Hyderabad:

Nine students were bitten by rats at a hostel of a government residential school for girls in Medak district.

The students of class 9 were bitten by rats on Tuesday and Wednesday night when they were asleep in a room of the hostel, an official said on Thursday.

They were provided treatment at a primary health centre in Ramayampet Mandal and discharged.

The official said they were taking necessary measures to curb the rat menace. Meanwhile, some parents of the students went to the institute after learning about the incident and complained about the alleged lack of cleanliness at the hostel.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that Congress and BRS had given Hyderabad “on lease” to AIMIM, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday asserted that the people of Hyderabad are not cattle, adding that they are the citizens, not the property of political parties.

PM Modi on Wednesday trained guns at Congress and BRS and alleged that for all these years, Congress and BRS have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on “lease.”

“Modi came to Telangana and said that the Hyderabad seat had been given on lease to Owaisi. The people of Hyderabad are not cattle. We are citizens, not the property of political parties. For forty years, Hyderabad has defeated the evil ideology of Hindutva and entrusted AIMIM. Inshallah, Hindutva will be defeated again,” Mr Owaisi posted on X.

He further turned the focus towards electoral funding. Mr Owaisi criticised PM Modi and said, “Modi is bonded to those who gave his party Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. In return, he has leased/sold India’s assets to his sponsors.”

“Modi appeased them so much that today, 21 people have more wealth than 70 crore Indians in total. Those 21 are his real parivar,” he added.

Modi came to Telangana and said that the Hyderabad seat has been given on lease to Owaisi.

The people of Hyderabad are not cattle. We are citizens, not the property of political parties. For forty years, Hyderabad has defeated the evil ideology of Hindutva and entrusted AIMIM.… pic.twitter.com/F5YO1RxsXY

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) May 8, 2024

Earlier, speaking to ANI, the AIMIM chief claimed that PM Modi is frustrated, adding that AIMIM has been defeating the BJP for 40 years.

“We have been defeating BJP for 40 years…in 2014 and 2019, PM Modi came but AIMIM won here…I want to ask PM, where is the money for PM care funds, in which bank is the electoral bond money?…unemployment and inflation are increasing…this year PM Modi wants to change the constitution so that he can end the reservation. He says that we are infiltrators and our daughters give birth to so many children, this is wrong. Will a Muslim take out the ‘Mangalsutra’ from a Hindu woman? Prime Minister is frustrated,” he added.

On Wednesday, addressing a rally in Telangana’s Karimnagar, PM Modi trained guns at Congress and BRS and alleged that for all these years, Congress and BRS have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on “lease.”

“For all these years, both these parties (Congress and BRS) have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on lease. If someone has challenged the AIMIM for the first time, it’s BJP. More than AIMIM, it’s Congress and BRS who are rattled by the challenge from the BJP. Both are helping AIMIM to win in Hyderabad,” he added

Madhavi Latha is set to face Asaduddin Owaisi, who is a four-time Lok Sabha MP from the Hyderabad constituency. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.

Asaduddin Owaisi, who has served four terms in the Lok Sabha as the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004, was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Before Mr Owaisi, who won the seat for the first time in 2004, Hyderabad was represented in the Lok Sabha by his father, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, from 1984. Apart from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, all assembly seats in Hyderabad, except Goshamahal, are held by the AIMIM.

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven assembly segments–Bahadurpura, Chandrayangutta, Charminar, Goshamahal, Karwan, Malakpet and Yakatpura. All assembly seats, except Goshamahal, are presently held by the AIMIM.

Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. In the 2019 general election, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won nine seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party four, Congress three and AIMIM one seat.

The BJP had won four seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections out of the 17 at stake in Telangana, namely Secunderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, and Adilabad.

Lok Sabha polls are being held across seven phases till June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Singapore Airlines has been ordered to pay more than 2,040 pounds (INR 213,585) to an Indian couple who said their business-class seats malfunctioned, New York Post reported. Ravi Gupta, a police chief from Telangana, was flying with his wife on a flight from Hyderabad to Australia, which transited through Singapore. They paid 66,750 rupees (about $800) for each business-class seat. Notably, the incident happened last year in May. 

