Pak played cruel joke, meeting just a drama: Dalbir Kaur

Agencies
December 26, 2017

Chandigarh, Dec 26: Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Lahore jail in 2013, said Pakistan played a "cruel joke" by not allowing Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife and mother freely and dubbed the entire exercise a "drama".

Jadhav, on death row in Pakistan for alleged spying, was allowed to meet his wife and mother - but separated by a glass screen - in a choreographed event that unfolded in tweets, photos and TV footage.

It was the fist time Jadhav was meeting his family since his arrest in March last year, and Pakistan portrayed it as a humanitarian gesture to mark the birthday of the country's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

But Kaur found no "humanism" in the meeting. "When it was held under such tight security and close relatives are separated by a glass screen, it has little meaning," she said.

Having lost her brother four years back in Pakistan, Kaur said she could fully understand what Jadhav's family must be going through at this hour.

"Jadhav or his family would know what they were going through by 'meeting' but in real sense not meeting at the same time. His family would have wanted to hug him, talk to him freely. But nothing of that sort happened. What solace would this meeting have provided them."

Pakistan portrayed the meeting as a humanitarian gesture, but if they believed in humanism, they should have allowed the family to meet Jadhav freely, she said.

"But we know they have no 'insaniyat' (humanism). They played a cruel joke on Jadhav's family and with people of our country. They staged drama of a meeting, which I can say was just a sham."

Speaking to news agency over phone, Kaur said Pakistan had pre-planned everything. "They played to the gallery and tried to befool the international community."

She said "this was just a drama enacted by Pakistan, and the Indian government should treat it like that only".

"Everyone knows that Pakistan breeds terrorism. They do not know what justice is. India should take up Jadhav's case even more forcefully while the international community should put pressure on Pakistan and expose them," she said.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province after he reportedly entered from Iran. It claims that he was in possession of an Indian passport that identified him as Hussein Mubarak Patel.

India, however, maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Kota, Jan 4: Following the death of an infant in the morning, the death toll in JK Lon Hospital here has risen to 107, officials said on Saturday.

A three-member state government committee of doctors, who was sent to investigate the matter on December 23 and 24, found that Kota's JK Lone Hospital is short of beds and it requires improvement.

However, the committee gave a clean chit to the doctors for any lapses over the recent death of infants admitted there.

A Central government team reached the hospital on Saturday to take stock of the situation.

As per the government report, at least 91 infants lost their lives at the government hospital in December last year.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to Chief Secretary of Rajasthan to submit a detailed report within 4 weeks about the steps being taken to address the issue.

The Commission also asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that such deaths of the children do not recur in future due to lack of infrastructure and health facilities at the hospitals.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Kochi, Jul 11: Johnny Paul Pierce's five-month stay in Kerala has been a soul-soothing experience for 74-year-old US citizen. He now wants to spend the rest of his life here.

"Kerala is a beautiful place to live in. This is my fifth trip here. I usually stay here for six months. It is such a magical place to be and I want to share that with people from the US," Pierce told ANI.

He came to India on February 26 on a tourist visa and is staying at Kandanadu in Kochi.

According to Pierce's Advocate, his tourist visa is valid up to January 26, 2025. But on this visa, he can only stay consecutively for 180 days.

The guidelines of the Indian government permit continuous stay for only 180 days for foreigners on tourist visas. His 180 days were set to expire on August 24, which the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) extended to August 30.

The US citizen has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to convert his tourist visa into a business visa. The petition will be considered next week.

Pierce has sought a directive to the government to permit him to apply for the conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa and also to extend his stay, without having to leave the country.

"I am making a petition for an extra 180 days to stay. And I would also like to get a business visa in order to begin a tour company to bring people from the US to Kerala after the coronavirus. I wish my family could also come here. I am very impressed with what's is happening here. People in the US don't care about COVID-19," he said.

He talked about the risk of going back to his home country saying, "There are only 27 deaths in Kerala and in the US there over 1.3 lakh deaths. I do not want to go back to the US. I am 74 years old and I am at risk. This is a very safe place for me. I hope India embraces and allows me to stay."

"There's chaos in the US due to COVID-19 and government is not taking care like India. I want to stay here," he added.

Pierce further talked about his future plans, saying that if he is allowed to stay, he would like to lease a small resort and make a retirement community, which will be a COVID free zone.

Lastly, he made an appeal to the Indian government to let him stay in India saying that "all the immigration rules were made before COVID-19."

"There should be special consideration for people like me," he added.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Kolkata, Mar 25: Amid the countrywide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that all police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps under the supervision of District Magistrates and Police Superintendents.
"As we have to ensure that there is no scarcity of food, all Police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps and it will be monitored by District Magistrates and Police Superintendents," said Banerjee at a press conference here.
She also said that under the social pension schemes, the pension holders will get their pension of March and April together.
Speaking on local police blocking people involved in essential services, she said, "The Officer-in-charge will have to ensure that the local police know about the rules and exemptions during the lockdown."
"If any police official or an administrative official is found flouting the lockdown norms, then strict action will be taken against them," she added.
The Chief Minister also said, "If somebody needs to help us by giving materials then they need to contact health department official Sanjay Bansal, whose contact number is - 9051022000."
"The government has also launched a State emergency relief fund wherein people can donate. For donation, the account number is 628005501339, IFSC: ICIC0006280 and website: wb.gov.in," she said.
She also said that on March 31 the government will review the situation.
According to a recent update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a total of 562 positive cases for coronavirus have been confirmed in the country.

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