Oppn stages walkout from Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The Opposition Congress and the Left on Thursday staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha in protest against government not heeding to a demand to waive farmers' loans. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Congress' Jyotiraditya Scindia demanded of the government to follow the Congress-led UPA government that waived farmers' loans to the tune of Rs 71,000 crore. That benefitted 3.5 crore farmers. He said farmers were reeling under distress on account of debt burden and their financial plight. However, with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh piling on the Congress with comparative analysis of present government and the UPA regime through cold statistics regarding help to farmers, the Opposition stomped out of the House. Some Congress members also raised slogans before they left the House.  TNS

Absence of nominated MPs questioned

New Delhi: Can nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, like cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha, continue to remain absent from the Rajya Sabha? And should they not resign, if they are not interested? These questions were raised through a "point-of-order" during Zero Hour on Thursday by Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal. Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said: "You can use your good offices with them and request them to be present in the House at least for a few days whenever possible." TNS

Making engg grads ‘industry ready’

New Delhi: HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the government had set a target of making at least 60 per cent of engineering graduates employable over the next five years. According to a latest study by the All India Council for Techinical Education, only 40 per cent of the engineering graduates were employable at present, he said. The aim was to improve the situation by introducing summer internships for 75 per cent engineering students to make them "industry ready", he said. TNS

MLAs urge Centre to recall Kiran Bedi

Puducherry: Members of the ruling Congress and Opposition AIADMK (Amma) on Thursday hit out at Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi in the Assembly for "disrespecting" the government, MLAs and delaying development works and demanded that the Centre recall her. Participating in a debate  after the Vote on Account Bill was passed on the opening day of the two-day Assembly session, the MLAs wanted the House to adopt a resolution to urge the Centre to recall Bedi. TNS

Interventions to check crime against women

New Delhi: Four interventions to address violence against women in Bihar have shown that changes in notions of masculinity among men result in reduced violence against women. The interventions were implemented by the Population Council of India (PCI) and were in collaboration with the Centre for Catalysing Change, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the UK, said KG Santhya of the PCI. TNS

Sunstroke claims 2 lives in M’rashtra

Mumbai: Sunstroke claimed the lives of two persons in Maharashtra while many states, including UP, MP, Haryana, Gujarat, Odisha and Rajasthan, too reeled under the onslaught of an early heatwave. Akola was the hottest place in India with a maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius while Titlagarh in Odisha was a close second recording 43.8 degrees. PTI

GK elected DSGMC chief, Sirsa gen secy

New Delhi: Manjit Singh (GK), SAD’s Delhi unit chief, has been elected the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president and Manjinder Singh Sirsa its general secretary. Both have been elected for the third time in a row. Harinderpal Singh, Kulwant Singh Bath, Gurmit Singh Meeta, Chaman Singh, Jasbir Singh Jassi, Harvinder Singh (KP), Paramjit Singh Chandhok, AS Pinki, MS Chadha and independent candidate TS Marwah have been elected executive members. TNS