Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Foot overbridge

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“The government has not been able to maintain the existing set-up of the railways, and is launching new projects,” he said.

“I have not seen a liar such as our prime minister in my entire life,” Thackeray said. “He is boasting about the bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.”

The Maharashtr­a Navnirman Sena (MNS) president claimed that Suresh Prabhu was replaced by Piyush Goyal as the railway minister only to push through the Bullet Train project.

“This Goyal is useless, Prabhu was good,” he said. Goyal had recently taken over the railway ministry from Suresh Prabhu.

The MNS leader, who has in the past stoked controvers­y with his anti-migrant rhetoric, also went on to blame the large influx of migrants into the city. “There has been a collapse of infrastruc­ture facilities due to the migrant influx from other regions.” condemnati­on of so-called gau rakshaks in July and the Supreme Court’s directions last week to states to ensure such vigilantes did not become a law unto themselves.

“People who are criminals and involved in violent activities should be bothered about that.”

The Sangh chief said protection of cows cuts across religions. “Many followers of Muslim faith are also involved in the activity of cow protection, cow promotion and management of gaushalas. Some of them told me that the nefarious campaign going on against the cow-protection unnecessar­ily creates tension among the people of different religions.”

He urged the government and administra­tion to stay away from “misinterpr­etation” and ensure that “innocents are not troubled” during crackdowns on vigilantes.

“The legal and virtuous work of cow-protection and cow-promotion will go on in the interest of the people and will increase in coming days. It will also be the apt answer to the situation,” he said. received a lot flak from human rights groups which accused them of excessive use of pellet guns during last years agitation in Kashmir that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Officials said that Bhut jolokia, a pepper found mostly in North Eastern states of India, is likely to be used in pepper grenades used to disperse crowds .The chilli was once certified by Guinness World Records as the hottest in the world and can cause extremely painful burning if it comes in contact with the skin. It has already been put by some paramilita­ry units in border states of India and is being considered an alternativ­e to PAVA shells as well as to pellet guns.

“Our strategy is minimum damage and maximum control. The new technology that is being tested will help our forces control riots and civil unrest effectivel­y. At the same time it is our intent that no serious injury or damage is inflicted on protesting civilians,” KS Bhandari IG, RAF told HT.

RAF has also received proposals of other “less lethal weapons” from private defence firms . One of them is sticky foam, which, however, has not been tested yet, officials said.

“Sticky foam starts as a nonreactiv­e liquid that is stored at high pressure and is fired out of a backpack-mounted dispenser. When released, the atmospheri­c pressure causes it to expand and stick to people, significan­tly slowing down their movement,” a senior paramilita­ry official said.

While some of the weapons have been criticised at internatio­nal forums for running the risk of causing severe and long lasting damage, particular­ly the laser dazzlers, officials here said that they would be used only if they do not violate human rights norms.

Seema Dundia, DIG, RAF said the paramilita­ry has been particular­ly interested in using less lethal weapons. “Our motto is Serving Humanity with Sensitive Policing and we will ensure that our forces abide by our principles,” she claimed.

OFFICIALS SAID BHUT JOLOKIA, A PEPPER FOUND MOSTLY IN THE NORTH EASTERN STATES, IS LIKELY TO BE USED IN GRENADES USED TO DISPERSE CROWDS

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