Fishermen

Sri Lanka releases 26 Indian fishermen

Karaikal: Twenty-six Indian fishermen, who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on April 5 while fishing off Kodiakarai coast, returned to Karaikal on Friday morning after their release, fisheries department officials said.

The fishermen were lodged in a prison in the island nation after their arrest and their remand was extended four times by a court in that country.

On May 20, the Lankan court ordered their release. However, the fishermen had to stay back in Sri Lanka till May 22 due to rough seas.

Subsequently, all of them were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard on Thursday night....more    

Rahul meets Congress leaders from Union Territories

New Delhi: A meeting of Congress leaders from Union Territories convened by Rahul Gandhi on Friday saw strong pleas to make the Union Home Ministry pro-active to resolve the problems faced by the areas ahead of Lok Sabha polls. The leaders from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshdweep, Daman and Diu as also Chandigarh impressed upon the Congress Vice President that since the Home Ministry is administering...  

Italian marines case: Probe likely to be delayed

New Delhi: The NIA probe into the killing of two Kerala fishermen is likely to be delayed as several key documents are being translated from Malayalam and Italian to English and the agency needs to question all foreign witnesses present on the Italian ship who left India long ago. Several key documents, including the FIR filed by the Kerala Police and log-book of ship 'Enrica Lexie', were either recorded in...  

30 TN fishermen released by Lankan court return home

Rameswaram: Thirty fishermen from Rameswaram, who were set free by a Sri Lankan court after being arrested by the island Navy in April 2013 on charges of poaching, arrived at Rameswaram on Wednesday. The fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on April 6, 2013 while fishing near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded by India to the island republic, for allegedly entering into Lankan waters. A court in Mannar on...  

Sri Lankan court orders release of 30 Indian fishermen

Rameswaram: A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered release of 30 fishermen from here, arrested in April by Island Navy on charges of poaching, according to Fishermen Association sources here. President of Pamban Fishermen's Association Arulanandam said they have received a communication stating that a court in Mannar has ordered the release of the fishermen, arrested on April 6 while fishing near Katchatheevu. Magistrate of the court Aananthi Kanagaraj had...  

Gujarat: Families of Indian fishermen in Pak jails worried

Ahmedabad: The attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Haq happened just after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh succumbed to his injuries from an attack in a Lahore prison. Human rights activists fear these prisoners are caught in a no man's land. Sixty-year old Ukardiben is struggling to make ends meet. Her son Sunilal and son-in-law Vijay, both fishermen, have been in a Pakistan jail for the past eight months, after straying into...  

No question of death penalty in Italian marines case: India

New Delhi: Amid concerns by Italy on the possibility of death sentence being imposed on its two marines accused of killing Indian fishermen, India on Saturday said no question of death penalty arises. Clarifying the latest Supreme Court order in the matter in which the apex court allowed NIA to probe the case against Italian marines, official sources said the order had been read out of context leading to misleading...  

Fishermen killings: NIA to start fresh probe

New Delhi: In the wake of Supreme Court allowing NIA to conduct probe into killing of two Kerala fishermen, the agency will begin the inquiry afresh and question all foreign witnesses present on the Italian ship. Official sources said NIA, which slapped the stringent Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002 against two Italian marines accused of killing the fishermen,...  

NIA will continue to probe Italian marines' case: SC

New Delhi: The National Investigation Team (NIA) will continue with its investigation against the Italian marines, who allegedly killed two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012, ruled the Supreme Court on Friday. Italy had questioned the jurisdiction of the NIA to probe the case against its marines saying the charges which have been slapped on the marines are not covered by the NIA Act. The apex court also directed...  

Fishermen killings: SC to give verdict on plea challenging NIA probe

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will decide on Friday on a plea by the Italian government challenging a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the killing of two Indians by two Italian marines off the Kerala coast. The hearing which was scheduled for Thursday was deferred to Friday because the court wanted Attorney General Goolam Essaji Vahanvati to be present. The Italian government and the marines had also questioned the...  

