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No plan to increase MRP of DAP, NPK fertilizers in Rabi season: IFFCO

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has said that it has no plan to increase the maximum retail price (MRP) of DAP and NPK fertilizers, in a major move aimed at giving relief to the farmers.

IFFCO Managing Director and CEO US Awasthi, in a tweet yesterday reiterated that during Rabi season, there is no plan to increase MRP of DAP, NPK fertilisers.

“We at #IFFCO, reiterate that during #rabi season there is no plan to increase MRP of #DAP, #NPK fertilisers. We serve the farmers and aim to reduce input agriculture cost to farmers & in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan of doubling the farmers income by 2022,” Awasthi tweeted.

He said that though there is a huge spike in the cost of raw materials like phosphoric acid and others in the international market, still we are not going to increase the price of fertilizers.

Notably, IFFCO provides its services to more than 5 crore farmers through more than 35,000 cooperative societies across the country.

There had been several occasions in the past as well when IFFCO has decided to guard the price line for poor farmers.

“IFFCO is a leading cooperative society engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing of fertilizers. It has five manufacturing plants in India,” the statement noted.

The cooperative has also diversified into general insurance, rural telecom, rural retail, agro chemicals, food processing and organics.

-RJV/ARK

Defence Acquisition Council clears more proposals worth Rs 2,290 crore

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

New Delhi (NVI): Amid the India-China border row, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today approved proposals for capital acquisitions of various equipment required by the Indian Armed Forces at an approximate cost of Rs 2,290 crore.

These include procurement from domestic industry as well as foreign vendors, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Under the Buy Indian (IDDM) category, the DAC approved procurement of Static HF Tans-receiver sets and Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW). The HF radio sets will enable seamless communication for the field units of Army and Air Force and are being procured at an approximate cost of Rs. 540 crore, MoD said.

The Smart Anti Airfield Weapon being procured at an approximate cost of Rs 970 crore will add to the firepower of Navy and Airforce, the Ministry said.

Further, to equip the Frontline Troops of the Army, the DAC also accorded approval for the procurement of SIG SAUER Assault Rifles at a cost of approx. Rs.780 crore, it said.

The development takes place amid the months-long standoff between India and China as diplomatic and military level efforts to dial down tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have failed so far.

Gangster dead as UP Police car overturns

The car flipped over the driving lane and landed on another lane of a the highway

New Delhi (NVI): A gangster from Uttar Pradesh being brought back to the state was killed in a road accident when the police car overturned in Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

The accident took place on NH 26 national highway in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district yesterday when the Lucknow police were returning from Mumbai after nabbing wanted criminal Feroz Ali alias Shammi.

Ali was rushed to a hospital in Biaora town of Rajgrah district where doctors declared him brought dead.

In the accident, four including, three police personnel, were also injured and admitted to the hospital in Biaora where their condition is stated to be stable.

According to the reports, the car had swerved sharply to avoid collision with a cow and the impact was so strong that the car had flipped over the driving lane and had landed on another lane of a the busy highway.

Gangster Feroz Ali was booked in 2014 under the UP Gangster Act and was absconding since the case was registered.

However, the incident gained much attention because another car accident involving the UP Police and a gangster named Vikas Dubey had also resulted in the death of the gangster in July.

-RJV

Harsh Vardhan launches ICMR’s vaccine web portal for COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): Amid the race to develop a potential Covid-19 vaccine in India, the Indian government today launched an online web portal for information and updates on the various Covid-19 vaccine being produced in the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced.

The online portal available on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) site, will be a repository for all information related to vaccine development in India.

“Everyone will be able to go online to that portal a look-up all contemporary research-development and clinical trials related information about such vaccinations,” said Vardhan during the press conference on ICMR’s 100-year timeline of history.

 

In addition to this, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi also launched a National Clinical Registry for COVID-19.

The registry will aim at collecting good quality real time clinical data to inform evidence-based clinical practice, research, formulating guidelines and policy.

Vardhan during the press conference hailed ICMR’s efforts and contributions in the field of science.

“It’s an honour for me to release 100-year timeline of history of ICMR within its premises today. The contribution of scientists associated with it is commemorated and serves as an inspiration to upcoming scientists,” the minister added.

“The ICMR has always attempted to address itself to the growing demands of scientific advances in biomedical research on the one hand, and to the need of finding practical solutions to the health problems of the country, on the other,” the portal reads.

India is currently on different phases of clinical trials of three Covid-19 vaccines.

The phase-III or the last stage of clinical trial of the Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’, being developed by Oxford University, and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), began on Monday at the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra.

-CHK

Early procurement of rice in rmng states

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The Department of Food & Public Distribution has now allowed all remaining procuring states to commence/proceed with their procurement operations for paddy/rice in Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21 with effect from today.

However, the commencement of procurement period in respect of Kerala and that of Punjab and Haryana will remain unchanged.

