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Archives for July 2021

Dominica PM on claims that his govt was involved in Mehul Choksi’s abduction

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NEW DLEHI: Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has termed “total nonsense” the claims that his government was involved in alleged abduction of diamantaire Mehul Choksi, wanted in Rs 13,5000 crore scam in Punjab National Bank, from Antigua and Barbuda, neighbouring local media there reported.

Skerrit refuted the allegations of a plot between India and Dominica government to kidnap Choksi from neighbouring Caribbean country Antigua and Barbuda, where he was staying since 2018 as a citizen, after fleeing from India, and bring him to Dominica, the news portal reported.

“To say that the government of Dominica and the government of Antigua along with India colluded in any way, give me a break, that’s total nonsense. We don’t get involved ourselves in those kinds of activities, those practices, not at all. I mean that is absurd and we reject it and it is unfortunate that anybody would want to propagate this unsubstantiated claim by a gentleman who is before the courts,” he was quoted as saying by Dominica News Online.

He further said “whether it would be fair for a local who commits murder in Dominica and flees to another country, is allowed to roam free or instead be apprehended and sent back to Dominica to face his charges”.

Citing the case of a Dominica citizen wanted by the United States whose extradition proceedings are going on in courts to counter opposition on Choksi, Skerrit said the country cannot treat people differently depending on who they are or how much money they may have.

“All of us are subjected to the laws irrespective of our position or how much money we may have or how much we don’t have. And I believe that in this circumstance…Dominica has a right and obligation to apprehend this person and bring the person before the courts and let the courts determine,” he said.

“We here in Dominica with the opposition talking about Choksi but there is a young boy from Grand Bay…Where there is an extradition request by the United States government on allegations that he committed a crime in St Thomas and we are mandated and obligated to apprehend him.

“And the police acted on the instruction of the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) arrested the young man and he is remanded at the state prison awaiting his extradition hearing. His lawyers will fight his case. If the courts believe that there is no reason to extradite him to the United States then he will go freely,” Skerrit said.

Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica Justin Simon claimed that United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police, known as Scotland Yard, has started looking into allegations of torture and kidnapping of Choksi as citizens there were allegedly part of the plot, the news site reported.

Simon told media that there will be international implications if Dominica or Antigua turns out to be involved in the alleged plot, it said.

Israel strikes Gaza after Hamas launches incendiary balloons

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JERUSALEM: Israeli fighter jets struck a weapons manufacturing site in Gaza overnight in response to incendiary balloons launched over the frontier into Israel, the military said early Friday.

It was the third time Israel has carried out airstrikes in Gaza since the end of the 11-day war it fought with the territory’s militant Hamas rulers in May. Each came after activists mobilized by Hamas launched incendiary balloons that caused fires in nearby Israeli farming communities.

Hamas uses such tactics to pressure Israel and international mediators to ease a crippling blockade imposed on Gaza when it seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel has vowed to respond to even minor attacks.

Egyptian and international mediators have been trying to shore up the informal cease-fire that ended the most recent war. In recent days, Israel has eased restrictions to allow in Qatar-funded fuel, extend Gaza’s fishing zone and permit increased cross-border commerce.

Israel says such steps are contingent on Hamas preserving calm along the frontier.

Karnataka plans more easing up of Covid restrictions, experts advise caution

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BENGALURU: While neighbouring Maharashtra has decided to continue with its curbs, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is expected to announce further relaxations and may even lift the weekend curfew in the state from July 5.

While a meeting in this regard will be held on Friday evening, experts from the Technical Advisory Committee were unaware of the development. They have expressed concerns over the hurry in opening up all economic activities or lifting curfews at a time when neighbouring states, including Kerala, are witnessing a surge.

“A meeting will be held with the CM on Friday evening to decide on the issue,” said Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan who also heads the State’s Covid 19 Task Force. However, experts feel that the state should perhaps wait for the next two weeks before announcing more relaxations. 

“It would be better to watch for two weeks before we announce total relaxations. At least night curfew should continue in the state. If you look at the first and second waves, we have seen a surge in cases in Karnataka four weeks after it happened in Kerala and Maharashtra. Now, with many people coming into the state, we may have an increase in cases here too.

Gatherings should definitely not be given permission at any cost,” said Dr C N Manjunath, Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and member of the TAC. According to medical experts, though the state cannot stall commercial activities for a longer time, it may make sense for the government to probably do away with the weekend lockdown.

“We should ideally open up economic activities in a very controlled manner and not encourage social and entertainment activities. We can continue with the night curfew or extend it by an hour’s time,” felt Dr Vishal Rao, Dean, Centre for Academic Research, HCG Cancer Centre and expert committee member of the Covid-19 task force.

Interestingly, the number of new daily cases is still in the 2,500-3,500 range. Dr Manjunath pointed out that in the first wave, the state saw the number come down to three digits and felt this should be the ideal scenario in the second wave too. “People cannot afford to let their guard down. Life vs livelihood has to be remembered. They have to come out, I agree. But, every single citizen has to be responsible and follow Covid-19 norms. Or else, there will be multiple lockdowns and multiple waves,” Dr Manjunath warned.

