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Earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hits Gujarat

earthquke
(File/Representational image)

New Delhi (NVI): An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude on the Richter Scale struck near Surat in Gujarat today, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) tweeted, “Earthquake of Magnitude:4.2, Occurred on 07-11-2020, 15:39:24 IST, Lat: 21.55 & Long: 73.15, Depth: 10 Km ,Location: 53km NE of Surat, Gujarat.”

However, there were no reports of injuries or damage to the property as a result of the earthquake.

Earlier on October 26, a medium-intensity earthquake of 3.6 magnitude on the Richter Scale was experienced in Gujarat’s Kutch district.

-RJV

Haj 2021 guidelines announced as online application process begins

New Delhi (NVI): Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, today announced guidelines for the Haj pilgrimage, with significant changes, keeping in view the coronavirus pandemic, as the online application process for Haj 2021 started today.

Naqvi while announcing Haj 2021 at Haj House, Mumbai, said that national-international Protocol Guidelines due to Pandemic Position will be implemented and they will be followed strictly during Haj 2021.

The last date of applying for the pilgrimage is December 10 and people can apply online, offline and also through Haj mobile application, a Ministry of Minority Affairs statement said.

Naqvi said that Haj is scheduled for June-July 2021, and the entire process is being held according to the necessary guidelines issued by the Saudi Arabia Government and the Government of India in view of coronavirus pandemic to ensure health and well-being of the people.

The statement also noted, the Haj 2021 process has been chalked out after deliberations among Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Haj Committee of India, Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and India’s Consul General in Jeddah and other agencies keeping in view all aspects of the pandemic challenges.

Naqvi further said that the arrangements for Haj 2021 have been made under special circumstances with special norms, rules and regulations, eligibility criteria, age restrictions, health and fitness requirements and other relevant conditions of the Saudi Arabia government.

He added that these changes include accommodation, period of stay of pilgrims, transportation, health and other facilities both in India and Saudi Arabia.

The minister also said that all the necessary guidelines for Haj 2011 will be implemented strictly, including changes in age criteria for performing Haj.

He stated that each pilgrim will have to undergo coronavirus test 72 hours before Haj journey as per prevailing international air travel protocol. Each pilgrim will have to submit a PCR test certificate issued by approved laboratory with a negative result
before journey to Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, the embarkation points for Haj 2021 have been reduced to 10 after feedback from Air India and other agencies. Earlier, there were 21 Haj embarkation points across the country.

The statement further said that, for Haj 2021, the 10 embarkation points are- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.

“Ahmedabad embarkation point will cover entire Gujarat; Bengaluru will cover entire Karnataka; Cochin (Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar); Delhi (Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh; Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, western districts of Uttar Pradesh); Guwahati (Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland); Kolkata (West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, Jharkhand, Bihar); Lucknow; Mumbai (Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli) and Srinagar embarkation point will cover Jammu-Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh-Kargil,” it added.

Meanwhile, the application filled for Haj 2020 by women under without “Mehram” (male companion) category is valid for Haj 2021 also. Besides, new forms are also being accepted from the women, who wants to perform Haj 2021 without “Mehram”, the statement said

“All the women under “without Mehram” category will be exempted from the lottery system,” it added.

-RJV

ISRO successfully launches PSLV-C49 carrying 10 satellites from Sriharikota

isros
PSLV-C49 lifts off successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today successfully launched the PSLV-C49 carrying all weather earth imaging satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.

Taking to Twitter, ISRO said, “#PSLVC49 lifts off successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota #ISRO #EOS01.”

The launch was originally scheduled at around 3:02pm IST today but the mission director authorised the launch of PSLV-C49 at 3:12pm due to bad weather.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C49) in its 51st mission today launched EOS-01 as primary satellite along with nine international customer satellites.

The countdown for the launch of the EOS-01 started on November 6.

Notably, the EOS-01 is an earth observation satellite intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, ISRO said in a statement.

The customer satellites are being launched under the commercial agreement with New Space India Ltd (NSIL) which is the commercial arm of the Department of Space, it said.

