Daily News Dose: UPSC civil services exam results are out, women bag top four ranks | May 30, 2022

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:

1. UPSC civil services exam results are out, women bag top four ranks 

2. 15-year-old sexually assaulted while on a sightseeing trip in Idukki; 4, including minor, arrested

3. Nepal plane crash: At least 16 bodies recovered

4. Wild boar culling: Local body heads to be vested with power of chief wildlife warden

5. Kerala to receive heavy rainfall for next 5 days, yellow alert in 9 districts today

Let's get into the details:

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1. The Union Public Service Commission on Monday announced the final results of the Civil Services Examination for 2021. Shruti Sharma is the topper among the 685 candidates who cleared the exams for various posts in the All-India Civil Services and Central Services - Group A and Group B. The second, third and fourth ranks were bagged by Ankita Agarwal, Gamini Singhal and Aishwarya Varma. Nine Keralites feature in top 100. Changanacherry native Dileep K, at the 21st spot, got the highest rank among Keralites.

Nearly 1,800 candidates were called for the interview round. Out of the 685 candidates recommended for appointment, 244 belong to the General category, 73 are from Economically Weaker Sections, 203 belong to Other Backward Classes, 105 to Scheduled Castes and 60 to Scheduled Tribes.

A total of 180 selected candidates will be considered for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 37 for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and 200 for the Indian Police Service (IPS). The rest will be considered for Central Services Group (A) and Group (B) posts.

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2. A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a few people at a tea plantation at Santhanpara in Kerala's Idukki district on Sunday evening. The teenager, hailing from West Bengal, was visiting the Poopara viewpoint with a friend. Four local residents allegedly attacked and chased away the girl's male companion before dragging her into the tea estate and raping her. By thee time the girl's friend raised an alarm and arrived at the site with help, the assailants escaped.

Four individuals, including a minor, have been arrested, the police informed. The girl's parents had arrived in Idukki from Bengal for working at a cardamom plantation. She visited the viewpoint, which is a popular tourist spot, with a youth working at the cardamom plantation.

The teenager will be subjected to a medical check-up. The police have registered a case over the gang-rape and a hunt is on for the rapists.

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3. At least 16 bodies were recovered on Monday from the wreckage site of the Tara Air plane that crashed in Nepal's mountainous Mustang district on Sunday, authorities said.

In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the bodies of 16 out of the 22 people on board have been recovered and are yet to be identified. The passengers included four Indians.

The aviation official said that the plane had crashed at a height of 14,500 feet.

The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane was flying from the city of Pokhara to the popular tourist town Jomsom in central Nepal. It had crashed minutes after takeoff.

Inda Singh, who was on his way to clear a blocked road, found out that the plane had crashed. He said the plane was found in a completely damaged condition, MyRepublica newspaper reported.

"All the passengers on the aircraft are found dead, he was quoted as saying by the paper. Singh also said it is difficult to retrieve the bodies as they are in a ditch.

The airline's passengers list identified four Indians as Ashok Kumar Tripathy, his wife Vaibhavi Bandekar (Tripathy) and their children Dhanush and Ritika. The family was based in Thane city near Mumbai.

Pieces of the wreckage of the aircraft were found after nearly 20 hours since the plane went missing, the Nepal Army said on Monday.

Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson of Tara Air, said: As the bodies have been scattered over a 100-metre radius from the main impact point, the search and rescue team is collecting them."

The plane slammed into the mountain breaking into pieces, said Bartaula.

The impact has blown the bodies all over the hill, he said. As the area can accommodate only one chopper at the crash site, it is shuttling the rescuers, said Bartaula.

The search was suspended on Sunday because of bad weather and failing light.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest, has a record of air accidents.

In 2016, all 23 people aboard were killed when a plane of the same airline flying the same route crashed after takeoff. 

In March 2018, a US-Bangla Air crash occurred at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 51 people on board.

A Sita Air flight crashed in September 2012 while making an emergency landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 19 people.

A plane flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed near Jomsom airport on May 14, 2012, killing 15 people.

Tara Air is the newest and biggest airline service provider in the Nepalese mountains, according to the airline website. It started its business in 2009 with the mission of helping develop rural Nepal.

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4. The Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala on Monday issued an order appointing local body chairpersons as honorary wildlife wardens empowered to cull wild boars. With this, the gram panchayat president, municipal chairperson and mayor would be able to legally cull wild boars that pose a threat to life or property in their jurisdiction.

In case of any inconvenience, the local body chairpersons can task another person to cull wild boars after stating the reason. They can choose any method other than poisoning, using explosives and electrocution.

The Government Order would be effective till May 30, 2023. As majority of the local body chairpersons do not have gun licences, the forest department is considering to give training to them to use gun or catch the wild animal by setting traps.

Meanwhile, 26 vehicles were purchased for the staff deployed by the forest department in areas with acute wild animal menace. Twenty Gurkha jeeps and 6 campers were newly purchased. Forest Minister A K Saseendran flagged-off the vehicles at the forest department headquarters in the State Capital on Monday.

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5. With the onset of the Southwest Monsoon, Kerala may witness heavy rains for the next five days, the India Meteorological Department warned on Monday. A yellow alert was issued in nine districts, excluding the northern districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod. The advancing monsoon winds from the Arabian Sea and the cyclonic circulation over Kerala and neighbouring regions are likely to bring about the heavy rainfall. The Southwest Monsoon set in over Kerala on Sunday, three days ahead of its usual date of June 1, marking the start of the four-month rainy season that is crucial for India's farm-based economy. However, while the monsoon has advanced over Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, the Bay of Bengal arm of the weather system was sluggish as it continued to linger just above the Andaman islands.

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