'Missing' Boat of 100 Indian Migrants May be Heading to New Zealand, Says Police

Agencies
January 22, 2019

New Delhi, Jan 22: A fishing boat that could contain more than 100 Indian migrants may be heading to New Zealand, Indian police said on Monday.

The boat, which is carrying people from New Delhi, the Indian capital, and Tamil Nadu, left Munambam harbour in Kerala on Jan. 12, two officers involved in the case told Reuters.

An individual from New Delhi arrested in connection with the investigation, Prabhu Dhandapani, told police the boat was heading to New Zealand, according to both officers.

Estimates of the number of people on board vary between 100 and 200, including women and children, they said.

Police have recovered more than 70 bags left behind by the migrants, as well as around 20 identification documents, officer VG Ravindran said.

"The bags are full of dry goods and clothes, suggesting they were preparing for a long journey," said officer MJ Sojan.

"The people and boat are missing somewhere in the sea. Many Indian agencies including the coast guard are trying to locate the boat," the officer said.

For the migrants to reach New Zealand, they would need to travel more than 7,000 miles through some of the roughest seas in the world. Cyclones and storms are common in the straits between Indonesia and Australia, the most likely route for the boat.

New Zealand's department of immigration said it had no comment on this specific case but remains vigilant to any possible venture.

"While reports of these types of ventures are concerning, the message to anyone contemplating such a journey is simple: Any attempt to reach New Zealand will put your life, and the lives of your family members, at great risk," said Stephen Vaughan, the assistant general manager at Immigration NZ (INZ).

He said the country's laws allow those who are part of a mass arrival to be detained for up to six months, and the detention can be extended for up to 28 days at a time.

"Although there has never been a mass arrival in this country there’s no doubt that New Zealand is a target for people smugglers, and a mass arrival at some stage is a very real possibility that we need to be fully prepared for," Vaughan said.

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Agencies
May 18,2020

India is among 58 nations, including 27 European Union members, who have moved a draft resolution demanding evaluation of the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s response towards the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The European Union-led draft resolution on global COVID-19 response is set to be tabled at the upcoming World Health Assembly on Monday.

The draft resolution demands initiation "at the earliest appropriate moment to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19".

"We are deeply concerned by the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impacts on physical and mental health and social well-being, the negative impacts on economy and society and the consequent exacerbation of inequalities within and between countries," read the draft.

"We express solidarity to all countries affected by the pandemic, as well as condolences and sympathy to all the families of the victims of COVID-19," it added.

The resolution says timelines are to be evaluated regarding "recommendations the WHO made to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity".

The WHO on January 23 declare a global health emergency, but did not declare it and waited for a week for its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to return from China.

By that time, COVID-19 cases increased 10 times and the virus entered 18 countries.

According to Health Policy Watch, till as late as February, the WHO did not support countries for imposing travel restrictions to China.

"When countries began evacuating their citizens from Wuhan, the COVID-19 epicentre, the WHO said it did not favour this step".

The WHO finally declared it a pandemic on March 11.

The global health body has come under criticism not just from the US for its response being "China-centric".

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News Network
April 29,2020

New Delhi, Apr 29: India's tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 31,332, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. With 73 more deaths reported, the number of deaths due to coronavirus in the country breached the 1,000 mark and stood at 1,007.

The tally is inclusive of 22,629 active coronavirus cases, 7,695 patients who have been cured/discharged and one patient migrated.

According to the Ministry, Maharashtra has the most number of COVID-19 cases with 9,318 cases of which, 1,388 patients have been cured/discharged while 400 patients have succumbed to the virus.

Gujarat has the second-highest number of positive cases in the country with 3744 cases including 434 patients cured/discharged and 181 deaths.

Delhi's tally stands at 3314 cases of which, 1078 patients have recovered while 54 patients have succumbed to the virus.

Madhya Pradesh has a total of 2387 positive cases including 377 patients recovered/discharged and 120 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Goa (seven cases; all seven recovered), Arunachal Pradesh (one case; now recovered), Manipur (two cases; both recovered), Tripura (two cases; both recovered) have reported no new cases of COVID-19.

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News Network
February 17,2020

New Delhi, Feb 17: Four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am a Delhi court said on Monday.

The Patiala House Court on Monday issued fresh death warrants against four convicts while hearing a petition by the state and Nirbhaya's parents.

Earlier, Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had earlier issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

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