'No mercy plea, strongly recommend rejection': Delhi urges Centre in Nirbhaya case

News Network
December 2, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 2: The Delhi government has "strongly recommended" to reject the mercy petition filed by one of the 2012 Nirbhaya murder case convicts, sources said on Sunday.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain has sent the file to Lt. Governor Anil Baijal with Arvind Kejriwal government's recommendations in the case, they told news agency.

Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the death penalty for the gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student in Delhi, had filed a mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind.

"This is the most heinous crime of extreme brutality committed by the applicant (Vinay Sharma). This is the case where exemplary punishment should be given to deter others from committing such atrocious crimes," a source quoted Jain as saying in the file noting.

The Delhi home minister also said, "There is no merit in the mercy petition, strongly recommended for rejection".

Sources said the file will now be sent to the lieutenant governor for further consideration and it would then be sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs along with recommendations of Anil Baijal.

Vinay Sharma is currently lodged in Tihar Jail since his arrest in the case and had filed a mercy plea, while Mukesh, another convict, had refused, officials said.

The paramedic student was raped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a running bus in south Delhi by six people and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she was admitted after being airlifted from Delhi for treatment.

One of the accused Ram Singh had hanged himself in the jail and another convict, a juvenile, was given the maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment in a reform facility.

The fourth death row convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (33), has not filed a review plea in the top court.

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News Network
July 16,2020

New Delhi, Jul 16: With India's economic growth sputtering, the Reserve Bank of India was expected to maintain a rate-cutting cycle, but an uptick in near-term inflation could give the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee reason to pause for now.

Having cut its key lending rate by an aggressive 115 basis points (bps) in 2020, on top of 135 bps cuts in 2019, the RBI so far has had little success in spurring credit growth amid varying degrees of lockdowns across India.

Some economists and market insiders argue it may be prudent for the MPC, the policy committee, to hold its fire when it meets early next month.

"It's probably too early to administer a demand stimulus. The RBI still has room to cut rates, but we probably want to be more cautious of the timing," said Venkat Pasupuleti, portfolio manager at Dalton Investments.

"Maybe they should wait a quarter to see how things pan out once the lockdown situation is eased further."

Market participants have factored in at least a 25 bps rate cut by the MPC on August 6 while analysts are predicting a total 50-75 bps cuts over the rest of the fiscal year that runs to March 31.

The spike in the retail inflation rate above the RBI's mandated 2%-4% target range is another reason for the central bank to take a breather, analysts say.

Annual retail inflation rose to 6.09% in June, compared to 5.84% in March and sharply above a 5.30% median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Rahul Bajoria, an economist at Barclays, said the spike in both consumer and wholesale prices "could lead to a tempering in enthusiasm for material front-loaded policy support from here on."

Almost all economists however agreed the RBI cannot move away from its accommodative stance or call an end to the rate cutting cycle just yet.

India's economy grew at 3.1% in the March quarter - an eight year low - and some economists have predicted a contraction of more than 20% in the June quarter and a contraction of up to 5% in the fiscal year.

"Even in the event of a pause, we think the RBI and MPC would want to hold out the promise of more cuts," said A. Prasanna, economist with ICICI Securities.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a recent speech the need of the hour is to restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger, suggesting inflation concerns are unlikely to deter the downward trajectory for rates too soon.

"The August policy decision would boil down to a judgment call over whether RBI can maintain easy monetary and financial conditions without the aid of a token rate cut," Prasanna said. 

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.

The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.

"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.

The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday issued fresh guidelines for international passengers coming to India amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guidelines will be implemented from 12:01 am on August 8.

The ministry has also asked all passengers to submit a self-declaration form online at least 72 hours before travel.

"All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72hours before the scheduled travel," the guidelines said.

It also said that those coming to India must give an undertaking that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days as prescribed by the government. "They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health," it added.

Giving exemptions in some cases, the guidelines mentioned, "Only for compelling reasons/cases of human distress such as pregnancy, death in the family. Serious illness and parent (s) with children of 10 years or below, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days."

"If they wish to seek such exemption, they shall apply to the online portal at least 72 hours before boarding. The decision taken by the government as communicated on the online portal will be final," it said further.

The guidelines further said that travellers could request for exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival.

"This test should have been conducted within 96 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration," it added.

Passengers have also been asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones.

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