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At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday after a portion of the flyover being built by the state-run corporation collapsed on a busy road in Varanasi.
Varanasi: All employees and officers of Uttar Pradesh Setu Nigam will donate their one-day salary for victims of Varanasi bridge collapse. The decision has been taken with the agreement of all the engineers and workers of the corporation, as per Zee Media reports.
At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday after a portion of the flyover being built by the state-run corporation collapsed on a busy road in Varanasi as it crushed a mini bus, cars and two-wheelers. The Uttar Pradesh Bridge Construction Corporation was constructing the 2261-metre-long bridge at a cost of Rs 129 crore. The span which fell was laid barely three months ago.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up a three-member committee to probe the flyover collapse. He announced a Rs five lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs two lakh to the seriously injured.
An FIR has been registered against concerned officials and contractors under sections 304, 308 and 427.
The state-run corporation, which had once earned kudos bagging projects not only in other states but also in Iraq, Yemen and Nepal, has been at the receiving end recently, a senior official of the PWD department was quoted as saying by PTI. In 2010, the 1086.62 meter Chillgahat bridge connecting Fatehpur with Bundelkhand region, built at the cost of Rs 650 crore, developed cracks within 13 days of the inauguration, he recalled. In 2016, a cavity developed on the Lohia bridge in Lucknow, providing an arterial link between posh and VIP areas on either side of the Gomti river.

A senior member of Gaza’s rulers Hamas said on Wednesday that most of the 62 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire during border protests and clashes this week were members of the Islamist group.
Gaza City: A senior member of Gaza’s rulers Hamas said on Wednesday that most of the 62 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire during border protests and clashes this week were members of the Islamist group.
Salah Bardawil did not give further details about whether they were members of the group’s armed or political wing, or what they were doing at the time they were killed.
“The latest round (Monday and Tuesday), 62 people were killed,” he told a Palestinian television show.
“Fifty of the martyrs were Hamas and 12 from the people. How can Hamas reap the fruits if it pays such an expensive price?” Questioned about the figures by the presenter, Bardawil said they were “official numbers”.
Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum did not confirm all 50 were members of the Islamist movement.
He told AFP Hamas paid for the funerals for all 50 “whether they are members or supporters of Hamas, or unrelated to the factions.”
Bassem Naim, another senior Hamas official, declined to confirm or deny the number but said it was a “large movement and has great popular support”.
It was “natural to see members or supporters of Hamas in large numbers” in such a protest, he said, adding that when they were killed they were “participating peacefully” in demonstrations.
Bardawil’s statement was highlighted by the Israeli army, which has long argued that Hamas is seeking to use weeks of border protests as cover to carry out attacks.
Israel says its actions on the border are necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the Gaza Strip.
“Take his word for it. This was no peaceful protest,” Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Twitter.
Palestinians, including Hamas officials, say protesters are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers and there have been international calls for an independent probe into the deaths.
Since protests and clashes began on March 30, 116 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip.
One Israeli soldier has been reported wounded in that time.
Monday left 60 Palestinians dead, the conflict’s bloodiest day since a 2014 war. That day’s protests coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which has deeply angered the Palestinians, who see the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state.
Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for a decade, is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union. It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.
The Islamist group won 2006 Palestinian elections but the international community refused to accept the result.
A year later it seized control of Gaza from the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority in a near civil war.

Of the total 4,213 complaints received by it, the commission has so far dealt with 1,074, of which 746 have been dismissed, while action has been recommended on 328 complaints
Chandigarh : Justice (retd) Mehtab Singh Gill Commission, formed by the Capt Amarinder Singh government to probe the “false” cases registered under the previous SAD-BJP government, on Wednesday submitted its 7th interim report.
The report recommended cancellation of 21 FIRs “filed maliciously”, while dismissing 158 “frivolous” complaints out of the 179 cases examined by the panel in this round.
Of the total 4,213 complaints received by it, the commission has so far dealt with 1,074, of which 746 have been dismissed, while action has been recommended on 328 complaints.
Besides cancellation of FIRs in 21 cases, the commission, in its 7th interim report, has also recommended disciplinary action against the erring police officers/officials, including registration of FIRs against certain police officials under Section 58 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Sections 193 and 195 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The panel has also recommended award of adequate monetary compensation to the accused (complainants before the commission) to be recovered from certain police officials, and initiation of proceedings under Section 182 of IPC against author of the FIR and against certain prosecution witnesses.
The dismissals relate to cases of challans being put up in the courts, trials going on in the courts, or there being no political vendetta, or cases wherein complaint is of such a nature which is not concerned with the commission, an official spokesperson said.

