J&K will identify land for Pandits in 2 months: Rajnath Singh

September 7, 2014

Srinagar/Jammu, Sep 7: The land for rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, who migrated from the Kashmir valley in the early 1990's due to militancy, can be identified in one or two months, home minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.

Rajnath-Singh"We are committed to the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits who have migrated from the valley. The state government can start the process of identifying the land for their rehabilitation after the floods. They can identify land in one month or two months after dealing with floods," he told reporters here.

Singh was on a day-long tour to Jammu and Kashmir during which he made an aerial survey of flood affected areas of the state.

The home minister said the Central government has already earmarked Rs 500 crore (in general budget) for rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley.

Asked whether it was proper to write a letter to chief minister Omar Abdullah asking him to identify land in the midst of floods, the home minister said there was nothing wrong in sending the letter as the process was initiated even before the state was hit by floods.

"The letter has gone in the normal course. The letter only means the process has begun," he said.

The home minister on Friday asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to identify "suitable land" for the rehabilitation of some three lakh Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the Kashmir valley in the early 1990's due to militancy.

The Narendra Modi government has committed itself to the return of some 62,000 Kashmiri Pandit families with "full dignity" to their homes in the Valley and has earmarked Rs 500 crore for this in the 2014-15 Union budget.

In his letter to Abdullah, the home minister has suggested that the land may be identified near the native place from where they migrated and also advised that this should be done in such a manner there was adequate security in and around the area.

At present, there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri families who migrated from the Kashmir valley to either Jammu, Delhi or to other parts of the country after the onset of militancy in the border state.

Singh's missive came ahead of the state assembly elections likely to be held in November-December this year for which BJP has declared its intention to seek a majority in the 87-member legislature, a target not easy to achieve.

Asked about rehabilitation of refugees who have migrated from Pakistan since 1947, the home minister said the government will come up with plans for them very soon.

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News Network
April 13,2020

New Delhi, Apr 13: India's tally of positive COVID-19 cases rose to 9,152 following an increase of 796 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

Out of the total number of cases, 7,987 patients are active cases while 857 cases have been cured/discharged and migrated.

With 35 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll mounted to 308.

According to the ministry, Maharashtra remained at the top with the total cases at 1,985, including 217 patients who have recovered/discharged and 149 patients died.

Delhi's tally of positive COVID-19 cases rose to 1,154 cases, including 27 recovered and 24 patients succumbing to the virus.

Tamil Nadu too reported 1,075 cases, including 50 recovered and 11 patients dead.

Meanwhile, four states have crossed the 500 mark with regards to the total number of cases as Rajasthan recorded 804 cases, Madhya Pradesh with 532 cases, Gujarat with 516 cases and Telangana with 504 cases, as per the ministry.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: The shared values between India and the US are "discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers", Amnesty International USA said in a joint statement with Amnesty International India ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to India on Monday.

Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as senior officials of his administration, landed in Ahmedabad on the first leg of his two-day visit to India.

"Anti-Muslim sentiment permeates the policies of both U.S. and Indian leaders. For decades, the U.S.-India relationship was anchored by claims of shared values of human rights and human dignity. Now, those shared values are discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers,” Margaret Huang, Amnesty International USA’s executive director, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was a reference to the anti-CAA protests in India, the internet lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir and the Muslim ban expansion by President Trump affecting Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, the statement said.

It added that Amnesty International USA’s researchers travelled to Lebanon and Jordan to conduct nearly 50 interviews with refugees that as a result of the previous version of the ban have been stranded in countries where they face restrictive policies, increasingly hostile environments, and lack the same rights as permanent residents or citizens.

The statement also came down hard on the Indian government, hitting out at the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 and saying it legitimises discrimination based on religious grounds.

It criticised statements such as “identify them (the protestors) by their clothes” or “shoot the traitors” by Prime Minister Modi and his party workers. Such remarks "peddled the narrative of fear and division that has fuelled further violence", it said.

“The internet and political lockdown in Kashmir has lasted for months and the enactment of CAA and the crackdown on protests has shown a leadership that is lacking empathy and a willingness to engage. We call on President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to work with the international community and address our concerns in their bilateral conversations,” Avinash Kumar, executive director, Amnesty International India said in the statement.

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: With the highest single-day spike of 17,296 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 4,90,401 on Friday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

The country also saw 407 deaths in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 15,301.

The total number of cases includes 1,89,463 active cases, 2,85,637cured/discharged/migrated cases, as per the MoHFW.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to June 25 is 77,76,228; the number of samples tested on 25 June is 2,15,446.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country with 1,47,741 cases. The active cases in the state are 63,357. The number of people cured or discharged stands at 77,453 while the death toll is at 6,931.

Delhi has so far reported 73,780 cases. The active cases in the national capital stood at 26,586. While the cured and discharged numbers stood at 44,765. The death toll in the city is 2,429.

Tamil Nadu has so far reported 70,977. With active cases at 30,067 and the number of cured or discharged at 39,999, while the death toll stood at 911.

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