Qatar court admits India's appeal against death penalty to 8 ex-Navy personnel: Media reports
New Delhi, Nov 24: A Qatari court has admitted the Indian government's appeal against the death penalty handed down to eight former Indian Navy personnel in that country, according to media reports, even as there was no official word from the Ministry of External Affairs here on Friday.
The Qatari court on Thursday admitted the appeal filed by the Indian government and the next hearing is to be held soon, the reports said.
Last week, India said the appeal process against the death sentence given to the eight former Indian Navy personnel by a Qatari court is under process and it was hopeful of a positive outcome from it.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said India is engaged with the Qatari authorities on the matter and the government will continue to extend all legal and consular assistance to the Indian nationals.
The eight Indians were on October 26 given the death sentence by Qatar's Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.
Days later, an appeal was filed against the death sentence.
The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage.
Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.
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Huge fire at Prayagraj tent supplier warehouse, brought under control after six hours
Prayagraj (PTI): A huge fire broke out in the warehouse of a company, which supplied tenting materials for the recently-concluded Maha Kumbh, at the Parade Ground early on Saturday, officials said and added the blaze was brought under control after six hours.
While there was no loss of life, two officers and five employees of the fire department suffered minor burn injuries while dousing the flames at the Lallu Ji and Tent Company warehouse in the Daraganj area, they said.
Rajiv Kumar Pandey, Prayagraj's chief fire officer, said the blaze was completely controlled.
He said 18 water tenders, including four from the army, were pressed into service to extinguish the blaze that erupted early on Saturday. These also included 10 water tenders called in from Handia, Meja and Soraon.
He added that he himself, another officer and five employees suffered minor burn injuries while extinguishing the fire.
Pandey said the efforts of the firefighting personnel led to tent material and bamboo sticks worth crores of rupees in many nearby warehouses being saved.
Four municipal corporation vehicles were deployed for sprinkling water to protect the nearby godowns. At the same time, 20 employees were evacuated from the burning warehouse.
Pandey said the surrounding settlements, including a slum, were also saved from the fire.
The fire caused four LPG cylinders to explode while two scooters parked on the warehouse premises were burnt to ashes.
District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Abhishek Bharti and other senior officers present on the spot coordinated the firefighting efforts.
Several companies supplying tenting materials built their warehouses at Kali Marg of Parade Ground for the Maha Kumbh. After the congregation ended, tenting materials were removed from the fair area and stored in these warehouses.
