Malegaon blast victim files intervention in case, questions dropping of MCOCA

News Network
September 19, 2018

Mumbai, Sept 19: A victim of the 2008 Malegaon blast filed an intervention in the case before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday.

The intervention will be heard before special judge Vinod Padalkar while Advocate Shrikant Shivade makes arguments on the government’s sanction to prosecute accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

Nisar Ahmed Sayyed Bilal, who is now bedridden, had lost his teenage son in the blasts. In 2017, Mr. Bilal had filed an intervention in the Bombay High Court opposing the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the case.

Mr. Bilal had also questioned the basis on which the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act were dropped against accused.

Mr. Shivade said that the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) had been amended on December 31, 2008, requiring the government to form a committee if it wanted to prosecute anyone under it.

All the paper work in the case would have had to be handed over to the committee, which would then give its recommendations to the government. Mr. Shivade said that the government had not formed such a committee when it gave sanction on January 17, 2009 to prosecute Lt. Col. Purohit.

Mr. Shivade said that if the sanction was not valid, then there was no reason to prosecute the accused. The court has directed the NIA and Lt. Col. Purohit to file a reply to Mr. Bilal intervention. On September 5, the NIA court had deferred the framing of charges against all accused in the case and said it would hear arguments on the validity of sanctions granted to prosecute them under UAPA on a daily basis.

The court will then frame charges against Sameer Kulkarni, Lt. Col. Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahilkar and Sadhvi Pragya. They have been charged under Sections 15 (terrorist act), 16 (punishment for terrorist act) and 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of UAPA.

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News Network
March 21,2020

New Delhi, Mar 21: A couple was deboarded from a Delhi-bound Rajdhani train on Saturday after co-passengers observed a home quarantine seal on the husband's hand, the Railways said Saturday.

Officials said the Delhi-based couple boarded the Bangalore City-New Delhi Rajdhani at Secunderabad on Saturday morning.

When the train reached Kazipet in Telangana at 9:45 am, a co-passenger noticed the quarantine mark authorities are putting on suspected coronavirus cases —on the husband's hand when he was washing his hands. Other co-passengers then informed the TTE onboard.

The train was briefly detained and the couple was taken to a hospital. The coach was completely sanitised in Kazipet and was locked, officials said.

The air conditioning was also switched off.

The train left for its destination at 11.30 am.

People fleeing quarantine has been a common problem reported from different parts of the country.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Central government as India crossed the 20 lakh COVID-19 positive cases.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader reiterated his earlier tweet, sent out on July 17, which stated "The 10,00,000-mark has been crossed.

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, by August 10, more than 20,00,000 will be infected in the country. 

The government must take concrete, planned steps to stop the epidemic."
"20 lakh-mark has been crossed, Modi government is missing," the Congress leader tweeted today.

The Union Health Ministry has said active cases as a percentage of total cases have seen a significant drop from 34.17 per cent on July 24 to 30.31 per cent.

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News Network
July 16,2020

New Delhi, Jul 16: India's pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce Covid-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, according to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

A lot of "very important things have been done" in India and its pharma industry is doing work "to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases", said the Co-Chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaking in a documentary -- Covid-19: India's War Against The Virus -- to be premiered on Discovery Plus this (Thursday) evening, Gates said India also faces a huge challenge due to the health crisis because of its gigantic size and urban centres with a lot of population density.

Commenting on the strength of India's pharma industry, he said, "India has a lot of capacity there -- with the drug and vaccine companies that are huge suppliers to the entire world. You know, more vaccines are made in India than anywhere-- starting with Serum Institute, that's the largest."

He further said, "But (there are) also Bio E, Bharat (Biotech), many others. They are doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine, building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases."

Stating that India joined Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is a group working on a global basis to build vaccines platforms, Gates said, "I am excited that the pharmaceutical industry there will be able to produce not just for India but also for the entire world. (This is) What we need to reduce the deaths and make sure we are immune, which is how we end the epidemic."

Gates said Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a "partner with the government, particularly with the department of biotechnology, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the office of the principal scientific advisor provide advice and help about getting these tools going".

Commenting on the deadly virus breaching India's borders in the documentary which was shot extensively during the period of lockdown, he said, "India is still at the beginning of this, but there's a lot of very important things have been done.

“It's a huge challenge with India because you've got a gigantic country. You've got your urban centers with a lot of density-- and so that-- drives the spread. You have people moving around."

He, however, added: "Yet people are stepping up... Looking at how we reduce the spread while trying not to reduce food availability, equipment that people need."

Highlighting Gates foundation's role, he said it has "worked for the Indian government on health issues like introducing new vaccines over the last decade; and so when Covid-19 came along, we stepped in and said you know where are the gaps, we have been funding work on detection and isolation.

“We have been particularly active in UP and Bihar where we have done health delivery in the past."

The foundation is also working with the department of personnel and training to take their online training platforms and "are now using that guidance to help their frontline health workers", Gates said. 

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