Row over removal of sacred thread during CET in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): A row has erupted after five Brahmin students were forced to remove their sacred thread (Janeu/Yajnopaveetha) at Krupanidhi College in the city during the CET held here.
The Common Entrance Test (CET) is held to select students for admission into professional courses.
Students on Friday alleged that the invigilators present at the examination hall of the college at Madivala asked them to get the sacred thread removed if they wished to write the exam.
This was despite the fact that last year, when a similar controversy took place, the government made it clear that the sacred thread would not be removed during the CET. However, once again this year, students faced similar discrimination.
A student said, "When I went to the examination centre, the teachers got my ear ring removed. I can still understand that because no metal is allowed, but they also forced me to get the sacred thread removed from the body."
Left with no other option, the student obeyed the diktat of the invigilators.
Sources said parents of the students reached the venue after the exam was over and questioned the motive when there were standing instructions not to remove the sacred thread.
Some other students alleged that the red and yellow sacred thread (Mauli/Kalava) tied to the wrist was also removed by the invigilators.
When a similar controversy erupted in Shivamogga, Bidar and some other places, the state's Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar, assured parents that action would be taken against those responsible for it.
Even the chief minister had directed authorities not to ask students to remove the thread last year. Yet, the incident was repeated on Thursday, the parents alleged.
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Indian sailor killed in dhow fire near Strait of Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): An Indian sailor was killed and several others injured after their wooden dhow caught fire near the Strait of Hormuz, government sources said on Saturday
Seventeen other Indian crew members were rescued following the incident on Friday, they said, noting that the exact cause of the blaze is still being ascertained.
The crew members were rescued by a vessel which was passing by in the area, the sources said.
The incident came amid increasing hostilities between Iran and the US in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which a significant portion of the world's oil supply passes.
"A wooden Dhow, carrying general cargo, with 18 Indian crew capsized yesterday close to the Strait of Hormuz after it caught fire," said a source.
"In this incident, one Indian on the dhow died while four received burn injuries. The injured are receiving medical treatment in Dubai and are safe," the source said.
Officials from the Indian Consulate in Dubai met the rescued Indian nationals last night, said another source.
The consulate is also in touch with the dhow owner and is extending all possible assistance, the sources said.
