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Balochistan has the lowest per capita rate of female education in the world

New Delhi (NVI): The lawmakers, representatives of civil society, and NGOs working for women of Balochistan have expressed concern over the region’s lowest per capita rate of female education in the world.

In a meeting, mem­ber of the Balochistan Assembly, Sana Baloch, chairman of the Public Accounts Com­mittee, Akhtar Hussain Langove, chair­man of the Standing Committee for Women, Ahmad Nawaz Baloch, gene­ral secretary of the Quetta Press Club, Zafar Baloch and representatives of NGOs working for women and children rights-  focused their attention on female education.

They also expressed their sincere concern over increasing female mortality rate, and claimed an expenditure of Rs 110 billion was allocated for constructing buildings and other establishments on the premise of development, but not a single rupee was spent on service delivery in the province.

Women in the region are in deep distress and deprived of basic amenities. Representatives of women’s rights organisation expressed concern over the low female education rate in the province and said that the authorities concerned were not making efforts to address this issue.

“A large number of girls drop out of school due to various reasons. There is no middle school facility for them. They have to travel to far-flung areas and cities to get admission in educational institutions. They do not have a transport facility to go to schools or colleges. They leave without completing education or their parents withdraw them from schools,” they said during the meeting.

The number of girls’ schools in Balochistan is also very low. The government has not set up more schools for girls and at the same time have not upgraded them, so that the education of girls does not remain incomplete. Women also face great difficulty in obtaining ID cards.

At National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), only one NADRA van is available for different areas and districts. Banks do not give loans to women in Balochistan to start businesses due to lack of identity, they further added.

Peace process must respect sovereignty: Jaishankar at intra-Afghan negotiations

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attends the intra-Afghan talks virtually on Saturday.

New Delhi (NVI): The peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, promote human rights and democracy, ensure the interest of minorities, women and the vulnerable, effectively address violence across the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said.

The minister was speaking in the inaugural session of the intra-Afghan negotiations held in Doha via video conference.

Jaishankar’s participation was in response to an invitation extended to him by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

In his address, Jaishankar referred to the millennia-old relationship between India and Afghanistan, which he said had withstood the test of time.

Jaishankar also highlighted India’s role as a major development partner of Afghanistan with over 400 projects completed in all the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

He conveyed that India’s policy on Afghanistan had been consistent.

The External Affairs Minister also wished for the success of the Intra-Afghan negotiations in delivering to the people of Afghanistan what they have longed for – a peaceful and prosperous future in an independent and sovereign nation.

Taking it to twitter, Jaishankar said, “Addressed the conference on Afghan peace negotiations at Doha today. Conveyed that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, promote human rights and democracy, ensure the interest of minorities, women and the vulnerable, effectively address violence across the country.”

“The friendship of our peoples is a testimony to our history with Afghanistan. No part of Afghanistan is untouched by our 400-plus development projects. Confident that this civilizational relationship will continue to grow,” he added.

Joint Secretary (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran) in Ministry of External Affairs, J P Singh, in Doha also witnessed the ceremony.

The intra-Afghan talks, a significant development in the middle-east region, comes after the Afghan government released the last batch of six Taliban prisoners on Thursday.

Kabul and the Taliban had announced that the long-awaited “intra-Afghan” talks would begin on September 12 in Doha, Qatar.

-CHK

Journalist Bilal Farooqi held in Karachi for speaking against Pakistan Army

Terrorist arrested
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): A senior journalist, Bilal Farooqi, associated with the Express Tribune, was allegedly arrested by the Defence police on Friday evening from his home in Karachi.

Farooqi works as a news editor at the newspaper and lived in Karachi’s DHA neighbourhood.

Karachi police chief, Additional Inspector General Ghulam Nabi Memon confirmed that “Bilal Farooqui of Express Tribune” had been “arrested by the station investigation officer (SIO) of Defence police”, according to Dawn.

A complaint was filed by Javed Khan, a resident of Majeed Colony in Landhi area. He said he found “highly objectionable material” shared by Farooqi on social media platforms, according to media reports.

The complainant claimed that “highly provocative posts” had been shared by Farooqi against the Pakistan Army and that the same also contained material pertaining to religious hatred.

