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Haryana govt issues guidelines for film shooting

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The Haryana government today issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines for shooting of films in the state after the country has entered its fourth stage of Unlock amid COVID-19.

The government in a statement said, “All applications seeking permission for the shooting of films would be received on the online portal and initial approval will be granted by the Director General of Information, Public Relations and Languages Department.”

The approval will then be forwarded to the Deputy Commissioners concerned in which the proposed locations for shooting are mentioned in the application, it added.

According to the guidelines, all applications will include full details of locations, number of days and timing for which such permission is required on the online portal.

The statement also said, the deputy commissioner’s in consultation with the police will consider granting permission and a copy of the permit will be endorsed to the police authorities for information and necessary action.

The duration of shooting should be restricted to the minimum possible and not more than 50 people should be present.

Moreover, shooting would commence only after all the people involved are thermally scanned and are found asymptomatic.

All non-acting crew members, including supporting staff, will wear masks during the shooting and will be instructed to maintain social distancing norms as applicable, as per the guidelines.

The shooting venues should have sanitizers, soaps and water, furthermore, the members present should frequently wash their hands and social distancing norms will have to be maintained, except for the ones who are being filmed.

However, all deputy commissioners, commissioners of police have been directed to take appropriate necessary action for the implementation of guidelines and strict compliance in the state.

Haryana’s coronavirus tally rose to 68,218 after 1,792 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, while 15 fresh fatalities pushed it’s COVID-19 death toll to 721.

-RJV

Cargo ship with 43 crew and almost 6,000 cattle missing in typhoon Maysak off Japan

Typhoon Maysak

New Delhi (NVI): A ship from New Zealand to China, having 43 crew and almost 6,000 cattle onboard, has capsized after losing one engine in stormy weather in the East China Sea.

The Japanese coast guard has rescued one crew member from the cargo ship, according to Japan Times.

The crew member, Sareno Edvarodo, a 45-year-old chief officer from the Philippines, was rescued on Wednesday night during the search for the cargo ship.

The Gulf Livestock 1 transmitted a distress signal early on Wednesday when it was about 185 kilometers (115 miles) west of Amami Oshima island as Typhoon Maysak headed through the region towards the Korean peninsula, bringing strong winds, heavy seas and drenching rains.

The search for the rest of the crew and ship continues but has so far failed to find any more survivors.

The crew of the freighter includes 39 seamen from the Philippines, two from New Zealand and two from Australia.

The Gulf Livestock 1 left New Zealand on August 14 headed for China, with the journey expected to take 17 days, according to New Zealand’s foreign ministry.

The Philippines government is coordinating with Japan’s coastguard as it searched for the missing crew members ahead of another typhoon expected to hit the area.

A second storm in the region, Typhoon Haishen, is expected to strengthen to the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane by the end of the week. It’s expected to threaten Kyushu on Sunday, and potentially affect the Korean Peninsula Monday.

Japan’s meteorological agency is warning that the storm could be the third biggest to hit the country since records began almost 70 years ago.

The Japanese coast guard will launch a second search-and-rescue mission prior to the expected incoming typhoon, according to media reports.

-CHK

EESL to procure 250 electric vehicles from Hyundai, Tata Motors

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) today announced that it will procure 250 electric vehicles from Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India.

Both the companies have emerged winners in a tender and were selected through an international competitive bidding process, which was aimed at increased participation.

Out of total procurement, Tata Motors will supply 150 Nexon electric compact SUVs while Hyundai will supply 100 Kona electric premium SUVs respectively for government use.

This procurement will utilize USD 5 million from the recent grant provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). EESL has received financing from ADB towards the cost of scaling up and financing high priority areas like Demand Side Energy Efficiency Sector Projects.

EESL will procure Tata Nexon at Rs 14.86 lakh each, just Rs 13,000 cheaper than its ex-showroom price of INR 14.99 lakh.

Whereas, Hyundai Kona, which offers a higher range, will be procured at an 11 per cent lower price band of Rs 21.36 lakh, with a standard three-year warranty.

These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles of the Central and state governments. EESL has already received an order for 300 Long Range EVs from the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), Kerala to be supplied in initial phase.