Turkey told Israel`s ambassador to leave the country on Tuesday after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border.
Ankara: Turkey and Israel expelled each other`s senior diplomats on Tuesday in a dispute over the killing by Israeli forces of 60 Palestinians a day earlier during protests on the Gaza border.
Turkey told Israel`s ambassador to leave the country on Tuesday after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel`s response to the Gaza protests and of the US Embassy move, recalling its ambassadors from Tel Aviv and Washington and calling for an emergency meeting of Islamic nations on Friday.
President Tayyip Erdogan described Monday`s bloodshed, the deadliest for Palestinians since the 2014 Gaza conflict, as genocide and called Israel a terrorist state. The government declared three days of mourning.
“The Israeli ambassador was told that our envoy to Israel was called back for consultations, and was informed that it would be appropriate for him to go back to his country for some time,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
Hours later Israel`s Foreign Ministry said the Turkish Consul-General in Jerusalem had been summoned and told to return to Turkey “for consultations for a period of time.”
The dispute appears to mark the worst diplomatic crisis between the two regional powers since Israeli marines stormed an aid ship to enforce a naval blockade of Gaza in 2010, killing 10 Turkish activists and prompting a downgrade in diplomatic ties that lasted until 2016.
Israel`s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter Erdogan was in no position to “preach morality to us” because he supported the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza. “There is no doubt he well understands terrorism and slaughter,” Netanyahu tweeted.
Erdogan tweeted back that Netanyahu was the leader of “an apartheid state that has occupied a defenseless people`s lands for 60+ years in violation of U.N. resolutions”, adding that he was criticising Turkey to deflect attention.
“Want a lesson in humanity? Read the 10 commandments”.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also said that Muslim countries should review their ties with Israel after Monday`s violence.
There have been demonstrations against Israel in Istanbul and in the capital Ankara. Erdogan, who is campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections next month, said a rally will be held on Friday to protest the killings.
Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag told parliament the rally “will once again show that the Turkish people will not remain silent in the face of injustice and cruelty, that they defend the victims in the face of the cruel”.
The plight of Palestinians resonates with many Turks, including with the nationalist and religious voters who form the base of Erdogan`s support.
Bozdag said that Turkey held the United States equally accountable for Monday`s violence.
“The blood of innocent Palestinians is on the hands of the United States,” he said. “The United States is part of the problem, not the solution”.
Relations between Ankara and Washington, two NATO allies, have been deeply strained over the embassy move, disagreements over military deployment in north Syria, and court cases against Turkish and U.S. nationals in each country.

The BJP secured 36.2 percent of the votes in the Karnataka Assembly elections for which results were announced on Tuesday while the Congress had the backing of 38 percent of the electorate. The JDS was preferred by 18.3 percent of the voters and the remaining 7.5 percent votes were cast in favour of other parties, independents and NOTA.
Karnataka had ended up with a hung Assembly after results were declared on Tuesday for 222 seats which went to polls on May 12. The Congress which came second by winning 78 seats and the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) and its pre-poll ally Bhaujan Samaj Party with 37 and one victories each have come together to stake claim to form the next government in Karnataka. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has 104 MLAs, is accusing the Congress-JDS-BSP combine of going against the verdict and trying to form a government using dirty tricks.
But even as the BJP came on top in terms of the number of seats won, the party is still at the second position when it comes to the vote share. The Congress is the biggest party as far as vote share is concerned and the JDS is third.
According to the Election Commission of India data, the BJP contested in all the 222 seats and secured 36.2 percent of the votes while the Congress had the backing of 38 percent of the electorate. The JDS was preferred by 18.3 percent of the voters and the remaining 7.5 percent votes were cast in favour of other parties, independents and NOTA.
Out of the 222 constituencies for which voting was held and results declared, the Congress and JDS had contested 220 and 201 respectively.
But the BJP vote share has come from the high 43.37 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the party had won 17 seats out of the 28. The Congress was on the second spot with 41.15 percent of the votes and nine wins while the JDS came third with 11.07 percent vote share and two seats.
Compared to the last Karnataka Assembly elections in 2013, the BJP has seen its vote share almost double. In 2013, the BJP had just 19.89 percent of the votes and 40 wins while the Congress had secured a majority by winning 122 seats and 36.59 percent of the votes. The JDS, too, had 40 seats in its kitty and its vote share too was more than the BJP at 20.19 percent.
In the 2013 elections, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa had his own outfit which bagged six seats securing a vote share of 9.79 percent. The other smaller parties and independents won in 16 constituencies and had a combined vote share of 13.54 percent.

