SC grants bail to journalist Kanojia, says citizen's liberty sacrosanct

Agencies
June 11, 2019

New Delhi, Jun 11: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday for making "objectionable comments" against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media.

The order for his immediate release on bail was passed by a vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi on a petition filed by Kanojia's wife Jigisha.

During the hearing, Justice Banerjee said, "Liberty of a citizen is sacrosanct and non-negotiable. It is guaranteed by the Constitution and it cannot be infringed upon."

She said, "We can understand that the tweets should not have been made. But arresting..."

The bench observed, "Opinions may vary. He (Prashant) probably should not have published or written the tweets, but on what basis was he arrested."

It also asked the UP government to show "magnanimity in releasing him".

The lawyer arguing on behalf of the state said that the tweets were highly inflammatory, "Very, very strong and inflammatory tweets were made by the accused," the counsel submitted.

Kanojia was arrested from Delhi by the UP Police for making certain "objectionable comments" against Adityanath on social media and for "spreading rumours". He was taken into custody after a case was registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow.

Kanojia has been booked under sections 500 (defamation), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.

On Sunday, the Editors Guild of India had condemned the arrest of Kanojia, Eshika Singh, head of Noida-based new channel Nation Live, and Anuj Shukla, an editor of the channel, in connection with the case.

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News Network
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday directed the governments of four states -- Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, to analyse the factors driving the high COVID-19 mortality and devise ways and means to reduce the mortality.

Apart from the higher case mortality, these states account for 17 per cent of India's active cases, high daily new cases, low tests per million, and high confirmation percentage.

In a high-level virtual meeting, Bhushan advised state administrations to adhere to measures suggested by central advisories and guidelines to prevent and reduce mortality due to coronavirus infection.

According to the health ministry, 16 districts in these four states are reporting maximum virus fatalities. It includes -- Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat; Belagavi, Bengaluru urban, Kalaburagi and Udupi in Karnataka; Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Theni, Thiruvallur, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin and Virudhnagar in Tamil Nadu; and Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri in Telangana respectively.

"The districts were advised to ensure that the advisories, guidelines and clinical treatment protocols issued by the Health Ministry are adopted and effectively implemented to reduce the mortality among COVID-19 patients and other preventable deaths among all sections of the people, particularly those with co-morbidities, pregnant women, the elderly and children," said the health ministry official.

"States were advised to ensure optimum capacity utilization of testing labs, increase tests per million population and reduce confirmation percentage, in addition to ensuring timely availability of ambulances with target zero refusal," the official further said.

"States were also advised to analyze availability and need for projected beds and oxygen, and plan in a timely manner. States and district administration have also been advised to ensure good infection prevention and control practices to control infection in the healthcare workers," said the official.

Principal Secretary (Health) and MD (NHM) from the four States along with district surveillance officers, district collectors, commissioners of the municipal corporation, Chief Medical Officers, and Medical Superintendent of Medical Colleges participated in the meeting.

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News Network
May 20,2020

New Delhi, May 20: With 5,611 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 1,06,750 on Wednesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 140 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 3,303.

Out of the total cases, 61,149 are actives cases and 42,298 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 37,136 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,448 cases), Gujarat (12,140 cases), and Delhi (10,554 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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News Network
May 30,2020

Coronavirus lockdown in India has been extended till June 30 with more relaxations.

While the lockdown has been extended in containment zones, relaxations outside containment zones include reopening of religious places for public  from June 8. 

Hotels, restaurants and shopping malls also to open from June 8. Decision on opening educational institutions to be taken in July.
 

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