Daily Bulletin: 58 die after drinking spurious liquor in Assam; CoA to consult Centre over Pakistan match; day's top stories

58 tea garden workers die after consuming spurious liquor in Assam Fifty eight tea garden workers died after they consumed spurious liquor in Assam’s Golaghat district. Several others have been admitted in a critical condition at the Jorhat Medical College Hospital and at the Golaghat civil hospital, reported News18. [caption id=“attachment_6139471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bodies of the deceased at Golaghat in Assam. News18[/caption] The victims, labourers of Salmira tea estate, fell ill because they drank the illicit brew Thursday night, after receiving their weekly wages, the police said. More than a hundred people are reported to have consumed the liquor, suspected to have been bought from the same seller, Khumtai’s BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia said. A doctor attending to the patients said that the deaths were due to consumption of spurious country liquor and the condition of most of those brought to the hospital was serious. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has offered his condolences to the victims’ families, reported PTI. Committee of Administrators to consult Centre over WC match With the chorus to boycott Pakistan in the upcoming cricket World Cup growing and a crucial meeting of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) proving inconclusive, the body has decided to consult the government regarding the matter. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC), expressing its concern over Pakistan participating in the World Cup and urged the ICC to “sever ties with nations which support terrorism.” CoA member Vinod Rai said after the meeting Friday that severing ties with sponsors of terror is the need of the hour and announced the CoA’s decision to scrap the opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League this year as a mark of respect for the victims of the Pulwama terror attack . The money budgeted for the ceremony will be forwarded to the families of the slain CRPF jawans instead . Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, has said he would "hate" to see India concede two points to Pakistan by not playing them in the World Cup as such a move would only help the arch-rivals in the mega-event. War of words over PM’s ‘photoshoot’ during Pulwama attack What Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have been doing while the Jaish-e-Mohammad engineered the suicide attack that killed over 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers in Pulwama on 14 February, has given birth to a pitched battle involving Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the Bharatiya Janata Party . Calling Modi the “prime time minister,” Rahul on Friday said the prime minister had continued shooting for the film three hours after news of the Pulwama terror strike came in. Within an hour of Rahul’s tweet, the official handle of the BJP had tweeted that the photos were “from that morning” (and therefore could not be used to prove that Modi was shooting during the afternoon attack) and accused Rahul of peddling fake news. Several rounds of back and forth followed with both sides asking questions and offering counter explanations on what Modi knew of the attack and when. Back from his visit to South Korea, where he won the Seoul Peace Prize, Modi will address a public meeting in Rajasthan’s Tonk on Saturday. Rahul, meanwhile, will interact with students at India Gandhi Indoor stadium in New Delhi.

Jaitley hits out at Congress over Lt Gen Hooda appointment

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has hit out at the Congress , a day after the party appointed Lieutenant General Hooda to chair a task-force on national security and a vision document for the party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. “It [the appointment] is a belated and grudging recognition and acceptance of the surgical strikes of 2016 with which the General was intrinsically associated. I am sure the Head of the Advisory Panel would educate the Party leaders that the surgical strikes were no routine step which had been taken several times in the past, but a significant first for India,” Jaitley wrote in a blogpost. He said he found it intriguing that the “party which has ruled the country for over half a century” should need to be educated on national security concerns. Jet Airways shareholders approve conversion of loan into shares Shareholders of Jet Airways have approved the conversion of loans into shares and other proposals as the crisis-hit carrier seeks to fly out of financial turbulence. During the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday, the shareholders also approved alterations to the company’s Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association. According to a filing to the stock exchanges on Friday, Jet Airways said shareholders have approved five proposals that were put up for voting at the EGM. Nearly 98 percent of shareholders gave their nod for “conversion of loans into shares or convertible instruments or other securities,” a move that assumes significance amid the carrier looking to restructure debt as well as raise fresh funds.​ Jet Airways had called for the EGM to put to vote its resolution plan, which includes allotment of 114 million shares to lenders and conversion of debt into equit​y.​ ISSF World Cup begins in New Delhi After a tense few days, the ISSF Shooting World Cup will begin in New Delhi on Saturday. Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valaraivan will lead India’s charge in women’s 10m air rifle event. They are among 102 competitors from 44 nations in the fray in the women’s 10m event. India have secured both their Olympic quotas in the event through Moudgil and Chandela at the World Championships last September. With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revoking the two quotas in the 25m rapid fire pistol event owing to non-issuance of visas to Pakistan shooters, the tournament will now offer 14 quotas for the 2020 Olympic Games instead of the original 16. Oppo to unveil new product/technology at MWC 2019 Chinese smartphone giant Oppo will be making a pre-Mobile World Congress (MWC) appearance on Saturday, where it is likely that it will showcase the successor to its bezel-less, triple pop-out camera smartphone Find X. There might also be announcements regarding new camera technology it is developing for its smartphones and also perhaps some news on 5G. Firstpost will be providing coverage for the event so make sure you stay tuned for it. With inpus from PTI