India on Tuesday started the preparations for evacuating the Indian nationals trapped in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic, placed under a lockdown. In a series of tweets, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “We have begun the process to prepare for evacuation of Indian nationals affected by the situation arising out of nCorona-2019 virus outbreak in Hubei Province. Our embassy in Beijing is working out the logistics and is in touch with the Chinese government and our nationals on this matter.” Over 500 Indian students are studying in colleges and universities of Wuhan…
Author: Our Correspondent
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, said that his government brought Citizenship Amendment Act to correct historical injustice and fulfil country’s old promise to minorities living in neighbouring countries. “I am amazed how people can forget what Gandhiji promised to the minorities left in Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Modi said while addressing the National Cadet Corps (NCC) rally at the Cariappa Parade ground in New Delhi. Problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some political parties kept issues alive and terrorism thrived for vote bank politics, said Modi, asserting that his government will ensure all such problems are…
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday hit out at European Union (EU) lawmakers for moving resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying India did not need “advice or guidance” and there was “no scope” for “outside” interference in India’s internal matters. Addressing a gathering after releasing the book ‘TRG — An Enigma’ here, Naidu said, “Such efforts are totally uncalled for and unwarranted and I hope that they would refrain from making such statements in future.” The Vice President said that as a mature republic and democratic polity, “India is capable of addressing the…
A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed on Monday during an exchange of fire between the security forces and militants at Arwani village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, officials said. According to reports, the security forces tried but were unsuccessful in making the local militant surrender. An Army personnel has reportedly sustained injuries in the firing exchange, which ended with the killing of the militant. The body was retrieved from the site and the killed militant has been identified as Shahid Khar of Kulgam. Informed sources said that on a specific input about the presence of militants in the area, a…
After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found that the recent violent protests in several parts of the country had a financial link with the Popular Front of India (PFI), the central probe agency also found that the organisation has it’s offices in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, where the protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is going on for more a month now, sources said. The agency, which is probing the PFI under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) since 2018, has found that at least Rs 120 crore were deposited in bank accounts in western Uttar Pradesh after the…
Defending the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held that the amendment of the Act by Parliament in December fulfilled dreams of Mahatma Gandhi. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled Gandhiji’s dream by implementing the CAA in the country as it provides rightful citizenship to Hindu minorities who were persecuted in the neighbouring countries,” he told a pro-CAA rally organised by the ruling BJP in Karnataka’s port city here. Addressing the massive gathering, he said he had never seen such an overwhelming support to the CAA in the country. “By implementing the CAA, we have fulfilled…
BJP candidate from Hari Nagar Tajinder Bagga has claimed that the Shaheen Bagh road that has been blocked by anti-CAA protesters will be reopened on February 11 as soon as the Delhi poll results are out. In a reply to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bagga tweeted: “Talk to people who are raising slogans in name of Jinnah? Talk to those who are raising slogans for freedom from Hindus? Talk to those who are talking about ‘free Kashmir’? And as far as the matter of reopening of roads, it will be thrown open as soon as the election results will…
Famous surgeon and Padma Shri awardee Rathin Datta, 89, who played a pivotal role in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war, died in Kolkata on Monday after a prolonged illness. He is survived by a son and a daughter. Datta, Director and Special Secretary of the Tripura Health Services until 1992, was born in Assam’s Mangaldoi in 1931. He studied at Shillong (Meghalaya) and Dibrugarh Medical College in Assam. He went to London for the Fellowship of The Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS). According to the Health Department officials, Datta tirelessly took care of “Mukti Yoddhas” (freedom fighters) of Bangladesh as…
The government has asked Air India to be ready to operate a special flight for bringing back vulnerable Indians, including university students from China, in the wake of rising worries over coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan province and reports of new cases of viral infection in other parts of the country. “Only Air India has wide-body aircraft and so we can operate special flight with a B747. We are awaiting directions from the government,” said an airline official. But the official added that there is growing apprehension within the airline that bringing people from the infection-hit areas of China could pose…
As the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna sent shockwaves across the world, Twitter went berserk over a freaky 2012 tweet from a random user who allegedly posted about Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash. Bryant was killed along with his teenage daughter and seven others when their helicopter crashed in Southern California on Sunday. On November 24, 2012, a user named @dotNoso allegedly posted about the 18-time NBA All-Star basketball legend dying in a helicopter crash. “Kobe is going to end up dying in a helicopter crash,” read the Twitter post. Once the post…