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Activists' arrest: Never heard of their Naxals links, says Sharad Pawar

Agencies
August 29, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 29: Taking a strong exception to the arrests of five activists, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday ridiculed the government for arresting the activists in the name of association with the Naxalite movement.

"Those who have been arrested and at least I can say in my home state, I know some of them, they are activists. It's a very unfortunate thing that the government and the police authority are arresting them in the name of association with Naxalite movement," Pawar told reporters here.

"I know some individuals, and as per my information, they are not the ones, who can go to the extreme level to the assassination of X and Y," he added.

The NCP chief further said that he would be visiting the homes of the arrested civil right activists and talk to their families and locals in the area.

"After getting information about the Maharashtra arresting, I have decided I will go to everybody's house and discuss with the local population, their neighbours and everyone," he elucidated.

On Tuesday, raids were carried out by the Pune Police in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane, with informed sources telling ANI that Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj were the five activists arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence which broke out in January.

The violence erupted in Bhima Koregaon during the gathering to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. A youth died and several others, including 10 policemen, were injured in the incident.

Pawar further noted that he knew some of the activists personally, but to associate them with the Naxals was wrong.

"I know some of them and they are activists, they are leftist but I never heard that they are associated with Naxalism. Those, whose thinking is of Left type, I can't call each and every one of them as Naxals," Pawar added.

When asked if arrests were an effort to divert the attention from questions being raised on Sanatan Sanstha's role in the killing of rationalists M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh, Pawar noted that as per media reports, certain organisations, are closely associated with these assassinations.

"If these reports are factually correct, then anyone can come a conclusion that, just to divert the attention from those particular incidents and those involved in it, unnecessary importance are given to these people who are activists," he said.

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: An Indian Air Force aircraft on Thursday evacuated 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan.

The C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft was sent to Wuhan on Wednesday and it carried 15 tonnes of medical supplies for coronavirus-affected people in China.

On its return, the aircraft brought back 112 people, including 23 citizens from Bangladesh, six from China, two each from Myanmar and the Maldives and one each from South Africa, the US and Madagascar.

Earlier, India had evacuated around 650 Indians from Wuhan in two Air India flights.

“In all 723 Indian nationals and 43 foreign nationals have been evacuated from Wuhan, China, in these three flights,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

On the medical supplies delivered by India to China, the MEA said they would help augment the country’s efforts to control the coronavirus outbreak which had been declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation.

“The assistance is also a mark of friendship and solidarity from the people of India towards the people of China as the two countries also celebrate 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year,” it said.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Visakhapatnam, May 7: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday announced an ex- gratia payment of Rs one crore each to the kin of those killed in the styrene gas leak incident at LG Polymers Limited near here.

The NDRF had put the death toll from the leak at 11.

The chief minister announced a committee to probe into the mishap and also said the government would talk to the LG Polymers management seeking job for the kin of the deceased in any of its businesses.

Speaking to reporters after conducting a review meeting, Reddy also announced Rs 10 lakh each to those undergoing treatment on ventilator support and Rs 25,000 to those who took treatment as out-patients after developing health complications due to inhalation of the styrene vapour.

Earlier, he held a review meeting at the Andhra Medical College with District Collector Vinay Chand and others.

The gas leak victims undergoing treatment in various hospitals would be paid Rs one lakh each. The 15,000-odd population in the five villages that were affected by the gas leak would be paid Rs 10,000 each, the chief minister added.

Reddy further announced constitution of a high-level committee, headed by the Special Chief Secretary (Environment and Forests), to probe into the mishap and make recommendations to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Earlier, he visited the King George Hospital and consoled the victims of the gas leak.

Accompanied by his Deputy holding the health portfolio A K K Srinivas and Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, Reddy flew down to the port city and went straight to the KGH.

He met the gas leak victims undergoing treatment and enquired about their well-being.

At the review meeting, the Collector informed the Chief Minister that the gas spread was limited to a 1.5 to 2 km area from the epicentre of the leak and that the locals were evacuated to safety.

Of the two styrene tanks in the plant, the leak occurred from one that was holding about 1,800 kilo litres of the chemical.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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