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180 terrorists killed this year, 26 surrendered, reunited with families: J&K DGP

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): 180 terrorists were killed in 75 anti-militancy operations conducted across Jammu and Kashmir this year, while 26 ultras who had joined the militant ranks surrendered and were reunited successfully with their families, J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said today.

The DGP was addressing a press conference at Police Control Room in Srinagar after a top Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist from Pakistan and his local aide were killed in an encounter at Barzulla-Rambagh area of Srinagar today.

The J&K top cop said that the slain Lashkar commander killed in Srinagar gunfight has been identified as Saifullah from Pakistan, who was involved in a series of attacks on security forces, inflicting causalities on them.

“Today’s operation was a successful one. All the operations against militants conducted this year were clean and conducted in a professional manner,” the J&K Police chief said. He said that barring one operation at Batamaloo in Srinagar, in which one woman got killed in a cross-fire, all operations were conducted in a professional manner by the security forces.

Asked whether Lashkar and other militants are trying to set their foot again in Srinagar, the DGP said that this year, eight encounters took place in the city in which 18 militants including a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander were killed. “Whenever any militant outfit tries to establish its base in Srinagar, we successfully corner the militant with the help of our intelligence and other sources,” the DGP said.

On how many militants are active in Srinagar, the DGP said that at present only one militant is active in the city who is involved in a couple of attacks. “We will bring him to justice very soon,” Singh said.

About how many security forces personnel were killed this year, he said police lost 19 personnel and CRPF 21. “Army lost 15 soldiers and the majority of them were killed on the LoC,” the DGP said.

Replying to a query as to how many youths were brought back after joining militant ranks this year, he said that with the help of their parents and efforts of J&K police, 26 youths, who had joined militancy were reunited with their families.

Asked whether the police was sending the youth who shun militancy outside J&K, the DGP said no youth has been sent out the UT as yet. On whether there was any rehabilitation policy for the youth who quit militancy, he said: “Officially there is no policy as yet. When there would be one, details will be shared.”

To a query whether police reaches out to the families of slain cops who die fighting militants, the DGP said that every week, crores of rupees are being released for the families of police martyrs.

-ARK

Himachal CM tests COVID positive

Jairam Thakur

New Delhi (NVI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur today said that he has tested positive for novel coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, Thakur wrote, “A few days ago, due to contact with a corona positive person, I was quarantined at my residence for the past one week, due to some symptoms of corona from last two days, I got a corona test done today, which has been reported positive.”

He also announced that he has now isolated himself in his official residence on the advice of doctors.

Earlier on October 5, the Chief Minister had decided to keep himself in home quarantine for three days as a precautionary measure after he met some people in Manali, who tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh coronavirus tally rose to 17,409 after 164 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, while two fresh fatalities pushed it’s COVID-19 death toll to 246.

-RJV

PM Modi releases Rs 100 coin

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today released a commemorative coin of Rs 100 denomination to celebrate the birth centenary of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia today through video conference. He also paid tributes to Rajmata on her birth anniversary.

Referring to Vijayaraje Scindia’s book, the Prime Minister said in the book, he was introduced as a youth leader of Gujarat and today after so many years, he is serving as the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ of the country.


Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was one of those who led India in the right direction. “She was a decisive leader and a skilled administrator. She witnessed every important phase of Indian politics be it burning of foreign clothes, the Emergency and the Ram Temple movement,” the PM said.

The PM further said, “Rajmata has taught us that for public service, it is not necessary to be born in a particular family. All that is needed is love for the nation and a democratic temperament.”

He recalled a few occasions when Rajmata turned down many positions with humility. He said Atalji and Advani ji once urged her to become the President of the Jana Sangh but she accepted to serve the Jana Sangh as an activist rather.

-ARK

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India has crossed the 71 lakh-mark and stands at 71,20,539 after 66,732 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The country’s death toll stands at 1,09,150 after 816 new fatalities were reported during the same period.

