‘Vastu dosh’ behind 9 MLAs’ death in 4 years
Concerned over the increasing death count of sitting MLAs, the Opposition Congress has demanded that karmakand rituals be performed in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly building in Bhopal. On the first day of the ongoing winter session, senior Congress MLA K P Singh said the House had lost nine of its members in the last four years. Citing “vastu dosh” in the building, Singh urged Speaker Sitasaran Sharma that rituals be performed in accordance with ancient scriptures to ward off evil spirits. Since May this year, three Congress legislators — Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, Ram Singh Yadav and Prem Singh — have passed away in the state.
City to get 4 new flights from 2018
The Raja Bhoj airport in Bhopal is likely to get four new flights by February 2018. The new flights, to be operated by Indigo, would connect the capital with Nagpur, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. This news was revealed by airport authorities during a recent meeting of the airport’s environment management committee. The committee also took stock of the situation arising out of dumping of waste, opening of illegal slaughterhouses and meat shops and sale of fish in the open market in the vicinity of the airport. Organising awareness drive about dumping of waste around the airport area, too, was discussed.
‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogans in Assembly
As Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi went on a temple-visiting spree in poll-bound Gujarat, his party legislators raised slogans of “Jai Sri Ram” in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, following the oath-taking ceremony of Nilanshu Chaturvedi, the Congress leader who recently won the Chitrakoot Assembly bypolls. Another slogan which they raised was “Chitrakoot is the city of Lord Ram”. “Jai Sri Ram” has been the signature identity of saffron outfits since the Ayodhya temple movement. Mocking at the Congress members, veteran BJP MLA Babulal Gaur said, “Der aaye durust aye (better late than never).”
Electric buses, e-rickshaws in the offing
The Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited is planning to replace diesel-guzzling and highly polluting low-floor buses in the city with energy-efficient and non-polluting electric buses. The corporation has prepared a `155-crore proposal, which envisages procuring 100 electric buses, 200 e-rickshaws and 10 e-cars. While the buses will be added to public transport, the 200 e-rickshaws will ensure last-mile connectivity. The e-cars may be used by the smart city nodal company. The corporation will send a proposal for subsidy under Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises’s scheme of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India.
Bhopal athletes in Ironman contest
Two athletes from the city have qualified for the Ironman World Championship, organised by the World Triathlon Corporation. Athletes Mayank Raghuvanshi and Praveen Sakpal cleared the Ironman 70.3 level in Phuket on November 26. They are the first-ever athletes from MP to take part in the championship by qualifying for the next level Ironman (Dublin), a 4-km swim, 180-km cycling and 42-km run in 16 hours. The qualifying round in Phuket saw athletes from 68 nations, including 11 Indians, slugging to qualify for the next level.