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Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigns

Harsimrat Kaur Badal

New Delhi (NVI): Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal today resigned in protest against the three farm bills tabled in the Parliament by the Centre.

“I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter & sister,” the senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader said in a tweet.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, former chief minister of Punjab and parliamentarian earlier said that Harsimrat will resign from the government to protest farm bills. Later in the evening, she sent her resignation to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The three ordinances which have become a bone of contention between leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 which got passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

There were differences between SAB and BJP when the ordinances were discussed in the cabinet meeting. Harsimrat Kaur Badal was the only Union Minister who had protested against the ordinances when it was taken up for discussion in the union cabinet and it was made clear to the senior BJP leadership that SAD would not be able to support the ordinances.

Senior leaders of SAD have been protesting against the three ordinances as the party leadership believes that it is against the interest of farmers.

-ARK

Army chief arrives in Kashmir to review security situation, meets J&K LG

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Army Chief General MM Naravane today arrived on a two-day visit to Kashmir to review the security situation on the Line of Control (LoC) in the wake of rising ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

General Naravane arrived in Srinagar today and proceeded to undertake a firsthand assessment of the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir, defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said.

“During his interaction with the soldiers deployed in high altitude areas, he appreciated their high morale and complimented them on their response to Pakistan ceasefire violations. He also commended the use of technology to ensure effective day and night surveillance across the LoC which has resulted in many successful operations to foil infiltration bids from across the LoC in the recent past.

“The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) reinforced the need to extend all possible support to civilians residing in the border areas who are victims of targeted ceasefire violations by Pakistan Army and are facing hardships due to the pandemic,” the defence spokesman said.

He said that Gen Naravane then proceeded to interact with commanders and troops deployed in the hinterland. “While interacting with jawans, the COAS highlighted that it was the dawn of a new era of development, peace and prosperity in Kashmir and applauded them for their high level of morale and contribution to peace-building in J&K,” the Kalia said.

According to the defence spokesman, Army chief appreciated the high level of coordination amongst all government agencies towards maintaining peace in the Valley and efforts to reach out to the “Awam” (general public) to overcome the challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic. “Later in the day, the COAS reviewed the overall security situation along with the Northern Army Commander and 15 Corps Commander,” he said.

“The COAS also called on Manoj Sinha, Lt Governor of the UT and discussed issues concerning the present security situation in the Union Territory and assured the wholehearted support of the Army in ushering in peace and stability in the region. The COAS is scheduled to return to New Delhi on 18 September 2020,” the defence spokesman added.

-ARK

JK’s Covid tally climbs to 59,711 with 1,467 more cases, 19 more deaths

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir today recorded another surge of 1,467 fresh cases of deadly coronavirus, including 62 travelers, taking the total number of positive cases in the Union Territory to 59,711.

The UT also witnessed 19 fresh deaths related to Covid-19, taking the total number of fatalities due to the virus to 951.

Of the total 59,711 cases, 39,127 are from Kashmir and 20,583 from Jammu division. Officials said that among 1,467 new cases, 682 belong to Kashmir while 785 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir has reached 39,128 including 29,592 recoveries and 752 deaths.

On the other hand, the total number of positive cases in Jammu has reached 20,583 including 8,929 recoveries and 199 deaths.

They said that the total number of active cases in J&K is 20, 5239 including 8,784 from Kashmir and 11,455 from Jammu division.

With 712 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in the UT has reached 38,521 which is 64.51 percent of the total cases which was over 78 percent a few days before.

Interestingly, for the first time since Covid-19 outbreak, active cases have reached over 20,000 in J&K. Active cases in Jammu division are more than recovered cases.

