ZP school teacher held for sexually harassing girl students; sent to judicial custody
Beed (PTI): Police have arrested a government school teacher in Beed district of Maharashtra for allegedly sexually harassing and molesting girl students of Classes 3 and 4, officials said on Wednesday.
The teacher, Vishnu Zombade, was arrested on Tuesday and a local court sent him to 14 days of judicial custody.
The incident came to light in the school located in Majalgaon taluka.
"Zombade was allegedly harassing the girls for the past 15 days and also threatening them to remain silent. The crime came to light after one of the victims confided in her family members, who approached the police on Monday," inspector of Majalgaon Rural police station Balak Koli said.
Zombade had reportedly joined the school only two months ago, he said.
The incident triggered widespread anger among parents, who raised question marks over the safety of their wards.
"If teachers themselves behave in this manner, what future do our children have?" one of the parents asked.
They also urged the authorities to appoint a female teacher at the school to ensure the safety of girl students.
The accused was booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment), besides sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
