India’s Bhadresh Kumar in FBI’s top 10 most wanted list, massive hunt on

Agencies
October 19, 2019

Ahmedabad, Oct     19: Considered as one of the biggest ever simultaneous chases in the US and India, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is hunting for an Indian fugitive, Bhadresh Kumar Patel, for the past four years.

Patel, who hails from Viramgam in Ahmedabad, figures in the FBI's top 10 list of most wanted fugitives and carries an award of $100,000.

FBI considers Patel as a cold-blooded murderer and an 'extremely dangerous' criminal who killed his young wife at a Dunkin' Donuts store in Hanover, Maryland, in a most bizarre way.

Though the top 10 list of most wanted fugitives is constantly updated and changed, as Bhadresh Patel continues to run from one place to another, his name continues to figure in the latest FBI list (2019), which includes some of the most dreaded fugitives. Patel's name first figured in the top 10 list in 2017.

Assisting the FBI in its investigation, County police detective Kally Harding said, "Patel's wife Palak was young and the scene was very brutal... She was killed in a horrible way, that's the kind of person (killer) we are dealing with."

Palak (21) and Patel (then 24) were working in night shift in the Dunkin' Donuts store. The CCTV footage retrieved from the store shows Bhadresh and Palak walking together towards the kitchen before disappearing behind the racks. Moments later, Patel reappears. He then shuts off the kitchen oven and walks out of the store, as if nothing had happened. His body language and facial impression seem to be very normal.

The FBI investigation into the brutal murder, which sent shock waves in Maryland, disclosed that the body of Palak, found hours later in the night of April 12, 2015, carried multiple stab wounds.

After brutally beating and stabbing Palak to death, Patel left the store and returned to his nearby apartment by foot. He then picked up some personal items and hired a cab to a hotel near an airport in Newark.

The taxi driver later reported that Patel was looking normal during the ride. CCTV footage revealed that Patel later checked into a hotel in Newark and was seen at the counter paying in cash for a room. He slept over the night and left the hotel in the morning.

Since then the FBI sleuths and their vast network of informers are trying hard to gather clues about Patel's whereabouts. The hunt for Patel is on in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi.

Posters with different photographs of Patel have been printed in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and even in French and they have been circulated in different parts of the world where Patel could hide.

FBI's agent in Delhi is also coordinating with different state police and law enforcing agencies to keep a tab on Patel's known friends and relatives. According to a senior IPS officer of Delhi Police, all efforts would be made to trace the fugitive if leads are provided by the FBI.

On several occasions, Indian probe agencies have coordinated with the FBI and other foreign police organisations to nab fugitives. In 2004, Indian immigrant Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, wanted in the sensational murder of British teen Hannah Claire Foster (17), was arrested from Darjeeling on a tip-off by the the British agencies.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide. 

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

Tokyo, Feb 26: Two more Indians onboard quarantined cruise ship -- Diamond Princess -- were tested positive for novel coronavirus, the Indian embassy here said on Tuesday, adding that those Indians not infected by the virus will be repatriated to the homeland on February 26.

A total of 16 Indian nationals onboard the luxury ship -- quarantined off the coast of Japan since February 5 -- have been tested positive for coronavirus so far, the embassy informed.

"A chartered flight is being arranged to repatriate Indian nationals onboard #DiamondPrincess, provided they have (a) consented; (b) not tested positive for #COVID19; (c) cleared by the medical team. An email advisory to this effect, with details, has been sent to them," the embassy tweeted.

The repatriation of the Indian nationals will be facilitated by the Indian government.

"PCR test results for ALL Indian nationals declared-02 more Indians tested positive to #COVID19, taking the total to 16. Those fulfilling conditions and consenting to repatriation to India on 26 Feb being facilitated by the Indian Government. Details shared with them," the following tweet read.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the luxury cruise ship which was quarantine off Japan on February 5 after it emerged that a former passenger had tested positive for the virus.

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News Network
February 19,2020

Beijing, Feb 19: The death count from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 2,000 on Wednesday after 132 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak.

In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,693 new cases of people infected with the virus.

This brings the total number of cases in mainland China past 74,000.

Most of the cases are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December before spiralling into a nationwide epidemic.

Wednesday's jump in the death count was an increase on Tuesday's figures, although the number of new cases reported in Hubei were the lowest for a week.

A study released by Chinese officials claimed most patients have mild cases of the illness.

Outside of hardest-hit Hubei, which has been effectively locked down to try to contain the virus, the number of new cases has been slowing and China's national health authority has said this is a sign the outbreak is under control.

President Xi Jinping, in a phone call with the British prime minister, said China's measures were achieving "visible progress", according to state media Tuesday.

However, the World Health Organization has cautioned that it was too early to tell if the decline would continue.

On Tuesday the director of a hospital in the central Hubei city of Wuhan became the seventh medical worker to succumb to the COVID-19 illness.

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