Karnataka voters delivered a hung Assembly, with no party reaching the majority mark
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday forfeited deposit in all 29 seats after it failed to make a dent in the Karnataka Assembly Election results 2018.
“We were washed out but I cannot understand why. We got a lot of support but that could not be converted into votes,” said Prithvi Reddy, AAP’s Karnataka convenor.
Reddy, who took on Congress heavyweight KJ George from the Sarvagnanagar Assembly constituency, got just 1,861 votes, managing a distant second.
Renuka Vishwanathan contesting from Shantinagar was reportedly the only AAP candidate who managed to get more votes than NOTA (None Of The Above).
On Tuesday, Karnataka voters delivered a hung Assembly, with no party reaching the majority mark. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, winning 104 seats out of the 222 Karnataka Assembly constituencies. The Congress took the second spot with 78 seats while JDS bagged 37 seats to end a distant third.
Political drama ensued in the evening with Congress and JDS joining hands and claiming a stake on the government that left BJP fuming. The state governor will be meeting BJP’s CM candidate Yeddyurapa later on Wednesday. Meanwhile, threatened by the possibility of horse trading, JDS and Congress are reportedly taking steps to ensure the BJP doesn’t poach their legislators.
Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj India also contested from 11 seats in the state. Its Darshan Puttannaiah polled 73,779 votes from Melukote seat, coming second.
“Swaraj India had contested 11 assembly seats in the Karnataka assembly elections 2018. Our candidates have polled a total of 79,400 votes. This is a creditable beginning, better than other new entrants. While we did not win any seat, our candidate and general secretary Darshan Puttannaiah finished second fighting against the money and power of the JD(S) which is a truly encouraging beginning,” Swaraj India said in a statement.
The party secured 0.2 per cent of the total vote share.
In 2017, the AAP made attempts to spread itself outside Delhi, where it had scored a stunning victory in 2015 by bagging 67 out of 70 assembly seats.
But barring Punjab, where it emerged as the main opposition party, its performance was disappointing. It drew a blank in Goa and later in Gujarat Assembly polls, where all its 29 candidates lost their deposits.
Candidates in Assembly elections lose deposit if they secure less than one sixth of the valid votes polled in the constituency.
In 2018, the AAP also failed to open an account in Nagaland and Mizoram.

With no official confirmation on who Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala would invite to form government in Karnataka, the Congress is up in arms against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the JDS-Congress combine has the right to be given a chance first.
With no official confirmation on who Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala would invite to form government in Karnataka, the Congress is up in arms against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the JDS-Congress combine has the right to be given a chance first.
In its attempt to strengthen the argument, the Congress has dug out a tweet posted by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wherein the BJP strongman had said that if elected MLAs form a coalition, the Governor would be right in inviting them to form government in the state. This tweet dismisses the argument of the BJP that the Governor has to first invite the single largest party to form government in case of hung Assembly.
When Manipur and Goa failed to give clear majority to any party in 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had raced ahead of the Congress to form post-poll coalitions and form governments in the state. Justifying the move by the Governors of the states to invite BJP-led coalition and not Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party, Jaitley had tweeted, “In a hung assembly, if majority of the elected MLAs form a coalition, the Governor would be constitutionally right in inviting the leader of the majority coalition to form the government and prove their majority within a short period.”
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi used the tweet by Jaitley to assert party’s stand. Sharing an old media report on Jaitley’s tweet, she tweeted, “Arun Jaitley ji, on what is constitutionally the right thing to do for the governor. Same applies for Karnataka too, dear BJP.”
However, sources told Zee News on Tuesday that the Karnataka Governor is likely to first invite BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa to form government in the state on the grounds that the saffron party has emerged as the single largest in the state Assembly elections.
The JDS-Congress combine, which has named HD Kumaraswamy as its chief ministerial candidate, has also staked claim to form government in Karnataka as it has the required numbers. A joint delegation of JDS and Congress leaders met the Governor on Tuesday during which Kumaraswamy submitted a letter confirming Congress support for government formation.
Karnataka threw up a hung Assembly on as the results of the elections came in, giving no party the numbers required for government formation. While the BJP won 104, the Congress bagged 78 and JDS managed to win 38 seats.

