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Uttar Pradesh Police arrests 108 PFI members in four days

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Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said that the arrests are in addition to the 25 made earlier.

LUCKNOW: Police in Uttar Pradesh has arrested 108 members of the Popular Front of India in the last four days for their alleged involvement in protests against the anti-citizenship law, a senior official said on Monday.

The arrests are in addition to the 25 made earlier, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told reporters.

“This is just the beginning. We will get to the roots of the organisation. A probe is also going on about their financial dealings. We are in touch with central agencies and are sharing information with them,” he said.

Minor rape victim attacked with acid in UP’s Hapur

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Senior police officials said that the acid attack was a result of dispute between the girl’s family and the neighbours.

Acid Attack

HAPUR: A minor rape victim was attacked with acid in Hapur district on Sunday.

The victim and her family alleged that a relative of the accused was pressurizing them for a compromise and when they refused, she was attacked with acid.

They alleged that the accused threw acid on the girl’s feet and fled saying that the next time, it would be her face.

The victim has been admitted to a hospital for treatment.

Babugarh police station in-charge Uttam Singh Rathore said the minor was allegedly raped in June 2019.

Police had arrested a man, identified as Dilshad, in the case.

Senior police officials said that the acid attack was a result of dispute between the girl’s family and the neighbours.

The police said that the matter is being investigated.

‘Goli maarna bandh karo’: Opposition members raise slogans against CAA in Lok Sabha

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As soon as the House took up Question Hour, members raised slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Lok Sabha Budget session 2020.

NEW DELHI: Some opposition members in Lok Sabha on Monday raised slogans against the amended citizenship law during Question Hour.

As soon as the House took up Question Hour, members raised slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“Say no to CAA”, “save our democracy” and “save our Constitution” were some of the slogans raised by them along with a few opposition MPs shouting “Goli maarna bandh karo; desh ko todna bandh karo“.

Speaker Om Birla said the House was taking up the important issue of skill development of the youth, hence members should participate in it and go back to their seats.

He also reminded that floor leaders had assured him that the Question Hour will be allowed to be conducted smoothly and members are free to raise issues during Zero Hour which follows the Question Hour.

However, members kept raising slogans.

Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll in China rises to 360, exceeds SARS mainland figures

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The number of total infections in China’s coronavirus outbreak has passed 17,200 nationwide with 2,829 new cases confirmed, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

Medical workers in protective suits move a coronavirus patient into an isolation ward at the Second People's Hospital in Fuyang in central China's Anhui Province, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo | AP)

BEIJING: China’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic soared to 360 on Monday, with deepening global concern about the outbreak and governments closing their borders to people from China.

The number of total infections in China’s coronavirus outbreak has passed 17,200 nationwide with 2,829 new cases confirmed, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

The fresh toll came a day after China imposed a lockdown on a major city far from the epicentre and the first fatality outside the country was reported in the Philippines. 

Authorities in Hubei, the province at the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 56 new fatalities. That took the toll in China to 360, exceeding the 349 mainland fatalities from the 2002-3 SARS outbreak.

Struggling to contain the virus, authorities took action in the eastern city of Wenzhou on Sunday, closing roads and confining people to their homes.

Wenzhou is some 800 kilometres (500 miles) from Wuhan, the metropolis at the heart of the health emergency.

Since emerging out of Wuhan late last year, the new coronavirus has infected more than 16,400 people across China and reached 24 nations.

The G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — have all confirmed cases of the virus. They will discuss a joint response, Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn said on Sunday.

In Thailand, which has 19 confirmed cases, doctors said Sunday an elderly Chinese patient treated with a cocktail of flu and HIV drugs had shown dramatic improvement and tested negative for the virus 48 hours later.

Most of the infections overseas have been detected in people who travelled from Wuhan, an industrial hub of 11 million people, or surrounding areas of Hubei province.

The man who died in the Philippines was a 44-year-old from Wuhan, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the epidemic a global health emergency.

China has embarked on unprecedented efforts to contain the virus, which is believed to have jumped to humans from a Wuhan animal market, and can be transmitted among people.

China’s efforts have included extraordinary quarantines in Wuhan and surrounding cities, with all transport out banned, effectively sealing off more than 50 million people.

But 10 days after locking down Wuhan, authorities imposed similar draconian measures on Wenzhou, a coastal city of nine million people in Zhejiang province, part of the eastern industrial heartland that has powered China’s economic rise over recent decades.

Only one resident per household is allowed to go out every two days to buy necessities, and 46 highway toll stations have been closed, authorities announced.

The city had previously closed public places such as cinemas and museums, and suspended public transport.

Zhejiang has 661 confirmed infections, with 265 of those in Wenzhou, according to the government.

This is the highest tally for any province in China after ground-zero Hubei.

The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Israel have banned foreign nationals from visiting if they have been in China recently, and they have also warned their own citizens against travelling there.

Mongolia, Russia and Nepal have closed their land borders.