The couple complained that their seats’ automatic recline feature didn’t work. Instead, the seats could only be manually reclined, leaving them frustrated during their five-hour trip. When they complained, they were offered 10,000 frequent flyer miles or loyalty points each. However, they declined the offer and sued Singapore Airlines.

In court documents, the Guptas accused Singapore Airlines of making them feel like lowly ”economy-class passengers” despite them paying for spacious business-class accommodation. They also said they were forced to stay awake throughout the journey as a result. 

Last week, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Telangana, ruled in the couple’s favour and ordered Singapore Airlines to pay them $2,400 ”for causing mental agony and physical suffering.”

In a statement to The Independent, Singapore Airlines did confirm the ”faulty” automatic recline ability in their seats. 

“SIA can confirm that while the automatic recline function on Mr and Mrs Gupta’s seats was faulty, the manual recline function was working on their flight from Hyderabad to Singapore. There were no issues on their connecting flight from Singapore to Perth,” a spokesperson told The Independent. 

”The flight duration from Hyderabad to Singapore is typically around four hours. As it was a full flight, SIA staff, unfortunately, could not reseat the customers elsewhere in the Business Class cabin. Our crew proactively checked in on these customers regularly and offered to manually recline the seat when needed. We apologise to Mr and Mrs Gupta for the inconvenience caused by this mechanical issue,” the statement added. 

Hyderabad:

An interfaith couple was harassed and assaulted in Hyderabad on Monday. The video of the incident went viral on social media, prompting Charminar Police to initiate a probe which led to the arrests of four individuals. 

In the viral footage, several Muslim men confront a man accompanied by a woman in a burqa carrying a baby. They repeatedly hit the man, allegedly under the assumption of his Hindu identity, expressing disapproval of his presence in Charminar with a Muslim woman. 

The accused demanded proof of his religious affiliation, insisting on seeing his Aadhar card. Despite the pleas of the woman in the burqa, the victim endured further harassment.

The police booked a suo motu case on Tuesday and formed special teams that were swiftly assembled to track down the accused. The following day, four individuals were arrested. Mobile phones containing the viral video evidence were seized from the accused, aiding the investigation.

“Four persons physically abused the couple. The woman had a baby with her. The accused tried to harm the baby as well,” said Charminar ACP P Chandrasekhar. “The accused have been arrested and will be produced in court.” 
 

Hyderabad:

A 19-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her mother following an argument over her marriage at their residence in Ibrahimpatnam near here, police said on Tuesday.

The woman, a first-year undergraduate student in a private college, was strangled to death by her mother on Monday night, cops said based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s brother.

Citing a preliminary investigation, the official said the woman’s mother and other family members wanted her to get married to a relative, but she had opposed it, saying that she wanted to marry a person with whom she was in love.

On seeing her daughter speaking to her lover on Monday, she picked up an argument with her. She allegedly strangled her daughter to death and later, she reportedly attempted to portray it as a suicide, police said.

Following the incident, the mother fell unconscious and has been shifted to a hospital, they said.

A case was registered at Ibrahimpatnam police station and further investigation is on.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Centre announced that it will celebrate September 17 every year as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said Hyderabad did not get independence for 13 months after India’s independence on August 15, 1947, and was under the rule of the Nizams.

The region was liberated from Nizam’s rule on September 17, 1948, after a police action namely ‘Operation Polo’.

“Whereas, there has been a demand from the people of the region that 17th September may be celebrated as Hyderabad Liberation Day.

“Now in order to remember the martyrs who liberated Hyderabad and to infuse the flame of patriotism in the minds of youth, the Government of India decided to celebrate the 17th day of September every year as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’,” the notification read.

“It is a historic day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to celebrate the 17th of September every year as Hyderabad Liberation Day in honour of the martyrs of the Hyderabad Liberation Movement,” Home Minister Amit Shah said on X.

