NEET aspirant kills self in hostel room in Kota
Kota (Rajasthan) (PTI): A 19-year-old NEET aspirant from Uttar Pradesh allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his hostel room here, police said on Wednesday.
It is the first case of suspected student suicide in the coaching hub this year.
The incident happened on Tuesday and the police have recovered the body from the victim's room in a hostel in New Rajiv Gandhi Nagar area of Kota.
Kota Hostel Association president Naveen Mittal said the fan in the victim's room was not equipped with anti-suicide device in violation of guidelines set up for hostels in the district.
Mittal said the association would blacklist the hostel and recommend the district administration to seize the hostel. He said there were still several hostels in the city where guidelines were not being followed.
Kota district authorities had ordered hostels to install a spring device on ceiling fans that foils suicide attempts.
Circle Officer of Jawahar Nagar area DSP Bhawani Singh said the deceased was identified as Mohammed Jaid (19), a resident of Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh. He was preparing for a second attempt at NEET at a coaching institute in the city.
The body has been placed in the mortuary and the post-mortem would be conducted after the victim's parents arrive in the city, the officer said.
Singh said the hostel warden informed the police after Jaid did not come out of his room till Tuesday evening. Around 10 pm, the police were informed, he added.
The DSP said no suicide note was recovered from the room and the reason behind extreme step would be ascertained after investigation.
Last year, there were 26 student suicide cases in Kota, the highest figure so far in the coaching hub, where lakhs students reach from across the country every year for preparation of medical and engineering entrance exams.
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Voting underway for local body elections in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Voting got underway on Sunday morning for elections to several local bodies in Gujarat, including 15 municipal corporations and 84 municipalities.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
The elections are being held for 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
A total of 9,992 candidates are in the fray, with more than 4.18 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
A three-tier security is in place, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, police officials said.
The polls are being conducted under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, and required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
The ruling BJP, Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have emerged as the key players, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting in several places.
Among notable candidates are former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama is contesting from the Odh seat in Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections, while the BJP has nominated Bhayani from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Desai, popularly known as RJ Abha, is contesting as a Congress candidate from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections are also being held for the first time in nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
Counting of votes will take place on April 28.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel campaigned extensively for the BJP.
The AAP had taken the lead over other parties in launching the campaign, with its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressing several rallies across Gujarat.
In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party is contesting around 5,000 seats in local polls.
Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi campaigned in the final phase, addressing public meetings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with rival Congress.
The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, besides 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.
