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Mild earthquake hits Jammu & Kashmir

Mild earthquake hits Delhi
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): A mild intensity earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on the Richter scale struck northwest of Hanley, Jammu and Kashmir this morning.

“Earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on the Richter Scale occurred 51 km northwest of Hanley, Jammu & Kashmir at 06:54 am today,” according to National Centre for Seismology (NCS).

Reportedly, no casualties or damage to property were received from anywhere so far.

Last month, a moderate-intensity earthquake occurred in Jammu and Kashmir measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.

-RJV

J&K: Hizb chief killed in Srinagar encounter

J&K Encounter
Security forces in Kashmir (File Pic)

Srinagar (NVI): In a huge success against terrorism in Kashmir, security forces today killed Saifullah, Chief Commander of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen, in an encounter in Rangreth of Srinagar district.

IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said, “Saifullah was a catalyst in abductions/killings of civilians, SPOs and policemen in 2018. A very dedicated associate of then Hizbul Mujahideen chief, Riyaz Naikoo, and a brand of new age terrorism ends today.”

He further added, “One militant associate has also been apprehended alive in the encounter that took place in the Rangreth area.”

Dr Saifullah took over as Hizb Chief after Reyaz Naikoo was killed earlier this year in May.

According to police officials, a joint team of police and CRPF have launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) based on specific information about the presence of terrorists in Rangreth area.

As the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter, they added.

-CHK

Typhoon Goni batters Philippines, nearly one million evacuated

New Delhi (NVI): The world’s strongest storm this year has barreled into the eastern Philippines, bringing catastrophic winds and intense rains as about a million people were evacuated in its projected path including in the capital, Manila, where the main international airport was ordered closed.

Super Typhoon Goni made landfall over Catanduanes province at dawn on Sunday, before weakening as it crossed the main island of Luzon.

Goni’s maximum sustained winds have weakened to 175 kilometers an hour, while gusts slowed to 240 kilometers per hour after the typhoon’s third landfall in Quezon province at midday, down from 310 kilometers earlier Sunday, the Philippine weather bureau said in its latest report.

“Within the next 12 hours, catastrophic violent winds and intense to torrential rainfall associated with the region of the eyewall and inner rain bands of the typhoon will be experienced,” the Philippine weather agency said in an urgent advisory.

At least four people, including a five-year-old, were killed in Albay province, according to Governor Alfrancis Bichara.

Dozens of areas, including Metro Manila, have been placed under storm alert.

Goni comes a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region of the natural disaster-prone archipelago and killed 22 people.

An average of 20 cyclones pass through disaster-prone Philippines every year, which will likely complicate the nation’s fight against the coronavirus as hundreds of thousands of people are evacuated from typhoon-hit areas. In 2013, Haiyan struck the Southeast Asian nation and killed more than 6,300 people.

-CHK

South Korea expands mandatory mask requirements amid spike in COVID cases

New Delhi (NVI): South Korea has expanded its mandatory mask policy to spas, wedding halls and other places as part of new social distancing rules aimed at preparing for a prolonged COVID-19 outbreak.

Currently, mask wearing is mandatory for 12 “high-risk” classes of venues, such as clubs, karaoke bars and internet cafes.

From November 7, these restrictions will be expanded to 23 types of places, which includes department stores, theme parks and hair salons.

While South Korea has managed to contain the COVID-19 spread better than many western nations, which are struggling with a resurgent virus, its daily new cases have risen above 100 in recent days.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 124 new cases as of midnight Saturday, marking a fifth consecutive day of infections topping 100 due to small clusters emerging in places such as spas, schools and churches.

South Korea on Sunday also announced a new five-tiered social distancing scheme, which replaces a three-level system. The more targeted approach to restrictions is designed to mitigate the impact of curbs on the economy, small businesses and people.

So far, South Korea has reported 26,635 coronavirus cases while the total number of fatalities stand at 466 in the country.

-CHK

Gilgit-Baltistan integral part of India, Pak has no locus standi: MEA

MEA

New Delhi (NVI): After the Imran Khan government announced the provisional provincial status for Gilgit-Baltistan, India today said that Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, including the area of so called “Gilgit-Baltistan”, are an integral part of India by virtue of the legal, complete and irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava said, “The Government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it.”

“The Government of India firmly rejects the attempt by Pakistan to bring material changes to a part of Indian territory, under its illegal and forcible occupation,” Srivastava added.

Lashing out at Pakistan, the MEA said that such attempts, intended to camouflage Pakistan’s illegal occupation, can’t hide grave human rights violations and denial of freedom for over seven decades to people residing in these Pakistan occupied territories.

“Instead of seeking to alter the status of these Indian territories, we call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” he stated.

Amid massive protests, Pakistan PM said that the government has decided to grant Gilgit-Baltistan the provisional provincial status in line with the UNSC resolution.

-CHK

Railways register over 15% rise in freight loading compared to last year

(File/Representational image)

New Delhi (NVI): Indian Railways registered freight loading of 108.16 million tonnes in October 2020, which is 15 per cent higher compare to last year’s during the same period, the Railway Ministry said.

“On mission mode, Indian Railway’s Freight loading for the month of October 2020 crossed last year’s loading and earnings for the same period. In the month of October, Railways loading was 108.16 million tonnes which is 15 per cent higher compare to last year’s loading for the same period (93.75 million tonnes),” the Ministry of Railways said in a statement.

During this period, Indian Railways earned Rs 10,405.12 crores from freight loading which is also Rs 868.90 crore (9 per cent) higher compared with the last year’s earnings of Rs 9,536.22 crore.

