Tag: closely

Closely monitoring Guwahati child abuse case: Himanta Biswa Sarma

[ad_1]
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said he is closely monitoring a case in which a doctor couple was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing children who they claimed were adopted by them.
Sarma, while addressing a press conference, said he will write to the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to ensure that justice is delivered within six months.
‘I have asked the police to file the chargesheet within 30-45 days. I am monitoring the case on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

A doctor and his family’s domestic help were arrested in Guwahati on Saturday, while his psychiatrist wife, who is frequently seen in local TV channels’ talk shows on mental health, was caught on Sunday while trying to flee from the city.
The police have slapped various Sections of the IPC along with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) against the doctor couple and their maid, who has also been arrested.
After their arrest, they were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate who remanded the couple to five days police custody and the maid to judicial custody.
The police had received information that a four-year-old girl was tied to a pole in the terrace of their apartment and kept there for hours, following which a team from Paltan Bazar police station went to their apartment and picked up the doctor and his family domestic help on Friday evening.
The girl was sent for a medical examination and according to the report, she was sexually abused and had injury marks on her body as well as private parts,

The couple claimed they have three children whom they have adopted but the police are investigating whether they had followed proper legal procedure for adoption, Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Barah had said on Sunday.
The police also rescued the other two children from their apartment and sent them for medical examination.
The doctor’s wife had made a video on the day of his arrest and uploaded it on social media, claiming that a conspiracy was hatched to “defame and destroy” her family.
The Assam Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) has also taken cognisance of the matter and wrote to the civil and police administration to initiate an inquiry and take action against the accused.
[ad_2]
#Closely #monitoring #Guwahati #child #abuse #case #Himanta #Biswa #Sarma
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 8, 2023
India-US working closely to address fentanyl challenge: US health official

[ad_1]
Washington: India and the US share a robust working relationship on addressing the major challenge posed by fentanyl drugs, a top health official in the Biden administration has said.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid primarily used as an analgesic. Since 2018, fentanyl and its analogues have been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the US, causing over 71,238 deaths in 2021.
The Biden administration launched a massive campaign on Thursday to educate young people about the dangers of fentanyl and the life-saving effects of Naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid-related overdoses.

“India has been very enthusiastic working with the United States to address this (fentanyl problem) because it understands the significance at a global level of leadership,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position which is popularly known as Drug Czar, told PTI.
He said India is acting like a global leader when it comes to addressing the threat of synthetic drugs.
“There is a robust working relationship between the United States and India on this because it understands the significance at a global level of leadership,” said Dr Gupta, who is one of the highest-ranking Indian Americans in the Biden administration.
Referring to remarks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India is the pharmacy of the world, Gupta said the country has a large pharmaceutical and chemical industry.
“There’s a lot of work going on, including bilateral working relationships around synthetic drugs, and mental health as well as the pharmaceutical arena,” he said.

“We are very excited about that relationship. We’re looking forward to furthering our bilateral relationship and strengthening it because we know that India can and will and is playing the role of a global leader in this area,” Gupta said.
The United States and Indian governments are working to make sure that they are both looking at their scheduling regimes, he said.
“How do we schedule controlled substances? We’re working together to counteract the drug supply routes and networking, as well as prevention of the diversion of these chemicals,” he said.
Gupta said the chemicals are often shipped to other countries and used in the production of these deadly drugs.
He said the two countries are also working together on issues like addiction, treatment expansion, the overlap that happens between mental health and addiction.
“There’s a lot of work, but we’re excited about the enthusiasm and the ability of both countries to partner on this very important topic,” he said.
He said the data shows that less than half of the young people in the US know or understand that fentanyl, a dangerous drug that can kill them, is in their drug supply.
“But if you look at it from a pandemic standpoint, so much has changed: which drugs are out in the market has changed how people acquire drugs and what those drugs have changed,” he said.
As part of the campaign, he said the aim is to meet young people to tell them that they can also have the tools to save lives.
Carrying Naloxone or Narcan, which is an antidote for opioids like fentanyl, it is important for them to carry it because they could be saving the life of themselves, their friends, neighbours, or somebody at school or work, Gupta said.
“It’s really important for us to be telling young people that you are empowered and have the ability to save other people’s lives and carry naloxone with you. Because we don’t know next time who is going to be going through the poisoning,” he said.
“We are also adding to the social media work, and messengers, digital ads that will be displayed in certain states in places like subway stations, college malls, grocery stores to make sure that we meet young people where they are and share this important message, which can often be potentially lifesaving,” he said.
“This is a challenge, … prevails throughout communities, and I’ve seen this in the Indian American community, that it has taken the toll and has taken the lives of young children as well as young adults. So, it’s really important that we spread this message,” he said.
[ad_2]
#IndiaUS #working #closely #address #fentanyl #challenge #health #official
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 7, 2023
Centre closely monitoring Punjab after Amritpal’s aide released from jail