Saurabh Kumar, Executive Vice Chairperson, EESL said, “A shift to EVs, facilitated by our e-mobility programme will reduce dependence on oil imports and promote power capacity addition in India. This will greatly enhance the energy security of the country and will also lead to reduction in GHG emissions from the transport sector.”

“We’re also working on rapid establishment of EV charging stations, which will give a fillip to the electric vehicle sales, going forward,” Kumar added.

EESL is driven by the objective of facilitating faster adoption of disruptive technology solutions, while balancing economic development and environmental sustainability.

“The company seeks to create the market for electric vehicles, through its unique business model of aggregation of demand and bulk procurement. It is also seeking to leverage the immense potential of replacement of existing vehicles in the government departments for initial demand aggregation,” EESL said in a release.

“The company plans to leverage efficiencies of scale and drive down costs through its innovative business model, while supporting local manufacturing facilities, gaining technical competencies for the long-term growth of the EV industry and enabling Indian EV manufacturers to emerge as major global players,” it added.

Shailesh Chandra, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “Electric mobility is gaining ground in the country and partnerships such as these are pivotal for building the requisite momentum. We have been partnering EESL and are pleased to provide more EVs to them for government use, enabling a smooth and sustainable transition to a future-oriented mobility solution.”

“As the leader of the fast-growing EV segment, Tata Motors is committed to popularise their access and use across India,” he added.

-RJV/ARK

COVID-19: 5 states account for 62% active cases in India, says Health Ministry

Coronavirus India

New Delhi (NVI): Five states – Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra – account for 62 per cent of COVID-19 cases in India, according to Union Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, while addressing a press conference today said that, “There has been 13.7 per cent weekly decrease in the number of active cases in Andhra Pradesh, 16.1 per cent decrease in Karnataka, 6.8 per cent decrease in Maharashtra and 23.9 per cent decrease in Tamil Nadu, 17.1 per cent decrease in Uttar Pradesh.”

He further added that these states account for 70 per cent COVID-19 deaths in India, adding that there is an increase in the case fatality trajectory in Karnataka and Delhi.

Meanwhile, India’s coronavirus disease recoveries are nearing the three-million mark, after the country registered the highest single-day recoveries in the last 24 hours at 68,584, taking the total number of COVID cured patients to 2,970,492, according to Health Ministry data.

A continuous uptick in average daily recoveries has led to India’s recovery rate at 77.09 per cent and a low case fatality rate (CFR) at 1.75 per cent.

A higher number of recoveries and declining fatality has shown that India’s graded strategy has worked. India has posted 21.5 lakh more recoveries than the active cases currently at 8,15,538.

The recovered patients have increased to more than 3.6 times the active cases, as on date. The record high recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country viz. the active cases, has reduced and currently comprises only 21.16 per cent of the total positive cases.

From the beginning of January 2020, the Centre assiduously followed a graded, pre-emptive and proactive response and management strategy for COVID-19 in the country. The focused, collaborative and ‘whole of government’ approach has yielded success.

Building on the continuum of care approach, the policy of testing, tracking and treating efficiently is led by the Centre and implemented in conjunction with the state and UT governments.

Focused attention on effective surveillance and house-to-house contact tracing has led to early detection and identification of COVID-19 cases. The mild and moderate cases are treated under supervised home isolation. As per the standardized clinical management protocol based on the holistic Standard of Care approach, the critical and severe patients are hospitalised and provided the best medical care.

Meanwhile, the The ‘eSanjeevani’ digital platform of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has completed 2 lakh teleconsultations. Union Government has pointed out that ‘eSanjeevaniOPD’ enabling patient-to-doctor telemedicine owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020 has proved a boon in containing the spread of COVID while simultaneously enabling provisions for non-COVID essential healthcare.

-CHK

New polio outbreak in Sudan, after WHO declared Africa free of wild virus

(Pic courtesy: UNICEF)

New Delhi (NVI): Just weeks after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the African continent free of the wild poliovirus, the north African country of Sudan has witnessed fresh cases of the virus.

