The Delhi high court on Friday questioned the Delhi police what offence was committed by certain Indian nationals when they housed foreigners, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation last year, during a nationwide lockdown, saying the government notification did not impose any bar on persons residing at any particular place.
Talking to reporters in the Maharashtra legislature complex in Nagpur on Tuesday, Fadnavis said there was a 'feeling' in the House regarding the Shraddha Walkar case that instances of 'love jihad' were seen at a large scale in the state.
The top court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, whether protesting farmers are protected from COVID-19.
During the daily briefing, Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava told reporters that five villages in Haryana have been sealed and the residents have been quarantined as 'foreign members' of this Islamic organisation had stayed there.
Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said 154 new positive cases of the disease have been reported due to the transit-related history of those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. These include 23 new cases from Jammu and Kashmir, 20 from Telengana, 18 from Delhi, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 17 from Andhra Pradesh, nine from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and two from Puducherry.
All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders are required to take a special permission from the central government if they want to be involved in any missionary, 'Tabligh' or journalistic activities in the country.
All the new patients -- three males and two females -- are from the Mukund Nagar locality of Dharavi.
The bench also noted that while the Maharashtra police acted mechanically in the case, the state government acted under 'political compulsion'.
"The NSA had to intervene as there was a large congregation going on there for several days and after his intervention, the Jamaat leaders also cooperated and vacated the place," the sources said.
Moulana Yusuf Tootla, 80, attended the March 1-15 Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the Nizmuddin area, that has emerged as the epicentre for the spread of the coronavirus in different parts of India and abroad after thousands of people took part in it.
A home ministry official said while 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined till now across the country due to "massive efforts" to check the outbreak, the Centre has written to all states and union territories that "the lockdown measures should be implemented in letter and spirit".
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur gave five days to the investigating agencies to inspect the premises before it is handed over to Saad's family. The court was hearing an application filed by Saad's mother Khalida seeking unlocking of the premises where they resided.
The state government issued the notice to the Phagwara-based LPU attitude as 'extremely callous and irresponsible' in handling the case of a 21-year-old, corona-positive woman hosteller and keeping itself open, and sought its explanation over the breach of lockdown orders.
About 3,500 jurists, academics, actors, artistes, writers and people from other walks of life called the registration of the FIR against The Wire's founding editor an attack on press freedom.
However, the number of confirmed cases reported by states rose by over 500 to cross 3,000 with at least 90 dead. While Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi disclosed several new cases of the deadly virus infection, government officials said the numbers have risen in last few days mostly due to one event -- referring to the Tablighi Jamaat's religious gathering in the national capital attended by thousands of people last month.
Briefing the media persons, Rawat said, "There is no comparison between Markaz and Kumbh. Markaz was in a closed hall. All the people slept in a single hall with close contacts. They shared blankets. On the contrary, there are 16 ghats in Kumbh. Not just Haridwar, Kumbh is spread from Rishikesh to Nilkanth. Devotees take bath in different ghats at different times."
The 91 foreigners from 21 countries were chargesheeted for attending Markaz at Nizamuddin in New Delhi allegedly in violation of visa conditions, indulging in missionary activities illegally and violating government guidelines issued after the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Supreme Court on Thursday voiced serious concern over the running of fake news on social media platforms and web portals, and said even news shown in a section of channels bears communal tone, which may bring a bad name to the country.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had on Tuesday said that plasma therapy is being used in the state on an experimental basis after getting approval from Indian Council of Medical Research
'Congress will try to use Malerkotla to woo Muslim votes in UP. Muslims across the country have definitely taken note of this move in Punjab. But they vote only for a party that can defeat the BJP. The Congress doesn't seem to be capable of doing that'
The MNS chief demanded that videos of such people being thrashed be made viral on social media, to instill sense of "trust" among people.
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Metropolitan Magistrate Dev Choudhary allowed foreigners from Djibouti, Mali, Kenya and 17 Sri Lankans to walk free on payment of a fine of Rs 5,000 each, said advocate Ashima Mandla, appearing for them.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli commenced hearing on the plea of the news channel against the Kerala high court's order upholding the Centre's decision to ban its telecast on security grounds.
Facing flak on social media, the hospital came up with another advertisement on Sunday, carrying an apology.
A government employee has tested positive for Covid-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday, officials said. The 49-year-old man is the first positive case after the administration started pool testing of samples, they said.
In a letter to chief secretaries of states and union territories, NCM chief Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi sai the Nizamuddin incident was a "serious violation" of the lockdown, and has put the lives of fellow citizens at risk.
The court declined to increase the number of people or allow use of other floors of the mosque for offering prayers as sought by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta on behalf of the Delhi Waqf Board, but allowed them to move an application before the SHO for the same.
The second highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. The worst mortality rate among states. A none too impressive recovery rate. Surely this doesn't speak highly of the famed Gujarat model, so what went wrong?
The ongoing lockdown in force in other parts of the state will continue during which essential supplies like groceries, vegetables, fruits and milk will be available to the people.
Reports in a section of the media in Patna, however, stated that the number of people found infected was as high as 75. Jaiswal, nonetheless, maintained 'only 24 samples are positive. These reports are of preliminary rapid tests and we are still awaiting the results of the comprehensive QT-RPR. None of those who have tested positive are having any symptoms. Yet, by way of abundant caution, they have all quarantined themselves at home'.
According to the police, the doors of the markaz were opened at around 12.30 pm.
The six Jamaat members at the Gaziabad district hospital were shifted to an isolation ward set up at a private educational institute after the complaints against them.
The bench told the Centre that if visas of these foreign nationals are cancelled then the government should explain why they are still here in India but if their visas are not cancelled then it's a different situation.
Addressing his council of ministers in a video conference, Modi asked them to prepare business continuity plans to fight the economic impact of COVID-19 on a war footing, but also asserted that this crisis is an opportunity to boost the 'Make-in-India' initiative and reduce dependence on other countries.
Two women doctors were injured in Indore when a five-member team of health officials was pelted with stones in Taatpatti Bakhal area on Wednesday while they were trying to trace a person who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient, police said.
Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, the Union health ministry officials said there was no need to panic. They also said not everyone needs to wear masks and that following social distancing is more important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Talking about the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Agarwal said, "If the Tablighi Jamaat incident had not taken place and we compare the rate of doubling -- that is in how many days the cases have doubled, we will see that currently it is 4.1 days (including Jamaat cases) and if the incident had not taken place and additional cases had not come then the doubling rate would have been 7.4 days."
In a video-conference with the Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of states/union territories, the president emphasized the need to ensure that no one remains hungry during the nationwide lockdown.
"We cannot allow people to reside in guesthouses or any other place other than their own house," said Justice Yogesh Khanna who further stated that "preservation of site" pursuant to a criminal proceeding did not mean locking up the place.