A manager of a luxury hotel in Goa has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife after she confronted her husband over his alleged extramarital affair.

29-year-old Gaurav Katiyar tried to cover the murder as an accident, claiming his wife drowned in the sea while he was away.

Gaurav Katiyar works as a manager at a luxury hotel operated by Marriott International in South Goa’s Colva.

Gaurav Katiyar, who is from Lucknow, married Diksha Gangwar about a year ago, but their relationship remained strained, officials said.

“Katiyar decided to kill his wife as she knew about his extramarital affair,” said news agency PTI quoting police sources.

Gaurav took his wife to the beach in South Goa for a stroll where he drowned her. “The incident occurred at around 3.45 pm on Friday at Cabo de Rama beach,” a police official said.

When some tourists saw him coming back to the beach alone, they grew suspicious and informed police.

They told police that they saw Gaurav and Diksha venturing into the waters, but when the man returned the woman was nowhere in sight.

Katiyar tried to pass it off as an accident, but a video shot by a tourist exposed his claims.

The video showed him walking back alone to the beach and then returning to the sea apparently to ensure whether his wife was dead.

“The woman’s body had injury marks, suggesting signs of struggle,” officials said.

Police said the man has been arrested and investigation is on.

Ahead of the grand consecration ceremony at Ayodhya, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has given the country the first ‘darshan’ or glimpse of the magnificent Ram Temple as seen from space using our own indigenous satellites.

The 2.7-acre Ram Temple site can be seen and an enlarged view of the same is also provided using the Indian Remote Sensing series of satellites. The under construction temple was captured on December 16 last year, just about a month ago. Since then, dense fog over Ayodhya has made it difficult to get a clear view.

In the satellite images, Dashrath Mahal and Sarayu River are clearly seen. The newly renovated Ayodhya railway station is also visible.

India currently has over 50 satellites in space, and some of them have a resolution of less than a metre. The image has been processed by the National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad, a part of the Indian space agency.

ISRO technologies have also been used at other stages of the temple’s construction. A big challenge in the grand project was to identify the exact location to place the idol of Lord Ram. The trust entrusted with building the temple wanted the idol to be placed in a 3 feet X 6 feet space where Lord Ram is believed to have been born.

Alok Sharma, International working President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, is closely involved with the Ram Temple project. He told NDTV that following the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, 40 feet of debris covered the spot where Lord Ram is believed to have been born. This debris had to be removed and the location secured so that the new idol is exactly and precisely at that spot.

This was easier said than done because construction of the temple began nearly three decades after the demolition. Then, space technology came to the rescue.

To identify the exact spot, contractors for construction firm Larsen & Toubro used the most sophisticated Differential Global Positioning System (GPS)-based co-ordinates. The co-ordinates, precise to nearly 1-3 centimetres, were drawn up. They formed the basis for the placement of the statue in the temple’s garba griha or sanctum sanctorum.

The precision equipment used in these geographical instruments also incorporates precise location signals from India’s own ‘swadeshi GPS’ — the ISRO-made ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation’ or the NavIC satellite constellation.

ISRO chairman S Somanath told NDTV that five satellites of the NAvIC constellation are working, and the system is currently set for an upgrade.

Amid a massive row, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi today reversed its decision to shut non-critical services till 2.30 pm tomorrow for the grand consecration event at Ayodhya Ram Temple.

This comes a day after the premier healthcare facility announced a half-day break for staff in non-critical services. While the official note did not specifically mention if Out Patient Department (OPD) services would be available, it was feared that outdoor patients would not be able to consult specialists during the break.

A memorandum issued by Rajesh Kumar, AIIMS-Delhi’s administrative officer, yesterday had referred to the central government’s announcement of a half-day for government employees tomorrow. “It is notified for information of all the employees that the Institute will remain half day closed till 14.30 hrs on 22.01.2024,” the memorandum said. It, however, added that “all critical clinical services” shall remain functional.

The notification sparked a huge outcry, with many pointing out that patients wait for weeks, and sometimes, months to get an appointment at the premier healthcare facility. To shut OPD services suddenly would severely inconvenience them, especially those who had travelled from outside Delhi in the hope of good, affordable healthcare at the state-run facility.

This morning, AIIMS-Delhi issued a fresh notification, stating that the OPD “shall remain open to attend to patients with appointment in order to prevent any inconvenience to them and to facilitate patient care”.

Safdarjung Hospital, another key healthcare facility in the national capital, has said OPD registration will take place between 8 am and 10 am and all registered patients will be attended to. The hospital will run pharmacy services till noon but elective surgeries won’t take place.

Earlier, Opposition leaders had strongly slammed the AIIMS announcement of a half-day break for the Ayodhya event. Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi had hit out at the move with a sarcastic post on X. “Hello humans, Please don’t go into a medical emergency on 22nd, and if you do schedule it for post 2pm since AIIMS Delhi is taking time off to welcome Maryada Purushottam Ram,” she had posted.

“PS: However, wonder if Lord Ram would agree that health services are disrupted to welcome him. Hey Ram, Hey Ram!,” she added.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, too, criticised the move yesterday. “India’s largest Government Hospital AIIMS Delhi will remain closed till 2:30 pm on Monday. There are literally people sleeping outside in the cold at AIIMS gates waiting for an appointment. The poor and dying can wait because priority is given to Modi’s desperation for cameras and PR,” Mr Gokhale posted on X.

The centre has announced a half-day leave for government employees tomorrow so that they can watch live telecast of the pran pratishta ceremony in Ayodhya, last-minute preparations for which are underway.

Several states have announced half or full day leave for government offices and educational institutions tomorrow.