The loading of 108.16 million tonnes ferried, included 46.97 million tonnes of coal, 14.68 million tonnes of iron ore, 5.03 million tonnes of foodgrains, 5.93 million tonnes of fertilizers and 6.62 million tonnes of cement (excluding clinker).

Notably, a number of concessions and discounts are also being given by Railways to make freight movement on rails very attractive, the ministry said.

“Improvements in freight movements will be institutionalized and incorporated in the upcoming zero based time table,” it added.

Meanwhile, to attract new business and incentivise other existing clients, Ministry of Railways has held meetings with top leadership of iron and steel, cement, power, coal, automobiles and logistics service providers.

Also, business development units at zonal and divisional levels and near doubling of freight speed is contributing to sustainable growth momentum inspite of blocked freight services in Punjab, the ministry said.

It added that coronavirus pandemic has been used by Railways with an opportunity to improve all round efficiencies and performances.

-RJV

Rajnath greets Army’s Eastern Command

RAJNATH-Singh
File Photo

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today extended his greetings to the Warriors of the East on the 100th raising day of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command.

Taking to Twitter, Rajnath said, “Greetings and my best wishes to the #WarriorsOfTheEast on the 100th Raising Day of Eastern Command. I salute their courage and indomitable spirit. Their service to India is unparalleled.”

Moreover, the Eastern Command also extended wishes to its defence civilian employees and veterans on this occasion of the 100th Raising Day.

“On the occasion of the Raising Day, #ArmyCdrEC wishes all ranks, defence civilian employees,veterans of EasternCommand and calls upon everyone to work with dedication and devotion as per true traditions and ethos of the IndianArmy,” the Eastern Command tweeted.

The Eastern Command was raised on November 1, 1920 at Nainital in present-day Uttarakhand under General Sir H Hudson and had territorial jurisdiction over Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Assam.

At present, the Command is responsible for guarding the borders with five countries – China, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Notably, the Command’s top glory was the 1971 war with Pakistan, that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

-RJV

India sustains trend of declining active Covid-19 cases

COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): India continues to report a trend of steadily declining active cases. For the third day the active cases have dropped below the 6 lakh-mark after nearly three months and currently stands at 5,70,458.

The active cases have dropped to only 6.97 per cent of the total positive cases of the country demonstrating a steady falling percentage of the total cases, as per the Union Health Ministry.

India has reported nearly 47,000 new positive cases of Covid-19 and 470 deaths in the last 24 hours. With new infections, the total number of infected persons in the country has inched towards 82 lakh cases in the country.

The total Covid-19 cases in the country now stand at 81,84,082, while the death toll has climbed to 1,22,111. The total recoveries have surged to 74.91 lakh, taking the national recovery rate to 91.54 per cent while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.49 per cent.

As per the health ministry, 21 states and UTs have deaths per million lower than the national average, while 76 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.

Furthermore, the health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation

More than 15 per cent of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra alone.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state by the virus with 1,24,142 active COVID-19 cases, 15,10,353 recoveries and 43,911 deaths. Kerala has reported 91,297 active cases, 3,40,324 recoveries and 1,484 deaths. Tamil Nadu and Delhi have reported 22,164 and 32,719 COVID-19 active cases respectively.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 10,98,87,303 samples have been tested up to October 31 with 10,91,239 samples being tested on Saturday.

-CHK

Fact check: Order claiming schools to remain closed till Nov 30 is misleading

New Delhi (NVI): An order doing rounds on social media claimed that all government and private schools will continue to remain closed till November 30.

Debunking the claims, the Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to Twitter and clarified that the government has not made any such announcement and the order is misleading.

“A headline of an order claims that, all schools to remain closed till 30th November.

#PIBFactCheck : This Headline is MISLEADING. Decision on opening of educational institutions is left to States/UTs as per MHA’s September order, which is valid till November, 2020,” PIB tweeted.

The order circulated on social media reads, “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 10(2)(1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the undersigned hereby directs the guidelines for reopening issued by Ministry of Home Affairs’ orders of even number dated 30.09.2020 will remain in force till 30.11.2020.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines have left to the States and Union Territories to decide when to reopen schools and colleges.

As per the guidelines issued earlier, the states and union territories will have to prepare their own SOPs regarding the health and safety of all the students and teachers while reopening the schools.

-RJV

Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’, likely to improve by Monday

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi’s air quality continues to remain in the ‘very poor’ category, due to a very high number of farm fires, negating the effect of better ventilation.

However, the air quality is expected to improve by Monday.

As per the forecast, PM10 pollutants in Delhi will reduce to the figure of 267 on Monday, which falls in the ‘poor’ category while PM2.5 pollutants are expected to fall down to 165, which also falls under the ‘very poor’ category.

The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 366 at 8:30 am. Furthermore, the 24-hour average AQI was 367 on Saturday, 374 on Friday, 395 on Thursday, 297 on Wednesday, 312 on Tuesday, and 353 on Monday.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ”good”, 51 and 100 ”satisfactory”, 101 and 200 ”moderate”, 201 and 300 ”poor”, 301 and 400 ”very poor”, and 401 and 500 ”severe”.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was 32 per cent on Saturday, the second highest this season so far, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitoring agency, SAFAR.

However, it was 19 per cent on Friday and 36 per cent on Thursday — the maximum so far this season.

SAFAR said Delhi’s AQI did not improve much despite better ventilation, mainly because of highly favourable north-north westerly boundary level wind direction and perfect wind speed for intrusion of pollutants from farm fires.

-CHK

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