“Cases tested positive in J&K include 233 from Srinagar, 89 from Budgam, 53 from Baramulla, 28 from Pulwama, 78 from Anantnag, 47 from Kupwara, 55 from Bandipora, 14 from Kulgam, 75from Ganderbal and 10 from Shopian in Kashmir division while as 785 from Jammu division include 210 from Jammu, 82 from Udhampur, 88 from Rajouri, 75 from Kathua, 69 from Samba, 75 from Poonch, 18 from Ramban, 97 from Doda, 27 from Reasi and 44 from Kishtwar,” as per the daily Covid bulletin.

In the last 24 hours, 19 persons who were tested positive for Covid-19 have died which include 5 from Kashmir division and 14 from Jammu division.

As per the media bulletin, the patients who have died include four from Srinagar and one from Kulgam in Kashmir division and 11 from Jammu, one each from Udhampur, Samba and Reasi in Jammu division.

As per the daily information bulletin, 5,35,846 persons in J&K are under observation while 30,027 persons have been kept under home quarantine. Besides that, 20,239 persons are in isolation.

According to the bulletin, 4,19,369 persons have completed surveillance period and 65,260 persons are under home surveillance.

So far, results of 13,20,240 samples are available out of which 12,60,529 stand negative while 59,711 have tested positive. Among positive cases, 20,239 are active and 38,521 persons have recovered.

-ARK

Pulwama-like terror attack averted, 52 kg explosives recovered near J&K highway

Abid Bashir        

Srinagar (NVI): Security forces today averted a Pulwama-like terror attack as they recovered 416 highly explosive gelatin sticks, weighing around 42 kgs, and 50 detonators from two plastic water tanks in Awantipora area of J&K’s Pulwama district.

A senior police official said that the explosives recovered today could have been used for a similar attack on the highway or elsewhere. “By recovering huge number of gelatin sticks, we have been able to avert major tragedy,” the police official said.

Last year, on February 14, at Lethpora area of Pulwama district, Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist Adil Dar rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy in a fidayeen attack, killing 40 CRPF personnel on the spot.

A police spokesman in a detailed statement said that acting on a tipoff about the presence of Jaish-e-Mohammad militants, the J&K Police, Army’s 42 RR regiment and 130 BN of CRPF conducted a joint search in the nursery area near forests of Gadikhal village in Awantipora.

“During the search of the forest area, two explosive dumps were found which were concealed underground in two different 250 liters plastic tanks,” the spokesman said.

“In one plastic tank, 416 high explosive gelatin sticks were kept concealed and were recovered. In another plastic tank, 50 detonators were recovered. The detonators were destroyed by the Bomb Disposal Squad on the spot, due to their risk of carrying/transporting.”

“By virtue of this recovery, security forces have been able to avert some major militant attack by means of explosive substances,” the police spokesman said.

A case under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activity Act has been registered at Police Station Awantipora and investigation has been taken up, the spokesman said. `

-ARK

Hope China won’t make further attempts to unilaterally changes status quo at LAC: MEA

MEA

New Delhi (NVI): Amid a tense border situation in Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs today said that India hoped the Chinese side will strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not make further attempts to “unilaterally change the change status quo”.

“The Chinese side should sincerely work with the Indian side for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols on maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas,” MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava said while addressing a press briefing here.

The MEA statement comes ahead of the Corps Commander-level talks between India and China to resolve a months-long crisis along the LAC in Ladakh.

Srivastava also recalled that there was consensus between the foreign ministers of both countries for a “quick and complete disengagement of troops” from all friction areas along the LAC. He was referring to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on 10 September.

“The two Foreign Ministers reached an agreement which outlines the way forward. This meeting followed the meeting that the two Defence Ministers had in Moscow on 04 September,” he said.

“Both sides should, therefore, focus on easing tensions in the friction areas by refraining from any actions that may lead to an escalation in the situation. This requires strict adherence to the bilateral agreements and protocols and not making unilateral attempts to change the status quo,” the MEA spokesman added.

-ARK

Indian cities drop in Global Smart City Index; Singapore tops the list

Aerial shot of Mumbai city.

