Blue corner notice issued for 100 people who sailed off from Kerala

Agencies
June 25, 2019

Kochi, Jun 25: Over five months after around 240 people sailed off on a boat from Munambam near Kochi, in what is suspected to be an illegal immigration bid, and are yet to be traced, 'blue corner notices' for 100 of them have been issued with the help of the CBI and Interpol, a Kerala Police official said on Monday.

These notices seek to locate, identify or obtain information on a person of interest in a criminal investigation.

Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ernakulam Rural, M.J. Sojan told IANS that it was after great difficulty that they managed to track down the addresses of the people believed to be in the boat, named "Deva Matha 2".

"We had made several trips to Delhi, to trace the address of 190 people who were residing in and around Ambedkar Nagar colony. The people there were not cooperating at all initially but now with the passage of time, they are now helping and gave us the names and other details. With this, we issued the 'blue corner notices'. We are trying our best to trace the address of the remaining people," said Sojan, who is leading the investigation.

He said the remaining 50 in the boat, which sailed off on January 12, hail from Chennai and the entire group are basically of Tamil origin.

Police had grown suspicious when 80 bags, most of them weighing 40 kg, were found left on the beach after the boat sailed off and a probe was launched. 

"We suspected that these were left behind by people who were travelling on the boat and informed the Coast Guard, Indian Navy and other agencies," Sojan said, adding there was no trace of the vessel or the people. 

Police however found that the boat was purchased by the group for Rs 1.10 crore.

Sojan said that police also managed to take into custody 10 people, whose relatives are on board the boat. "We have also found out that most people on the boat have their friends or relatives, who managed to reach countries like Australia on similar boat trips."

"The arrested were also planning to go on later trips as, we have found out that several people have travelled like this. All the arrested have now got bail," he added.

Local legislators S. Sarma and Anwar Sadat, however, said that they have no information about this episode.

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: Petrol prices in the national capital have reached Rs 80.13 per litre on June 26, up by 21 paise from yesterday’s Rs 79.92 per litre; while diesel prices in Delhi also rose to Rs 80.19 per litre – up by 17 paise compared to yesterday’s Rs 80.02 per litre.

This is the 20th consecutive day that fuel prices have been hiked by oil marketing companies (OMCs). The hikes began from June 8 after a 83-day halt on revised pricing during the lockdown period.

The state government’s increased value-added tax (VAT) on diesel since May is causing the fuel’s prices to soar in Delhi. VAT was increased to 30 percent for both petrol and diesel from 27 percent and 16.75 percent, respectively.

Coupled with the Centre’s hiked excise duty of Rs 3 per litre since March 14 and then Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel since May 5 has affected prices.

The hike on diesel prices is unusual, as the government traditionally keeps the price for the fuel low due to its impact on agriculture and other high consumption economic activities.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Geneva, Jul 11: The World Health Organization said Friday that it is still possible to bring coronavirus outbreaks under control, even though case numbers have more than doubled in the past six weeks.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the examples of Italy, Spain, South Korea and India's biggest slum showed that however bad a outbreak was, the virus could still be reined in through aggressive action.

"In the last six weeks cases have more than doubled," Tedros told a virtual press conference in Geneva.

However, "there are many examples from around the world that have shown that even if the outbreak is very intense, it can still be brought back under control," said Tedros.

"And some of these examples are Italy, Spain and South Korea, and even in Dharavi -- a densely packed area in the megacity of Mumbai -- a strong focus on community engagement and the basics of testing, tracing, isolating and treating all those that are sick is key to breaking the chains of transmission and suppressing the virus."

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 555,000 people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Friday.

Nearly 12.3 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.

"Across all walks of life, we are all being tested to the limit," Tedros said, "from countries where there is exponential growth, to places that are loosening restrictions and now starting to see cases rise.

"Only aggressive action combined with national unity and global solidarity can turn this pandemic around."

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bhopal, Mar 13: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, in which they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Mr Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday. 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also resigned, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an Economic Offences Wing official told PTI.

An EOW release said Mr Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Mr Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Jyotiraditya Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Mr Chaturvedi said.

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