Pak has 'narrow & limited focus' on Kartarpur: Fees for pilgrims unacceptable

Agencies
March 16, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 16: Contrary to the hype created by Pakistan on Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Indian officials on Saturday said here that the visiting delegation had a very 'narrow and limited focus' at the Attari talks, but New Delhi is firm about moving ahead with the discussions. 

To the surprise of Indian delegation, at the Attari talks on Thursday, the Pakistani delegation spoke about a 'fee' for the pilgrims.

This did definitely disappoint the Indian delegation, a source said here on Saturday.
Indian officials say contrary to the hype created about a perceived generosity on the part of Pakistan for throwing open the corridor, the formal discussions at Attari did not match such a promise.

India and Pakistan last year agreed to open a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur – the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev – to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.

During Attari talks on Thursday, India pressed for visa-free travel for Kartarpur pilgrims.

'This corridor should be absolutely visa-free. There should not be any need for additional document and procedure so that the basic principle of smooth access of large number of pilgrims is allowed,'

SCL Das, Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry and leader of the Indian delegation has said.

Officials from Home Ministry, Ministry of External Affairs, Border Security Force, Defence, Punjab government and Customs attended the deliberations from the Indian side.

The Pakistan delegation was led by Mohammad Faisal, DG in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Indian government remains firm about opening the Kartarpur corridor, says officials there is no doubt about it -- even as post-Pulwama and aerial strike, it was Pakistan who expressed doubts about the March 14 talks.

The second meeting will be held on April 2 and prior to that technical experts will meet on March 19 at the zero points.

According to officials, Pakistan has lived up to its old reputation of making false promises, tall claims and delivering nothing.

On Friday, officials said here that Pakistan is being 'insincere' on the Kartarpur Corridor and among other things what have come to light is that authorities in Islamabad are agreeing to allow only 700 pilgrims per day as against 5,000 proposed by India.

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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: India reported a spike of 48,916 coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,36,861 including 4,56,071 active cases, 8,49,431 cured/discharged/migrated. With 757 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 31,358.

Maharashtra has reported 3,57,117 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 1,99,749 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,28,389 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,20,898 samples were tested for coronavirus on Friday and overall 1,58,49,068 samples have been tested so far.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: India has uplifted 271 million people out of poverty, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

In her second Budget presentation, the finance minister said the Budget for 2020-21, is woven around aspirational India, economic development and caring society.

The government aims to achieve seamless delivery of services through digital governance, she added.

"We shall strive to bring ease of living for every citizen," Sitharaman said.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: Bodies of the four Nirbhaya convicts who were hanged on Friday morning at Tihar Jail have been sent to hospital for a post-mortem, following which it will be handed over to the families, according to an official.

After the hanging at 5:30 am today, the bodies were taken from Tihar Jail to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital for post mortem at around 8:20 am.

Tihar jail Director-General Sandeep Goel said that the bodies will be handed over to the families after the post mortem.

The families, however, will have to give a written undertaking that they will not make a public demonstration of the cremation or burial of the executed person.

The superintendent will also consult the District Magistrate and the Deputy Commissioner of Police for arrangements for the disposal of the body.

The post mortem comes in line with the Supreme Court's order in Shatrughan Chauhan's case in January 2014, which had mandated the same observing that there is a dearth of experienced hangman in the country.

"By making the performance of post mortem obligatory, the cause of the death of the convict can be found out, which will reveal whether the person died as a result of the dislocation of the cervical vertebrate or by strangulation which results on account of too long a drop," the apex court had said in its order.

"Our constitution permits the execution of death sentence only through the procedure established by law and this procedure must be just, fair and reasonable," the order added.

All four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case -- Akshay Singh Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh -- were hanged till death at 5:30 am this morning.

The case pertains to the brutal gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in the national capital. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the adults accused had allegedly committed suicide in the prison during the trial, while the juvenile was released from a correction home after a period of three years.

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