Record Manmohan Singh's statement: Court tells CBI

December 16, 2014

Manmohan SinghNew Delhi, Dec 16: A special court hearing the coal block case involving industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others here Tuesday asked CBI to record the statement of former prime minister Manmohan Singh who was then holding coal ministry portfolio.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar asked Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to record the statement of Manmohan Singh in the case.

The court also ordered CBI to conduct further investigation in the case and posted the matter for Jan 27.

"I have ordered further investigation. I desire that statement of then coal minister (Manmohan Singh) be recorded beside other officials," the judge said.

The CBI had booked Birla, former coal secretary P.C. Parakh, and others on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in the coal blocks' allocation in October 2013.

But the central investigating agency filed a closure report in the case Aug 28, saying: "The evidence collected during investigations did not substantiate the allegations levelled against the people named in the FIR (first information report)."

The court, earlier, sought to know on what basis did the CBI draw its conclusion to close the case and what kind of investigation it has conducted.

The court also sought clarifications from the CBI whether an element of criminality was involved in allocating the coal blocks to the Birla-promoted Hindalco firm.

Special Public Prosecutor R.S. Cheema, in the last month's hearing, had told the court that it could take cognizance of the CBI's closure report filed Oct 21 as there was no prima facie "evidence against the accused to show their involvement".

The court Nov 25 has asked the investigating officer if officials at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the then coal minister were examined. The officer said some PMO officials were examined but the then coal minister was not.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Srinagar, May 12: Two paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers committed suicide after shooting themselves with their service rifles in Kashmir on Tuesday.

In the first incident, a CRPF sub-inspector on Tuesday committed suicide after shooting himself with his service rifle at Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The deceased, identified as Fatah Singh of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, had reportedly left behind a suicide note that read: “I am afraid, I may have Corona.”

Station House Officer (SHO) Akura, Mattan police station Jazib Ahmed said that they have followed the COVID-19 protocol while dealing with the body of the CRPF sub-inspector. “His samples have been taken and post-mortem conducted. Only results would confirm whether he was a COVID-19 positive,” he said.

CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Pankaj Singh said the officer had returned to his unit after performing a day-long duty. “As such, there is no evidence that he had caught COVID-19. Let’s wait for the final report. Details will be shared with the media,” Singh said.

Hours after the first incident, an assistant-sub-inspector of the CRPF posted in Srinagar also committed suicide by shooting himself dead with his service rifle.

Special Director General of CRPF, Zulfikar Hassan said they were trying to find out the reason for the two boys taking this extreme step.

Suicides and fratricide incidents are not uncommon among the CRPF and the Army personnel deployed in Kashmir. In 2006, recognising the rising fratricide and suicide cases among the armed forces, the then Defence Minister had constituted an expert group of psychiatrists under the Defence Institute of Psychological Research in order to suggest remedial measures to prevent suicide and fratricide incidents.

Over the last decade, incidents of fratricide have reportedly reduced in the Army as the force has taken measures to address the issue.

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News Network
May 21,2020

New Delhi, May 21: As many as 5,609 new COVID-19 cases were reported in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the country to 1,12,359 according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of the total cases, 63,624 are active cases, 45,300 patients have been cured/discharged or have migrated and 3,435 deaths have been reported.

With 39,297 cases in total, Maharashtra remains the worst affected state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,191 cases), Gujarat (12,537 cases), and Delhi (11,088 cases).

The nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus has been extended till May 31.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 17 lakh mark with 54,736 positive cases and 853 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

"The total COVID-19 cases stand at 17,50,724 including 5,67,730 active cases, 11,45,630 cured/discharged/migrated and 37,364 deaths," said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

As per the data provided by the Health Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst affected state from the infection -- has a total of 1,49,214 active cases and 15,316 deaths. A total of 4,31,719 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the state up to Saturday, as per the state health department.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 60,580 active cases and 4,034 deaths.

In Delhi, the total cases rose to 1,36,716, including 1,22,131 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 3,989 deaths. There are 10,596 active cases in the national capital.

The total number of COVID-19 samples tested up to August 1 is 1,98,21,831 including 4,63,172 samples tested yesterday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday.

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