Khan alleged that Farooqi had “defamed” the Pakistan Army and such social media posts may be used by hostile elements for their “nefarious designs”. Therefore, legal action should be taken against him, Javed said.

In a tweet, journalist Ebad Ahmed said Farooqi was taken into custody from his home by “two men in plainclothes accompanied by two policemen”.

In addition to this, in a statement released by the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) condemned the high-handedness of the law enforcement and added that it was an attempt to curb ‘free and independent voices’.

The statement read, “Bilal Farooqi, an active journalist who also remained executive committee of the KUJ, has been an educated and responsible youth, who never indulged in any kind of violation of Pakistani laws.”

-CHK

J&K: Jubilations in twin villages of Baramulla as mobile phones ring for the first time

Govt issues fake CoWIN App alert, warns citizens to not download
File photo

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): In Kashmir’s Baramulla district, two remote villages have been without mobile phone connectivity for years, but after the efforts of the administration, mobile phones started ringing for the first time today in these villages.

The two villages fall in the forest belt of Rampura and Rajpora in Sopore area of Baramulla district.

In local parlance, these villages are known as Khudgoo-Mungloo as they have a breathtaking view, topography, waterfalls and a sprawling forest range comprising Deodar trees.

For the people of these twin villages, telecom company Reliance has come to rescue by installing towers and connect the villagers with the rest of the world through mobile phone connectivity and internet services.

Locals of Khudgoo-Mungloo while thanking the Baramulla district administration for the much needed mobile phone connectivity said, “Our children would travel 20 kms to make calls and to use internet. This is for the first time that we are able to make calls from mobiles phones,” said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Khudgoo village, some 30 kms away from the main town of Sopore.

Ajiaz Rashid, a student said that the villagers had been facing immense problems. “Pregnant women were taken to hospital in carts as there was no means to communicate with the hospital authority for seeking ambulance service. Similarly, in case of any fire or other natural calamity, it would take the administration at least six hours to reach the villages,” he said.

He said children had to travel a long distance to attend online classes. “We are now able to make calls and also get in touch with friends, relatives and also take online classed even though the internet speed is 2G only,” Rashid said.

A Reliance official said that it took them almost a year to install towers in the twin villages.

“Due to the difficult terrain and topography of the area, we had to conduct a detailed survey first and check the appropriate places for installation of towers,” he said. “The main challenge was to ensure the range of signal remains within the area as per set norms. Since Baramulla has LoC connecting this part with the other part of Kashmir under Pakistan at present, there were security issues as well.”

It is pertinent to mention that mobile phone services were introduced in J&K in early 2000 from Srinagar and Jammu districts.

-CHK

Delhi Metro resumes operations on all lines

New Delhi (NVI): After a shutdown of almost six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Metro today became fully operational with the reopening of Airport Express Line.

The entire Metro rail network in the national capital is now available from the pre-COVID-19 schedule 6 am to 11 pm, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) confirmed.

“With the resumption of service on the Airport Express Line, all lines of the Delhi Metro network are now open! Remember to follow the guidelines when travelling,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted.

The guidelines has been issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs allowing the Delhi Metro to resume operations, following which the DMRC had said it would be done in three stages from September 7-12.

On September 7, the Delhi Metro had resumed services with curtailed operation of the Yellow Line and Rapid Metro. The Metro services were shut on March 22 to contain the spread of the deadly contagion.

Notably, the Airport Express Line has resumed services as part of the third stage of the graded re-opening of the Delhi Metro.

Under stage one, Yellow Line or Line 2 and Rapid Metro were made operational with restricted service hours.

Whereas, the stage two kicked in from Friday with Magenta and Grey lines operational with extended service hours, and stage three came into effect from today onwards with Metro services going back to pre-COVID-19 time schedule.

The DMRC has, however, appealed to people to use the rapid transport only if urgently needed.

-RJV

COVID-19: Animal trials of COVAXIN were successful, says Bharat Biotech

vaccine
(File/Representational image)

New Delhi (NVI): The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech announced that the animal trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN were successful and generated robust immune responses.