Furthermore, the launch of radar imaging satellite was aired on ISRO’s official website along with its Youtube, Facebook and Twitter channels.

-RJV

J&K: Craft Mela at Kashmir Haat providing marketing support to artisans, weavers

Lubna Fayaz

Srinagar (NVI):  In order to provide direct marketing support to maximum number of artisans and weavers of Jammu and Kashmir, the Handicrafts and Handloom Department, Kashmir, organized a Craft Mela from October 13 at Numaish Gah (Kashmir Haat), Srinagar, in which the artisans have done a business of around Rs 12 lakh so far.

The basic purpose of organizing this fair was to involve the local artisans and weavers who are unable to do business due to current circumstances.

“From past one year the business has suffered a lot which was aggravated by lockdown. The handicrafts unsold inventory is swelling. Artisans and weavers are considered as vulnerable section so we decided to organize this fair after a lot of deliberations to provide the marketing linkages to these people,” said Masarat-ul-Islam, Director of Handicrafts.

He also said that due to COVID19, the artisans are not able to go to different places for exhibitions hence to enhance their business here only this craft mela got into shape.

The local artisans, who have been sitting at their homes due to the current situation, are very joyous over the organization of this fair.

“This helped us a lot as past abrogation of Article 370, I have been staying at home only. My inventory is ready but there were no buyers and this fair at such a time has been god sent,” said Umer Sumji, proprietor Sahara Handicrafts.

While talking about fear of pandemic in people, Umer said that the government should organize more of them as people would come out of their homes and fight the fear of pandemic.

“Less people are coming here at present because of the pandemic fear but if the government takes more such initiatives people would come out of their homes to explore,” he added.

He said that the Director of Handicrafts has been very helpful in giving a chance to the local artisans to showcase their art.

Mohammad Shafi, Manager Central Market, Kashmir Haat said that they have 68 stalls and right now 25 to 28 are functional.

“We just extended this fair by 15 more days so that artisans get to earn more. We provided stalls to the artisans free of cost and all expenses were borne by the department of handicrafts.”

In addition to this, Director of Handicrafts said that though small but this initiative has been successful as artisans have made a sale of Rs 12 lakhs in two weeks.

Another artisan, Masarat Ara, said that the government should organize such fairs continuously so that no artisan has to suffer.

Ishfar Ali, another artisan, said that this fair has proved to be a boon for him as most of his paintings and calligraphy pieces got sold.

“This is my first live demo experience and today I can say that my contacts have increased; I have received bulk orders and sold many of my paintings; this should continue as it gives me a chance to make my livelihood going.”

Though the footfall remains low at this place but the government is taking steps to involve public and people are gradually coming and business is growing steadily.

“To make it more attractive we have taken up the initiative of holding cultural programs every evening. The evenings remain busy here.  In the coming days we will also introduce food marts and kids fun zones while adhering to strict social distancing guidelines.” Director of Handicrafts remarked.

He said that the event became successful through word of mouth and they are looking forward to holding more such events.

“We want to run Kashmir Haat on the pattern of Delhi Haat, which goes on round the year. We want to convert it into a spot of an attraction which will always be surrounded by people,” he added.

-CHK

PAGD meeting begins at Farooq’s residence in Jammu

File photo: National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah

Lubna Fayaz

Srinagar (NVI): The first meeting of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) began in Jammu at Farooq Abdullah’s Bathindi residence today.

Sources told NVI that all the members of PAGD arrived at Farooq’s residence this morning.

Notably, the PAGD would hold deliberations on various issues during the meet including District Development Council (DDC) polls.

So far, PAGD has had two meetings in the Kashmir region and had also reached Kargil.

-RJV

Modi promises ease of doing business to students at IIT Delhi convocation

PM Narendra Modi addressing the 51st Annual Convocation ceremony of IIT Delhi (Photo: @narendramodi/Twitter)

New Delhi (NVI): The country will give you the ease of doing business, you bring ease of living to the poorest of the poor by working on new innovations, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi to graduating batch of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

He encouraged students to work on start-ups and focus on innovation to solve the country’s problems.

