Six persons drown in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district
Vijayawada (PTI): Six men drowned in a pond in Toderu village in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district, police said on Monday.
The six were part of a 10-member group which entered the pond on Sunday, police said, adding four of them managed to escape to safety.
Incidentally, all of them know how to swim but swampy conditions in the pond meant six got stuck under the water, leading to their death, police said.
The deceased were Alli Srinath (18), Prasanth (28), Raghu (24), Balaji (18), Kalyan (25) and Surendra (18), police added.
Police said the men took out the boat without informing the caretaker of the pond.
"Only four of the 10 persons who went into the pond in a country boat made of iron, which is used to feed fish, managed to come out," Nellore Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao, said about the mishap which occurred on Sunday evening.
According to Rao, the men had previously also taken out the boat a few times without informing the pond caretaker.
"While trying to take a U-turn by navigating with the oar, the boat capsized, leading to flooding and all of them jumping into the water. However, the bed of the pond was slushy and immobilised some of them," said the SP who visited the spot.
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Cong demands TN governor's sacking over his 'secularism is European concept' remark
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress Monday slammed as "outrageous and unacceptable" Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's remark that "secularism is a European concept" and demanded his immediate sacking.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that Ravi is "only a trial balloon floater" and is echoing what Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to get done.
Ramesh's remarks came after Ravi said secularism is a European concept that evolved after a conflict between the church and the king whereas Bharat is a dharma-centric nation and therefore, it was not part of the Constitution but added during Emergency by "one insecure prime minister".
The Tamil Nadu governor, while addressing an event in the Kanyakumari district on Sunday, said a lot of frauds have been committed against the people of the country and one of those was a wrong interpretation of secularism.
Reacting to the remarks, Ramesh said, "This man, who has taken an oath on the Constitution and who -- inspite of his drumbeating -- remains a Constitutional functionary, should be sacked forthwith. He is a disgrace."
"This is not the first outrageous and unacceptable statement he has made. But he is only a trial balloon floater. He is echoing what the non-biological PM wants to get done," the Congress leader said.
Ravi had also said, "What does secularism mean? Secularism is a European concept, secularism is not a Bharatiya concept."
Decades later, during Emergency (1975-77), "one insecure prime minister," introduced secularism in the Constitution in order to appease some sections of people, the Governor alleged.
Indira Gandhi was the prime minister during Emergency.
Ravi further said that secularism emerged in Europe as there was a fight between the church and the king and in order to end this conflict, which went on for a long time, this concept was evolved.
At the time of Independence, when the Constitution was being drafted, a discussion came up on secularism and the Constituent Assembly rejected it observing that Bharat is a dharma-centric country and there has been no conflict, similar to what was witnessed in Europe, Ravi had claimed.
