NEWS

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday joined the BJP in Delhi, and expressed his unhappiness with the Panthic organisations of the Sikh community for not thanking the Centre for the support it offered.

He had expressed similar reservations on November 8 during a telephonic call with this TOI reporter.

Sirsa was contacted to give his quotes about the ‘status of evacuation of 222 members of Afghan minorities including Sikhs and Hindus at the end of Government of India (GOI)’, in view of the tense situation under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

The Supreme Court Tuesday said the contempt matter involving fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, will be dealt with finally on January 18 next year. Observing that the apex court has waited “sufficiently long”, a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said, “We can’t be waiting any longer now”.

The bench noted that Mallya was held guilty of contempt in 2017.

The bench, also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, said Mallya is at liberty to advance submissions, as are deemed appropriate, and if for any reason, he is not present before the court, lawyer on his behalf can advance submissions.

As many states have reopened universities and colleges for offline classes, the exam conducting policies are witnessing varied trends. While some universities are still continuing with the online mode for conducting exams, institutes like IIT-Delhi and Delhi University will conduct the semester exams in hybrid mode.

In response, some students of the IIT-Delhi alleged that the administration’s decision to conduct examinations in hybrid mode is not offering a level-playing field. The students have filed an online petition which has over 650 signatures.

The students claim that not everyone has returned to the campus yet which means there is a substantial number of people who would still be taking exams from the comfort of their homes while the others have to take the exams in the classroom. 

Indian Railways rolls out first-ever 3 Phase MEMU rake! Today, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala rolled out the first 3 Phase MEMU rake, comprising of 12 coaches, to Asansol MEMU Shed, Eastern Railways. According to a statement issued by the Rail Coach Factory, these coaches will be put in service after a performance trial. The electrics in the coaches have been provided by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Compared to conventional MEMU coaches, these coaches have a stainless steel body with better acceleration. The rake has been provided with ethernet-based Train Control & Management system (TCMS), which offers precise train control other than RDM (Rescue Drive Mode) feature which limits the train speed to 60 km per hour in case of any failure in Train Network.