Thiruvananthapuram: A 33-year-old Indian Administrative Service officer said he has filed his papers to quit the coveted government job. While stating his reasons, IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan said one of them was denial of "fundamental rights" to lakhs of people in Jammu and Kashmir for weeks after special status was scrapped from the state earlier this month.

"...Not that my resignation will cause anything even worth a flutter. But one has one's own conscience to answer to, I guess," Mr Gopinathan told NDTV.

Mr Gopinathan, a secretary of key departments in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, was instrumental in transforming a loss-making government electricity distribution firm into a profit-making one.

"In (Jammu and) Kashmir, fundamental rights of lakhs of people have been suspended for 20 days. And many in India seem to be okay with it. This is happening in India in 2019. Article 370 or its abrogation is not the issue, but denying citizens their right to respond to it, is the main issue. They could welcome the move or protest it, that's their right," Mr Gopinathan told NDTV, adding this issue "disturbed" him enough to resign.

An IAS officer for seven years, Mr Gopinathan gave his resignation on August 21.

courtesy: ndtv.com

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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.

The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.

They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.

Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.