Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
1. KSRTC CMD apologises for man's assault by Kattakada depot crew
2. Governor signs five bills, leaves contentious ones untouched
3. Parambikulam dam shutter damaged, water gushes into Chalakudy river
4. Malayali student commits suicide at Punjab university, peers protest
5. Popular comic Raju Srivastava no more
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Let's get into the details....
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1. KSRTC Chair and MD Biju Prabhakar said on Wednesday that employees who are not willing to correct themselves will be dismissed as per protocol.He was responding to Tuesday's incident where four employees of the public transporter were suspended for thrashing a 55-year-old man, named Preman, for demanding a student's concession card for his daughter. His college-going daughter was even shoved by the employees at the bus depot after a brief war of words erupted between them. A few hours later, Transport Minister Antony Raju said that four employees, including the station master of the Kattakkada KSRTC depot, have been suspended with immediate effect.
Biju Prabhakar noted that the behaviour of a few employees affects the reputation of the whole establishment. He said, "The incident is deplorable and extremely unfortunate. It is upsetting that such incidents tarnish the corporation's name when it is trying to tide over the crisis with corrective measures. I apologise to the public for the treatment meted out to the girl and her father. We will never protect such employees. The government has been asked to weed out such individuals. The Transport Minister is also of the similar view."
The High Court too registered a suo motu case on the shocking incident.
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2. Continuing his standoff with the State Government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan refused to sign the controversial bills seeking amendment to the Lokayukta Act and those pertaining to university affairs as they came up before him.
However, he gave assent to five out of the 11 bills presented to him for nod just ahead of his visit to Delhi on Wednesday. Khan signed the five bills and left out the contentious ones as he had announced earlier. These bills were passed by the legislature and were despatched to the Governor for his assent.
He is set to depart for the national capital on Wednesday and will be back in Kerala on October 3. As per the procedure, bills are forwarded from the Assembly to the legal department in the Secretariat, from where they are sent to the Chief Minister's Office before despatch to the Raj Bhavan. Once bills reach before him, the Governor will assess whether they are legal and constitutional. He also has the power to either seek explanations or send them back to the government. He can even forward them to the President via the Central government for approval.
Indicating that his nod was unlikely for controversial bills, last week Khan had said he was not a rubber stamp to sign on dotted lines.
He even alleged the bills were intended to legalise all illegal activities taken place so far.
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3. The water flow to Chalakudy river increased on Wednesday after one of the three shutters of Parambikulam Dam located in Palakkad district was damaged.
The shutter, which is usually raised by 10 centimetres at a time, automatically opened for the entire height of 25 feet by 2 am on Wednesday.
A security personnel on night shift alerted the authorities about the incident after he heard a loud noise. He had noticed a huge outflow of water from the dam shutter on investigating.
The Kerala Police and Water Authority have asked the residents near the river to exercise caution. Palakad District Collector Mrunmayi Shashank informed that people from vulnerable tribal areas will be relocated to safer havens.
The dam is on the Parambikulam river and is located at Parambikulam area of Palakkad district. It is India's largest embankment dam and ranks in the top 10 in the world in terms of the volume of water it can hold.
The Parambikulam Dam is under the control of Tamil Nadu government.
The two functioning shutters of the dam were, meanwhile, lifted by 10 cm each to prevent any damage to these shutters from rising pressure of the water.
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Now, back to Daily News Dose.
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4. A first-year student of a private university in Punjab's Phagwara committed suicide, triggering a protest by fellow students on the campus, police said on Wednesday.
The deceased student, 21-year-old Agni S Dilip, hailing from Kerala, was studying B Design at Lovely Professional University (LPU). Soon after the suicide, other students of the university held a protest on the campus. Police have been deployed outside the university campus. Prima facie, the student was facing some personal issues, as was suggested by a suicide note left by him, a police official in Phagwara said. Police also said the student's parents have been informed and an investigation is underway.
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5. Popular comedian and actor Raju Srivastava, who was on ventilator support for over a month, has passed away. The news was confirmed by his brother Dipoo Srivastava on Wednesday morning.
According to his family, Raju was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, after suffering a heart attack while working out at the gym. Though he underwent an angioplasty, he did not regain consciousness, though he had shown signs of improvement.
Srivastava, who has been in the entertainment industry since the 1980s, shot to fame after participating in the first season of the reality stand-up comedy show 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge' in 2005. His role as Gajodhar Bhaiya in the comedy show soon went on to become a fan favourite. He was also a participant in Big Boss Season 3.
Raju had a huge passion to be a comedy artist from his childhood and would participate in several stage programmes. Born on December 25, 1963, Satya Prakash Srivastava, who later became famous as Raju Srivastava, came from a middle-class family in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur.
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