A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking release of nearly 3,300 members of Tablighi Jamaat who have been sent to various quarantine centres for around 40 days and not released despite reporting negative for COVID-19. The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on Friday, sought direction to the authorities to comply with the guideline of 14-day quarantine and to constitute a high level committee to enquire as to whether continuous confinement of the members is violative of the provisions of the Constitution. Petitioner Sabiha Quadri, a social worker, alleged that many people have…
Author: Our Correspondent
The Railways has cancelled all tickets for passenger trains, including mail, express and suburban services, for journeys booked up to and including June 30. A full refund will be given to all passengers whose tickets have been cancelled, the Railways said in a statement released Thursday. The cancelled tickets were booked before the lockdown, when the Railways was still taking reservations for journeys in June. People who booked tickets 120 days prior to date of journey will get refund against cancellations. The statement also clarified that “shramik (worker)” – trains being run to transport stranded migrants – and “special” passenger…
Unidentified people desecrated an idol of Lord Hanuman at a temple in neighbouring Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, following which tension prevailed in the area, police said on Wednesday. Residents of Tana village under Pukhta Garhi police station staged a protest after the matter came to light on Tuesday, prompting authorities to enhance security in the area. According to police officer Sandeep Balyan, a case has been registered against unidentified people and investigation taken up. As a precautionary measure, police personnel have been deployed in the area, the police officer said.
Union Minister Of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhury has said that Mamata Banerjee wants to convert Bengal into Islamic State and merge with Bangladesh. The MP from Raiganj alleged that Mamata Banerjee’s policy of appeasement has pushed West Bengal to a situation where it is sitting on a dynamite. Chaudhury, a long-time activist of the saffron party, entered the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2019. She spearheaded many agitations against the Mamata government. “If West Bengal is not saved now, the Mamata government will merge it with Bangladesh. Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and jihadis are given too…
The number of fresh Covid-19 infections from across the country fell to a three-day low on Tuesday, even as India’s total count of cases was poised to cross 75,000. However, the death toll from the virus rose by 121, the second-highest in a single day so far. With 74,347 coronavirus cases reported so far, India overtook Canada as the 12th worst-affected country in the world, one spot below China, where the virus had originated. As many as 3,543 new cases were reported by the states, lower than the numbers in the past two days (3,613 and 4,308). Maharashtra recorded as…
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a set of stimulus measures of nearly Rs 5.94 trillion to provide relief to various constituents of the Indian economy. They are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); taxpayers; non-banking financial companies (NBFCs); power distribution companies; the real estate sector; organised sector employees; and contractors working with the government. These measures are part of the Rs 20-trillion “Atmanirbhar Bharat” package, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The finance minister said she would make announcements pertaining to different sectors every day, starting Wednesday, as the government looks to kick-start economic activities…
The industry bodies and leading businessmen in West Bengal on Wednesday lauded the financial package and policy interventions announced by the Centre, to revive the country’s economy, which has been severely hit thanks to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. The turnover-based definition of MSMEs has addressed an extended pending demand and extended the advantages to an outsized number of companies, city-based Indian Chamber of Commerce said during a statement. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 3 lakh crore of collateral-free loans for little businesses, a cut within the rate for non-salary payments and measures to supply liquidity to non-banking companies to assist…
The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to grant interim bail on medical grounds to former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar who is serving captivity in an 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. A bench comprising judge S A Bobde and Justices Indu Malhotra and Hrishikesh Roy perused his report and said that he didn’t need hospitalization at the instant. Declining the interim bail plea, the bench, holding proceedings via video conferencing, said that it might hear the regular bail application in July. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, and senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for a few riots victims, opposed the bail…
The Southwest Monsoon is probably going to advance over the Andaman Sea and therefore the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago around May 16, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. A low pressure area formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman Sea on Wednesday morning, it said. It is very likely to concentrate into a depression over central parts of south Bay of Bengal on May 15 and further intensify into a cyclonic storm over southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal by the evening of May 16. “In association with the system (cyclone), the conditions will…
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday announced that all canteens of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like the CRPF and the BSF will sell only indigenous products from June 1 to 50 lakh family members of about 10 lakh personnel In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said the decision has been taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for opting local products and being self-reliant Shah also appealed to the people of the country to make maximum use of the products made in the country and encourage others to do…