Police storm Jamia Islamia campus as anti-CAA protest turns violent

Agencies
December 15, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 15: Hours after violence rocked south Delhi on December 15, police said the situation was under control and they have detained some of the people who had allegedly indulged in arson and vandalism during a protest against the amended citizenship law.

They said police entered the Jamia university campus to only control the situation, after protesters indulged in violence near New Friends’ Colony area in south Delhi on Sunday afternoon.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said four buses and two police vehicles were torched during the protest, adding six policemen were also injured. He said stones were pelted from inside the varsity at police personnel, forcing them to use teargas to disperse the “violent mob“. Mr. Biswal said some people have been detained but did not give details.

Both the Jamia Millia Islamia students’ community as well as the Teachers’ Association have disassociated themselves with the violence and arson that took place near the university on December 15 afternoon.

Escorted by police, youths could be seen coming out of their hostels with their hands raised. Some of them claimed the police also entered the library and “harassed” the students.

Jamia Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan claimed that Delhi Police personnel entered the university by force without any permission and beat up staff members and students who were forced to leave the campus.

University vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar said students who were inside the library have been taken out and are safe. Ms. Akhtar condemned the police action.

“The Delhi Police has gheraoed Jamia students in the library. We do not subscribe to the bus burning incident which happened but those who did it were not from the varsity but outsiders. Innocent students are being targeted,” claimed a student who did not wish to be named.

Some others alleged that students have been detained by the police, but there was no confirmation from the Delhi Police, which said they were focusing on bringing the situation under control.

Three state-run buses and a fire tending vehicle were set afire by the protesters during the violence and arson in New Friends’ Colony.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and urged him to take all steps to restore normalcy.

Mr. Kejriwal said the Delhi government is doing everything possible at its end to restore peace. “Spoke to Hon’ble LG and urged him to take all steps to restore normalcy and peace. We are also doing everything possible at our end. Real miscreants who caused violence shud be identified and punished (sic),” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted.

In an earlier tweet, he said any sort of violence is unacceptable. “No one shud indulge in violence. Any kind of violence is unacceptable. Protests shud remain peaceful,” he said.

Schools in southeast Delhi to remain closed on December 16

All schools in southeast Delhi area will be closed on December 16 in view of the situation, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced.

“In Delhi’s south east district areas including Jamia, Okhla, New Friend's Colony and Madanpur Khadar, all government and private schools will remain closed tomorrow. Delhi government has taken the decision in view of the current situation,” Mr. Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.

Earlier, students claimed that “certain” local elements had “disrupted” their protest and indulged in violence.

Sources said that as police tried to disperse the protesters by using baton change and firing teargas shells, some of the “outsiders” ran towards the campus and tried to hide there.

The Jamia Millia Islamia students’ body issued a statement said they had nothing to do with the arson and violence.

"We have time and again maintained that our protests are peaceful and non-violent. We stand by this approach and condemn any party involved in the violence. We have maintained calm even when students have been lathicharged and some women protesters badly beaten up. Media personnel are a witness to these events. Violence by certain elements is an attempt to vilify and discredit genuine protests" said the statement.

In an official statement, the university said that the protest was not organised by Jamia Mllia students. "The violent incidents ocurred during the protest organised by the people of nearby areas and not by JMI students," it said.

Jamia Millia has already declared winter vacation and postponed semester examination after the December 13 incident. A large number of students staying in hostels have left and Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar appealed to the students to maintain peace.

Meanwhile, Jamia Teachers Association appealed to students to keep away from “direction-less” protest led by local political leaders. It said an emergency meeting of extended Executive Committee has been called in the JTA office on Monday to “discuss the misuse of Jamia’s name in the protests,” it said.

DMRC closes stations, roads blockaded

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) closed the entry and exit gates of the Sukhdev Vihar Metro station in view of the violent protests.

Entry and exit gates of Jamia Millia Islamia, Okhla Vihar and Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh have also been closed with no trains halting at these stations.

The clash disrupted traffic in the area with several vehicles stranded on roads for hours.

The Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet that the vehicular movement was closed from Okhla Underpass to Sarita Vihar due to the agitation. Vehicles coming from Badarpur and Ashram Chowk were diverted to alternative routes due to the blockade.

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News Network
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has gone into self-quarantine after developing sore throat and fever, and will get himself tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday, officials said on Monday.