No RT-PCR report needed for vaccinated travellers from Kerala to Karnataka

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KARNATAKA: The Karnataka government announced that passengers from Kerala carrying a vaccine certificate of at least one dose will be exempted from producing negative RT-PCR reports, as the state has taken special surveillance measures for people coming from Kerala.

However, an exemption has been provided to the people who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine, or are constitutional functionaries, health workers and children below two years of age. In case of dire emergency situation like death in the family and medical requirements, the passengers shall be allowed even without these requirements after collecting their swabs along with details of identity. 

Centre rushes teams to six states reporting high number of Covid cases

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NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday deputed multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Manipur in view of the high number of COVID-19 cases being reported by these states.

The two-member high level team to these states comprises a clinician and a public health expert, the statement said.

The teams will visit the states immediately and monitor the overall implementation of COVID-19 management, especially in testing, including surveillance and containment operations; Covid Appropriate Behaviour and its enforcement; availability of hospital beds, sufficient logistics including ambulances, ventilators, medical oxygen etc., and COVID-19 vaccination progress.

The teams will monitor the situation and also suggest remedial actions, the statement said.

The Central teams will assess the situation and suggest remedial actions on public health activities to the respective state governments.

The team to Manipur will be led by Dr L Swasticharan, Additional DDG and Director EMR; team to Arunachal Pradesh will be led by Dr Sanjay Sadhukhan, Professor AIIH&PH; for Tripura Dr RN Sinha; for Kerala Dr Ruchi Jain, Public Health Specialist Gr. II, RoHFW; for Odisha Dr.

A Dan, Public Health Specialist AIIH&PH and for Chhattisgarh Dr Dibakar Sahu, Assistant Professor, AIIMS Raipur.

As an ongoing effort to strengthen efforts of various state and UT Governments for Covid management, the Central Government has been deputing Central teams from time to time to visit various states and UTs.

These teams interact with the state and UT authorities and get a first-hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them so as to strengthen their ongoing activities and remove bottlenecks, if any, the statement said.

Covid-19 Update:India 46,617 new cases national recovery rate crosses 97 per cent

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NEW DELHI: India saw a single-day rise of 46,617 new coronavirus infections, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,04,58,251, while the national recovery rate has crossed 97 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

Over 34 crore vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive so far, it said.

The active cases have further declined to 5,09,637, comprising 1.67 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.01 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A net decline of 13,620 cases has been recorded in the total number of active COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours.

Also, 18,80,026 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 41,42,51,520, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.48 per cent.

It has been less than five per cent for 25 consecutive days, the ministry said.

Weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.57 per cent, according to the health ministry.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for 50th consecutive days.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,95,48,302, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.31 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 853 new fatalities include 252 from Maharashtra, 124 from Kerala, 102 from Tamil Nadu and 94 from Karnataka.

A total of 4,00,312 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,22,197 from Maharashtra, 35,134 from Karnataka, 32,721from Tamil Nadu, 24,981 from Delhi, 22,601 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,735 from West Bengal and 16,072 from Punjab.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Trio held,Inter-state drug racket busted 70kgs of Marijuana,1kg Hashish Oil Worth Rs21 Lakh Recovered

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Pramesh Jain

The South Division police of Kumaraswamy Layout busted an interstate drug racket and arrested three persons and recovered 70 kgs of Marijuana and 1 kg of hashish oil worth Rs 21 lakh from them.

The accused has been identified as,Kaala Shiva Jamil ,25, Kollu Govinda, 25 and Hari Prasad from East Godhavari and Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The trio were caught red handed while they were waiting for their customers at Jaraganahalli bus stop on Kanakpura road to deliver the goods.

Senior officer told media persons,Our Kumaraswamy layout police inspector,P  Shivakumar, received a credible information that three persons are in Jaraganahalli play ground with huge quantity of drugs substances with them and are waiting to deliver to their clients.

After receiving the information Inspector informed the senior officers as ACP,DCP regarding the information, Senior officer asked to raid the place and nab the peddlers by taking additional force with them and handle carefully.

Based on the information,ACP,TM Shivakumar,along with inspector and crime staff rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area by rounding up the ground from all the corners.

The ACP and his team swung into action and after keeping a close watch the team entered the ground and secured three persons and after searching their belongings the team found Marijauna and Hashish oil in their possession the team secured them red handed.

After securing them the team questioned them and during interrogation the accused confessed the crime and the trio said they source the drugs from Andhra Pradesh and deliver it to their contacts in the South and Eastern part of the city in bulk.

The accused said that they would smuggle the narcotics in buses since lock down,as getting the narcotics in the car is risky at the border check posts so they smuggled the drugs in plastic gunny bags.

He even said that they obtained the information about the Andhra Pradesh peddlers a few days ago while carrying out surveillance and a special drive against the drug addicts in their jurisdiction.

