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Archives for March 2021

Uppinangady: Car delivering newspapers crashes into man; Unknown Individual grievously injured

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Uppinangady: Car delivering newspapers crashes into man; Unknown Individual grievously injured

Uppinangady: Early Tuesday morning, an Omni car transporting newspapers collided with an unknown individual, leaving him with grievous injuries at 34 Nekkilady near Uppinangady.

Reportedly, the Omni car was transporting newspapers from B.C Road and en-route to Uppinangady on its delivery route, when around 5.24 am the car crashed into an individual walking beside 34 Nekkilady. Uppinangady Police Staff Pratap and Highway Patrol Police took the grievously injured individual who collapsed on the road and straightway took him to Puttur for treatment, it is learned.

OCI card holders no longer required to carry old passports for India travel

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Washington: People of Indian origin and the Indian diaspora having Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards are now not required to carry their old, expired passports for travel to India, as required earlier, according to a government notification that has been welcomed by members of the community.

The Overseas Citizens of India or OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin globally which gives them almost all the privileges of an Indian national except for the right to vote, government service and buying agricultural land. The OCI card gives them a visa free travel to India.

In a March 26 press release, the Indian missions in the US said that in order to ease the travel of OCI card holders, it has been decided that the time line for re-issuance of OCI cards in r/o OCI card holders, who may be required to get their OCI card reissued has been extended until 31 December, 2021.

Further requirement of carrying old and new passports along with the OCI card has been done away. Henceforth, the OCI card holders travelling on the strength of their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry their old passport. However, carrying a new passport is mandatory.

New York-based social activist Prem Bhandari, who has been taking up the cause of OCI card holders for the past several years, welcomed the announcement. He expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Government of India for not only extending the renewal up to December 31 this year but also for relaxing the guidelines and not requiring OCI card holders to carry their old, expired foreign passports.

The OCI card holders can heave a sigh of relief worldwide, with these new guidelines, he said. He expressed thanks to Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla for the new guidelines.

Bhandari said that he had seen first-hand the inconvenience caused to members of the Indian diaspora due to certain OCI card rules as they undertook travel to India during the pandemic.

He said some of the passengers were not allowed to board flights to India and were sent back from airports as they were not carrying their old foreign passports, which was required as per government rules.

The OCI card, among other benefits, allows multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to an Indian-origin foreign national to visit India. Under the provisions of the OCI card, which gives the cardholder lifelong visa to India, those below 20 years and above 50 years need to renew their OCI card every time they have their passport renewed.

The Indian government has relaxed the provisions since last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The timeline has been extended multiple times so far. However, this is for the first time that the guidelines have been relaxed for carrying old passports and the new passports along with the OCI cards for overseas Indians.

In May last year, the central government had allowed certain categories of OCI card holders, who were stranded abroad, to come to the country. Earlier, according to the regulations issued by the Indian government, visas of foreign nationals and OCI cards were suspended as part of the new international travel restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

OCI cardholders were asked to carry their old passport with them to fly to India. Now, under the new provisions, OCI cardholders are not required to carry their old passports but will still need to carry their new passport.

Bhandari said that Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for OCI card holders to carry old expired foreign passports had been in place since 2005 but till 2019, it was not being thoroughly checked or applied.

Bhandari had previously also requested Indian authorities to initiate measures such as granting emergency visas on departure to help Indian-origin families travel to their homeland for health or other emergencies amid the COVID19 pandemic.

Bhandari, Jaipur Foot USA Chairman, had said that late last year he had written to the Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as well as the Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla outlining some of the hardships faced by Indian-origin families in travelling to India for emergency reasons and suggesting measures that can be taken to ensure smoother travel for these families.

Bhandari had suggested that holders of Indian passport/PIO/OCI card be allowed to travel with their US-born minor children under the age of 14 with any unexpired visa obtained anytime without applying for an emergency visa at consulates.

He added that in case it is difficult to carry out these measures, authorities may consider either granting Emergency Visa on Departure (E-VoD) or restoring immediate e-Visa process for approval online.

Last year, Bhandari had also requested extension of the date of renewal of OCI cards till December 31, 2020 such that the Non-Resident Indian/Person of Indian Origin community had enough time to understand the new requirement and renew their OCI cards.

Bhandari also expressed hope that the issue of tourist visas will also be resolved soon. In October last year, the Indian government had decided to restore with immediate effect the validity of all existing visas, except electronic, tourist and medical category visas.

Seven drown in Uttar Pradesh while bathing after Holi celebrations

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Lucknow: Seven people drowned in Uttar Pradesh — five in Deoria district and two in Fatehpur — while bathing after Holi celebrations on Monday, officials said.

According to a police spokesperson, three people — Amit Pandey (15), Krishna (20) and Kush Yadav (23) — drowned while bathing in the Chhoti Gandak river in Salempur Kotwali and Bhatni police station areas of Deoria district.

Anurag (22) drowned in the Saryu river in the Barhaj police station area and 30-year-old Anil Prasad in a pond in the district, the police spokesperson said.

In Fatehpur, two people drowned and another went missing while bathing in the Ganga river, police said.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm in Bhitaura village, Hussainganj Station House Officer (SHO) Ranveer Bahadur Singh said.

He said Alok Gupta (21), Ritik Umrav (16), Amit Kumar (18) and Raghav (20) — all residents of Fatehpur — had gone to take a bath. They started drowning, the SHO said.

