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Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the steel ministry and the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to drop the plan to close the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL) in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district. 

“We would like to bring to your knowledge that this plant has a massive capability to produce more than 700 grades of alloy and special steel, catering to the requirements of the ordnance factories, nuclear complexes, wheel and axle units, auto mobile etc,” he wrote. “Now, I came to know that under the central government’s disinvestment policy feature in non-strategic sectors... the SAIL management started the closer activities of VISL, Bhadravathi.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually unveiled the model of a proposed memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to be set up in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and said it will infuse feelings of patriotism among people. 

Modi, on the occasion of Netaji’s 126th birth anniversary, also named 21 islands of the Union Territory after Param Vir Chakra awardees.

The manhunt for the suspect in the Los Angeles mass shooting that left 10 dead and at least 10 others injured came to an end after Huu Can Tran, 72, was found dead inside a van. Police say he apparently shot himself after he was surrounded. 

The 72-year-old yesterday opened fire at a Chinese Lunar New Year party at Monterey Park in California's Los Angeles. Police tracked him down to a van and surrounded it. As the officers approached the vehicle, they heard a gunshot.

"The suspect sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Sunday refuted Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar's earlier claim that certain opposition leaders tried to “bully” the Centre into giving approval for a foreign vaccine against Covid-19, that is now marred by controversy for allegedly not being able to contain the spread of the virus and leading to other health complications. The senior Congress leader dismissed claims made in a Twitter post shared by the Union minister saying Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram and Ramesh pushing for Pfizer vaccine at a time when the pharmaceutical company was “bullying” the Centre for its acceptance.

Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya said that the humiliation of a caste, in the name of religion, should be objected to. In a controversial statement, the SP leader said there exist several crores of people who have not or do not read the relic Ramcharitmanas. He said it was the British era that gave Dalits the right to read and write and that women got their right to be literate under the British Raj. Previously, Bihar education minister Chandra Shekhar said that a Hindu religious book which is based on the Ramayana, 'spreads hatred in society'. 

He went on to say that the Hindu relic was 'all nonsense'. Maurya urged the government to erase the objectionable part of Ramcharitmanas or should ban the entire book. According to him, the said religious text accords low caste to 'Shudras'. Also, he said that Tulsidas wrote the relic for his own happiness.