Based on the information, the police kept a tab and waited at the bus stop in disguise and caught the trio red handed after they got down from the bus and waited for their clients to deliver the narcotics packets.

The team has recovered totally 75 kgs of Marijuana and 1kg of Hashish oil Worth of Rs.21 lakh from them and a case under NDPS Act has been registered against the accused and further investigation is on to nab other drug peddlers he added.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP East,S Murugan, DCP South,Harish Pandey,ACP,Subramanyanagar Sub-Division,TM Shivakumar,PI,P Shivakumar,PSIs,as,Nagesh HM,and Sathyamurthy and crime staff as,Ravikumar, Kempegowda,Bhukanth,Eshwarappa,Ananth Reddy,Anekanth Bilagi,Mahantesh K,Girish,Umesh and Shivaram has been appreciated for nabbing the trio inter-state drug peddler and seizing huge quantity of drugs from them a suitable reward will be given to the team for the exemplary work done by them he added.

Shubman Gill’s injury serious likely To miss England series

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Indian cricketer Shubman Gill

NEW DELHI: Indian opener Shubman Gill could miss the entire five-Test series against England owing to an undisclosed internal injury, which might lead to standby Abhimanyu Easwaran making the main squad.

It is still not clear whether Gill’s condition warrants a surgery ahead of the series starting August 4.

“There is a chance that Shubman could be ruled out of the whole Test tour even though it is still a month away. The injury is serious is what we have come to know,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

It is believed that the Punjab batsman has either sustained a calf muscle injury or hamstring tear which could take considerable time to heal.

It is not clear how and when he picked up the injury.

As of now, he is supposed to be in England where physio Nitin Patel and strength and conditioning coach Sohum Desai will monitor his progress.

Since it’s a five-Test series, there could be a slim outside chance that he might make a comeback in the final Test of the series.

Gill, one of the heroes of the Australia tour earlier this year, has not been in great form having failed to score a fifty in four successive Test matches and was troubled by the seam and swing against New Zealand in World Test Championship final.

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul are the other two openers in the squad and if Gill is ruled out, Easwaran is the likely replacement from the standby list.

Capt Amarinder Singh to meet Congress leaders from urban areas of Punjab today

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Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

CHANDIGARH: Amid the ongoing crisis in Punjab Congress, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will meet party leaders from urban areas of the state, followed by lunch in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Before meeting Rahul Gandhi, Sidhu met party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at her residence.

Months ahead of Punjab Assembly polls, the rift in the state unit has intensified. While Sidhu met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday, the party’s top leadership did not meet Punjab Chief Minister who was in Delhi recently for three days.

A senior Congress leader clarified that the Punjab Chief Minister had not sought time to meet the top leadership of the party. Singh, however, had met the All India Congress Committee (AICC) panel entrusted with the task to end factionalism in the state unit.

Earlier, the AICC panel had submitted the report on the Punjab crisis to Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi with the ground realities and suggestions after the members of the panel met the Punjab Chief Minister.

In order to address the factionalism in the state unit, a three-member panel had been set up by Sonia Gandhi.

It is to be noted that Rahul Gandhi has held meetings with Punjab Congress MLAs, MPs, and other important leaders from the state, including PCC Cheif Sunil Jakhar.

On Friday, the leaders who reached Rahul Gandhi’s residence to attend a meeting included Vijendra Singla, Rana Gurjit Singh, RS MP Shamsher Singh Dhillon, and MLA Lakhvir Singh.

Rajya Sabha MP Shamsher Singh Dhillon while speaking to mediapersons had said that the meeting was held to resolve infighting in the Punjab Congress and added that decisions were made to strengthen the party in the upcoming elections in the state.

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met many senior Punjab leaders including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunil Jakhar, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Harish Rawat in Delhi amid escalating infighting in the party’s state unit.

Punjab Assembly polls, scheduled for next year, are being considered crucial for Congress as it is one of the few states where the party is still in power.

In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.

Educated unemployed people hold BJP, Congress governments responsible for their plight: Mayawati

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BSP supremo Mayawati

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday said crores of educated unemployed people forced to sell ‘pakodas’ along roadsides and work as labourers for a livelihood hold the BJP and the previous Congress governments responsible for their plight.

The BSP considers the BJP and the Congress, which ruled the country and a number of states for a long time, equally responsible for creating such a dreadful situation, she said.

“Crores of young and educated unemployed people in UP and all over the country are also forced to sell ‘pakodas’ along roadsides and work as labourers for a livelihood. The pain of their parents and families, who are seeing all this, can be understood. This is sad, unfortunate and very worrying.” Mayawati said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

If the BJP continues to follow the footsteps of the Congress, it will face the same plight as that of the Congress, she said.

“The Congress went out of power at the Centre, in UP and many states due to its deeds,” the BSP chief said.

“The BJP must think seriously on this, Due to its policies, neither is public welfare happening nor is the country becoming self-reliant,” she added.

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