Sunday at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, the dengue death toll in the State has risen to five, while the number of dengue patients has shot up to 579. Out of the total positive cases, Ganjam has the highest number of 209 patients. Among other dengue-prone districts, Baleswar has reported 173 positive cases till Sunday, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme sources said.

On the other hand, Minister Rout said they are taking all measures to control spread of the disease. “We have alerted doctors and provided mobile units, necessary medicines and free treatment facility for the dengue patients,” Rout said.

Number of dengue patients is increasing in the SCB Medical in Cuttack. Out of the total 236 samples, 108 samples tested positive on Saturday among which 103 samples from Baleswar only.     

‘Discrimination against women increasing in State’

--‘Govt responsible for discrimination’

BHUBANESWAR: “Discrimination and violence against women is increasing in the State,” said the participants during a two-day eastern region consultation on Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) towards preparation of 4th and 5th periodic NGO alternate report organised by the National Alliance of Women Odisha (NAWO) here on Monday.

Participating in the consultation programme, Sansristi director and activist Prof Asha Hans said the State has the record of one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in India and female literacy also not in quite good shape as the dropout rate of girls shows a gloomy picture of their condition. During last couple of months, violence against women has been increased in an alarming rate in the State, she added.

Hans said displacement, trafficking, migration and dowry death case is very high in the State as 3,110 dowry related cases were registered in 2011. She expressed grave concern over declining of child sex ratio from 953 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001 to 934 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011. They are not even safe in their homes as 42 per cent women experience domestic violence, she added.

Gracing the occasion, National Alliance of Women national president Dr Ruth Manorama said the Government of India is responsible for the discrimination against women as it is the Member State of United Nations Organisation and accepted the CEDAW convention adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly which sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice, that’s why the Indian Government should protect the rights of women, she added.

She advocated that economic, political, social and cultural equality should be given to the women living in the country. If the recommendation of CEDAW convention is not properly implemented, it would be a paper tiger nothing else, she added.

Social activist Dr Suman Lal from Bihar said about violence and discrimination against women in her State. She said about the corruption in the field of health insurance sum after having uterus operation. How doctors and insurance agents are luring and morally forcing the illiterate rural women folk for uterus operation by which they would get commission from Rs 35,000 insurance money. She also told about the attitude of the Government towards women while implementing any programme.

Among others, NAWO executive member Pramila Swain, Lalita Missal, women activists from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and members of different NGOs were present in the consultation programme. The programme would continue on Tuesday also.             

Dengue death toll rises to 5 in State, 575 affected

-- Ganjam tops list of affected 

BHUBANESWAR: Following the death of one dengue affected Biswajit Mohanty (21) on Sunday at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, the dengue death toll in the State has risen to five, while the numbers of dengue patients are increasing in the State day by day.   

The fifth victim of dengue disease Mohanty from Kalashreegopalpur village under Badachana block in Jajpur district was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital’s medicine ward on September 19 and admitted in ICU on September 21 the hospital sources said.

It is suspected that one dengue affected jawan Chandra Maleswar of Bihar also died due to the disease in a private hospital in the capital city, but the hospital officials didn’t make any comment on the matter.  

Till Friday, the dengue toll in the State had touched to four while the number of people affected by the disease has increased to 447, according to Health and family Welfare Minister Damodar Rout. One patient each in Ganjam and Baleswar and two patients in Dhenkanal have died of dengue till Friday, he told the reporters here.

After the NS1 test of 1233 blood samples, it was found that 575 persons were affected by dengue till Sunday. Out of the total dengue positive cases in the State, Ganjam has the highest number of 209 patients. Among other dengue prone districts, Baleswar has reported 173 positive cases and Angul 63 and Khurda district is at the bottom with 10 patients, the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme sources said.

On the other hand, Health and Family Welfare Department Minister Damodar Rout said that they are taking all measures to control spread of the disease.

Dacoity bid foiled in city, 3 arrested

BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate Police arrested three inter-State dacoits while making plan for dacoity in Satyanagar area in the city on Sunday. Three other associates of the dacoits are absconding, the police sources said.

The police conducted a surprise raid in the places under the Satyanagar over bridge where the dacoits were making plans for dacoity in the wee hours of Sunday. The dacoity bid was foiled and three were arrested from the place, the police said.

The arrested persons were identified as Aliaja Mallick, Sakhibul Islam and Jahid Lak. All three belong to Midnapur area in West Bengal and told that they were living at the Muslim Basti in the city.

The police recovered a country-made revolver, one iron rod, mobile phone and Rs 2,940 in cash from the possession of the dacoits. Two among the three were already involved in dacoity and robbery cases, the Kharvel Nagar police said.

Members of Bidyarthi Utkal Bharat declared

BHUBANESWAR: The Utkal Bharat announced names of the members of Bhubaneswar zone committee of its newly formed Bidyarthi Utkal Bharat (BUB), a students’ wing of the party, after the recommendation of the party chief Kharvela Swain here on Sunday. Yuva Utkal Bharat president Abhishek Joshi declared the names of elected members in their executive body meet held here at the party office.

Suryakant Jena was nominated as president of the BUB, while Satyajit Kar became the general secretary of the students’ body. The executive body nominated Biswajit Swain as vice-president, Swayansh Tripathy as secretary and Rashmi Ranjan Jena as joint secretary of the body. The party held a seminar for the students’ wing, where State vice-president of Yuva Utkal Bharat Sanatan Dalbehera, general secretary Debabrata Tripathy and other party members were present.     

Close shave for passersby as slab falls off city over-bridge

BHUBANESWAR: “At around 9 am, all of a sudden we heard a thud and we found a portion of concrete slab had fallen off the over-bridge,” said a man who was selling Dahibara-Aludam under the Jaydev Vihar over-bridge here on Sunday.

Though the area regularly witnesses heavy traffic, fortunately it was a Sunday and the traffic was thin. And by the time the slab fell off, nobody was passing under the bridge point from where the slab fell off, said the vendor. Perhaps at any other time, the loss could have been anything, he thanked God.

According to the passersby who were present there, they got afraid after the three-feet long concrete slab weighing around 1.5 quintal fell from a height of 25 feet. After getting information from the public, the police reached there and shifted the slab from the road with the help of the public.

It may be noted that two such slabs had fallen from the over-bridge a few days back but no steps were taken make the weak portion of the bridge safe, alleged the locals. However, personnel of the Simplex Infra which built the over-bridge arrived at the spot soon after the incident and started work to mend the portion, one engineer of the company stating that it was normal and happened due to vibration created by running vehicles.