It is a historic day as PM @narendramodi Ji has decided to celebrate the 17th of September every year as Hyderabad Liberation Day in honour of the martyrs of the Hyderabad Liberation Movement.

The decision is a befitting tribute to the freedom fighters and the martyrs who made…

— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) March 13, 2024

“The decision is a befitting tribute to the freedom fighters and the martyrs who made supreme sacrifices to remain a part of Bharat by liberating the Hyderabad region from the atrocious Nizam rule,” he added.

When India gained independence, the Razakars called for Hyderabad state to either join Pakistan or to become a Muslim dominion while resisting its merger with the Union of India.

The people of the region fought valiantly against the atrocities of the Razakars to merge the region into the Union of India.

The Razakars, a private militia, had committed atrocities and defended the erstwhile Nizam rule in Hyderabad.

On September 17, 1948, the then Hyderabad state, which was under the rule of the Nizams, was annexed into the Union of India following military action, initiated by the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Narendra Modi government has held an event on September 17 every year in the last few years to mark ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also attended the event in the past.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

A 36-year-old woman from Hyderabad was found murdered in Australia and her husband, who allegedly killed her, flew back to the city and handed over their child to her parents.

The body of Chaithanya Madhagani was found in a wheelie bin on the side of a road in Buckley on Saturday, according to reports. She lived with her husband and son in Australia.

According to Uppal MLA Bandari Lakshma Reddy, since the woman was from his constituency, he met her parents today after being informed about the matter.

The legislator told news agency PTI that at the request of the woman’s parents, he wrote a letter to the Foreign Office to bring the woman’s body to Hyderabad. The MLA said he also informed the office of Union Minister G Kishan Reddy about this.

The MLA further said that according to the information provided by the woman’s parents, their son-in-law “confessed” to killing their daughter.

The Victoria Police in a statement dated March 9 said, “Homicide Squad detectives are investigating after a deceased person was located in Buckley, near Winchelsea. Officers located the deceased person on Mount Pollock Road about midday.”

A second crime scene has been established at a residential address on Mirka Way, Point Cook, and is believed to be connected to the homicide, it said, adding the investigators are treating the death as suspicious.

At this stage in the investigation, it is believed the parties involved are known to one another and the offender may have fled overseas, the statement said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, addressing lawyers at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Sunday, remarked that greater collaboration between judges and lawyers is a prerequisite for strengthening the legal system and making it resilient for future challenges.

While addressing a gathering of over 600 advocates, the Chief Justice of India emphasised the importance of enhancing collaboration between judges and lawyers to find solutions for the betterment of the legal system and the administration of justice.

The CJI was addressing an event organised to mark the 75th Marathwada Liberation Day, also known as Marathwada Mukti Sangram Din.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Chandrachud shared the importance of the Marathwada liberation movement in Marathi.

The CJI unfurled the national flag at the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, in accordance with the annual tradition to commemorate a day of historic significance to Marathwada, Maharashtra and the nation.

Speaking to the lawyers, the CJI cautioned against lawyers resorting to strikes and boycotting courts. He emphasised that issues could always be amicably resolved by discussion and co-operation between the Bar and the Bench.

Emphasising the need to ensure that women are given a significant voice in the legal system, as legal professionals, the CJI said it is a constitutional duty of every member of the legal profession to provide substantive institutional support and encouragement to women lawyers.

He also encouraged all lawyers to provide proper guidance and support to the young members of the legal profession.

Though India obtained freedom from British rule on 15 August 1947, a few princely states including Hyderabad (which was under the Nizam) refused to merge with the Union of India.

There was popular unrest against the Nizam and a movement for liberating Marathwada gained roots. The populace was subjected to unrelenting atrocities. Innumerable people sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Marathwada. Amid the unrest, the government of India launched a military operation named Operation Polo.

On 17 September 1948, the Nizam eventually surrendered and agreed to the merger. There were several internal freedom movements such as the Marathwada Mukti Sangram which ensured that India became a union of states.