In terms of total number of cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state with 15,28,266 coronavirus cases followed by Andhra Pradesh with 7,55,727 cases, Karnataka with 7,10,309 positive cases.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 4,005

Andhra Pradesh- 7,55,727

Arunachal Pradesh- 12,147

Assam- 1,93,783

Bihar- 1,96,531

Chandigarh- 13,162

Chhattisgarh- 1,42,372

Dadra Nagar Haveli & Diu – 3,163

Delhi- 3,09,339

Gujarat- 1,51,434

Goa- 38,366

Haryana– 1,42,155

Himachal Pradesh- 17,408

Jammu and Kashmir- 83,633

Jharkhand- 92,525

Karnataka- 7,10,309

Kerala- 2,89,202

Ladakh- 5,081

Madhya Pradesh- 1,46,820

Maharashtra- 15,28,226

Manipur- 13,326

Meghalaya- 7,683

Mizoram- 2,184

Nagaland- 7,019

Odisha- 2,52,239

Puducherry- 31,549

Punjab- 1,23,973

Rajasthan- 1,59,052

Sikkim- 3,359

Tamil Nadu- 6,56,385

Telangana- 2,13,084

Tripura- 28,461

Uttarakhand- 55,051

Uttar Pradesh- 4,36,979

West Bengal – 2,94,806

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 55

Andhra Pradesh- 6,224

Arunachal Pradesh- 24

Assam- 816

Bihar- 946

Chandigarh- 191

Chhattisgarh- 1,253

Dadra and Nagar Haveli- 2

Delhi- 5,769

Goa- 507

Gujarat- 3,566

Haryana- 1,579

Himachal Pradesh- 250

Jammu and Kashmir- 1,322

Jharkhand- 787

Karnataka- 9,966

Kerala- 1,003

Ladakh- 64

Madhya Pradesh- 2,624

Maharashtra- 40,349

Manipur- 91

Meghalaya- 63

Nagaland- 17

Odisha- 1,022

Puducherry- 563

Punjab- 3,833

Rajasthan- 1,650

Sikkim- 55

Tamil Nadu- 10,252

Telangana- 1,228

Tripura- 316

Uttar Pradesh- 6,394

Uttarakhand- 747

West Bengal- 5,622

However, a total of 61,49,535 people have been cured or discharged. The total active cases stands at 8,61,853 in the country.

-CHK

J&K: Lashkar commander, local terrorist killed in Srinagar encounter

Arms and ammunition
(File photo)

(Updating earlier copy)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Two terrorists, including a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander from Pakistan and a local terrorist from south Kashmir, who were trapped in the Barzulla-Rambagh area of Srinagar today, have been gunned down by the forces, the police said.

“Srinagar Encounter Update: 02 terrorists killed. Search going on. Further details shall follow,” the Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

This is the second encounter in Srinagar after September 17 when three terrorists were killed and a woman lost her life after she was hit by bullets in a cross-fire at Batamaloo area of the summer capital.

The identity of the terrorists was revealed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar while talking to reporters near the encounter site here. The IGP said that two terrorists including LeT commander Saifullah and another local terrorist from south Kashmir were trapped at the encounter site.

“Saifullah was involved in the attack on CRPF on September 24 in which ASI of CRPF was killed. He was also involved in the killing of two CRPF men and injuring three others at Kandizaal, Pampore (in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district),” IGP Kumar said.

He said Saifullah had infiltrated into Kashmir this year only and was first operating in north Kashmir and since past two months, he has been operating in south Kashmir,” the IGP added.

He said that last evening, police received a specific input about the presence of Lashkar commander Saifullah and a local terrorist from south Kashmir. “We laid a cordon and the terrorists got trapped,” he stated.

The IGP further said that the many civilians were evacuated from the congested area. “We offered them to surrender as that’s part of our Standard Operating Procedure (SoP), but they refused and fired, triggering an encounter,” the IGP said.

Asked whether the slain terrorists were roaming in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar yesterday, the IGP said, “These are operational details and can’t be shared with the media.”

He also said that after the Kandizaal, Pampore attacks recently, the police had promised that it will track the attackers soon and the promise stands fulfilled.

-RJV/CHK/ARK

J&K begins sero-survey to analyse impact of Covid-19

Covid-19 cases
Representative image

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): In a bid to have a basic analysis of Covid-19 spread and to take new measures to prevent the spread of the virus in Jammu and Kashmir, the UT government today announced the launch of an analytical study through a survey titled “Sero-Survey.”

The survey is aimed to get a firsthand account of the impact of the virus on the J&K population and the number of people affected so far.

J&K government’s official spokesman Rohit Kansal said that in its fight against coronavirus, the UT government has started studies from ground level under the sero-survey and a report for Jammu district has been received.

“Fight Against Coronavirus Sero survey report for Jammu District received. Only 8.2% of the population is exposed to the virus. Similar spread in both Rural (8.8%) and Urban (7.9%) Jammu. Similar studies for other districts too shortly,” Kansal tweeted.

Pertinently, the recent National Sero-Survey conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found that 27.3 per cent population in Pulwama district are exposed to COVID-19 in the month of October, which was just 2 per cent in May.

In the UT so far, more than 1,300 people have so far while over 80,000 have got infected due to the deadly virus.

