SFI leader, members booked for burning effigy of Governor Khan
Kannur (Ker) (PTI): The Kerala Police have registered a case against SFI state president K Anusree and eight others for their "dangerous act" of burning a huge effigy of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan "using petrol" at Payyambalam beach on Sunday evening.
The police said on Monday that the SFI leaders have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible).
The Kannur town police registered the case on its own after the SFI burnt the 30ft tall effigy of the Governor at the beach on the eve of New Year, accusing him of "communalising" the state's education sector.
The 30ft tall effigy bearing the likeness of Khan was set ablaze by Anusree, as fellow members of the student organisation raised slogans.
The SFI said the protest was organised against the nomination of Hindu right wing activists to university senates in the state by Khan in his capacity as the chancellor of universities.
There have been verbal duels between the Governor on one side and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the SFI on the other around the issue of appointments made by Khan to the senate of some universities in the state.
Khan has claimed that he is being attacked because the state government and the SFI no longer have control over the universities in the state, citing a recent Supreme Court order quashing the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as the Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University.
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Nitish Kumar's son Nishant among 32 to take oath as Bihar ministers
Patna (PTI): In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first BJP-led government, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party NDA in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.
Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.
The JD(U) is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.
