Latest news with #Jayant
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Wild elephant attack claims farmer's life in Chittoor dist
Tirupati: The threat posed by wild elephants in the undivided Chittoor district continues to escalate, claiming another life on Tuesday night. A 55-year-old farmer, Ganapathi Yadav, was trampled to death in Nagavandlapalli village of Irala mandal after attempting to drive away a herd of elephants that had entered his farmland. Yadav, who was reportedly sleeping near his field, tried to protect his crops but was fatally attacked in the process. The incident, which falls under the Puthalapattu Assembly constituency, has once again highlighted the growing human-wildlife conflict in the region. The local community has been left shaken, with villagers voicing heightened concerns over safety, especially during nighttime. Many now hesitate to step out alone into their fields, fearing similar encounters. Tragic incidents like this are not new to the region. Since 2011, approximately 25 lives have been lost in elephant-related attacks across the undivided Chittoor district. Apart from the human toll, farmers have suffered substantial agricultural losses, with an estimated 203 acres of farmland destroyed by elephants between 2015 and 2024 alone. In the wake of the latest tragedy, Puthalapattu MLA K Murali Mohan visited the bereaved family and extended his condolences. He assured them of government compensation, now pegged at Rs.10 lakh for deaths resulting from wild animal attacks—an increase from the earlier Rs.5 lakh, revised in response to the rising frequency of such incidents and public pressure. Though forest officials have implemented various measures to mitigate the conflict, villagers remain doubtful of their effectiveness. The deployment of trained Kunki elephants like Vinayaka and Jayant, including reinforcements from Karnataka, has drawn criticism from locals who allege that these animals are not being adequately used to disperse wild herds. Officials, however, insist that proactive steps are underway, noting the persistent presence of a herd of about 15 elephants that has been damaging crops in the area over the past three months. To manage the situation, a dedicated task force is monitoring elephant movements in vulnerable zones. Additionally, a Smart Virtual Fencing system has been introduced to enable real-time tracking. Despite these efforts, recurring incidents suggest that current interventions may be insufficient, underscoring the urgent need for a more robust, long-term solution to human-elephant conflict in the region.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
3 held after argument over urination sparks fatal stabbing in Madhapur
Hyderabad: What began as a verbal spat over one of the accused reportedly urinating near a group of youngsters drinking in an isolated area behind a corporate hospital in Madhapur escalated into a fatal stabbing in the early hours of May 31. Madhapur police on Monday arrested three suspects, including two juveniles, for the murder of 18-year-old Jayant Goud. According to police, the incident occurred around 1.30 am, when Jayant was celebrating his mother's birthday with seven friends in a deserted area behind the hospital. An argument broke out between Jayant and a 17-year-old fabrication worker from Yellammabanda, after the latter attempted to relieve himself where the youngsters were having a get-together. The verbal altercation intensified, and the juvenile allegedly stabbed Jayant twice in the chest and hip, using a knife. After the attack, the juvenile fled the scene with two associates on a scooter. Jayant was rushed to the emergency department of Yashoda Hospital, where he was declared dead at 1.57 am, Madhapur inspector D Krishna Mohan confirmed. Based on a complaint from the victim's family, police registered a case under sections 103(1) (murder), 238 (destruction of evidence), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with section 25(1)(A) of the Indian Arms Act. Apart from arresting two 17-year-old juveniles from Yellammabanda and Sanathnagar, police also picked up their associate Ishwar Singh, 18, from Erragadda. During interrogation, police learned that one of the juveniles had gone to urinate in the isolated area and got into a heated exchange with Jayant and his friends. The accused were presented in court. Ishwar Singh was remanded in judicial custody at the district jail in Kandi, Sangareddy, while the juveniles were sent to a juvenile home in Saidabad. Police said that Jayant had a criminal background. He was previously accused in a 2024 murder case registered at Bachupally police station while he was still a minor. The case is currently under trial.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Time of India
