Mixed response in Kashmir to strike call against Modi visit

October 23, 2014

Srinagar, Oct 23: The strike called by separatist groups against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir today evoked a partial response in the Valley.

kashmirAlthough most shops in and around the city centre of Lal Chowk –- the commercial hub of the summer capital here -– were closed, establishments had opened for business in other districts of Kashmir, officials said.

Markets in Lal Chowk are yet to start functioning normally after the devastation wrought by the floods last month in the state with only a few shopkeepers having resumed business there.

Officials said that while public transport was sparse, private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws plied normally. Educational institutions, government offices and banks are closed on account of the holiday for Diwali.

The prime minister is scheduled to visit the Valley today to celebrate the festival of lights with the flood-affected people.

"Will be in Srinagar on Diwali, 23d October & will spend the day with our sisters & brothers affected by the unfortunate floods," Modi had tweeted on Tuesday.

This will be Modi's fourth visit to the state afer he took over as prime minister in May this year.

The two factions of Hurriyat Conference had called for a general strike and peaceful protests against the visit of the prime minister to the Valley.

"Government of India acted as a mute spectator amidst the worst-ever floods in Kashmir and did nothing to mitigate the sufferings of the affected (people)... We will not allow anyone to rub salt into our wounds," the hardline faction of Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said in a statement.

It said that when Modi had not felicitated Muslims on Eid, his celebrating Diwali in the Muslim-majority state was "unacceptable".

The Shabir Ahmad Shah-led Hurriyat faction, too, had called for a general strike and asked people to hold peaceful demonstrations against the prime minister's visit.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, April 3: With 478 cases reported in the last 24 hours, the highest spike so far, India's tally of positive coronavirus cases on Friday rose to 2,547 including 162 cured/discharged and 62 deaths, as per the latest data of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 647 positive coronavirus cases have been reported so far from across 14 States whose linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster at Nizamuddin, the Centre said on Friday.

"A total of 647 cases of positive coronavirus cases have been reported from across 14 States whose linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster at Nizamuddin," Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

"The cases can be traced in Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, Delhi, Himachal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh," added Aggarwal.

The Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

An FIR was earlier registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897, in the national capital.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: Newly-appointed Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the armed forces stay away from politics and work as per the directives of the government of the day, remarks that come amid allegations that the forces were being politicised.

Gen Rawat also said that his focus as CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.

"We keep ourselves away from politics. We act according to the directives of the government of the day," he said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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