Furthermore, Srinagar district has been the worst hit with majority of deaths and Covid-19 positive cases.

-CHK

China’s Qingdao to test 9 million people for COVID-19 after new cases emerge

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The Chinese city of Qingdao will conduct COVID-19 tests for the entire population of more than 9 million people over five days, according to the reports.

The mass testing comes after new cases appeared linked to a hospital treating people who had been confirmed with the virus after returning from overseas.

The city reported six new coronavirus cases and six asymptomatic cases as of late October 11 and most of the cases were linked to the Qingdao Chest Hospital, the Qingdao’s Municipal’s Health Commission said in a statement.

Moreover, a citywide testing program had been launched, with five districts to be tested within three days – with the whole city to be tested within five days, the commission said. However, officials did not give a precise figure on how many people would be tested.

China has extensive, quick test capabilities, some 1,14,862 people – including medical staff and newly hospitalised patients in the city’s hospitals – have already tested negative for the coronavirus.

These new cases come a week after China’s Golden Week holiday, which saw millions travel across the country. In addition to this, a Global Times report quoting the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said the city received 4.47 million passenger trips over this period.

Meanwhile, daily coronavirus infections have fallen drastically in China, and for the most part the country appears to have recovered from the worst of the virus. But the country remains on high alert in order to prevent painful lockdowns that led to an outright contraction of the world’s number two economy.

Earlier this year, China tested the entire city of Wuhan – a population of 11 million and the epicentre of the global outbreak.

So far, in mainland China 85,578 coronavirus cases has been registered, while the death toll remain unchanged at 4,634.

-RJV

Global coronavirus cases near 37.5 million

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): More than 37.4 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 while the death toll has crossed 10,75,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 25.9 million people have recovered from the disease.

In the US, the number of coronavirus infections have surpassed 7.7 million while the number of fatalities have exceeded 2,14,000 in the country.

Brazil confirmed 290 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 12,345 new cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Sunday. The South American country has now registered 5,094,979 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,50,488 total deaths.

Meanwhile, Italy is preparing new restrictions as daily infections surpassed 5,000 in recent days for the first time since March.

The UK has reported an additional 12,872 infections and 65 deaths – down from 15,166 and 81, respectively.

Israel has opened a new coronavirus treatment centre co-run by the army’s medical corps, as the country deals with one of the world’s highest daily infection rates per capita.

Furthermore, Greece announced 280 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, along with 13 deaths – the highest number of daily fatalities recorded in the country since the pandemic began. The country’s total number of cases since the pandemic started stands at 22,358, with 449 deaths.

Iran registered 251 deaths in 24 hours – its highest daily toll. The health ministry said the total number of identified cases had risen above 5,00,000.

Russia suffered its worst day yet for new infections. Moscow reported 13,634 new cases in 24 hours; the worst such figure since the pandemic began.

In addition to this, South Korea confirmed 97 new cases, a modest rise from the daily levels reported last week, just as officials eased social distancing restrictions after concluding that transmissions have slowed after a resurgence in mid-August.

Slovakia will impose stricter coronavirus restrictions from Thursday, including making face masks compulsory in public and limits to public gatherings, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday. The country has reported a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in recent days, recording 19,851 cases, up from 13,139 over the week.

-CHK

Major power cut across most of Mumbai

Aerial shot of Mumbai city.

New Delhi (NVI): The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has suffered a major power outage causing inconvenience to lakhs of citizens and commuters today.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Electricity, meanwhile, took to Twitter and said the electric supply is interrupted due to TATAs incoming electric supply failure.

“Inconveniences is regretted,” further read the tweet.

The power cuts were witnessed in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and other parts of the region.

Taking to Twitter, several residents complained of a sudden electricity outage in several parts.

-CHK

SSB solider shoots self dead in J&K’s Kupwara

Policeman
Representational Pic.

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): A Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) soldier shoots himself dead with his service riffle at Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district late last night, officials said today.

A SSB official said that the deceased has been identified as Amit Kumar of 37 Battalion who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh. He took the extreme step inside the camp at Vilgam village of Handwara at around 12 am, the official said, adding an in house inquiry has been launched to find out what forced the solider to take the extreme step.

Today’s incident comes barely after three days when a SSB man posted in Srinagar went missing mysteriously.

According to the officials, the rising incidents of suicides among the security forces in Kashmiris is because of the non-availability of leave due to COVID-19 pandemic, family issues and isolation in their units in the wake of virus which has claimed over 1,300 lives and affected more than 80,000 people in J&K including security forces.

-RJV

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