Police nab IPL ticket resellers
Royal Challengers Bangalore Finger bitten in traffic fight Dance teacher arrested for abusing minor POCSO Act Woman strangled for gold Cottonpet police Two individuals were arrested by police for illegally selling Indian Premier League (IPL) tickets at inflated prices near Vijayanagar. The duo was caught red-handed attempting to sell ₹1,200 tickets for as high as ₹5,500 ahead of the high-voltage match between(RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Chinnaswamy accused have been identified as Shankar (19), a resident of Gangadhar Layout in Vijayanagar, and Suresh (30), a resident of SR on a tip-off, police approached Shankar near a playground where he offered a ₹1,200 ticket for ₹5,000. Upon questioning, he was found in possession of 41 IPL tickets and ₹20,200 in cash. His mobile phone and tickets were confessed that he received the tickets from Venkatagiri Gowda and Ravichandra, allegedly police personnel who have been supplying tickets for resale during IPL matches. He also revealed that Suresh was helping him with the illegal sales. Following this lead, police tracked down Suresh, who was carrying 11 more IPL tickets. They admitted to selling them at black market rates ranging between ₹5,000 and ₹6, of them have confessed to reselling tickets for profit, fully aware of the illegality. A case has been registered, and the investigation is still ongoing.A man had to undergo surgery after another motorist bit off his finger in a rage over being splashed with rainwater. Jayant and his wife were driving when their car splashed rainwater onto a nearby vehicle, prompting its driver to react Jayant immediately apologised, the other driver began verbally abusing him. The man then followed Jayant's car. With the help of a couple in another car, the accused blocked Jayant's vehicle and launched an assault. During the scuffle, the accused bit Jayant's right index finger hard enough to almost detach it. Jayant was rushed to the hospital, where doctors performed surgery and placed five stitches. He has been advised six months of rest and incurred a medical bill of `2 lakh.A complaint has been lodged at Magadi Road Police police on Thursday rrested a 28-year-old dance teacher, Bharathi Kannan, on charges of sexually harassing a minor girl by forcing her into a car, promising to provide information about dance training. The arrest follows a complaint filed by the victim's family, leading to an investigation and subsequent booking of Kannan under theThe incident reportedly occurred on May 24, when the girl was walking near Kadugodi. Police reports indicate that Bharathi Kannan,driving a car, approached the girl and identified himself as a dance teacher. He allegedly promised to provide information about dance classes, a ruse that led the unsuspecting girl to enter his inside the car, Kannan is accused of locking the doors and driving the girl some distance away before parking. There, he allegedly sexually harassed her. Following the assault, Kannan reportedly drove the girl back to the spot where she had boarded the car and then fled the scene. Upon returning home, the girl informed her parents about the incident. Her parents promptly filed a complaint with the Kadugodi police. Police officials swiftly launched an investigation, utilising CCTV footage from the surrounding area. The footage helped identify the registration number of Kannan's car, which ultimately led to his apprehension. He has been remanded in judicial custody by the cracked the murder case of a 50-year-old woman who was strangled at home by two distant relatives. The accused allegedly killed her to steal cash and gold, hoping to recover losses from a failed victim, Latha, a native of Bidar and resident of Dargah Mohalla, was alone at home when the accused, identified as Shivappa and Purandar, visited her under the pretext of a casual visit. Latha welcomed them, unaware of their intentions. Soon after, the duo strangled her and fled with said the accused had suffered a major financial setback after being duped in a 'rice pulling' scam. Both men, electricians by profession, hail from Bidar and had visited Latha occasionally in the to the police, the men travelled to Bengaluru by bus and targeted Latha after careful planning. On the day of the crime, Latha's husband was at his shop in Upparpete, her daughter was at work, and her son was at school, leaving her alone at home.