The number of countries reporting infections rose to 24 after Britain, Russia and Sweden confirmed their first cases this weekend.

There were 2,103 new confirmed cases in hardest-hit Hubei province on Monday, bringing the total infected to more than 16,480.

With hospitals in Wuhan overwhelmed, China will open a military-led field hospital Monday that was built in just 10 days to treat people stricken by the virus.

And with the Chinese economy suffering, the central bank announced it would release 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) on Monday to maintain liquidity in the banking system — the day markets re-open after the long holiday break.

The emergence of the virus coincided with the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions travel across the country in planes, trains and buses for family reunions.

The holiday, which was scheduled to end on Friday, was extended by three days to give authorities more time to deal with the crisis.

With many due back at work on Monday, people were starting to return on planes and trains over the weekend, with almost everyone wearing face masks.

Customs authorities had ordered temperature checks at all exit-entry points in Beijing, according to state media.

Returning travellers were being checked and registered at residential compounds, while fever checks were in place in subway stations, offices and cafes.

One 22-year-old arriving at a Beijing train station from northeastern China said her family had urged her to delay her return.

“But I was worried it would affect my job,” she said.

Security guard Du Guiliang, 47, said he would be starting back at work in Beijing on Sunday, after returning from northeast Liaoning province.

“Many colleagues (from Hubei) couldn’t come back. Now, those who work the day shift at our company have to do the night shift as well,” he said.

Many businesses were to remain closed for at least another week, however, while some major cities — including Shanghai — had also extended the holiday.

Police book case against 600 unidentified anti-CAA protesters in Moradabad

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The FIR lodged in Galshaheed police station names 20 people and mentions 600 unidentified people who have been accused of shouting objectionable slogans.

MORADABAD: Police have registered an FIR against a group of protesters, mostly women, who have began an “indefinite” sit-in against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Eidgah Ground in Moradabad.

The FIR lodged in Ghalshaheed police station names 20 people and mentions 600 unidentified people who have been accused of shouting objectionable slogans.

Of the unnamed people, 400 are men while 200 are women.

A large number of police personnel have been deployed at the ground.

Moradabad District Magistrate Rakesh Singh said Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed and action will be taken on any “anti-social elements indulging in violence”.

“No permission was sought from the administration for the demonstration, so it is illegal but we are watching,” he said.

Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) prohibits assembly of four or more people in an area.

It is, however, being claimed that the Eidgah where they began their protest since Wednesday is a “private” place and the CrPC section does not apply to them.

The protesters claimed that the CAA and proposed National Register of Citizens were unconstitutional and their implementation will create communal tensions.

A woman activist, who did not want to be named, said the BJP government was trying to divert the attention from the public as it has not performed well.

Criticising the amended citizenship law, another activist said religion should not be the basis of allowing migrants into the country.

We are demanding for a withdrawal of the Act, she said.

Another woman said, “Many people from the Muslim community in Moradabad are top-class artisans in metalcraft and contribute towards high foreign currency earnings for the country. It would be difficult for many of them to prove they have jobs as they do not possess documents.”

Kafeel Khan remanded to judicial custody, transferred to Mathura jail

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Circle Officer (Civil Lines) Anil Samania said Khan was brought here late Friday evening and was produced before the remand magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody.

Doctor Kafeel Khan

ALIGARH: Child specialist Kafeel Khan who was accused of making an inflammatory speech at AMU was remanded to judicial custody and later transferred to Mathura jail, officials said on Saturday.

Circle Officer (Civil Lines) Anil Samania said Khan was brought here late Friday evening and was produced before the remand magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody.

He was sent to the Aligarh jail, but within an hour, he was transferred to Mathura jail, the official said.

He was accused of making an inflammatory speech at the university during anti-CAA protests on December 14.

1,804 passengers screened for coronavirus in Punjab

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Welfare Minister Sidhu said the government of India on Friday issued the guidelines that all passengers coming from China after January 15 will be screened and tested.

Coronavirus

CHANDIGARH: A total of 1,804 passengers have been screened for novel coronavirus at Amritsar and Mohali airports as well as border check posts of Atari and Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab, Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said.

He said no symptomatic or suspected case of coronavirus has been reported out of these passengers.

Sidhu said the government of India on Friday issued the guidelines that all passengers coming from China after January 15 will be screened and tested.

He said all the passengers coming from China to Punjab after January 15 are being contacted and samples are being taken. Twenty-three samples will be sent for testing at the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

He said 33 passengers with travel history to China had reported in the state, out of which two samples of suspected patients have been tested negative and eight passengers have completed 14 days observation period and the remaining 23 passengers are under regular observation of the Department of Health

India among top 30 countries at ‘high risk’ from coronavirus spread: According to Study

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Researchers acknowledge that their analysis is based on ‘non-outbreak’ travel patterns, but highlight that a high proportion of people travelled with symptoms at an early stage of the outbreak.