In a virtual address to students and faculty at IIT Delhi’s 51st convocation, Modi asked the students to identify the needs of the country and work towards building a self-reliant India.

He called the students the biggest brand ambassadors of the brand India. Innovation, he said, is the commonality between all IIT campuses.

Linking the need for innovation to the pandemic, Modi said the post-Covid world is going to be very different and innovation and technology will play a big role in that world.

Encouraging students to innovate, the PM said, “India is bound to give ease of doing business to its youth, so that they can innovate and improve the lives of crores of Indians. We will give you ease of doing business, you focus on improving the ease of living of citizens.”

Referring to his government’s reforms in several sectors in the last few months, Modi added, “For the first time, there are possibilities for innovation and start-ups in the agriculture sector… for the first time, there is opportunity for investment in the space sector.”

During the convocation, Modi also spoke about the central government’s ‘Startup India’, saying that over 50,000 start-ups have come into existence since the launch of the scheme in 2015.

He said start-ups are growing in the field of finance technology, agriculture, medicine and defence.

The PM highlighted that at least 20 ‘unicorns’ have been created in India by Indians as he sought to encourage the graduating batch to achieve the same. ‘Unicorn’ indicates a privately held start-up valued at over $1 billion.

A total of 2,019 students received their degrees from IIT-Delhi today. The golden jubilee celebration was held in a hybrid mode with a physical in-person ceremony with limited attendance in the institute.

At the event, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also launched ‘eVidya’ portal. It stands for Enabling Virtual and Interactive-learning for Driving Youth Advancement.

-CHK

Kerala Governor tests COVID-19 positive

Arif
Arif Mohammed Khan

New Delhi (NVI): Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan today announced that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The Governor also requested those who came in his contact to undergo COVID-19 tests.

In a tweet, Kerala Raj Bhavan PRO quoted Arif Mohammed Khan as saying, “I have tested positive for Covid-19. But, there is no cause for concern. However, I request all those who had contact with me in New Delhi last week to test for Covid, or be under observation to be on the safe side.”

Earlier, various members of the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and they all have recovered.

Meanwhile, 7,002 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala in past 24 hours, pushing the total count to 4,62,469. The death toll in the southern state stands at 1,640, according to the Health Ministry data.

-RJV

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

Covid-19 cases

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India has crossed the 84 lakh-mark and stands at 84,62,081 after 50,357 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country’s death toll stands at 1,25,562 after 577 new fatalities were reported during the same period.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 17,10,314, followed by Karnataka with 8,41,889 cases, and Andhra Pradesh with 8,35,953 cases.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 4,420

