From the Newsroom: Leaders pay last respects to Ram Vilas Paswan; NIA court remanded 82-year-old human rights activist

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, A special NIA court in New Delhi on Friday remanded 82-year-old human rights activist Father Stan Swamy; A priest died after being set on fire allegedly by five people who wanted to encroach on temple land in Rajasthan's Karauli district, police said on Friday; President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Union minister and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan.

A special NIA court in New Delhi on Friday remanded 82-year-old human rights activist Father Stan Swamy. He was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case for alleged Maoist links. He will be in judicial custody till October 23. Violence had erupted in the vicinity of a war memorial in Koregaon Bhima near Pune on January 1, 2018, allegedly after provocative speeches were made during the Elgar Parishad conclave held a day earlier at Shaniwarwada in Pune city.

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The NIA on Friday filed a charge-sheet against eight people, including social activist Gautam Navlakha, Delhi University associate professor Hany Babu and tribal leader Father Stan Swamy, for their alleged involvement in inciting a mob to violence in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018, officials said. NIA spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General of Police in the agency Sonia Narang said the charge-sheet was submitted before a designated court here. The eight people were arrested during the course of the investigation.

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A priest died after being set on fire allegedly by five people who wanted to encroach on temple land in Rajasthan's Karauli district, police said on Friday.

The five accused allegedly poured petrol on Babu Lal Vaishnav and set him on fire in Bukna village on Wednesday. He was referred to the SMS hospital in Jaipur in a critical condition. Vaishnav succumbed to injuries on Thursday night.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday assured Afghan peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah that India remained committed to peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan.

Jaishankar and Abdullah held extensive talks on various aspects of the ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, and on bilateral cooperation.

On his part, Abdullah said the external affairs minister assured him of India's "full support" for peace in Afghanistan.

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President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Union minister and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan at his residence here on Friday.

Senior BJP leaders including Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Giriraj Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajnath Singh, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, also paid tributes to the departed leader.

Others who offered condolences and prayers at Paswan's residence included BJP MPs Pragya Thakur and Ramesh Bidhuri, NCP President Sharad Pawar, Union minister Ramdas Athawale, RJD MP Misa Bharti and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

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Former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy on Friday urged the Karnataka government not to reopen schools, citing the spurt in COVID-19 cases. While Siddaramaiah, who is the leader of the opposition, has written to Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar, urging him not to consider reopening schools until the situation comes under control, Kumaraswamy said he would speak to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa personally on the matter. The government too has said that any decision would be taken after considering the situation and consulting experts and parents.

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The World Bank has trebled its projection for India's economic contraction in 2020-21 – from 3.2% earlier to 9.6% due to covid-related lockdowns and a decline in household income.

In its latest South Asia Economic Focus report ahead of the annual meeting of the World bank and International Monetary Fund, the global lender said the country's economic situation is "much worse" than ever seen before.

It said half the Indian households are vulnerable to shocks post Covid. The slowdown in India is expected to depress manufacturing and exporting industries, and the construction sector is also likely to experience a protracted slowdown due to a limited pipeline of public sector infrastructure projects.

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The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, may linger on human skin for nine hours, much longer than the flu viruses can, according to a study. The influenza A virus (IAV), in contrast, remained viable on human skin for nearly two hours, said the researchers including those from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan.

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