“Bharat Biotech proudly announces the animal study results of COVAXIN – These results demonstrate the protective efficacy in a live viral challenge model,” the Hyderabad-based firm said in a statement.

The vaccine candidate was found to generate robust immune response. Thus, preventing infection and disease in the primates upon high amounts of exposure to live SARS-CoV-2 virus, it added.

The company said no adverse effects were seen in animals who were immunised with a two-dose regimen of the vaccine.

Bharat Biotech had tested its vaccine candidate on four groups of 20 rhesus macaques. The primates were administered a two-dose vaccination regimen of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, the company said.

One group was administered with the placebo, three groups were immunised with three different vaccine candidates at zero and 14 days. All the macaques were exposed to viral challenge 14 days after they were given the 2nd dose.

“The results showed protective efficacy, increasing SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies, reducing replication of the virus in the nasal cavity, throat, and lung tissues of monkey,” the statement said.

“No evidence of pneumonia was observed by histopathological examination in vaccinated groups, unlike the placebo group,” it added.

Meanwhile, the human clinical trials of Bharat Biotech’s experimental vaccine are also underway. It was the first indigenous vaccine candidate to get the Drug Controller General of India’s approval for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials on June 29.

Earlier in July, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) wrote to 12 hospitals and medical institutions to speed up the trial process and launch COVAXIN by August 15 for public use.

The move was denounced by health and medical experts who said the ICMR’s proposed timeline would compromise patient safety and ethics.

COVAXIN was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology. It is an inactivated vaccine created from a strain of the deadly virus.

-RJV

China hands over 5 missing Arunachal youth to India

Representative pic

New Delhi (NVI): Five men, who went missing from villages near the border with China earlier this month, have been handed over to India by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

In a statement, PRO Defence, Tezpur said, “Indian Army took over all five individuals (missing from Arunachal Pradesh) at Kibitu today after completing all formalities. Individuals will now be quarantined for 14 days as per COVID-19 protocol and will thereafter be handed over to their family members.”

Following their return, all the five men entered Arunachal Pradesh through the Kibithu border post.

The individuals from Upper Subansiri district had inadvertently strayed across Line of Actual Control (LAC) recently.

Earlier on Friday, Union minister Kiren Rijiju had said the PLA is likely to hand over the five youths missing from Arunachal Pradesh to the Indian authorities on Saturday.

“The Chinese PLA has confirmed to the Indian Army to hand over the youths from Arunachal Pradesh to our side. The handing over is likely to take place anytime tomorrow i.e. 12th September 2020 at a designated location,” Rijiju had tweeted on Friday.

The PLA on Tuesday had conveyed that the five youths, who went missing on September 4 from the Sino-Indian border in Upper Subansiri district, were found by them across the border.

Indian Army true to its ethos has once again worked tirelessly for the well-being of the people of North East. During adventurous forays, at times youth have inadvertently strayed to other side of LAC, the statement said.

The Army has always been proactive in tracing the lost locals and helping them return home. In the current year, three such incidents have taken place in the Upper Subansiri and West Siang district including the latest one.

All such individuals were brought back home safely after consistent efforts and coordination by Indian Army in the past.

The development comes at a time when the Indian Army has enhanced its deployment along the 3,400 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) in view of the tense border row between India and China in eastern Ladakh.

-CHK/RJV

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

Coronavirus India

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India has reached 46,59,985, after 97,570 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, biggest single-day rise, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The country’s death toll has gone up to 77,472 after 1,201 new fatalities were reported in the country during this period.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases climbed to 10,15,681, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 5,47,686 cases, and Tamil Nadu with 4,91,571 cases.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 3,494

