Latest news with #Gopal
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Couple grieving son's death die by suicide in Erode
Erode: Bereaved by the untimely demise of their only son, a couple in Erode died by suicide on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as K Velusamy, 55, and his wife Deepa, 50, both from Kavundappadi village, near Chithode in Erode district. The couple was involved in agriculture and power loom business. Preliminary inquiry revealed that their son Pradeep, 22, fell to his death in April 2024, when he was attempting to fix a crack on the roof of their power loom. On Wednesday, the couple sent a WhatsApp voice message to their relative Gopal, about their intention to end their lives as they were unable to cope with the loss of their son. However, Gopal noticed the message only around 3pm. "When I rushed to their home, they were already dead by suicide," he recounted. He alerted Kavundappadi police, who recovered the bodies, and transported them to the Perundurai Government Medical College and Hospital for postmortem. Police have registered a case and are investigating.
IOL News
10 hours ago
- IOL News
Witness recounts events of the July 2021 unrest in Phoenix
Motor vehicles were set alight on Phoenix Highway during the unrest in Phoenix, north of Durban. Image: Motshwari Mofokeng/African News Agency (ANA) A State witness, who is a recovered drug addict, told the Durban High Court that during the 2021 July unrest violence in Phoenix, where black Africans were allegedly attacked by four Indian males, he witnessed the incident in his sober senses and he got a clear view of it. The State witness, whose name cannot be revealed for security reasons, had told the court earlier in his testimony that he had been on drugs for 40 years. He has pointed out Trevor Gopal, the owner of Tees Tavern in Phoenix, as the person who incited violence and ordered that the three victims, Njabulo Allen Dlamini, Nkosikhona Madlala, and Sandile Sambo, be burnt alive with their taxi. In this matter, Gopal, Ravine Naidoo, Tyreece Govender, and Timothy Govender are charged with Dlamini's murder, two counts of attempted murder, malicious damage to property, and public violence. The State is alleging that Gopal incited his security guards and members of the public to commit acts of violence against black Africans visiting Phoenix. The witness said that when the incident took place around midday on July 12, 2021, he had last taken drugs at 6am. 'When the incident took place, I was in my sober senses,' he said. During re-examination by state prosecutor advocate Thabani Buthelezi, the witness said his drug addiction had been arrested three or four years ago when he went into rehabilitation. As he was continuing to explain, Judge Mluleki Chithi interjected, stating that the addiction issue was not relevant to the court. 'Was he under the influence of drugs at the relevant time? That is the question,' he said. Judge Chithi interjected often, telling the witness to answer the questions that had been asked instead of talking about his life experiences or giving the court unnecessary answers. Additionally, the witness told the court that during the incident, he had a clear view. Buthelezi asked the witness if he knew where the person seen in a video of the incident got the cloth that was put in the petrol tank of the victim's taxi. The witness said this was done by two people and one was wearing a bulletproof vest. When the taxi did not burn as anticipated, Gopal and his brother then made attempts to burn it. 'You told us here in court that the people who burnt the taxi were accused, two (Gopal and his brother). Why did you not tell us about this?' Judge Chithi asked. The witness replied by saying he thought it was not relevant to mention this, 'because the taxi did not do what it was meant to do'. The witness said Gopal told people to stop filming at that stage, and he together with his brother approached the taxi to set it alight.
The Hindu
11 hours ago
- Climate
- The Hindu
Kerala likely to get below-normal rain in August, September
Although Kerala received normal rainfall halfway through, a lean phase appears to be looming over the State during the remaining two months of the southwest monsoon season. The State received 1,190.5 mm of rain during the first two months of the season against the average of 1,301.7 from June 1 to July 31, the peak southwest monsoon in Kerala. The rainfall in the seasonal half is 9% short of normal rainfall. However, a deviation of up to plus or minus 19% is considered normal rainfall by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD warns of below-normal rainfall for Kerala in August and September, suggesting that Kerala is likely to end up with a deficit season this year. Couple of intense spells Speaking to The Hindu, Neetha K. Gopal, IMD Director, Thiruvananthapuram, said the southwest monsoon is likely to slip into a weak phase during the remaining half of the season. 'This doesn't mean that the rain will keep away. We expect a couple of intense spells, and the latest one to be around August 8 for two days, but cumulatively the overall rainfall will be in the below-normal category,' said Ms. Gopal. Traditionally, Kerala receives the highest average monthly rainfall in July (653.5 mm), followed by June (648.3 mm), August (445 mm), and September (271 mm). Though the monsoon trough now runs at mean sea level at its normal position, it will soon shift to the north of its position, closer to the Himalayan foothills, leading to scanty rainfall or a 'break in monsoon' in south India and heavy spells in northern India. Further, the prospects of forming monsoon systems over the Bay of Bengal with a position favourable to the Kerala and Konkan belt seem to be bleak for the time being. This, along with a poor monsoon surge from the Arabian Sea and weakened westerly wind flow, may reduce the rainfall activity over the State. The speciality of the healthy monsoon rain Kerala received so far was its almost even distribution without any major extreme spells. The appearance of the offshore trough along the west coast, one of the main features of the intense monsoon rainfalls in Kerala, was seen only a few days in the first half of the season. Instead, the cross-equatorial flow propelled the widespread and somewhat even distribution of the rain in Kerala. Similarly, most of the days, northwesterly winds were seen along the coast of Kerala, instead of westerlies. The westerly wind blowing into the State straightaway from the Arabian Sea towards the Western Ghats normally leads to heavy spells, while the change in direction of the wind will deprive the State of its orographic advantage, according to experts.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Evicted families install Goddess statues at Chandola lake, AMC razes awnings over them
