MK hardens stand, warns of quitting UPA over Lanka

March 18, 2013

MK_hardens

Chennai/ New Delhi, Mar 18: Hardening his stance against the Centre over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, DMK president M Karunanidhi on Sunday went a step ahead, warning that the party will pull out altogether from the ruling UPA if the government failed to move amendments to the US-sponsored resolution on the issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The US?is likely to table the draft resolution on Tuesday and voting may take place on Thursday or Friday.

Karunanidhi said India should indict Sri Lanka for the “genocide against the Tamil people there”. Dashing off an urgent letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, copies of which were released at a press conference, he said with just a few more days left before the US resolution against Sri Lanka came up for discussion at the ongoing UNHRC meeting in Geneva, India should take the lead to incorporate key changes in it.

New Delhi, however, is unlikely to lend its voice to the clamour for an “international” probe at the UNHRC next week, though it may support the call for “credible” and “independent” investigation into the alleged war crimes in the island nation. It is likely to support the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka, but is understood to be keen to ensure that it remains “non-intrusive”. Notwithstanding pressure from ally DMK, the government is unlikely to support any move that infringes on the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said the government would consult the DMK before deciding on its stand.

Karunanidhi said he had written to the prime minister “with immense mental agony and feeling of having been let down by the Government of India” and urged the Centre to take immediate steps to make critical changes to the US?draft resolution before the UNHRC.

The changes should include the citing that the Sri Lankan Army had “committed genocide and war crimes” against the Tamils there, and the need for a “credible, independent, International Commission of Investigation in a time-bound manner” to enable to punish the guilty.

Significantly, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram had hoped at a rally in Karaikudi on Saturday evening that India would vote against the island nation at the UNHRC, which possibly included a demand for an independent and international probe into the human rights violation by Sri Lanka. The senior Congress leader from Tamil Nadu had also counselled patience to one and all, including political parties and agitating students in the state till March 22.

Karunanidhi, however, did not seem convinced. “ We want the Centre to get more serious about this issue and hence our repeated reminders to them seeking those changes in the US?resolution,” he contended. Even if the US did not agree to the amendments, India’s failure to even propose such changes will amount to inflicting “severe injustice on the Sri Lankan Tamils,” the DMK chief reasoned.

“We are repeatedly knocking at the Centre’s doors, emphasising these modifications in the resolution; if no response is forthcoming, we have no option but to conclude that they (Centre) are not coming forward to secure justice for the suffering Tamils in Sri Lanka,” Karunanidhi told reporters.

“If they (Centre) do not accept our demand for the above changes in the US resolution, then it is certain that we (DMK) will not continue in the Congress-led UPA alliance,” Karunanidhi asserted. He hinted that his party was not wavering on the issue now, as it did in the past after having given similar ultimatums since 2008.

Meanwhile, students’ protests and fasts continued for the seventh day in different parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday. A joint struggle committee of students fighting for the “cause of the Eelam Tamils” have also planned to picket Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Monday.

In Theni district down south, hundreds of plantation workers also joined the protest-fasts on Sunday. The World Thamil Organisation registered in the US, also hailed the stir in Tamil Nadu.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

Kanpur, Feb 20: Inspector general, Kanpur range, has ordered a probe into a woman's allegation that the cops misbehaved with her at Raipurwa police station when she went there with her father to lodge a complaint of harassment and eve-teasing.

The woman posted her complaint on the Twitter handle of Kanpur police.

The woman, 21, alleged that instead of listening to her complaint, Raipurwa cops asked her, "Zyada padh gayi ho, itna advance kisne bana dia hai, tumhare Papa ne?" (You are too educated. Who made you so advanced - your father?)

She further said that instead of taking necessary action on her complaint, the police forced her father to compromise with the accused, the son of her landlord, who harassed her on Monday.

The woman also stated that there were no female cops at the police station and she had to wait for several hours.

"Throughout my presence at the police station, I had to interact with male cops," she tweeted.

Inspector, Raipurwa, Sunil Kumar, however, has denied allegations.

"Her allegations are not true. Both the parties settled the dispute on their own," he said.

IG Range, Mohit Agarwal, meanwhile, said, "I have asked the SSP to initiate a probe in this regard and take action against guilty cops."

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Idukki, Aug 8: Nine more bodies have been recovered from the landslide ravaged Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki on Saturday. With this the death toll in the tragedy reached 26. Around 40 are feared to be still trapped under the debris or washed away.

The rescue operation by NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services that was stopped by Friday evening due to poor light and bad weather resumed by Saturday morning.

Horrifying scene prevailed in the area as relatives of the missing people screamed around in search of their beloved ones. As it is nearly 48 hours since the incident happened, the chances of recovering missing persons alive from the debris is becoming bleak. Three of the bodies recovered on Saturday could not be identified till evening.

Kerala Revenue Minster E Chandrasekharan, who visited the area on Saturday, said that search operation would be carried out until all the missing are recovered.

It was by around 11.30 pm on Thursday that landslide had hit the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers where 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as the huge rocks came bulldozing. Five of the residents were reported to be not in the spot while the mishap occured.

Meanwhile, heavy rains led to floods at many parts of the state. Red alert has been issued at Idukki, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for Sunday also. A total of 11,446 persons of 3,530 families were shifted to relief camps across the state, of which major chunk is at Wayanad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water level at most dams is increasing swiftly.

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News Network
March 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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