Economic Times
25-05-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar: The great astrophysicist believed it's essential to have voices who question mainstream dogma
In June 1995, Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy (IoA) celebrated the 80th birthday of its founder, the renowned physicist Fred Hoyle. Members of the original team who helped establish one of the world's leading scientific institutions in 1972 were invited. Among them was Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, one of the founding faculty of IoA, and one of Hoyle's old research students. Narlikar was then founding director of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, a place modelled closed after IoA. At the summer garden party on one of those rare English sunny afternoons, Hoyle, the most important figure in Britain's post-WW2 astronomy and space sciences establishment, was asked to speak about his life in science. In a letter to Robert Hooke in 1675, another Cambridge scientist, Isaac Newton, had famously said, 'If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.' Hoyle started his speech about his main contributions to astronomy by saying, 'If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of a Jayant.' In the 1960s, Narlikar, with his mentor Hoyle, developed a work that's arguably the finest among their scientific oeuvres. Hoyle-Narlikar theory of gravity presented an alternative to Einstein's general relativity by fundamentally incorporating Mach's Principle. Think of it this way: what if the weight and mass (inertia) of an object isn't just something it has by itself, but is actually influenced by everything else in the universe? Unlike Einstein's theory of relativity, which sees gravity as a warping of space and time, Hoyle and Narlikar proposed that gravity is a direct interaction between all particles in the universe, near and far. Their theory also included a unique concept called the 'creation field', which meant new matter constantly appearing to keep the universe expanding without becoming empty. This was consistent with their model of the universe-steady state theory-which believes the universe to be infinite in age and expanse. While we now have strong evidence for the Big Bang model-which believes the universe began from a point almost 14 bn years ago-this theory was a bold and thought-provoking alternative that pushed scientists to think differently about how our universe works. Celebrity came early to Jayant Narlikar. He was a decorated student, a senior wrangler in Cambridge mathematics with lots of prizes under his belt. With his work on cosmology with Hoyle being discussed in the halls of science across the world, the Indian government laid out a red carpet for him to return to India and set up a strong group in physics and astronomy research at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), from which would hopefully spawn many others. In 1988, UGC created for him his own institution, IUCAA, in Pune, to help build astronomy and cosmology teaching and research in all the universities across India. At 27, he had been awarded the Padma Bhushan, which later became a Padma Vibhashan as he stepped off his 3-term stint as director of IUCAA. Narlikar's approach to the nature of gravity, even at an early stage of his career, showed that at heart, he was a maverick. As most cosmologists grew comfortable accepting the Big Bang model, Narlikar held his ground that the steady state had to be the answer. As more evidence was unearthed in favour of Big Bang, he responded with alternative explanations. With Geoff Burbidge and others, he proposed the quasi-steady state model, a universe that contracts and expands, cycling endlessly, with no beginning. The cosmic microwave background, which is the strongest evidence in support of the Big Bang, was elegantly explained with a kind of interstellar dust. Models of dust led to more problems. But Narlikar was undeterred. He refused to stop thinking, or reimagining. He was not a contrarian, but somebody who believed that it's essential to have voices who question mainstream IUCAA director, I cherished Narlikar's daily presence at the institute in his office next to the library, where I would regularly go for discussions and advice. In the entire time I worked with him, I found his allegiance to his theories never to be dogmatic. In front of students and other academics, he would be open to all-out debate about anything he did or did not believe in. He would argue with impeccable rigour, ever fact that I often contradicted him in academic debates was never held personally against me, or anybody else. Narlikar was a professional academic in every sense of the term.I got interested in astronomy as a child from his books, and Carl Sagan, whose TV series, 'Cosmos,' he brought to Doordarshan audiences. Later on, as I worked alongside him to bring science to the public, especially to young people, I saw the true Jayant Narlikar-the maverick who was not afraid to question the core dogmas of science, as well as all-pervasive pseudo-science in society, embodied in astrology and general was truly a giant, not just of astrophysics or academia, but of rational thought and expression, and spent a lifetime very effectively communicating this to the rest of the world. There won't be another of his kind. Adieu.
New Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
India has avenged the death of Prasant and others: Priyadarshini
BHUBANESWAR : A fortnight after her husband Prasant Satpathy fell to the bullets of terrorists at Pahalgam, Priyadarshini Acharya finally heaved a sigh of relief. For, on Tuesday night, 'Operation Sindoor' avenged the tragic killing of her husband and 25 other Indians. 'I had lost the sacred vermillion on my forehead on a Tuesday and the revenge of Prasant's death was also taken on a Tuesday. The name of this operation - Operation Sindoor - resonates with all the widows of Pahalgam attack. It is a happy day for all of us,' she said, while expressing her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the defence forces. A resident of Ishani village in Balasore district, Priyadarshini said this was just the beginning of the fight against terrorism and it should not end till it is entirely wiped out. 'I have not seen the terrorists who killed my husband but I request the Government of India and defence forces to locate each of them and give them a treatment that will set an example for every terrorist who thinks of committing a terror attack on Indian soil,' she said. Prasant's younger brother Jayant endorsed his sister-in-law's views. Hailing India's response to the Pahalgam attack, Jayant said the family has faith in the Indian government. 'We will never get Prasant Bhai back but we want the defence forces to ensure that no one else becomes a victim of terrorism like him. This fight should be such that terror outfits would think twice before repeating such cowardly acts in future,' Jayant said. Forty-one-year-old Prasant was an employee of CIPET, Balasore. The couple along with their eight-year-old son Tanuj was vacationing at Baisaran in Pahalgam on April 22 when the terrorist attack took place. Priyadarshini claimed Prasant was one of the first victims to be massacred.