NEW DELHI: India is among the top 30 countries at “high-risk” from the spread of the deadly coronavirus, according to a study based on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive in the countries from the worst affected cities in China.

Researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK compiled a list of cities and countries they believe are at high risk from the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) — which has killed over 100 people so far, and infected thousands.

The most “at risk” countries or regions worldwide are Thailand (1), Japan (2), and Hong Kong (3).

The US is 6th on the list, Australia 10th, the UK 17th and India 23rd, the researchers said in the study released on Tuesday.

According to the study by the university’s WorldPop team, Bangkok in Thailand is currently the city most at risk from a global spread of the virus.

Hong Kong is second on the list, followed by Taipei in Taiwan.

Sydney, New York and London are among the top 20 other major international cities ranked in the research, released on Tuesday.

Within mainland China, the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing are all identified as high-risk by the researchers, along with the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Henan.

“It’s vital that we understand patterns of population movement, both within China and globally, in order to assess how this new virus might spread — domestically and internationally,” said Andrew Tatem, a professor at the University of Southampton.

“By mapping these trends and identifying high-risk areas, we can help inform public health interventions, such as screenings and healthcare preparedness,” Tatem said.

The team used anonymised mobile phone and IP address data — which helps to identify devices — along with international air travel data to understand typical patterns of movement of people within China, and worldwide, during the annual 40-day Lunar New Year celebrations.

From this, they identified 18 Chinese cities — including Wuhan — at high-risk from the new coronavirus, and established the volume of air passengers likely to be travelling from these cities to global destinations over a three month period.

The team, including researchers from the University of Toronto in Canada, and the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, was then able to rank the top 30 most at-risk countries and cities around the world.

The researchers acknowledge that their analysis is based on ‘non-outbreak’ travel patterns, but highlight that a high proportion of people travelled with symptoms at an early stage of the outbreak, before restrictions were put in place.

Travel cordons are likely to have only coincided with the latter stages of peak population numbers leaving Wuhan for the holiday period, the researchers noted.

According to Wuhan authorities, it is likely that more than five million people had already left the city, they said.

“The spread of the new coronavirus is a fast moving situation and we are closely monitoring the epidemic in order to provide further up-to-date analysis on the likely spread,” said Shengjie Lai from the University of Southampton.

“This includes the effectiveness of the transport lockdown in Chinese cities and transmission by people returning from the Lunar New Year holiday, which has been extended to February 2,” said Lai.

Badminton ace Saina Nehwal joins BJP

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Haryana-born Nehwal (29) will join the BJP reportedly in the presence of party chief J P Nadda.

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal

Badminton player Saina Nehwal is going to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), news agency ANI reported on Wednesday.

Haryana-born Nehwal (29) will join the BJP reportedly in the presence of party chief J P Nadda.

In 2018, she tied knot with fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap.

CAA stir: Why no Shaheen Bagh protester has died yet, wonders Dilip Ghosh

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The sit-in which has been on for more than a month now has inspired others to hold similar demonstrations at Park Circus Maidan in Kolkata.

West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh

KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday courted controversy by asking why none of the Shaheen Bagh protesters who are demonstrating under the open sky during winter has fallen ill or died.

Ghosh also sought to know who is funding the Shaheen Bagh protesters. Hundreds of women have been protesting at the Shaheen Bagh in South Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The sit-in which has been on for more than a month now has inspired others to hold similar demonstrations at Park Circus Maidan in Kolkata.

“We came to know that women and children are protesting against the CAA and are sitting under the open sky during this cold winter nights in Delhi. I wonder why none of them has fallen sick. Why does nothing happen to them? Why has not a single protester died there? This is quite absurd. Have they consumed some sort of nectar that nothing is happening to them,” Ghosh told reporters.

He also questioned the source of funding at Shaheen Bagh and Park Circus Maidan protests.

Hundreds of Muslim women are demonstrating against the CAA and the proposed nationwide NRC at the Park Circus Maidan here for 22 days.

“I wonder where from the money is coming. The truth about this will surely come out in the days to come. In Bengal, several people claimed to have committed suicide due to the panic,” he said.

Ruling TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that over 30 people have committed suicide because of panic over the CAA and proposed nationwide NRC.

Ghosh, the BJP MP from Midnapore seat, is known for courting controversies.

A few days back he had said anti-CAA protesters who had destroyed public property were shot like dogs in BJP-ruled states.

The BJP leader also took a dig at party general secretary and its Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya for his ‘poha’ comment, saying he himself loves it and finds nothing wrong in having it in the diet.

“I myself eat poha and I don’t see anything wrong in eating it. Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion,” he said without naming Vijayvargiya.

Vijayvargiya had courted controversy last week by stating that he had found the eating habits of some of the construction labourers working at his house in Indore “strange” as they were eating ‘poha’ (flattened rice).

After talking to their supervisor and the building contractor, Vijayvargiya had said he suspected that they were from Bangladesh.

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