The boatmen, after hearing the cries, took out Alok, Ritik and Amit from the water, and took them to a hospital. Alok and Ritik were declared dead, while the condition of Amit is serious, police said.

The SHO said Raghav is missing and efforts are on to trace him. He added that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Reacting to bloody coup, US suspends trade deal with Myanmar

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Reacting to bloody coup, US suspends trade deal with Myanmar

Washington: The United States on Monday suspended a trade deal with Myanmar until a democratic government is brought back to the Southeast Asian country after a bloody February 1 coup.

The military overthrew the elected government, jailed Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders and killed and imprisoned protesters in the country also known as Burma.

The United States supports the people of Burma in their efforts to restore a democratically elected government,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.

The United States strongly condemns the Burmese security forces’ brutal violence against civilians. The killing of peaceful protestors, students, workers, labor leaders, medics, and children has shocked the conscience of the international community.”

Tai’s office said the United States was immediately suspending all U.S. engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.”

Under the agreement, the two countries cooperated on trade and investment issues in an effort to integrate Myanmar into the global economy, a reward for the military’s decision to allow a return to democracy a transition that ended abruptly with last month’s coup.

Tai’s announcement Monday doesn’t stop trade between the two countries. But the United States is separately imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar.

In response to the military takeover, for instance, the United States and the United Kingdom had earlier imposed sanctions on two conglomerates controlled by Myanmar’s military, Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp.

Two-way trade between the two countries doesn’t amount to much: Myanmar last year was the United States’ 84th biggest partner in the trade of goods such as automobiles and machinery. U.S. goods exports to Burma came to just USD 338 million; imports to USD 1 billion. 

Irfan Pathan 4th player to test COVID-19 positive after playing Road Safety World Series

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Irfan Pathan 4th player to test COVID-19 positive after playing Road Safety World Series

New Delhi: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Monday became the fourth Indian cricketer to test COVID-19 positive, having recently taken part in the veteran’s Road Safety World Series tournament in Raipur, which is fast turning out to be a super spreader.

Before Irfan, his elder brother Yusuf, legendary Sachin Tendulkar and S Badrinath have all taken to twitter to announce that they have tested positive for COVID-19.

“I have tested positive for COVID-19 with no symptoms and have isolated myself and quarantined at home. I would request those who came in contact with me in recent past to please get themselves tested,” Irfan tweeted.

“Urging all to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Wishing you all good health,” he further wrote.

Road Safety World Series is a private tournament that didn’t have BCCI approval as it was only meant for retired cricketers. The worst part was that the organisers didn’t restrict crowd movement even when BCCI made the later part of England series a closed door affair.

Ramesh Jarkiholi CD row: Ramesh Jarkiholi questioned by SIT, Congress party protest demanding arrest

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Pramesh Jain

Ramesh Jarkiholi CD row: Ramesh Jarkiholi questioned by SIT, Congress party protest demanding arrest,

The Special Investigation Team on Monday questioned Ramesh Jarkiholi for over four hours in connection with both the cases in which he is involved.

The SIT officials questioned Ramesh about his allegation in the Sadashivanagar case where he accused that somone was trying to blackmail him.

Another team of officials questioned him about the woman’s allegation accusing ramesh of sexual exploitation and cheating her on the pretext of offering job.

This is the third time Ramesh has been questioned by SIT.

Most of the questions Ramesh denied having knowledge despite SIT confront him with the evidence they have gathered in the course of investigation.

High drama prevailed as members of congress party staged protest in front of technical cell in Audugodi where Ramesh was being questioned.

The protestors holding undergarments shouted slogans against Ramesh demanding the police to arrest him.The police detained over 50 persons and brought the situation under control.

Meanwhile,Advocate representing woman who have approached Chief Metropolitan magistrate court seeking permission to give statement before the magistrate.They are yet to get the permission .

Advocate representing Ramesh,Sham Sundar said that woman can not give statement under 164 CrPC on her own.

There is a procedure,the IO should confirm her identity and take her to magistrate for the procedure.

Ramesh Jarkiholi CD row: SIT Serves 8th Notice to victim to appear before them for questioning

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Pramesh Jain

Ramesh Jarkiholi CD row: SIT Serves 8th Notice to victim to appear before them for questioning:

Soon after questioning the Ramesh Jarkiholi on several rounds,the SIT on Monday issued another notice seeking cooperation from her.

This is the 8th time SIT has served notice to the alleged victim who is hiding at undisclosed location from past 28 days.

The notice was issued to seek her assistance in investigation and to inform that desired security is ready to be provided,sources,said.

The woman caste aspersions on SIT stating that the officials are siding with the accused and ignored to provide security.

She also accused SIT forced to get the statement from her parents which is favouring the accused.

However SIT officials said that they are ready to record her statement according to her convenience and ready to provide security of her choice.

Meanwhile a city based lawyer Geetha Mishra has moved to High court filing a PIL to quash SIT investigation as she stated that the SIT has been formed illegally without any gazzete notification by the government so she has moved to High Court for quashing of SIT said the Lawyer to reporters.

After a high drama on Monday,Advocate Jagadish Kumar claimed that the court had granted permission to record the statement. However senior counsel stated that it is not possible for the the court to grant permission to record her statement under section 164 CrPC as it is not as per the rules.

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