Senior Indian diplomat meets Kulbhushan Jadhav: Report

Agencies
September 2, 2019

Islamabad, Sept 2: A senior Indian diplomat on Monday met Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan, after Islamabad granted consular access to the Indian prisoner "in line with the ICJ judgement".

The meeting between a senior Indian diplomat and the convicted Indian spy is currently underway after Pakistan formally granted the consular access to him in line with the decision of International Court of Justice, the Express Tribune reported.

However, it did not identify the Indian diplomat who met the retired Indian Navy officer.

The venue of the meeting is not immediately known.

In New Delhi, official sources said Charge d' Affaires at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad Gaurav Ahluwalia will meet Jadhav.

The meeting came a month after a similar interaction between Indian officials and Jadhav did not materialise amid differences between New Delhi and Islamabad on the terms of the consular access to the retired Indian navy officer.

Jadhav, 49, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" in April 2017, following which India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence and further remedies.

On Sunday, Foreign Office Spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted that consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav will be provided on September 2 "in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgement & the laws of Pakistan".

The consular access to Jadhav came amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions, which spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.

India had demanded "immediate, effective and unhindered" consular access to Jadhav from Pakistan and was in touch with Islamabad through diplomatic channels.

However, it is not yet clear if the consular access provided on Monday was unhindered as demanded by India.

On August 1, Pakistan Foreign Office said the retired Indian Navy officer will be granted consular access the next day. However, the meeting, which was scheduled for 3 pm on August 2, did not materialise amid differences between India and Pakistan on the terms of the consular access to Jadhav.

On July 17, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

One of the conditions put by Pakistan reportedly was the presence of a Pakistani official when Jadhav is allowed to meet Indian officials as part of the consular access.

India did not agree to the condition, making clear its position that the consular access must be "unimpeded" and should be in the light of the judgement by the ICJ.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

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

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Guwahati, Jan 26: Four powerful grenade explosions--three in Dibrugarh and one in Charaideo districts--rocked Assam Sunday morning as the country celebrated Republic Day, police said.

In Dibrugarh district, an explosion took place at Graham Bazar and another beside a gurudwara on A T Road, both under Dibrugarh police station.

Another explosion rocked the oil town of Duliajan whose details are still awaited, police said.

Another explosion rocked Teok Ghat under Sonari police station of Charaideo district, they said.

Senior officials have rushed to the explosion sites and details of casualty are awaited, police added.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Riyadh, Apr 22: In an extraordinary initiative, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to facilitate the travel of expatriates who have an exit and reentry visa or final exit visa to return to their countries.

This is in line with the order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

According to the initiative, called “Auda” (return), expatriates can apply seeking permission for travel to their countries through the Absher portal of the ministry.

Announcing this, Saudi's Ministry of Interior said that the initiative will be implemented in cooperation with a number of relevant government agencies.

Requests for travel from expatriates will be received and approved in coordination with the relevant authorities to complete their travel procedures on board international flights.

As per the initiative, a text message will be sent to the beneficiary stating the travel date, ticket number and reservation details, and by which the beneficiary can obtain his travel ticket and complete the travel procedures.

Clarifying the procedures for the travel, the ministry said that the applicant shall select the icon (Auda) after visiting the Absher portal and fill the following fields: iqama (residency permit) number, date of birth, mobile number, departure city and airport of arrival.

It is not mandatory for the expatriate to have his own Absher account for availing of the service, the ministry said, adding that this facility is to enable expatriates to benefit from this initiative.

The departure will be through the following airports: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Those expatriates who are outside these cities can benefit from the service through entering airport of departure after completion of their travel procedures in sufficient period of time.

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News Network
April 27,2020

New Delhi, Apr 27: The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 28,380 and the death toll due to it rose to 886 in the country on Monday, registering a record increase of 60 deaths in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

There has been a spike of 1,463 cases since Sunday evening.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 21,132, while 6,361 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

Thus, around 22.41 per cent of patients have recovered in the country so far.

The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 60 deaths were reported since Sunday evening, of which 19 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 18 from Gujarat, eight from Rajasthan, seven from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 886 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 342 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 151, Madhya Pradesh at 106, Delhi at 54, Rajasthan at 41, and Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at 31 each.

The death toll reached 26 in Telangana, 24 in Tamil Nadu while West Bengal and Karnataka have reported 20 deaths each.

Punjab has registered 18 fatalities so far. The disease has claimed six lives in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Kerala while Jharkhand and Haryana have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each.

Bihar has reported two deaths, while Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the Health Ministry data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 8,068, followed by Gujarat at 3,301, Delhi at 2,918, Rajasthan at 2,185, Madhya Pradesh at 2,168, Uttar Pradesh at 1,955 and Tamil Nadu at 1,885.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,177 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,002 in Telangana.

The number of cases has risen to 649 in West Bengal, 523 in Jammu and Kashmir, 511 in Karnataka, 469 in Kerala, 313 in Punjab and 289 in Haryana.

Bihar has reported 277 novel coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 108 cases. Eighty-two people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 51 in Uttarakhand.

Himachal Pradesh has 40 cases, Chhattisgarh has 37 and Assam has registered 36 infections each so far.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 33 COVID-19 cases while Chandigarh has 30 cases and Ladakh has reported 20 infections so far.

Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, Puducherry has eight cases while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

Manipur and Tripura have two cases each, while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported a case each.

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