They said the chief minister, who is also a diabetic, was feeling unwell since Sunday afternoon.

"He has mild fever and sore throat since Sunday afternoon. As advised by doctors, the chief minister will undergo COVID-19 test on Tuesday morning," officials said.

Officials said the CM had attended a Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning and thereafter, he did not attend any meeting.

The chief minister has been holding most of his meetings via video conferencing from his official residence for past two days.

This come as the number of coronavirus cases in the national capital crossed the 28,000-mark with 1,282 fresh infections while the death toll climbed to 812 on Sunday, a health bulletin issued by the Delhi government said. According to the health bulletin, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose to 28,936 with 1,282 fresh cases.

A total of 51 fatalities were reported on June 6, the bulletin said, adding that these lives were lost between May 8 and June 5. It, however, said the cumulative death figure refers to fatalities where the primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, according to a report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of the case-sheets received from various hospitals.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Kozhikode, Apr 24: A four-month-old baby girl, who had tested positive for COVID-19 and suffering from congenital heart disease, died in a hospital here in Kerala early Friday after suffering a cardiac arrest, officials said.

This is the third COVID-19 death and the first infant fatality in the state where two elderly people had succumbed to the disease earlier.

The baby was admitted to the Medical College Hospital here on April 21 with history of fever, cough, breathing difficulties and seizure after being treated at two other hospitals and the end came at 6 am, a medical bulletin said.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja said doctors had made maximum efforts to save the life of the child, whose family belonged to Payyanad near Manjeri in Malappuram district.

"Preliminary information which we have is that there has been some primary contact", she told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

The protocol for COVID-19 cases would be followed for the baby's last rites, the Minister added.

As of Thursday, the total active COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 129.

The bulletin said on arrival at the hospital on Tuesday the baby was in shock and had respiratory failure.

"She was resuscitated, mechanically ventilated and appropriate antibiotics for pneumonia and supportive measures to correct shock were started", it said adding the baby, however, continued to remain sick.

"Even though there was no history of any high or low risk contact or any epidemiological links as the child comes from SARI (Sever Acute Respiratory infection) criteria, she was admitted to the COVID-ICU and swab was taken and she tested positive", the bulletin said.

Contact tracing of those who had come in contact with the child was in progress.

Mallapuram District Medical Officer (Health) Dr Sakeena K said the child was having severe health issues from its birth itself and was admitted to a private hospital in Manjeri near here with breathing problem.

As her condition worsened, the baby was shifted to another hospital and later to the medical college hospital.

"The baby was having chest deformity and Atrial Septal Defect by birth which developed into severe health issues, the official added.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Mumbai, Mar 27: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday lowered the key repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent in a bid to arrest the economic slowdown amid coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The reverse repo rate now stands at 4 per cent, down by 90 basis points, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das adding this has been done to make it unattractive for banks to passively deposit funds with the central bank and instead lend it to the productive sectors.
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) met on March 24, 25 and 27 and voted 4:2 in favour of the repo rate reduction. The MPC also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy while ensuring that inflation remains within the target.
"The need of the hour is to shield the economy from the pandemic," said Das. "We need to mitigate the impact of coronavirus, revive economic growth and provide financial stability."
Repo rate is the rate at which a country's central bank lends money to commercial banks, and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them.
The RBI Governor further said that the economic growth and inflation projection will be highly contingent depending on the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic.
"Global economic activity has come to a near standstill as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swathe of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020 from 2019's decade low in global growth have been dashed," said Das.
"The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the global economy will slip into recession," he said.
However, the RBI has injected liquidity of Rs 2.8 lakh crore via various instruments equal to 1.4 per cent of GDP. "Along with today's measures, liquidity measures equal to 3.2 per cent of GDP. The RBI will take continuous measures to ensure liquidity in the system."
The RBI governor has said that all banking institutions can offer a three-month moratorium on all loans for a period of three months. The RBI has also allowed banks to restructure the working capital cycle for companies without worrying that these will have to be classified as a non-performing asset (NPA).
The three-month moratorium will permit banks to avoid a large onset of NPAs during the 21-day lockdown and keep their books healthy.
Das said banks and other financial institutions should do all they can to keep credit flowing to economic agents facing financial stress on account of the isolation that the virus has imposed.
"Market participants should work with regulators like the RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to ensure the orderly functioning of markets in their role of price discovery and financial intermediation," he said.

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