Daily News Dose: Infant's body recovered from hospital waste in Kerala | June 6, 2022

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

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Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states condemn controversial remarks of BJP leader against Prophet

Infant's body recovered from waste sent to treatment plant from Kottayam MCH

Kerala Opposition Leader VD Satheesan refuses to be hero-worshipped, wants flex boards with only his face removed

Actor, three others questioned for aiding Vijay Babu in Dubai

Booking up to 24 train tickets a month allowed if IRCTC user ID linked to Aadhaar

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Let’s get into the details.

Saudi Arabia has joined Qatar, Iran and Kuwait to express its condemnation of the controversial remarks of a BJP leader against Prophet Mohammed and called for "respect for beliefs and religions."

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the statements made by the BJP spokesperson, saying it insulted Prophet Mohammed.

The ministry reiterated its "permanent rejection of prejudice against the symbols of the Islamic religion."

Qatar, Iran and Kuwait on Sunday summoned India's Ambassadors and the key Gulf nations expressed their strong protest and condemnation of the controversial remarks of a BJP leader against Prophet Mohammed.

In New Delhi, the BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their controversial remarks against the Prophet.

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The body of an infant was recovered from the plastic waste sent to a treatment plant in Ernakulam from hospitals in Kottayam.

The body of the days-old baby was found in the plastic waste collected from Kottayam Medical College Hospital (MCH), according to officials at Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd (KEIL), a government agency that collects and processes garbage.

Kottayam Medical College Superintendent Dr T K Jayakumar said that an inquiry would be held into the incident.

The infant was fully-matured with significant hair growth.

Authorities clarified no bodies meeting the description were sent for cremation from the MCH.

Authorities have raised suspicion about the incident as recent hospital records do not include the details of such a baby. Parents or relatives of the infant have not raised a claim on the body either.

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Kerala Opposition Leader V D Satheeshan has made it clear that he is unwilling to let himself be carried along on the make-believe wings of flattery.

Following the Thrikkakara win, huge flex boards with his face  had appeared in Kerala's capital, calling him 'leader' and 'captain'. The Opposition leader has called for the removal of all flex boards and billboards that had featured only his face.

“I am not a leader. We had just one leader and that was K Karunakaran. I cannot even presume to be his replacement,” he said.

After the Thrikkakara triumph, Congress MP Hibi Eden and former MLA Anil Akkara had called Satheesan captain in an apparent snub at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, while expressing joy at the Thrikkakara victory, had said that there was just one captain for the Congress. “And it is P T Thomas,” he said. This was widely seen as a manifestation of Chennithala's discomfort with the growing hero worship of Satheesan.

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Four persons, including a film actor, was questioned by the police probe team for allegedly helping actor-producer Vijay Babu while hiding in Dubai.

The police are checking whether they came forward to help the accused producer after knowing that he was absconding. If it is proved that they knew about the case while helping out Vijay Babu, they would be arraigned as accused in the case.

The police have found that the actor, who collected the credit cards at a film set in Kodungallur from one of Vijay Babu's relatives, came to Dubai via Nedumbassery and handed it over to the producer.

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People can now book 24 train tickets in a month on the IRCTC website and app if their user ID is linked to Aadhaar, otherwise only 12 tickets can be bought, the Railways announced on Monday.

So far, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) allowed people to book six tickets a month if the account is not connected to Aadhar and 12 if it is linked.

Officials said this will be helpful for frequent travellers as well as those using the same account to book train tickets for family members.

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