Hyderabad:

A couple travelling on a two-wheeler was stopped by three minors who allegedly abused the youngster driving the bike presumably for taking a girl belonging to another community on his bike, police said on Tuesday.

The video of the purported ‘moral policing’ of the incident, which took place on August 26, went viral on social media.

The trio, who are minors were subsequently arrested after a case was booked on Monday, a police official said adding the couple in the video was not identified.

The trio, police said, stopped the couple while they were going on a two-wheeler and after getting to know that the youngster driving the bike belonged to another community they started abusing him by questioning on “why was he taking the girl belonging to another community with him?” In the video, one among the trio is heard questioning the biker what is her (pillion rider) name and where he was taking her even as the bike rider asks him “what was his problem?” He then starts abusing the biker. After being told by the biker that “she is my friend”, the trio ask her to get down from the bike.

However, the trio later left the place, though, one among the trio filmed the incident and afterwards posted it on social media, police said.

Based on the video, the police booked a case on its own at Jubilee Hills Police Station against the trio and apprehended them and as they are minors their parents were also served with notices, the official said.

Further investigation was on.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In Telangana, there is a stark difference in socio-economic indicators between the districts around Hyderabad, the capital, and those far away from it. This is the fourth story in a series of Data Points exploring the inter-district differences in the southern States. The district-wise variations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka were discussed earlier.

Given that the State of Telangana was formed barely a decade ago and the frequency of data across many indicators is poor, it is tough to provide time-series comparisons to show how the State has grown. But in general, Telangana was neither at the top nor at the bottom of the health, education and environment-related parameters analysed across States.

An analysis of district-wise data shows that development is limited to certain pockets of Telangana. 

Chart 1 | The chart shows the per capita income at current prices for 2020-21. 

Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

The top seven districts on this indicator (other than Hyderabad) were Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, and Siddipet. Notably, all these districts are located next to Hyderabad or just one district away from it. However, peripheral districts such as Wanaparthy, Jogulamba Gadwal, Narayanpet, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, and those that are far from the capital but not in the periphery, such as Mahabubabad, Jagtial, and Hanumakonda, featured at the bottom of the per capita income list. Vikarabad is an exception. It is relatively close to Hyderabad but has the lowest per capita income in Telangana.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the share of women aged 20-24 years who married as teenagers. 

While more than 35% of women married as teenagers in the peripheral districts of Khammam and Jogulamba Gadwal, about 10% of such women were in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri.

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Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of children under five years who were underweight in 2019-21. 

Over 50% of children, the highest in the State, were underweight in Adilabad, the northernmost district. In contrast, Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri had 25% or less of underweight children.

Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of households with improved sanitation in 2019-21. 

Less than 65% of households had access to improved sanitation in the three peripheral districts in the north — Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, and Nirmal, which featured at the bottom of the list. In contrast, Hyderabad and two nearby districts — Siddipet and Medchal-Malkajgiri — were among the top five districts where more than 84% of the households had access.

Chart 5 | The chart shows the number of government hospital beds available per lakh population in a district as of 2020-21. 

Nirmal, Narayanpet, and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad featured among the bottom five, while Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Mahabubnagar featured among the top five.

Chart 6 | The chart shows the number of people employed in factories per one lakh population as of 2018-19. 

Contract workers were not included. Among the top seven districts, except Nizamabad which leads other districts by a wide margin on this indicator, the rest were located around the capital district.

Chart 7 | The chart shows the number of employees working at MSMEs per one lakh population as of 2020-21. 

Among the top seven districts, except Karimnagar which leads other districts by a wide margin, and Suryapet, the rest were located around the capital district.

Chart 8 | The chart shows the Gross Enrolment Ratio at the high school level (2021-22). The top three districts were Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, and Hyderabad.

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in and rebecca.varghese@thehindu.co.in

Lathika V. is interning with The Hindu Data Team

Source: National Family Health Survey, Telengana State Statistical Abstract, and Telengana Socio-Economic Outlook 2023

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