Uttar Pradesh suspends bus driver for waiting for two passengers to finish offering namaz
Lucknow: A driver and his assistant from the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) have been suspended following an incident where they halted their bus to allow two passengers to offer namaz (Islamic prayers), as reported by The Times of India.
The incident occurred on June 4 when the bus departed from Bareilly terminal and made a stop at NH24 in the Milak area of Rampur district. At the time, the bus was carrying 14 passengers.
According to the driver, KP Singh, he stopped the bus initially as some passengers requested to use a roadside toilet. Subsequently, two other passengers expressed their desire to offer namaz. Singh agreed to their request and kept the bus halted for a few minutes to allow them to pray.
However, some other passengers on the bus objected to the delay caused by waiting for the two individuals to finish their prayers. One passenger reportedly recorded a video of the incident and shared it on social media, alleging that the bus was stopped solely for the two men to offer namaz.
Following an initial inquiry, Deepak Chaudhary, the regional manager of the transport body, informed IANS that Singh and his assistant, Yadav, were suspended. This action was taken to ensure the safety and security of passengers, as stopping the bus on a busy highway posed risks.
Hussain Mansoori, a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat who had offered the namaz, expressed surprise at the suspension of Singh and Yadav.
Meanwhile, Yadav stated that he and Singh intend to challenge the suspension order, as they believe they did nothing wrong by accommodating the passengers' prayer request.
The employee welfare association has also shown support for Singh and Yadav, emphasizing the need for a proper investigation before suspending employees.
Hari Mohan, the president of the association, explained that suspensions should be based on a thorough examination by a committee to determine the person's guilt. In this case, Singh and Yadav were not given an opportunity to provide their explanation before the suspension was imposed.
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Rahul slams govt over trade deficit touching all-time high
New Delhi (PTI): Slamming the Modi government, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said prioritising crony businesses over play-fair ones leads to weakened manufacturing sector, depreciating currency, record high trade deficits, high interest rates, falling consumption and soaring inflation.
Tagging a media report which said that trade deficit and imports are at an all-time high, Gandhi hit out at the government.
"What happens when a government prioritises crony businesses over play-fair businesses?" Gandhi said.
"Result: Weakened manufacturing sector, depreciating currency, record high trade deficits, high interest rates, falling consumption and soaring inflation," he said in a post on X.
After recording double-digit growth in October, India's exports in November contracted by 4.85 per cent year-on-year to USD 32.11 billion, while the trade deficit widened to an all-time high of USD 37.84 billion due to record surge in gold imports.
According to the commerce ministry data, imports rose by 27 per cent year-on-year to a record USD 69.95 billion in November due to high inbound shipments of vegetable oil, fertiliser, and silver.
Gold imports during the month under review soared to an all-time high of USD 14.8 billion as against USD 3.5 billion in November 2023.
Cumulatively, during April-November this fiscal, exports increased by 2.17 per cent to USD 284.31 billion and imports by 8.35 per cent to USD 486.73 billion.
Trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, during April-November widened to USD 202.42 billion from USD 170.98 billion during April-November 2023.
