Journalist Soumya Viswanathan murder: Arvind Kejriwal orders special prosecutor

Agencies

February 7, 2019

New Delhi, Feb 7: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has expressed shock over public prosecutors "missing" hearings in the journalist Soumya Viswanathan case and directed the chief secretary to issue "show cause notice" to those prosecutors.

The parents of the TV journalist, who was shot dead more than 10 years ago, had knocked the door of the chief minister, seeking speedy trial and justice for her.

The chief minister has taken a strong note of Soumya Viswanathan case, a senior government official said.

"Today I have ordered that if public prosecutors did not attend the hearing then a show cause notice will be issued to them. Also, a special public prosecutor will be appointed," Mr Kejriwal said.

The chief minister has said it is shocking to hear that they missed hearings.

Mr Kejriwal has also directed to appoint a good special public prosecutor in consultation with the Home Ministry immediately, he added.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Soumya's father MK Viswanathan had written that he and his family were tired of the "hollow assurances" from the authorities, and expressed hope from a "concrete response" from him.

Five people were arrested in 2009 on the charges of murder and are presently in custody. The trial in the case is going on in the Delhi's Saket district court for the last 10 years.

"We are seriously concerned about both, the pace at which the trial is moving as well as the quality of efforts being put in the proceedings by the prosecution.

"Hollow assurances from authorities have tired us out and we sincerely hope for a concrete response from you at the earliest," her father said.

He said the recent change in the "public prosecutor has raised our concerns as he, once again, was absent from the court on the date of the last hearing (February 2)".

Unlike the first prosecutor on the case, the current and the previous public prosecutors have been "unresponsive" in giving any updates to his family on the progress in the case, MK Viswanathan said.

The journalist was found shot dead in her car on September 30, 2008 in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj while returning home after work at around 3:30 am.

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Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad granted bail in Daryaganj violence case

Agencies

January 15,2020

New Delhi, Jan 15: A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in connection with the Daryaganj violence case.

The court has ordered him not to hold any protest in Delhi till February 16th.

While hearing the case, the Judge had asked Azad's counsel to read out some of his social media posts.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing Azad, had on Tuesday said that the petitioner was sent to jail without any evidence in connection with anti-CAA protests in Delhi's Darya Ganj area last year.

"I think the court's comments should become a precedent for the country. The Public Prosecutor at the behest of police tried to make this a communal issue. We told the court that the government has a problem with Azad because he made the CAA-NPR-NRC an issue for everyone.
The Court also sought evidence," Pracha told ANI after Delhi's Tis Hazari court deferred the bail plea of Azad till today.

On Wednesday, the court pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to show any evidence against Azad.

Azad was arrested on December 21 last year after he led a march from Jama Masjid against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was sent to judicial custody till January 18 at Tihar jail.

The Bhim Army chief was charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and inciting the mob to indulge in violence after vandalism in Delhi's Daryaganj area.

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India's covid-19 tally tops 15 lakh cases; over 34,000 dead

Agencies

July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Coronavirus infections in India continue to mount as the country's total case tally crossed the 15-lakh mark.

India added 48,513 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.3 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 29.

Key Figures

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,31,669
Active cases: 5,09,447
Cured/discharged/migrated: 9,88,029
Deaths: 34,193
Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 48,513
One-day recoveries: 35,175
One-day deaths: 768
India’s coronavirus epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week, according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are among the states where the maximum number of daily cares are being reported.

Fresh cases continued to come in at a heightened pace, hovering just below 50,000 for the last six days.

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic. Pfizer Inc., however, is preparing for the novel coronavirus to endure, leading to long-term demand for a seasonal shot to protect against Covid-19.

“There is a likely scenario that either the vaccine’s immunity will not be lasting forever,” said Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla in an interview Tuesday, “or that the virus will mutate, or that the virus will find ways to come back again and again.”

Even as the transmission rate of Covid-19 remains high in India, the pace of recovery has risen too. On Wednesday, India reported its third day of over 35,000 recoveries.

Global Update

Flare-ups in virus cases from Hong Kong to Europe are proving difficult for policy makers to wrangle. The U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, even as daily infections slowed in some hard-hit states. China reported 101 new cases, up from 68 a day earlier, with 98 of the total from local infections, mostly in Xinjiang.

Philippine health authorities warned that hospitals and infirmaries risk getting overwhelmed.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.6 million with over 658,000 dead.

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India would not discriminate among religions, we are not a theocratic country like Pakistan: Rajnath Singh

News Network

January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said Indian values consider all religions equal, and that is why the country is secular and never became a theocratic state like Pakistan.

Speaking at the NCC Republic Day Camp in Delhi, Singh said: "We (India) said we would not discriminate among religions. Why did we do that? Our neighbouring country has declared that their state has a religion. They have declared themselves a theocratic state. We didn't declare so."

"Even America is a theocratic country. India is not a theocratic country. Why? Because our saints and seers did not just consider the people living within our borders as part of the family, but called everyone living in the world as one family," the minister said.

Singh underlined that India had never declared its religion would be Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist and people of all religions could live here.

"They gave the slogan of 'Vasudev Kutumbakam' -- the whole world is one family. This message has gone to the whole world from here only," he added.

Comments

Very thoughtful and eye-catching statement by Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh.

Sir, I kindly request you to convey this beautiful message to your Party’s comrades, who are deprived of this dosage for long times and are badly need of this.

Also, for those from your Party, who are, time and again, spitting the venomous rhetoric against Dalits, Muslims, Christians and others alike.

Yashwant Sinhaji is now doing a wonderful job in this regard.

You will also follow his suit for sure in the days to come; that’s what your honest statement indicates.