Chennai, Feb 12: A 43-year-old private school teacher was arrested on the charges of sexually assaulting a Class 9 boy in Ashok Nagar, Chennai.

The accused, identified as Sudhakar (43), was a Tamil teacher at the school.

He was arrested after a case was registered against him under three sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The incident came to light when the boy developed health complications.

Concerned about the boy’s condition, his parents enquired, and the child alleged that Sudhakar had sexually harassed him.

Due to an infection, the boy was admitted to Royapettah Government Hospital for treatment. Following a complaint by the parents, the K.K. Nagar police initially registered a case and launched an investigation.

The case was later transferred to the Saidapet All-Women Police Station.

Meanwhile, the school administration announced that Sudhakar had been dismissed.

It may be recalled that a few days before a 13-year-old girl from a government school in Bargur, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, had accused three of her teachers of rape.

The incident occurred in the first week of January and came to light only on February 3, when schoolteachers visited the girl’s home to investigate her prolonged absence from school.

Tamil Nadu opposition leader and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) expressed shock over the incident.

In a social media post, he criticised the DMK government for “failing” to ensure students’ safety in government schools and called upon Chief Minister M. K. Stalin to take full responsibility for the incident.

BJP Tamil Nadu Chief K. Annamalai condemned the incident and said sexual assault on women and girls had become a horrifying reality in Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai: Mumbai reported its first death due to Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) on Wednesday. A 53-year-old resident of Wadala, who worked at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s BN Desai Hospital passed away after battling GBS. The patient was receiving treatment at Nair Hospital in Mumbai, where he ultimately succumbed to the illness.

In Pune, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) has been actively affecting residents. A 37-year-old driver from Pune recently passed away due to GBS. The number of suspected and confirmed GBS cases in Pune has risen to 197, with five new cases reported.

As of yesterday, there were 192 reported cases of GBS, with 39 patients from the Pune Municipal Corporation area, 91 from newly added villages in the civic region, 29 from Pimpri Chinchwad, 25 from the rural Pune area and eight from other districts. Today, Pune has reported 5 new GBS cases bringing the total to 197, while the death toll remains at 7.

GBS Management in Maharashtra

With the rise in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra, the Central government recently issued guidelines for the people of the state.

According to public health officials on Thursday, a high-level, multidisciplinary team from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has provided the GBS guidelines to the state government.

Press Release Issued on January 27, by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

The guidelines state that the Ministry has deployed a multi-disciplinary team to Pune, Maharashtra, to assist state health authorities in implementing public health measures and managing the growing number of suspected and confirmed GBS cases in the area.

The central team includes seven experts from the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Delhi, NIMHANS Bengaluru, the Regional Office of Health & Family Welfare and the National Institute for Virology (NIV), Pune. Three NIV experts had already been supporting local authorities, and the team has now been expanded.

The team will work closely with the state health departments to assess the situation on the ground and provide recommendations for necessary public health actions. The Union Health Ministry is actively monitoring the situation and coordinating with the state.

Deputy Director of Health Services and Rapid Response Team (RRT) who is managing the GBS situation. Dr.Radhakishan Pawar stated, “The guidelines are detailed and focus primarily on patient management. These will be shared with all local bodies, including the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporations, Pune Rural, and other local authorities across the state.”

Dhaka, Feb 12: Bangladesh interim government led by Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to attend the 6th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Bangkok, Thailand, from April 2-4.

This gives hope for the first-ever in-person meeting between Yunus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit.

There is still a possibility that the two leaders can meet, taking advantage of the BIMSTEC platform, however, nothing is finalised yet, a Bangladeshi official was quoted as saying by the country’s leading daily, Prothom Alo.

Bangladesh will take as the next chair of BIMSTEC at the summit.

“As the chair, Bangladesh will have the opportunity to lead BIMSTEC, take initiatives for cooperation in different sectors by working together in tandem with all the member states, and this will be an opportunity for Bangladesh to re-demonstrate its commitment to the world,” BIMSTEC Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey was quoted as saying by Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Dhaka Tribune.

Thailand is set to host the summit in Bangkok. BIMSTEC is a regional organisation that was established in 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration.

Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the regional grouping expanded and came to be known as BIMSTEC and comprises seven member states with the admission of Myanmar in December 1997 and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004.

BIMSTEC is often considered an alternative regional bloc to the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC). With SAARC in a dormant stage, India initiated the idea of propelling BIMSTEC to enhance regional cooperation.

India’s interest in BIMSTEC aligns with PM Modi’s Act East Policy, which is a diplomatic initiative to enhance economic, strategic and cultural relations across Southeast Asia.

The anticipated meeting between Yunus and PM Modi assumes significance due to the rapid downslide in bilateral ties between the two South Asian neighbours after the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through an orchestrated coup on August 5 last year.

Hasina has since been taking refuge in India, and the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, is in charge of the nation. This has led to the Indo-Bangla relationship rapidly nosedived.

The continuous mob violence, vandalism, and persecution of Hindus under the interim regime in Bangladesh witnessed further stalemate in the relations.

Amidst frosty ties, the BIMSTEC summit is seen as a possibility to reset the relationship between India and Bangladesh and reduce diplomatic differences.

However, all will depend on how the interim government works towards the restoration of democracy and safeguarding the rights of minorities.