Misled by news reports, Sarabjit’s village rejoices

June 27, 2012
Amritsar, June 27: Misled by reports of the imminent release of Sarabjit Singh from jail in Pakistan, his village on the border erupted in joy on Tuesday. His family called it a “relieving” moment and an act of kindness from President Asif Ali Zardari.

surjeet1

Surjeet Singh (left) who has been languishing in a Pakistani jail for 30 years. At right is Sarabjit Singh... hopes dashed. The Presidency clarified late on Tuesday night that it was not Sarabjit but the much older Surjeet Singh whom Pakistan had decided to release. File photo

Emotional scenes were witnessed at the house of the 49-year-old Sarabjit in Bikhiwind, where hundreds of villagers gathered after the so-called news of commutation of his death sentence into life imprisonment by Mr. Zardari broke out. People thronged their house with sweets and good wishes.

“It is relieving news for me from Pakistan, which did a lot for Indians and every Indian will always remember this act of kindness of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari,” said Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, her eyes turning moist.

Ms. Kaur said she expected the release of her brother in a couple of days and his crossing over to India through the land transit route of Attari/Wagah border.

Sarabjit’s two daughters Swapandeep Kaur and Poonam couldn’t control their emotions and broke down.

His wife Sukhpreet said: “...for me it is a kind of new birth since my two daughters will get their father back from the Pakistan prison where there was no hope of repatriation to India.”

In Islamabad, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar later clarified that the person concerned was not Sarabjit Singh but Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. His death sentence was commuted in 1989 by then President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day, Benazir Bhutto.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

New Delhi, Jul 7: Diesel price in the national capital on Tuesday touched an all-time high following a rate hike after a week-long hiatus.

Diesel price on Tuesday was increased by 25 paise per litre, according to a price notification of state-owned oil marketing companies.

This took the retail selling price of diesel to Rs 80.78 per litre in the national capital - the highest ever.

There was no change in petrol price for the 8th straight day, and it continues to be priced at Rs 80.43 per litre.

Rates vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

Petrol and diesel price were last revised on June 29.

In the last one month, diesel price has been increased on 23 occasions while petrol rates have risen 21 times.

The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7, totals to Rs 9.17 for petrol and Rs 11.39 in diesel.

In Mumbai, petrol is priced at Rs 87.19 - unchanged since June 29, while diesel was hiked to Rs 79.05 a litre from Rs 78.83.

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News Network
April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: The number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 12,759, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the official data, India has 10,824 active cases and 1514 discharged and cured cases. Meanwhile, 420 people have died from the disease which originated in China.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases in the country which stands at 2919, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

With 1578 coronavirus cases, Delhi is in the second position of India's tally of corona infected people; followed by Tamil Nadu (1242) and Rajasthan (1023).

Kerala, which reported India's first coronavirus case, has 388 confirmed cases, including 295 cured and discharged and 187 deaths.

On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, that border the national capital, have 773 and 205 cases, respectively.

Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh and Pudducherry have reported 33, 21 and 7 cases respectively. While West Bengal has 231 coronavirus infected people, Odisha has confirmed 60 cases.

The newly carved union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir--- have 17 and 300 cases, respectively.

In the Northeast, 33 people were detected positive for COVID-19 in Assam, which is the worst-affected states in the region. Six corona cases were confirmed from Meghalaya, two each from Manipur and Tripura and one from Arunachal Pradesh. Nagaland remains free from coronavirus till date, said the Ministry.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: Calling India a "long-standing friend", Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting his country in the aftermath of last year's Easter Sunday terror attacks and outlined that New Delhi has always helped Colombo in its fight against terrorism.

In a joint press briefing with PM Modi, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he hopes that India will continue to help Sri Lanka fight terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the neighbourhood first policy and the priority India gives to Sri Lanka.

"We had agreed that our cooperation is multifaceted and priority is given to a number of areas including security, economy, culture and social sectors. Part of our discussions centered on cooperation with regard to the security of the two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance our capacity, capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism. We look forward to getting continued support in this regard," he said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy. We also appreciate Prime Minister Modi's $400 million line of credit to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another $50 million line of credit for fighting terrorism," he added.

The Sri Lankan president urged PM Modi to consider further assistance to expand housing projectS all over Sri Lanka to benefit people from rural areas.

"The Prime Minister and I discussed how Sri Lanka and India can work together in the field of economy. India is among the world's fastest growing economies. I discussed with PM Modi how Sri Lanka could benefit from certain economic sectors where India is in a strong position," he said.

Concluding his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "India is our closest neighbour and a long-standing friend. The close historical links...provided a solid foundation to our ties."

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