New Delhi (NVI): New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru in India have witnessed a significant drop in their rankings in the Global Smart City Index that was topped by Singapore.

In the 2020 Smart City Index, Hyderabad was placed at the 85th position (down from 67 in 2019), New Delhi at 86th rank (down from 68 in 2019), Mumbai was at 93rd place (in 2019 it was at 78) and Bengaluru at 95th (79 in 2019).

The Institute for Management Development (IMD), in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design (SUTD), has released the 2020 Smart City Index, with key findings on how technology is playing a role in the COVID-19 era.

In SCI’s context, ‘smart city’ describes an urban setting that apply technology to enhance the benefits and diminish the shortcomings of urbanization.

According to the report, the cities in India have suffered significant drops this year because of the detrimental effect the pandemic has had where the technological advancement was not up to date.

“Indian cities have suffered more from the pandemic because they were not prepared,” the report said.

The 2020 Smart City Index (SCI) was topped by Singapore, followed by Helsinki and Zurich in the second and the third place respectively.

Others in the top 10 list include Auckland (4th), Oslo (5th), Copenhagen (6th), Geneva (7th), Taipei City (8th), Amsterdam (9th) and New York at the 10th place.

The second edition of the SCI ranked 109 cities worldwide by capturing perceptions of randomly chosen 120 residents in each city.

Hundreds of citizens from 109 cities were surveyed in April and May 2020 and asked questions on the technological provisions of their city across five key areas: health and safety, mobility, activities, opportunities and governance.

Furthermore, this year’s rankings reflected that cities have differing approaches to technology as managing the pandemic has become increasingly important in local politics.

Smart cities closer to the top of the rankings seem to deal with unexpected challenges of the devastating pandemic with a better outcome, the report added.

-CHK

No plan to drop CSAT from civil services exam: Govt

UGC NET exam
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The government has said there is no proposal to drop the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) from the civil services exam pattern.

The Civil Services Exam (CSE) is conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit officers for Indian Administrative Service( IAS) Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.

However, the exams would be conducted in three stages- Preliminary, Main, and Interview round.

As per the reports, “No sir” was the response given by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha to a question on the plans to drop the CSAT.

The Minister said that the government is not planning anything to change the pattern of the UPSC civil services examination yet, including the replacement of interviews with a psychological test.

UPSC will conduct the Civil Services prelims exam on October 4. The examination would be conducted as per the guidelines issued by the commission for IAS exam in this time of the pandemic.

According to the commission, wearing face masks in mandatory for all the candidates who are appearing in the exam. They also need to bring their own sanitizers to the venue to appear for the CSE Prelims.

Meanwhile, UPSC Civil Services Admit Card 2020 has been released a week ago. All the candidates will have to reach the exam center at 9.20 am that is 10 minutes prior to the exam begins and in the evening shift, they must reach at 2:20 pm.

-RJV

ICT Grand Challenge launched under Jal Jeevan Mission to measure, monitor water supply

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The National Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has launched an ICT Grand Challenge to create innovative, modular, and cost-effective solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’ at the village level.

The Jal Jeevan Mission, in partnership with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will be inviting proposals from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs, Indian Companies and Indian LLPs.

This challenge will harness the vibrant IoT eco-systems of India for creating smart rural water supply eco-system to measure and monitor the service delivery of the water supply in rural areas, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a release.

It will also provide opportunity to work for cause of Jal Jeevan Mission and to assure potable water supply through Functional Household Tap Connections to every rural household.

Moreover, the grand challenge will provide support at ideation stage, prototype development stage and deployment stage.

The pilot will be conducted at 100 villages and the best solution will get a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh while runner ups will get prize of Rs 20 lakh each.

Successful developers will be given an opportunity to join the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology supported incubator or CoEs for further nurturing of their solution, the release said.

Furthermore, this will boost the idea and thrust of initiatives like Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India and Make in India, it added.

National Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims at providing Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024.

The mission focuses on service delivery at the household level, through water supply regularly in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality.

Therefore, this necessitates the use of modern technology in systematic monitoring of the programme and to capture service delivery data automatically for ensuring the quality of services.

As digitisation of water supply infrastructure has the potential to solve some of the biggest societal problems facing the nation, it will help anticipate and address future challenges.

-RJV

Chinese actions reflect disregard of various bilateral agreements: Rajnath in RS

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said that China does not accept the customary and traditional alignment of the boundary with India and its recent actions reflect an utter disregard of the various bilateral agreements between the two countries.

He said India will no more tolerate any Chinese misadventures at the LAC and will not step back from taking any harsh decision since Indian troops are in a better position to retaliate, this time.

“The amassing of the troops by China goes against the 1993 and 1996 Agreements. Respecting and strictly observing the Line of Actual Control is the basis for peace and tranquility in the border areas and explicitly recognized in both 1993 and 1996 agreements. While our Armed Forces abide scrupulously by it, this has not been reciprocated by the Chinese side,” he said.

While responding to questions on the Chinese not allowing Indian soldiers to patrol on traditional posts, Rajnath said this is the reason for India’s fight with China. He was responding to a question by AK Antony who was Defence Minister in the previous Congress government.

Antony had commented on Indian troops being pushed back from traditional patrolling points in Ladakh.

Apart from that, Singh said that no power on earth can stop the Indian troops from patrolling Ladakh border at Line of Actual Control (LAC). He was replying to clarifications sought by Rajya Sabha MPs on his statement on border row with China.

The Defence Minister said that the skirmishes at LAC have been primarily over the issue of patrolling on Ladakh border. “No force in the world can stop Indian soldiers from patrolling. Our soldiers have sacrificed their lives only for this,” he said.

Rajnath’s statement retained elements of what he spoke on the issue in Lok Sabha two days ago, except for some crucial points.

He said that even though the situation this year is very different both in terms of scale of troops involved and the number of friction points, India remains committed to a peaceful resolution.

“Starting a war is in our hands but the end is not in our hands. I am astonished at times that peace is compromised. I want to tell our 130 crore countrymen that we will not let the country down. Neither will we bow before anyone, nor is it our intention to make anyone bow before us,” he said.

He also said that there is a mismatch between what China says and does while referring to the August 29 and 30 attempts by Chinese PLA to change the status quo at the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh.

-ARK

India may have COVID-19 vaccine by the start of next year: Harsh Vardhan

Govt is alert, no need to panic: Health Min on new COVID strain in UK

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today said that he is hopeful that by the early next year, the coronavirus vaccine will be available in India.

He also said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been personally monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Speaking at Rajya Sabha, Harsh Vardhan said, “Just like other countries, India is also making efforts. Three vaccine candidates are in different phases.”

“Under Prime Minister’s guidance, an expert group is looking at it and there is advanced planning in place. We are hopeful that by the start of next year a vaccine will be available in India,” he said regarding the coronavirus situation in the country.

His remarks come at a time when India has recorded more than 50 lakh coronavirus cases and people are eagerly waiting for the vaccine.

Moreover, the clinical trials for two indigenous vaccines by Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech are curently underway, with both completing phase 1 testing.

Serum Institute of India (SII) has again commenced the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine after getting clearance from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). However, the Pune-based firm, is looking after the trials at 17 trial sites across India.

India is the manufacturing partner of the vaccine candidate named Covishield, developed jointly by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

Apart from this, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered out of India, have agreed to cooperate on clinical trials and distribution of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country.

Vardhan further stated, the COVID-19 vaccine will be first made available to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity, the health minister reiterated.

The central government has been considering emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccination especially in the case of senior citizens and people working in high-risk settings, he added.

With 51,18,253 infections, India is the world’s second-worst affected country, the total number of fatalities stands at 83,198.

-RJV

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