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NHRC files notice in Bastar journalist arrest and torture case

The Chattisgarh government has two weeks to file its reply to a National Human Rights Commission notice regarding the arrest of Prabhat Singh, a journalist in Bastar, on 21 March for a Whatsapp post.

The NHRC's notice is based on a complaint that draws "specific attention to the illegal arrest, detention and torture of a progressive journalist by police in Bastar on March 21, 2016, and alleging that human rights defenders are being targeted for doing their legitimate work as defenders of tribal rights in the state."


The complaint was filed by Henri Tiphagne of Human Rights Defenders Alert India, says The Indian Express,

Two Nigerian men assaulted for objecting to Holi water balloon

Two Nigerian men in Delhi, one of whom is a football coach, were assaulted and beaten by 12 men who barged into their shared apartment after one of them scolded a child for hitting him with a water balloon just before Holi.

The assault took place in West Delhi on Sunday afternoon. The police registered an FIR only 24 hours after the incident, and have made no arrests so far, according to The Indian Express.

The two victims refuse to return to their apartment, saying that they have been receiving threatening phone calls.

Indian Infosys engineer still missing after Brussels blasts

Indian authorities in Brussels are still searching for an Infosys engineer from Chennai who has not been heard from since he boarded a metro train at 9.11 am on 22 March, just as the terrorist strikes took place in the Belgian capital.

Raghavendra Ganesan had spoken to his mother in Mumbai just 16 minutes before the blast on a metro car at Maelbeek station, as he headed to work on a train that passes Maelbeek.


Indian embassy officials in Brussels as well as Ganesan's friends have checked all the hospitals, but have found no trace of him, according to The Telegraph.

Virbhadra Singh's property attached in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday attached properties belonging to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while investigating a case of money laundering against him.

One of the properties attached is a flat in Delhi's upscale neighbourhood of Greater Kailash-1 worth Rs 7.93 crore. The flat is in the name of Virbhadra's son Vikramaditya Singh, according to The Indian Express.


A senior official from the ED said: "We have attached a flat in Greater Kailash-1 in the case against Virbhadra Singh. The unaccounted income under probe was invested in this flat."

No foreign donations for Setalvad's NGO: Home Ministry

Activist Teesta Setalvad's NGO, Sabrang Trust, has been denied permission by the Union Home Ministry to receive donations from abroad. The cancellation of Sabrang Trust's licence under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act is underway, said a home ministry spokesperson.


The Sabrang Trust follows up cases pertaining to the 2002 riots in Gujarat, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state's chief minister. Setalvad had often been critical of the Modi government in the state, says The Economic Times.

Delhi terror alert: Ex Pak army man and six terrorists plan havoc today

Central security agencies have issued an alert to the police in Delhi, Punjab and Assam about the infiltration into India of a former Pakistan army soldier with six terrorists last month, possibly to carry out terror attacks in hotels and hospitals in Delhi during Holi.


The intelligence alert says Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir, infiltrated India via Pathankot on 26 February, accompanied by six terrorists. Alam is a former Pakistan army man who worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide for jihadi elements in Assam, according to The Indian Express.

Eat less meat to avoid dangerous global warming, scientists say

A widespread switch to vegetarianism would cut emissions by nearly two-thirds, researchers at Oxford Martin School have said. The researchers believe that widespread adoption of vegetarian diet would cut food-related emissions by 63 percent and make people healthier too. Growing food for the world's burgeoning population is likely to send greenhouse gas emissions over the threshold of safety, unless more is done to cut meat consumption. Adhering to health guidelines on meat consumption could cut global food-related emissions by nearly a third by 2050, the study found, while widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet would bring down emissions.

England stalls plans for HIV prevention drug

Charities and campaigners have reacted with anger and disbelief that plans to roll out a widely anticipated HIV prevention drug have been stalled by NHS England. The sector had been waiting for the announcement of the first ever public consultation on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the UK, now overdue by a month. Instead today NHS England announced it was not their responsibility to commission the drug, a report in the Guardian said. The HIV treatment pill Truvada containing PrEP can be taken on a daily basis - in a similar way that women take the contraceptive pill - by men who have sex with men to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV transmission. In February 2015, a Proud (pre-exposure option for reducing HIV in the UK: immediate or deferred) study reported that PrEP had effectively reduced the risk of HIV infection by 86 per cent.