This would ensure that farmers are facilitated in selling their produce at Minimum Support Price (MSP) expeditiously, according to a Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution statement.

The Department has issued uniform specifications of food grains for Central Pool procurement for the ensuing Kharif Marketing Seasons (KMS) 2020-21.

Notably, these specifications as per standard practice have been issued in respect of paddy, rice and other coarse grains namely Jowar, Bajra, Maize and Ragi, the statement added.

Furthermore, these specifications also include standards of rice for issue to states and UTs for distribution under TDPS and Other Welfare Schemes based on the uniform specifications of rice for KMS 2020-21.

It is for the first time that uniform specification for Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK) for grade A & Common Rice have also been issued in case of procurement of Fortified Rice Stocks, of which 1 per cent FRK should be blended with normal rice stock.

The state governments have been requested to ensure that wide publicity of the uniform specifications is made among the farmers to ensure that they get due price for their produce and any rejection of the stocks is completely avoided.

-CHK

Beijing asks frozen food importers to avoid countries with severe Covid-19 outbreak

New Delhi (NVI): The authorities in the China’s capital Beijing have urgent importers to avoid frozen food from countries severely hit by the pandemic after several cases of imported seafood products testing positive for the virus.

The Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau in a statement issued to import companies said, “Customs and local governments have repeatedly detected the coronavirus in imported cold chain food, proving it risks contamination.”

The bureau urged importers to closely monitor the coronavirus situation around the world and take the initiative to avoid importing cold chain foods from areas severely hit by the pandemic.

It has also instructed the companies to improve their warnings and reporting mechanisms, and to inform authorities quickly if products test positive.

The order comes after China found its first local asymptomatic infections in more than a month as two port workers in Qingdao city responsible for unloading frozen seafood tested positive, according to the reports.

Although the health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have said the possibility of catching the coronavirus from food is low, but the China, which has largely eradicated national transmission of the virus is on high alert in the event of possible recontamination.

Earlier in June, China suspended poultry imports from a Tyson Foods plant in the United States because of concerns about an outbreak of coronavirus at the facility.

Last month, a batch of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil tested positive for coronavirus in the city of Shenzhen, one of multiple incidents in which the virus had been detected on food products.

Those incidents sparked increased screening of imported foods nationwide, and heightened inspection of products coming from places badly affected by the pandemic.

China this month suspended imports from seafood producers in Brazil, Indonesia and Russia for a week or more. However, the country had suspended imports from almost dozens of food companies across at least 19 countries and regions where workers have been infected with coronavirus, as per the reports.

So far, 90,483 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been registered in China and 4,739 died from the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

-RJV

Pak’s war-mongering tactics: Claims there could be ‘full-scale’ Indo-Pak war

The sensational comments were made by Major General Babar Iftikhar

New Delhi (NVI): Indulging in war-mongering, the Pakistan army has claimed that there could be a “full-scale war” between India and Pakistan and resorted to all sorts of lies, including about pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir.

The sensational comments by Major General Babar Iftikhar, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), came at a time when India remains engaged in a military faceoff with China in the Ladakh sector of Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“The threat of a full-scale war between India and Pakistan exists as such instances have been witnessed during the past and its main reason is India’s belligerence and preparations,” the official spokesperson of the Pakistan Army reportedly told a private TV channel of Pakistan.

He reportedly spoke while conducting a visit of a foreign delegation to the Line of Control (LoC).

Pakistan Army has recently stepped up cross-LoC shelling and firing and targeted even the civilian areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army has been responding befittingly to these provocations, which are often carried out to provide cover to terrorists trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir.

Maj Gen Iftikhar said India has been using every kind of calibre and weaponry system along the LoC ranging from snipers to normal artillery ammunition to air-burst and smart ammunition.

On infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistan side, the DG ISPR said India had established a three-tier anti-infiltration grid along the LoC to prevent such activities.

The grid includes minefields and bunkers, fences, electronic gadgets, sensors, and observations posts, the Pakistan Army spokesman said.

Although he did not mention, the anti-infiltration grid established by the Indian Army has helped in thwarting numerous attempts by terrorists, supported by the Pakistan Army, to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir. Several terrorists have been killed while making these attempts.

Maj Gen Iftikhar referred to statements by Indian Army regarding 200 terrorists waiting at launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir and claimed that it was “mere propaganda”.

The Pakistan Army spokesman acknowledged that Indian Army has “taken all sorts of measures to prevent infiltration into its area”.

Ever since the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was abolished in August last year, Pakistan has been desperate to draw attention of the international community to this issue. After failing miserably in this, the Pakistan Army is apparently now trying to indulge in war-mongering to create sensation internationally, since both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons, experts say. However, even this attempt of Pakistan is bound to fail miserably as the country lacks credibility globally, even in the Islamic world.

The entire world knows Pakistan as an epicentre of terrorism and as a country which hosts hundreds of UN-designated global terrorists, like Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim.

