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Nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control.
NEW DELHI: A fire broke out on Wednesday morning in the ICU of the Safdarjung Hospital here following which 50 patients were evacuated, fire officials said.
Nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control.
Around 50 patients were immediately shifted to others wards with the help of hospital staff, the officials said.
Mumbai: Police have arrested 14 people in connection with an attack on policemen by a mob of sword- wielding Sikhs in Nanded after they were denied permission to hold a public procession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.
The Wazirabad police in Maharashtra’s Nanded district have registered three FIRs against 64 people (who have been named in the FIRs) and other unidentified persons in connection with Monday’s incident at the Sri Hazur Sahib gurdwara, he said.
A viral video showed the sword-wielding mob barging out of the gurdwara, breaking the barricades put up by police and attacking the policemen.
Four constables were injured and six vehicles were also damaged in the violence. The condition of one of the injured policemen was serious, the official said.
The police were also trying to ascertain if anyone from the gurdwara committee had any role in the incident, he said.
“We have arrested 14 people till now on charges of attempt to murder, rioting, and under provisions of the Arms Act and other sections. Around 64 people have been named in the FIR, while search is on for others,” Deputy Inspector General of Police, Nanded Range, Nisar Tamboli told PTI.
The official on Monday said permission for the Hola Mohalla public procession was not granted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The gurdwara committee was informed and they had assured us that they would abide by our directives and hold the event inside the gurdwara premises,” he had said.
However, when the Nishan Sahib was brought at the gate around 4 pm on Monday, several participants started arguing and over 300 youth stormed out of the gate, broke the barricades and began attacking the policeman, he had said.
Nishan Sahib is a triangular saffron-colour flag furling outside a gurdwara on a steel pole covered with a saffron cloth. The flag also has an insignia called Khanda in the middle, which includes two swords and a chakra.
Hola Mohalla (Hola) is a Sikh festival that comes a day after Holi.
Unlike Holi, when people sprinkle coloured powder on each other, Hola Mohalla is an occasion for Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills.
Nanded is an important Sikh pilgrimage centre as it is home to the sacred shrine – the Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchal Nagar Sahib.
It was here that the 10th and last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), anointed the holy book Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru of Sikhism and spent the last 14 months of his life.
Kasaragod: The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the LDF is sure to rule the state again. He said that the pro-people schemes and developmental plans enforced in the last five years had received praises from the people.
Speaking at the Press conference held at the Kasaragod City Tower meeting hall, Pinarayi Vijayan said, “In the past five years, Kerala has received global recognition for its development. During natural disasters including flooding, even in the case of COVID-19 infection in Kerala, the government has responded to the problem of people, but the opposition is not ready to debate on development. Kerala from 5 years ago must be compared with Kerala of today. The opposition is attempting to hide the developmental progress, and is circling around controversies”, he said.
“The Central government is trying to divide people and also attempting to enforce the agenda of RSS. The Citizenship Amendment Act will not be allowed to be implemented in Kerala for any reason. Citizenship based on religion is against the fearless democracy”, the CM said.
“There is an atmosphere of fear among the minorities and commoners. Sangh Parivar’s actions under the pretext of conversion are condemnable”, he said.
Imphal: The Manipur government issued a circular to the Deputy Commissioners of districts bordering Myanmar not to open camps to provide food and shelter to refugees fleeing the neighbouring country after the coup but withdrew it three days later to avoid potential public anger.
In the advisory issued to the DCs of Chandel, Tengoupal, Kamjong, Ukhrul and Churachandpur on March 26, Special Secretary (Home) H Gyan Prakash also asked them to stop Aadhaar enrolment exercise.
As a fallout of the events taking place in the neighbouring country, Myanmar, it is reported that the country’s nationals have been trying to enter India through the border states including Manipur, it said.
“District administration should not open any camps to provide food and shelter. The civil society organisations should also not be allowed to open any camps to provide shelter/food,” the circular, which came into public domain on Monday, said.
While advising the DCs to “politely turn away”, those trying to sneak into India, the Special Secretary wrote, in case of grievous injuries, medical attention may be provided on humanitrian considerations.
With public anger mounting in neighbouring Mizoram against attempts to thwart the entry of refugees from Myanmar, the officer issued another advisory on Monday, saying the contents of the previous letter had been “misconstrued”.
“It appears that the contents of the letter have been misconstrued and interpreted differently. The state government has been taking all humanitarian steps had recently taken all steps, including taking them to Imphal, to treat the injured Myanmarese nationals. The state government continues to provide all aid,” it said.
“In order to avoid this misunderstanding I am directed to convey the decision of the Government that it has decided to withdraw the letter dated 26.03.2021 mentioned above,” Prakash said.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to provide asylum to the refugees, saying a “human catastrophe of gigantic proportions” is happening in Myanmar and innocent citizens are being killed by the military, which is supposed to protect them.
He had dubbed as “not acceptable” the Centre’s order to prevent illegal immigration from Myanmar and ensure speedy deportation of refugees.
Zoramthanga said the areas in Myanmar bordering Mizoram are inhabited by the people of Chin community who share ethnic ties and have had close contact with the people of the state even before India became Independent.
“This (MHA advisory) is not acceptable to Mizoram. I understand that there are certain foreign policy issues where India needs to proceed cautiously. However, we cannot ignore this humanitarian crisis,” Zoramthanga said in the letter.
An unspecified number of refugees also entered Manipur, including those with injuries, who were sheltered by the residents of border villages.
New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 tally climbed to 1,20,95,855 with 56,211 more people testing positive for the infection in a span of 24 hours, while 271 more fatalities pushed death toll to 1,62,114, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Tuesday.
Registering a steady increase for the 20th day in row, active cases have increased to 5,40,720 comprising 4.47 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.19 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,13,93,021, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 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.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 24,26,50,025 samples have been tested up to March 29 with 7,85,864 samples being tested on Sunday.
The 271 new fatalities include 102 from Maharashtra, 59 Punjab, 20 from Chhattisgarh, 16 from Karnataka, 14 from Tamil Nadu and 11 from Kerala.
A total of 1,62,114 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 54,283 from Maharashtra, 12, 684 from Tamil Nadu, 12,520 from Karnataka, 11,012 from Delhi, 10,325 from West Bengal, 8,790 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,210 from Andhra Pradesh and 6,749 from Punjab.
The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
Anekal: In an incident that occurred on Tuesday morning, villagers near Shettahalli were attacked by a bear in Anekal Taluk.
Residents of Shettahalli village, Shrinivas Reddy, Ramakka, Manju, and Venkataswami were attacked and wounded by the bear, it is learned. The injured are reportedly receiving treatment at a private Hospital in Anekal Town. Forest Department’s officials arrived at the site and are conducting an inquiry regarding the attack.
Recently, a bear had escaped from the Bannerghatta Animal Centre. The Bannerghatta doctors suspect that the bear which attacked the villagers could be the same animal that escaped. The locals informed that before the attack, the bear was spotted near the Chandapur KEB region.
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.
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.
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.
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.