Daily News Dose: Fort Kochi hotelier Roy Vayalat moves HC for anticipatory bail in POCSO case | Feb 12, 2022

Hello listeners, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Ajish Jimmy George.

1) Roy Vayalat, the owner of No 18 hotel in Fort Kochi, caught in a storm over the death of two models last November, has moved the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a POCSO case.

Vayalat was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, known as POCSO, following the complaint of a Kozhikode woman.

She alleged that Vayalat had molested her 17-year-old daughter during a DJ party at his hotel on 20^th November 2021.

Vayalat's partner Saiju Thankachan and his friend Anjali from Kozhikode, both accused in the models' death case, are also allegedly involved in this POCSO case.

The three approached the High Court on Saturday and the plea is expected to be heard on Monday.

2) Indian international Shreyas Iyer predictably became the highest paid marquee player at the Indian Premier League auction on Saturday. The Kolkata Knight Riders secured him for a whopping Rs 12.25 crore after an intense bidding war.

Indian seamer Harshal Patel, who was IPL's top wicket-taker last year, enjoyed a fantastic auction as Royal Challengers Bangalore retained him for Rs 10.75 crore.

Some of the veteran India players like Shikhar Dhawan, bought for Rs 8.25 crore by Punjab Kings, and Mohammed Shami, gone for Rs 6.25 crore to new entrants Gujarat Titans, also enjoyed a good pay day.

3) Veteran auctioneer Hugh Edmeades collapsed while conducting the first session of the Indian Premier League auction in Bengaluru on Saturday but was found to be "doing fine" after a medical check-up.

The 60-year-old's collapse midway into proceedings led to an early lunch on the opening day of the two-day auction.

He was immediately stretchered off for medical attention and it came to light that he had suffered the fall due to low blood pressure.

4) India on Saturday rejected criticism by some countries over the simmering dress code row in certain educational institutions in Karnataka and said that "motivated comments" on the country's internal issues are not welcome.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that those who know India well would have a proper appreciation of the realities.

"A matter regarding dress code in some educational institutions in the State of Karnataka is under judicial examination by the High Court of Karnataka," he said.

5) Train service resumed operation on the Pudukkad-Irinjalakkuda double-line in Thrissur on Saturday, a day after a goods train derailed near Pudukad station.

The derailed train was cleared in the morning and the track restoration work got underway.

However, due to the late running of pairing trains, some trains are rescheduled.

Thiruvananthapuram Central-MGR Chennai Central Mail, Kochuveli-Mysuru Daily Express and Thiruvananthapuram Central Mangalore Central Malabar Express were among the trains rescheduled.

Alappuzha Kannur Executive Express and Kannur Alappuzha Executive Express were fully cancelled.

6) India saw a single day rise of 50,407 coronavirus infections, which took the tally of cases to 4,25,86,544, while the active cases have declined to 6,10,443, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll has climbed to 5,07,981 with 804 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The daily COVID-19 cases are being recorded at less than one lakh for the last six consecutive days. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.48 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 5.07 per cent.

That brings us to the end of this episode! Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.