Australia, India working closely to enhance interoperability in IOR: Aus Def Minister

New Delhi (NVI): Australian Defence Force is working with its close regional partner India to enhance interoperability and deepen engagement under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) for a secure and inclusive Indo-Pacific, the Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said today.

“The @RoyalAustralianNavy joined the Indian Navy for a range of activities in the Northeast Indian Ocean. #YourADF is working with our close regional partner to enhance interoperability and deepen engagement under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” Linda said in a tweet while sharing two images from the recently concluded two-day Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the east Indian Ocean region.


The exercise, conducted from September 23 to 24 in IOR involved participation of HMAS Hobart from the Australian side and Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri and Karmuk.

The naval exercise was aimed at enhancing interoperability, improving understanding and imbibing best practices from each other. It involved advanced surface and anti-air exercises including weapon firing, seamanship exercises, naval manoeuvres and Cross Deck Flying Operations.

“Royal Australian Navy and Indian Navy warships completed 2 day Passage Exercise (PASSEX). Seamanship evolutions, weapon drills and cross deck flying undertaken. High degree of interoperability and jointness were further reinforced,” the Indian Navy had said in a press statement.

The Australian Defence Minister today highlighted the increasing momentum of defence exercises between Australia and India and said the engagement provided both nations with an opportunity to practice a range of naval activities, including combined manoeuvres and surface warfare serials.

“Our Defence relationship with India is at a historic high point after the Prime Ministers’ Virtual Summit earlier this year, and I look forward to further developing our comprehensive partnership into the future,” Linda was quoted as saying by Defence Connect.

The engagement bears significance, especially amid the India-China faceoff and Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) was signed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and PM Narendra Modi in June 2020.

Southwest monsoon to begin withdrawal today: IMD

rain
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): The Southwest monsoon is likely to begin withdrawing from some areas of west Rajasthan and Punjab from today, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The Met department also said that over the next two days, monsoon is likely to retreat from more areas along north India, said IMD.

“Conditions are becoming favourable for further withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from some more parts of Rajasthan and Punjab and some parts of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the next two or three days,” read the weather bulletin issued by IMD.

The commencement of monsoon withdrawal is 12 days late, compared to the new normal date set by IMD this year. However, for nearly a decade now, the monsoon withdrawal start off only after the third week of September.

According to IMD, the monsoon withdrawal from the country is declared when there is an observed reduction in rainfall activity and moisture content for five consecutive days, along with the development of an anticyclone system in the lower atmosphere.

The Met department also predicted dry weather conditions over most parts of the northwest India during next five days.

“Moderate thunderstorm with lightning very likely at isolated places over north peninsular India, Central and northeast India during next 12 hours,” IMD said.

-RJV

Pulwama encounter: J&K DGP says longest surviving LeT commander killed

July 18 Shopian encounter: Army completes summary of evidence
An encounter site in Kashmir (File Pic)

Abid Bashir

Awantipore (NVI): In a big success for security forces in Kashmir, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant commander, who was also the longest surviving and his aide were killed in an encounter in Samboora, Pulwama yesterday, Director General of Police (DGP) J&K, Dilbagh Singh said today.

“The operation at Samboora, Pulwama started yesterday and due to the dark, search operation couldn’t take place. When search was started today morning, two militant bodies were recovered. One of the slain militants has been identified as Aijaz Ahmed Reshi, who was longest surviving militant commanders of Lashkar outfit. He was working as Over Ground Worker (OGW) in 2015 and joined militancy before slain Hizb commander Burhan Wani,” DGP Singh told reporters while addressing a press conference at District Police Lines (DPL) Awantipore, Pulwama.

He said Aijaz was a “dangerous militant” who carried out deadly attacks on security forces inflicting heavy casualities. “He took part in an attack at EDI Pampore in which eight CRPF men were killed. He had transported the Lashkar men to the spot as well. At Kadlabal, Pampore, he had fired at army party killing three soldiers. He had took part in series of attacks on security forces,” the DGP said.

He was the main recruiter for the Lashkar and had recruitment many youths especially Towseef Khanday, Rafiq Dar and Adil Ahmed, all slain Lashkar militants. “Aijaz was killed along with other local militant Sajad Ahmed Sofi who was recruited by Aijaz and trained by him only,” the DGP said.

He said that two AK-47 riffles, two magazines, some rounds, and incriminating material was recovered from the slain militants. “The killing of Aijaz Reshi is a big success for security forces and there will be a dip in the local militant recruitment where he was operating,” the DGP Singh said. He complimented the 50 RR and 110 battalion unit of CRPF who were part of the operation at Samboora.

To a query on local militancy recruitment in South Kashmir, the DGP said that the graph is low compared to previous years. “In the past 15 days, three youth were brought back. And this year so far, 24 youth who had left homes and joined militancy, were brought back with the active cooperation of their parents,” DGP Singh said.

-ARK

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