Goa: Two fishermen dead, 4 missing as trawler collides with ship

Mumbai/Panaji: In a mishap off south Goa-Karwar coast, two fishermen died and four others went missing after a ship collided with a fishing trawler on Thursday morning. "We have rescued 23 crew members of trawler 'Sea Messiah' while four are still missing and bodies of two fishermen were fished out in the evening," said a Coast Guard official, who added that incident happened 47 nautical miles off Karwar coast. While...  

China consolidates sea claims as Asian diplomacy struggles

Masinloc: For decades, fishermen along the northwestern Philippine coast treated the teeming fishing grounds of the Scarborough Shoal as their backyard, less than a day's boat ride away. Now, they see it as a foreign country. "I lost my livelihood when we lost the Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese," said Mario Forones, a 53-year-old who owns three fishing boats that worked the reef for about a dozen years before armed...  

SC defers pronouncement of order in Italian marines case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the pronouncement of its order on the question of National Investigating Agency's (NIA) jurisdiction to probe the case against two Italian marines who allegedly killed Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012. The apex court, which had on April 16 posted the matter for order, said it will pass the order on Thursday. "We will pass the order on April 25,"...  

Fishermen killings: SC to give verdict on plea challenging NIA probe

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will decide on Monday on a plea by the Italian government challenging a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the killing of two Indians by two Italian marines off the Kerala coast. The Italian government and the marines had also questioned the invoking of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002 in the case...  

Marines case: Italy tells SC that it objects to NIA probe

New Delhi: Italy has told the Supreme Court that it objects to the National Investigation Agency taking over the marines' case. Italy is concerned because the NIA is empowered to deal with maritime piracy and terrorism and serious charges under these can lead to a call for the death penalty. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had handed over the marines case to the NIA and a case was registered...  

Witness identifies Pak man accused in Mumbai attacks case

Islamabad: A witness on Saturday identified one of the seven Pakistani men charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks as the person who had bought inflatable boats used by the terrorists involved in the assault on India's financial hub. Prosecutors said the witness, whom they did not name for security reasons, had identified accused Shahid Jamil Riaz during proceedings conducted behind closed doors at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi by...  

6 Indian fishermen attacked by Sri Lankan Navy

Karaikal (Puducherry): In the third such attack in as many days, six fishermen, who ventured into the sea from here, got injured when they were attacked allegedly by Sri Lankan naval men off the Kodiakarai coast, fisheries department officials said on Saturday. The fishermen of Kilinjalmedu fishing hamlet were fishing in Indian waters a few knots South East off Kodiakarai on Friday night when the Lankan Navy personnel arrived there...  

Coast Guard averts clash between Indian and SL fishermen

Nagapattinam: Averting a possible clash between 46 fishermen, who ventured into the sea from the district, and their Sri Lankan counterparts near the IMBL, the Coast Guard rescued them and brought them back, officials said on Friday. The Nagapattinam fishermen were handed over to District Collector by the Coast Guard on Thursday night. An argument had taken place between the Indian fishermen and their Sri Lankan counterparts near the International...  

SL court orders release of 19 Indian fishermen

Colombo: The Talaimannar court has ordered the release of 19 Indian fishermen jailed in Sri Lanka for allegedly crossing into Lankan waters. The decision will be communicated to Indian authorities shortly. On Wednesday, the National Fishworkers' Forum(NFF) had sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding the arrest and incarceration of 75 Indian fishermen in a week by the Sri Lankan Navy. Twenty-six fishermen from Karaikal, Puducherry who ventured...  

Four Tamil fishermen attacked by Sri Lankan navy

Nagapattinam: Four fishermen from the district were allegedly attacked by Sri Lankan Navy personnel with wooden logs while they were fishing off Kodiakarai coast in a mechanised boat, official sources said here on Thursday. The fishermen, who went for fishing on Wednesday, returned on Thursday morning and have been admitted to a government hospital with injuries, they said. The fishermen, Selvam, Mariappan, Vijayakuamr and Soundirarajan of Vellapallam fishing hamlet were...