A prominent gold jeweller was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Tuesday, affirmed the police. The deceased has been identified as Vinod Kumar. He is a resident of Khajekalan locality.

As per the officials, the incident occurred at around 7 am, when Vinod Kumar was heading towards Mirchai Gali on his scooty. Reportedly, after firing him, the assailants escaped from the crime scene. 

An officer from Patna City Chowk police station asserted that they have sent the body to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. The officer added that they are also scanning the CCTV cameras of the area to identify the accused. He further asserted that they are also recording the statements of the victim’s family to find clues about the possible reasons of murder.  

Two days earlier, five unknown persons had shot dead a jewellery shop owner, identified as Parminder Singh in Moga. The assailants looted gold ornaments from his shop, named Asia Jewellers. Reportedly, they also snatched and took away the licensed revolver of the victim, Parminder Singh before fleeing from the spot. 

Later, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav asserted that three accused persons identified as Rajwinder Singh, Rajvir Singh and Varun Jazzi have been detained from Patna in Bihar. The fourth accused in the case, identified as Gurpreet Singh has been arrested from district Nanded in Maharashtra.

The police team had also recovered the two pistols namely,  one .315 bore (country-made) and one .32 bore together with live cartridges, used by the criminals to commit the crime. The police further ascertained that they have also pinned down the fifth accused identified as Golu of Patna, Bihar and that multiple police teams are on a manhunt to nab him.

In the Moga incident, the police had already lodged a case under section 396, 394, 397, 459 and 379B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station City South Moga. 

The World Health Organization’s investigation into contaminated cough syrups, which have been linked to nearly 300 worldwide deaths as yet, has flagged 20 such toxic medicines manufactured from two countries namely India and Indonesia.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told The Indian Express that these 20 toxic medicines were manufactured by “15 different manufacturers” in the aforesaid two countries. All the 20 medicines are syrups namely cough medicine, paracetamol or vitamins. They further include 15 previously identified contaminated syrups.  These 15 contaminated syrup were manufactured in India by Haryana-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals, Noida based Marion Biotech, and Punjab based QP Pharmachem. The remaining five toxic medicines were manufactured in Indonesia. 

Earlier, the WHO had already raised “medical product alerts” on the 15 medicines in Gambia and Uzbekistan, where the India-made syrups were linked to nearly 88 deaths in the past year, along with Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. WHO also raised an alert in Indonesia, where syrups sold domestically were connected to the death of over 200 children.

In the first week of June, the Nigerian drug controller raised an alert after it discovered a paracetamol syrup sold in Liberia contaminated with diethylene glycol or ethylene glycol. The syrup was reportedly manufactured by a Mumbai-based company.

The WHO spokesperson affirmed that the organization is aware of media reporting of the potentially contaminated syrups in more countries but its list of medical product alerts has not been expanded. Medical product alerts are raised to ascertain that more people do not consume the contaminated medicine and that the products are removed from the supply chain. Lindmeirer clarified that WHO raises such alerts only when there is sufficient evidence to support that the product is contaminated.

After the incidents of Indian syrups were being flagged by other countries, the Government has put in place a mechanism for all cough syrups meant for export to be tested before they are exported. A statement issued by the government in May, stated that only those cough syrups that receive a ‘certificate of analysis’ from the country’s four central drug testing laboratories, two regional testing laboratories, or any of the NABL-accredited state testing laboratories, will be permitted for export.

The first incident of toxic medicine came to light in October, 2022 when the WHO raised its first medical product alert for contaminated syrups manufactured by the Maiden Pharmaceuticals. The cough syrup was connected to the deaths of 70 children in Gambia. Uzbekistan too reported the deaths of nearly 18 children owing to acute kidney injury connected to two syrups manufactured by Noida-based Marion Biotech. In a similar incident in Indonesia, the death of nearly 200 children due to acute kidney injury were related to eight contaminated syrup.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued an official statement as he emplaned for his first state visit to the United States on Tuesday morning on the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.  

PM Modi hailed the India-US partnership and highlighted how important his visit is for both the countries.

PM Modi also shared the itinerary of his visit starting from June 20 to June 25. The Prime Minister noted President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s invitation is a reflection of the vigour and vital partnership between India and the US.

He said his visit will kick-start with his attendance in the celebration of International Yoga Day on June 21 in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the same place where India’s proposal to mark International Yoga Day in December 2014 was taken up and accepted.

PM Modi added he will be addressing a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of the congressional leadership in the country, which would be his second such address.

PM Modi will attend a State banquet to be hosted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in Washington DC. Invitations have been sent to to a range of dignitaries to attend the State dinner.

The Prime Minister underlined the India-US relationship stating that the ties between the two democracies, the largest and the oldest, were multifaceted and pointed out the trade relations with the USA saying it is India’s largest goods and services trade partner.

Modi said both the nations stand firm when it comes to facing global challenges. After concluding his US visit, PM Modi is slated to visit Cairo, Egypt and meet President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi marking his first-ever visit to the country. Modi said the visit to Egypt is a symbol of the rapidly evolving India-Egypt partnership.

Pictures of celebrations in US are all over the internet with leaders, people from different communities, and the Indian diaspora all geared up for welcoming Prime Minister Modi.