On Tuesday, two persons died and 18 others injured after two squalls whipped through the national capital.
A massive dust storm accompanied by light rains and thunder with winds hit the national capital and it’s surrounding areas in the wee hours of Wednesday. Strong winds over the speed of 100 kmph, laden with dust, lashed the city. Reports of damage to property and vehicles also emerged.
More storms are expected to hit Delhi and surrounding regions including Rohtak, Manesar, Gurgaon, Sonepat and Meerut, in the next few hours, according to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
“Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds are also very likely at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Vidharbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Telangana, north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Kerala,” the IMD said in an advisory said.
On Tuesday, two persons died and 18 others injured after two squalls whipped through the national capital. One clocking 109 kmph hit the Safdarjung area at 4:44 pm and continued till 4:46 pm. The other gusting to 96 kmph battered the Palam area at 4:33 pm.
The strong winds knocked down nearly 200 trees in the city. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from Najafgarh, Transit Camp, Nehru Place, Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar and Raj Nagar in Palam, said a senior officer of the Delhi Fire Service.
Somvati Sinha (56) died after a tree got uprooted and fell on her in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar during the storm, the police said. Sinha suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead, they added.
In another incident, Rohit (19) died after cement sheets and bricks fell on him from the third floor of a house in southeast Delhi’s Jaitpur.
Power lines snapped in a number of areas due to the uprooting of trees, resulting in outages. The power supply was disrupted in parts of Najafgarh, Jafarabad, Vasant Kunj, Seelampur and Shahstri Park, a BSES spokesperson said.
Traffic in many areas moved at a snail’s pace due to the reduced visibility.
Operations at the Delhi airport came to a halt due to the dust storm. At least 40 flights were diverted and more than 24 delayed, an official said.
Metro operations were affected at a number of stations on the Violet and Blue lines after trees fell on overhead electricity (OHE) wires.

Sources say seven-eight Lingayat MLAs of the Congress are protesting against the alliance. They have told the Congress leadership that they do not want JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy as Karnataka chief minister.
There is a rebellion brewing within the Congress following the party’s decision to support the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) in forming a government in Karnataka. Some Congress MLAs from the Lingayat community are said to be unhappy with JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy being projected as the chief minister of the alliance as he a Vokkaliga.
Sources say seven-eight Lingayat MLAs of the Congress are protesting against the alliance. They have told the Congress leadership that they do not want Kumaraswamy as Karnataka chief minister.
Congress leadership took the decision to support Kumaraswamy’s JDS after it became clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party was short of the majority mark of 112. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 by winning 104 seats while the Congress came second with 78 and the JDS ended third with 37 seats. JDS alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party, Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party and an independent candidate won in one constituency each.
The Congress and JDS-BSP group together have 116 seats, four more than the halfway mark of 112 as results were declared for 222 constituencies. There are 225 members in Karnataka Assembly but voting takes place in 224 seats but on May 12 voting took place in only 222 as polling was countermanded Jayanagar and deferred to May 28 in Rajarajeshwarinagar.
The Congress-JDS formula for government formation is as follows: JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy to be the chief minister, Congress gets the deputy chief minister’s post, 11 other ministers to be from JDS while Congress will have 21 ministers.
The Congress-JDS delegation met Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday evening and staked claim to form a government. But before them, BJP leaders including the party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar had met the governor.
Sources claim the Governor has invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and take oath on May 17.

Varanasi district magistrate Yogeshwar Mishra said that all compensation will be given to the victims and their relatives at the earliest.
A day after at least 15 people were killed as an under-construction flyover collapse in Varanasi on Tuesday, authorities said on Wednesday that an investigation to ascertain the cause of the mishap is underway. Refusing to divulge any details as of now, an official appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government said that any statement on the same would be made only after all records are checked and investigation is complete.
Raj Pratap Singh, a member of the committee constituted by Yogi Adityanath government to probe the flyover collapse in the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “I can`t say anything at this moment. Until we complete the investigation, talk to everyone concerned and check all the records, it won`t be right to say anything.”
Varanasi district magistrate Yogeshwar Mishra said that all compensation will be given to the victims and their relatives at the earliest. He told news agency ANI, “We are waiting for the findings that will come in investigation. I don’t want to comment on anything right now. All compensation will be given to victims soon.”
Following the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced ex-gratia for the affected families and met the victims at the Kabir Chaura Hospital late Tuesday night.
A portion of the flyover near Varanasi’s cantonment area railway station came down on several people – possibly labourers. Several vehicles, including a mini bus, got crushed under the debris. An eyewitness of the incident said, “I was 50 meters away from where a portion of the flyover came down. Everyone around the area panicked and began screaming.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an address on Karnataka Assembly election results at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, had expressed grief over the loss of lives in the mishap. The Prime Minister said that he had talked to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the issue and offered all help by the central government.