Cong MLA Haris’ son Mohammed Nalapad surrenders; case takes a political turn

New Delhi, Apr 9: The Delhi Police has traced Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, who has been on the run after an FIR was registered against him for organising a religious gathering last month despite restrictions to combat the coronavirus, sources said on Wednesday.

The cleric has been traced to Zakir Nagar in southeast Delhi, sources said.

His lawyer Tauseef Khan, however, said Saad is under self-quarantine and will join investigation after his quarantine period is over.

On March 31, Delhi Police's Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by Station House Officer Nizamuddin for holding the congregation here allegedly in violation of the orders against large gathering and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A day later, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch wrote to Saad and others, seeking the details under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A second notice was also issued to him this week.

"Saad is currently under self-quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over," his advocate, Tauseef Khan, told PTI.

Saad's quarantine is expected to end next week.

His lawyer said a reply to the second notice will be given soon.

In an audio message last week, Saad said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamudddin markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

Visited by thousands last month, the Nizamudddin centre also turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in national capital and country.

According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the centre on March 21 and reminded them of the government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

However, no one paid any heed to the police's direction, it said. Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.

On March 24, the government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering.

The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of the centre.

The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.

So far, several hundred cases of COVID-19 cases across the country have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi last month.

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.

Mangaluru, Jan 23: With the results of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) out, it is celebration time at CFAL (Centre for Advanced Learning), Mangalore’s top training institute as 12 of its students have secured above 99 percentile, out of 120 students who appeared at the prestigious national examination held in January this year. The students are: Kaustubh Rao (99.79), Ujwal Kumar (99.77), Dheeraj Kamath (99.74), Pramod Rao (99.68), Santhosh M (99.59), Mohan Nayak (99.49), Rihan D’silva (99.43), Rishan D’silva (99.41), Pranav Rao (99.41), Aamod BK (99.29), Anmol J Shetty (99.22) and Madhura Sabhahit (99.083).

Apart from the above students, 8 students have scored above 98 percentile, the details of the students are: D.K. Goutham (98.67), Tejah S.S. (98.49), Akash Shetty (98.4), Tejas Bhat K (98.34), Ninaad PS (98.31), Shreepoorna Rao (98.3), K. Annapoorna Prabhu (98.3) and Rakshith Sajjan (98.2). The results of many more students are awaited.

A total of 8,69,010 students had appeared in the said exam from across India. The students who have attempted the JEE Main exam in January can attempt the exams again in April to better their percentile. Students who clear JEE Main qualify for JEE Advanced and are eligible for seats at the NIT’s and other top institutions of the country.

JEE – The most challenging undergraduate admission test

Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted this year by National Testing Agency (NTA) is a national level examination for students to qualify and pursue engineering degree at under graduate level. Paper 1 is held for BE/B.Tech admissions and Paper 2 for B. Arch/B. Planning. JEE Main is a critical criterion for admission in India’s most prestigious and elite universities like IITs and NIT’s.

Those students who clear JEE Main can take the JEE advanced – which is a pre-requisite requirement for admission in the Indian Institute of Technology and Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad)

CFAL – The first name in training

The training at CFAL consists of defined hours of classes, tests and mock exams, unique course material, experienced professors and hence is the first choice for students appearing for STEM examinations including JEE, NTSE, KYPY, OLYMPIADS etc.  The centre was established with the intention of giving students of Mangalore information, guidance and tools required to qualify the competitive exams. However, the main aim of CFAL is to inculcate passion for Math and Science learning among students and to encourage research and innovation in the subjects.

Kozhikode, Feb 28: Nearly 200 Umrah pilgrims from Kerala were deboarded from their flights to Saudi Arabia from Calicut international Airport here on Thursday after the gulf nation enforced a temporary ban on foreigners seeking to visit the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, following coronavirus scare.

Saudi Arabia halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears about a viral epidemic just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a move that came as the Mideast has over 240 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.

According to Airports Authority of India officials, as many as 84 of passengers from the Saudi Airlines and 104 from the Spice Jet Airlines were denied permission to board the flights and travel to Saudi Arabia.

However, other passengers bound to Jeddah were permitted to fly, they said.

A private tour operator here said two batches of 40 pilgrims each were denied permission to travel to Makkah to perform Umrah on February 27.

Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage that can be performed at any time of year.

"The pilgrims were denied entry by the two airlines, Spice Jet scheduled at 05.30 hrs and Saudi Airlines at 1130 hrs," Naiful Akbar, a travel agent said.

The Airport Authority of India sources said, "the passengers were asked to alight by the Spice Jet airline staff following an instruction received by them."