Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 4: All 46 Indian nurses abducted from Tikrit in strife-torn Iraq were released by ISIS militants on Friday. The development came as a rare piece of positive news amid a bloody war raged by the Sunni insurgents.
The nurses will fly back to Kerala on Saturday morning, IANS quoted chief minister Oommen Chandy as saying.
Chandy told the news agency over telephone from New Delhi that an Air India flight will depart from the Indian capital on Friday evening to Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan region, to evacuate the nurses.
"There will be one official each from the Kerala and central governments on the plane. The nurses will board the flight at Erbil and the plane will reach Kochi at 7am tomorrow (Saturday)."
The nurses, all from Kerala, were on Thursday taken from Tikrit to Mosul by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) militants. They reached Mosul unharmed on Thursday night, their relatives said. The nurses worked at a hospital in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.
A glimmer of hope appeared for their relatives on Friday morning after one of the nurses sent a text message to her family members in Kerala.
"We got an SMS saying they (the nurses) are on their way to Erbil airport, which is 70kms away from Mosul. If everything goes well, they will be back in the country late tonight," a relative told HT. However, Chandy later said the anxious family members will have to wait a bit more.
AFP quoted Tincy Thomas, an abducted nurse, as saying, "Some here ... they are saying ... we will go to Erbil."
An Indian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the news agency that the group was expected to reach Erbil, which is a short drive from Mosul but has been insulated from the unrest.
According to the relatives, militants did not misbehave with the hostages, whose ordeal began on June 11.
Early on Friday, Shobha Sasikumar, mother of abducted nurse Shruti, said, "My daughter called me last night saying they reached Mosul around 11pm (Indian time). They are in an old building that is without electricity. So far, the abductors were friendly towards them."
The abduction of the nurses, all of them women and from Kerala, had spelt a fresh trouble for India. A month ago, ISIS militants, who now control northern and western Iraq, snatched 40 Indian construction workers from Mosul. All but one of them are still in captivity. The Centre had said on Thursday that it was trying its best to combat the crisis.
The government sought the help of some prominent Indians settled in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Some reports also said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called up politicians in Gulf countries and sought their help in view of the crisis in Iraq.
The release of the Indian nurses will be a big boost to the Centre's diplomatic efforts. According to sources in the government, the "decision" to make the nurses obey ISIS order to move to Mosul came after Swaraj and Chandy held talks twice on Thursday when nurses were also spoken to.
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46 Indian nurses freed, will return from Iraq tomorrow morning: Reports
July 4, 2014
'Right to access internet a fundamental right': SC on J&K restrictions
News Network
January 10,2020
New Delhi, Jan 10: The Supreme Court while hearing petitions challenging restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday stated that the right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.
"It is no doubt that freedom of speech is an essential tool in a democratic setup. The freedom of Internet access is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution," a two-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana stated while reading out the judgment.
The top court said that Kashmir has seen a lot of violence and that it will try to maintain a balance between human rights and freedoms with the issue of security.
It also directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review the restrictive orders imposed in the region within a week. “The citizens should be provided highest security and liberty,” the apex court added.
The top court made observations and issued directions while pronouncing the verdict on a number of petitions challenging the restrictions and internet blockade imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.
The Supreme Court had on November 27 reserved the judgment on a batch of petitions challenging restrictions imposed on communication, media and telephone services in Jammu and Kashmir pursuant to revocation of Article 370.
The court heard the petitions filed by various petitioners including Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin.
The petitions were filed after the central government scrapped Article 370 in August and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Following this, phone lines and the internet were blocked in the region.
The government had, however, contended that it has progressively eased restrictions.
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Indian soldier killed, 2 injured as Pakistani troops open fire along LoC in J&K
Agencies
June 14,2020
Kashmir, Jun 14: An Army personnel was killed and two others were injured as Pakistani troops opened fire and shelled areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.
This is the third fatality in the Pakistani firing and shelling on forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri this month.
The officials said the latest firing and shelling from across the border took place in Shahpur-Kerni sector on Saturday night, drawing strong retaliation by the Indian Army.
Three Indian Army personnel were injured in the Pakistani firing and were immediately evacuated to hospital, where one of them succumbed to injuries, the officials said.
They said the casualties suffered by the Pakistani Army in the retaliatory action were not known immediately.
On June 4, havaldar P Mathiazhagan fell to Pakistani firing in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district, while on June 10, Naik Gurcharan Singh lost his life in a similar incident in Rajouri sector.
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Man tests COVID-19 positive after wedding; over 60 quarantined including bride
News Network
June 15,2020
Palghar, Jun 15: A 22-year-old man who got married three days ago tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday leading to the bride and 63 others who attended the function being quarantined in Palghar district in Maharashtra, an official said.
Jawhar Tehsildar Santosh Shinde said the man is a laboratory assistant.
"He got tested before marriage and the report had returned negative. However, his samples tested positive after marriage. The bride and 63 others who attended the ceremony have been quarantined," he said.
Palghar currently has 1,911 COVID-19 cases and 61 people have died of the infection so far.
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