Andhra Pradesh- 8,38,363

Arunachal Pradesh- 15,325

Assam- 2,08,389

Bihar- 2,20,099

Chandigarh- 14,927

Chhattisgarh- 1,97,991

Dadra and Nagar Haveli– 3,272

Delhi- 4,23,831

Gujarat- 1,78,471

Goa- 44,747

Haryana– 1,78,413

Himachal Pradesh- 24,239

Jammu and Kashmir- 97,805

Jharkhand- 1,03,899

Karnataka- 8,41,889

Kerala- 4,73,468

Ladakh- 6,718

Madhya Pradesh- 1,75,603

Maharashtra- 17,10,314

Manipur- 19,891

Meghalaya- 9,979

Mizoram- 3,032

Nagaland- 9,327

Odisha- 2,98,768

Puducherry- 35,675

Punjab- 1,36,481

Rajasthan- 2,07,597

Sikkim- 4,144

Tamil Nadu- 7,39,147

Telangana- 2,48,891

Tripura- 31,434

Uttarakhand- 64,538

Uttar Pradesh- 4,93,527

West Bengal – 3,97,466

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 60

Andhra Pradesh- 6,768

Arunachal Pradesh- 43

Assam- 938

Bihar- 1,129

Chandigarh- 230

Chhattisgarh- 2,412

Dadra and Nagar Haveli- 2

Delhi- 6,833

Goa- 633

Gujarat- 3,748

Haryana- 1,880

Himachal Pradesh- 361

Jammu and Kashmir- 1,523

Jharkhand- 895

Karnataka- 11,347

Kerala- 1,640

Ladakh- 80

Madhya Pradesh- 3,004

Maharashtra- 44,965

Manipur- 191

Meghalaya- 91

Mizoram- 2

Nagaland- 45

Odisha- 1,393

Puducherry- 598

Punjab- 4,295

Rajasthan- 1,966

Sikkim- 75

Tamil Nadu- 11,299

Telangana- 1,372

Tripura- 356

Uttar Pradesh- 7,155

Uttarakhand- 1,056

West Bengal- 7,177

However, a total of 78,19,886 people have been cured and discharged. The total active cases stands at 5,16,632 in the country.

-CHK

Air quality still ‘severe’ as farm fires continue to choke Delhi

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘severe’ category today with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 443, as pollutants from farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions continue to rise.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Jahangirpuri recorded ‘severe’ levels of air pollution with the AQI at 458 at around 10 am. The AQI in Dwarka was at 407, 380 in Najafgarh, 438 in Punjabi Bagh, 433 in Rohini.

“Some areas entered into ‘severe’ category even though the wind speed over Delhi improved to around 8-10kmph through the day,” the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said.

However, the national capital air quality is likely to remain ‘severe’ on Diwali festival as well, it added.

Meanwhile, the air monitoring agencies said that, while meteorological conditions were moderately favourable for dispersion of pollutants, a very high number of farm fires in Punjab was the primary reason for ‘severe’ air quality.

The several parts of Delhi were also covered with smog this morning, including Burari, Peera Garhi, Kashmere Gate and Mukherjee Nagar area leading to decreased visibility.

Furthmore, SAFAR said that, the number of farm fires in Punjab remains very high (around 4,000) which is likely to impact the air quality in Delhi-NCR region and other parts of northwest India for coming days.

It said the AQI is likely to remain in the upper end of ‘very poor’ category on November 13 and ‘severe’ category on November 14 (Diwali).

Earlier yesterday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Centre was taking all steps to combat air pollution in Delhi and other parts of north India ahead of the winter season.

-RJV

National Cancer Awareness Day 2020: History and significance

Cancer-ribbon (representative pic)

New Delhi (NVI): Cancer is a non-communicable disease and the second-deadliest disease which causes death among people around the world, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).

National Cancer Awareness Day is observed on November 7 every year across the country, to spread awareness about preventing the spreading of cancer and its early detection.

The day coincides with the birth anniversary of eminent French-Polish scientist Madame Curie. She is known for her discovery of radium and polonium, and her huge contribution to the fight against cancer.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan first announced the National Cancer Awareness Day in September 2014, with an aim to generate awareness on early detection and avoid leading cancer causing lifestyles.

He also launched the state-level movement on cancer control, and encouraged people to report to municipal clinics for free screening.

Nearly 1.1 million new cases are being reported annually in India. Two-thirds of cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, reducing patients’ chances of survival. The country had an estimated 1.16 million new cancer cases in 2018 alone, as per the WHO report.

Globally, about 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer and in low and middle-income countries approximately 70 per cent of deaths occur due to cancer.

The most important risk factor for cancer is tobacco and is responsible for approximately 22 per cent of cancer deaths. However, there are more than 100 different types of cancer including breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, etc.

On this day, people are encouraged to report to government hospitals, CGHS and municipal clinics for free screening. Also, information booklets are circulated to generate awareness on how to avoid getting cancer and to look for signs of early symptoms.

In the fight against the disease, the types of cancer treatment include immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery and prescribed medicine etc. With precaution of maintaining a healthy diet and weight helps long-term in fighting cancer.

Apart from that, get vaccinated, good sun protection, use of no tobacco and regular check-ups are the other precautions which can be taken.

-RJV

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