Andhra Pradesh- 5,47,686

Arunachal Pradesh- 5,825

Assam- 1,38,339

Bihar- 1,55,445

Chandigarh- 7,292

Chhattisgarh- 58,643

Dadra Nagar Haveli & Diu – 2,695

Delhi- 2,09,748

Gujarat- 1,10,809

Goa- 23,445

Haryana– 88,332

Himachal Pradesh- 8,784

Jammu and Kashmir- 50,712

Jharkhand- 59,040

Karnataka- 4,40,411

Kerala- 1,02,254

Ladakh- 3,228

Madhya Pradesh- 83,619

Maharashtra- 10,15,681

Manipur- 7,579

Meghalaya- 3,447

Mizoram- 1,379

Nagaland- 4,946

Odisha- 1,33,117

Puducherry- 19,026

Punjab- 74,616

Rajasthan- 99,036

Sikkim- 2,026

Tamil Nadu- 4,91,571

Telangana- 1,54,880

Tripura- 18,281

Uttarakhand- 29,221

Uttar Pradesh- 2,99,045

West Bengal– 1,96,332

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 51

Andhra Pradesh- 4,779

Arunachal Pradesh- 10

Assam- 430

Bihar- 797

Chandigarh- 86

Chhattisgarh- 519

Dadra and Nagar Haveli- 2

Delhi- 4,687

Goa- 276

Gujarat- 3,180

Haryana- 932

Himachal Pradesh- 71

Jammu and Kashmir- 854

Jharkhand- 532

Karnataka- 7,067

Kerala- 410

Ladakh- 38

Madhya Pradesh- 1,691

Maharashtra- 28,724

Manipur- 44

Meghalaya- 24

Nagaland- 10

Odisha- 605

Puducherry- 365

Punjab- 2,212

Rajasthan- 1,207

Sikkim- 8

Tamil Nadu- 8,231

Telangana- 950

Tripura- 182

Uttarakhand- 388

Uttar Pradesh- 4,282

West Bengal- 3,828

However, a total of 36,24,196 people have been cured or discharged. Total active cases stand at 9,58,316.

-CHK

 

1.75 lakh houses were built under PMAY, amid COVID-19, says PM Modi

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that despite the challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.75 lakh houses have been built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh.

 

PM Modi took part in the ‘Grih Pravesham’  event through video conference, inaugurated the houses and spoke to beneficiaries from Dhar, Singrauli and Gwalior who had received benefits under the scheme.

Speaking at the virtual event, the Prime Minister said, the Centre’s flagship housing scheme for the rural poor does not just provide homes to them but also gives them self-confidence as he inaugurated more than one lakh houses in Madhya Pradesh.

He also congratulated the beneficiaries of the scheme and said, “Your celebrations this Diwali, and on other festivals will be at another level. Had it not been for the corona phase, your Pradhan Sevak (PM Modi) would have been amidst you in this hour of celebration.”

He further stated, “Even during the time of coronavirus pandemic, houses under PMAY were constructed in just 45 to 60 days which is a very good example of turning disaster into an opportunity.”

Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, among others also took part in the event.

“I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the people of Madhya Pradesh for changing the direction and status of the country through his welfare schemes,” Chouhan said.

Despite various challenges, a total of 18 lakh houses have been built in the country under the PMAY scheme during the pandemic.

The PMAY is a housing initiative of the Government of India launched in 2015 to provide affordable housing to the urban and the rural poor. However, the target of housing scheme is to build 20 million affordable houses by March 2022.

-RJV

Over 3/4th of India’s COVID cases have recovered: Govt

COVID-19
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): More than three-fourth of reported coronavirus cases in India have either recovered or been discharged, the Union Health Ministry informed.

In a tweet, the Health Ministry said, “The gap between the percentage of Recovered Cases and percentage of Active Cases progressively growing wide. More than 3/4 of total cases (more than 36Lakh) recovered & discharged.”

The Health Ministry also shared a graph which showed the country’s recovery rate at 77.65 per cent while the percentage of active cases stands at 20.7 per cent.

The active cases in the country are known to be only a small portion, which is less than one-fourth (less than 10.5 lakh) of total cases, according to the ministry.

Lauding the efforts of the government, the ministry said that, “the Centre-led COVID-19 management strategies have focused on early detection through widespread, easy and aggressive testing; standardised quality and effective treatment in hospitals and supervised home/facility isolation and reducing mortality.”

As per the last bulletin by the Health Ministry, India is currently in the second place in terms of coronavirus cases at 4,562,414, while the country’s death toll stood at 76,271

Out of the total COVID-19 cases, around 9,43,480 are active cases while 35,42,664 have been successfully cured and discharged.

-RJV

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