Dotted along the freshly-cleared shores of Ahmedabad's Chandola lake, are statues of Dashama, the kuldevi (clan deity) of the Devipujak community. Members of families, evicted from their illegal settlements in May as part of the Chandola Lakefront development project, on Wednesday were rebuilding tents and awnings to shelter the statues from the heat and rain. Despite renting homes in other parts of the city, often far away, these families returned to the sites of their destroyed homes to install the statues and observe a 10-day fast and prayer ritual before immersing the statues in the Sabarmati river. However, as part of its weekly cleanup drive at the lake, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation officials from the South Zone along with police, to make sure that there is no encroachment on the roughly 4 lakh square metres of land between and around the three water bodies, including the Mota Chandola (Greater) and two Nana Chandola (Lesser) lakes, cleared the awnings and tents set up over the Dashama statues as well. The entire area of Chandola lake is 11 lakh square metres. According to the AMC, it cleared a total of 12,500 residential, commercial and religious structures in two phases of demolitions in May. 'They threw us out of here and we left. But Dashama is here only for 10 days. Why can't they allow her to be here in peace,' said a female former resident who is fasting for all 10 days. As of Wednesday, there were five more days to go before the immersion of the statues. 'They told us to move the statues and then demolished the tents on Wednesday at about 11:30 am,' said Vishnu Dantani, whose mother has set up a statue in the lane behind the Jogani Mata temple on the main road, just 250 metres from Suryanagar police chowki, which was the staging point of the demolition drive. A former resident of the area, Gopal Govind Dantani, 52, who happened to be present during the clean up drive on Wednesday, told the Indian Express, 'We assured the officials that we have moved to a rented accommodation in Bhaipura and we have come only to install the statue of Dashama and pray for 10 days after which we will leave. But they still broke the sheds built over the statues.' Pointing to the edge of the waterline, where his home once stood, Gopal said: 'This was our home. We have been installing the statue here for the last 5 years and this is probably the last time we are doing it here.' Sharing the reason behind installing the statue here, Gopal said, 'Our entire life has been uprooted from here. We are already facing problems in getting rented homes because landlords are asking for a Rs 10,000 deposit because they know we have been evicted and are homeless. We can barely afford it. On top of that, when we asked the Mother Goddess if we could take her to our rented home, the Devi declined, which is why we had to come and install the statue here.' The same refrain was repeated by several other evictees, who claimed that a Bhuwa — an oracle of the Goddess — had consulted the deity on moving out of Chandola lake, but she had allegedly refused to budge on the issue. Widow, Meena Poonam Dantani, 62, who has set up a foot-tall statue of Dashama, dressed in red vestments, said: 'My daughter is fasting for all 10 days and I have set up Dashama here at her insistence but the dabaan (estate) department people came and tore it down. They asked us to remove the statue but we refused. They, however, removed the awning without touching the deity,' said Meena. Standing behind the statue and straightening the creases in the fabric of the vestments, Meena said that she would not let the 'statue budge till the 10 days were over and Dashama was immersed in the river'. 'Not a religious issue' Meanwhile, BC Parmar, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DyMC) of the South Zone told The Indian Express, 'This is not a religious issue but one where we have to make sure that no illegal construction comes up in Chandola Lake again. To make sure that people living there earlier don't return and new people don't try to encroach, we conduct a weekly drive with help of the police. However, we have instructed the teams not to touch the statues of Dashama during this drive.' As Gopal's wife Kavita tried to gather her three children for the evening prayers at their little shrine, another woman on the other side of the road quietly prayed to the Goddess while lighting a lamp in her home shrine with a portrait of the deity. Day 5 of fasting was over. Five more days of the festival left to go.
Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Green push: Govt to launch Gopal Van initiative in Mathura today
Lucknow: The UP govt will launch the Gopal Van initiative in Mathura on July 27 as part of its statewide green push. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed it to be celebrated as a public festival involving cowherds, saints, schoolchildren and local leaders. The event will be held at Brahmarshi Deoraha Baba Gaushala in Ral, Chhathithra, Govardhan Road, Mathura. Fodder plants will be planted here, followed by a seminar on "Promotion of Forests in Gaushalas," with participation from schoolchildren. Similar, Gopal Vans will be established in other districts during the monsoon season. UP currently has 7,608 cow shelters, including 6,613 temporary shelters in rural areas, 387 large centres, 305 Kanji Houses and 303 Kanha shelters in urban regions. The state govt plans to develop Gopal Vans at all these locations, accompanied by year-round plantation drives and preservation. Private cowherds have also been encouraged to take part in the drive by planting saplings within their gaushalas. Lord Shri Krishna is revered as Gopal for his deep care for cows, who selflessly serve humanity. Honouring this legacy, the Yogi govt has entrusted the Mathura Forest Division—the land of Gopal—with hosting the state-level Gopal Van event. Divisional forest officer of Mathura Rajnikant Mittal said a grand state-level event will be held on July 27 at the Deoraha Baba Ashram, where public representatives, schoolchildren, and people from all walks of life will participate.