[ad_1]
New Delhi: The Centre is “closely monitoring” the situation in Punjab after supporters of preacher and Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh stormed a police station to secure the release of an aide, officials said on Friday.
The protesters armed with rifles and swords broke into Ajnala police station in the outskirts of Amritsar city and virtually forced a commitment from the officials of withdrawing kidnapping case filed against Lovepreet Singh ‘Toofan’.
Union Home Ministry officials said the Punjab government had already been asked to keep a close watch on Singh’s activity.
They said “the Centre was closely monitoring the situation in Punjab” as it is a sensitive border state and any incident which is violation of law and has wider ramifications is a matter of concern.
However, it is not immediately known whether the central government has sought a report from the Punjab government on the incident and the prevailing situation in the state.
On Thursday, Amritpal Singh’s supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into a police station in Ajnala extracting an assurance from the police that kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh will be released.
‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh and his supporters also brought a vehicle carrying a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib for holding “amrit sanchar” (a Sikh ceremony) at the police station.
Following the incident, Amritpal Singh’s aide and kidnapping accused Lovepreet Singh ‘Toofan’ walked out of jail in Ajnala on Friday.

Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said the demonstrators had used the holy Guru Granth Sahib as a shield and attacked police personnel in a cowardly manner, leaving six of them injured.
Despite giving an assurance of a peaceful demonstration, the protesters used sharp-edged weapons.
[ad_2]
#Centre #closely #monitoring #Punjab #Amritpals #aide #released #jail
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 24, 2023
UK government ‘closely monitoring’ as BBC tax ‘enquiries’ continue in India

[ad_1]
London: The UK government is “closely monitoring” the situation as the BBC said some of its staff have been asked to remain at their Delhi and Mumbai offices to cooperate with the “ongoing enquiries” of the Income Tax (I-T) authorities on Tuesday.
In New Delhi and Mumbai, officials said the surveys were being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, and alleged that the broadcaster was served with notices in the past, but was “defiant and non-compliant” and had significantly diverted its profits.
While there has been no official statement related to the action, British government sources said they are “closely monitoring reports of tax surveys conducted at the offices of the BBC in India”.
The action comes weeks after the UK-headquartered public broadcaster aired a controversial two-part documentary in the UK, India: The Modi Question’, referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“The Income Tax Authorities remain at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many staff have now left the building, but some have been asked to remain and are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing enquiries,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are supporting our staff during this time and continue to hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible. Our output and journalism continues as normal and we are committed to serving our audiences in India,” the spokesperson said.
There was shock as the news of the action unfolded in the UK early on Tuesday morning and a broad consensus has been that the action was linked to the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi aired in the UK last month.
“Everyone’s shocked and no one is fooled that today’s tax survey, as it’s being called, is a retaliation to the recent BBC documentary India: The Modi Question’,” said Dr Mukulika Banerjee, a leading author and academic at the London School of Economics (LSE).

“The BBC is an independent public broadcaster so if it puts out a documentary, it is not acting at the behest of the British government. In fact, BBC journalists routinely grill the British PM and all elected officials holding them accountable for their actions. The word independent’ means just that,” she said.
“The Indian government has appointed India as the Mother of Democracy’ during its year of the G20 Presidency and plastered posters across every inch of the country proclaiming that. It should know then that one of the basic principles of being a democracy is to recognise that press freedom is an essential central pillar of a functioning democracy. They really need to understand that this is what press freedom looks like. And stop its shameful harassment of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai,” she added.
The South Asia Solidarity Group, a human rights organisation based in the UK, dubbed it a “blatantly vindictive move”.
“In the wake of the government’s ban on sharing extracts or screening the documentary, this raid makes it clear that the Modi government will attack all those who criticise Narendra Modi, the BJP and those close to them,” said Mukti Shah, spokesperson for the group.
Meanwhile, there were others such as the Global Hindu Federation which expressed support for the action.
“As a ‘coloniser collaborator’ the BBC has been living rent free in our heads, and no doubt financial irregularities abound in their ongoing occupation of the India media space,” said the federation’s chair Satish Sharma.
Last month, the Indian government had branded the two-part series on Prime Minister Modi a “propaganda piece”, designed to push a particular “discredited narrative”.
“The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at the time it was aired in the UK last month.
The documentary also triggered coordinated Indian diaspora protests at BBC offices across different UK cities at the end of last month.
The UK government responded in the House of Commons to the protests by insisting the BBC as a media organisation was “independent in its outlet” and reiterating its commitment to enhance ties with India.
“We recognise how this portrayal of the Indian government has played out in India. I made it clear that the BBC is independent in its output, that the UK regards India as an incredibly important international partner and that we will be investing heavily in that relationship in the coming decades,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said earlier this month.
His remarks were later echoed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson in Downing Street: “The BBC is independent in its output and we would stress that we continue to regard India as an incredibly important international partner.
“We will be investing heavily in our relationship with India over the coming decades and we’re confident it will only go from strength to strength.”
[ad_2]
#government #closely #monitoring #BBC #tax #enquiries #continue #India
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Gold Prices touched life-time high and Gulf jewelers observing closely

[ad_1]
Jeddah: Gold rates climbed to a new life-time high of ₹58,060 per 10 gm on Wednesday in India and prices become volatile amid budget speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and went on to climb to its record high by the time FM finished her speech in the parliament.
Though the Government didn’t impose any new taxes on Gold imports in its latest budget, yet, the price of 22 carat gold weighing 10 grams raised up to Rs. 52,900 and 24 carat gold to Rs. 58,060 as MCX price. At the same time the price of one kg silver increased to ₹73,300. The bullion traders expecting the price to hit Rs. 60,000 shortly.
Currently, basic customs duty on gold is 12.5% and 2.5% agricultural infrastructure cess, 3% is GST and another about 5% goes as making charges. This has primarily led to a rise in the key input cost for the Indian jewelry industry.
The cost factors prompted many people to look into the Gulf market for better deals with beautiful designs. Whether seasonal visitors to Dubai or religious pilgrims to holy cities in Saudi Arabia prefer to purchase gold from abroad.
It is noteworthy to mention that most of the gold that is imported in India comes from Dubai and other gulf countries.
However, overall gold prices in the Gulf region particularly in UAE will remain lower compared with India.
“Despite high duty back home in India, an Indian visitor can save Rs. 20,000 for 5 tolas” explained Shekhar, native of Vijayawada and works as sales executive in a leading gold jewelry shop in Dubai.
He told this correspondent over the phone that most shops in Dubai and other parts of the Gulf have significant customers from India where cost is matter.

The government hiked the import duty on gold from 7.5% to 12.5% in July 2022 to dampen demand, bring down the trade deficit and ease pressure on the rupee.
The result was a steep reduction in imports of gold from 1,068 tonnes in 2021 to 706 tonnes in 2022. The duty hike also resulted in increased smuggling of gold into India, an estimated 200 tonnes a year, and that is actually driving the gold retail sales, say industry sources.
[ad_2]
#Gold #Prices #touched #lifetime #high #Gulf #jewelers #observing #closely
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023