The outbreak has been linked to the oral polio vaccine that uses a weakened form of the virus, making it a case of vaccine-derived polio, reports The Guardian.

The fresh outbreak comes even as WHO had noted that a strain of the virus was circulating in Chad last year and had a high risk of spreading to other parts of the Horn of Africa.

The global health body, in a statement on the new cases, said that two children in Sudan, one from South Darfur state and the other from Gadarif state, close to the border with Ethiopia and Eritrea, were paralysed in March and April. Both had been recently vaccinated against polio.

Initial outbreak investigations showed the cases were linked to a continuing vaccine-derived outbreak in Chad that was first detected last year and is now spreading in Chad and Cameroon, The Guardian reported.

On August 25, the WHO certified the total eradication of poliomyelitis in Africa, after decades of work by a coalition of international health bodies, national and local governments, community volunteers and survivors.

Following the announcement, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where polio is still endemic.

However, the fresh outbreak has raised concerns over the spread of disease by the vaccine itself.

The oral polio vaccine, which is preferred in some places because of its ease of delivery and the lack of need for sterile syringes, uses a weakened version of polio.

When a child receives the oral vaccine, the weakened virus replicates in the intestine, encouraging the production of antibodies, and can be present in excreta. In an area where there are high enough levels of immunity in the population, this usually does not present a problem, even if sanitation is poor.

But in areas where there is both poor sanitation and a lack of general immunisation the virus can survive and circulate for months, mutating over time until it poses the same risk of paralysis-causing disease as wild polio.

In the past also, since WHO launched the Polio eradication campaign in 1988, the outbreaks of polio caused by the vaccine have been rationalised as “collateral damage,” writes Thomas Abraham, a journalist and author in his book ‘Polio: The Odyssey of Eradication’.

-ARK

Children in richest nations face obesity, lack of skills: UNICEF

(Source: @UNICEF)

New Delhi (NVI): Children in the world’s richest countries lack basic reading, mathematics skills and suffer from poor mental well-being and obesity, according to a UNICEF report.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urges governments to improve and protect child well-being in the face of the economic, social and educational fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report used the data from 41 countries before the coronavirus pandemic, and warned that the crisis posed a substantial threat to a child’s well-being.

Among these indicators, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway are the best places for a child while Bulgaria, Chile, and the US are ranked the worst places for a child among high-income countries, it added.

According to UNICEF, around 20 per cent of children do not have high life satisfaction in most affluent countries, in which Turkey fares worst, with only 53 per cent of children having high life satisfaction, followed by Japan and Britain.

Significantly poorer mental health rates were found among children from less supportive families or those who are being bullied and is also a leading cause of suicide.

Lithuania has the highest rate of adolescent suicide, followed by New Zealand and Estonia, the report said.

In terms of physical health, around one in three children across all countries are obese or overweight, with rates in Southern Europe rising sharply.

The report further informed that, 40 per cent of children in rich countries lack basic reading and Maths skills by the age of 15, with those in Bulgaria, Romania, and Chile being the least proficient.

Additionally, at least one in every five children lack confidence in their social skills to make new friends, with children in Chile, Japan and Iceland listed as the least confident in this area, UNICEF said.

Gunilla Olsson, UNICEF Innocenti director said, “Many of the world’s richest countries – which have the resources they need to provide good childhoods for all – are failing children.”

“Unless governments take rapid and decisive action to protect child well-being as part of their pandemic responses, we can continue to expect soaring child poverty rates, deteriorating mental and physical health, and a deepening skill divide among children,” Olsson added.

 

-RJV

IAF Chief visits frontline air bases in Eastern Command amid India-China faceoff

New Delhi (NVI): Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria is visiting frontline air bases in Eastern Air Command to review operational preparedness amid the fresh escalation of tensions between India and China along LAC in Ladakh.

The IAF Chief reached the Eastern Command yesterday and the Air Force officers apprised him of the readiness state and operational preparedness of the combat units under their command.

The IAF Chief’s visit to the strategically important air bases in Eastern Command, which has headquarters in Shillong (Meghalaya), comes amid heightened tensions with China along LAC in Eastern Ladakh where the PLA troops tried to change the status quo at the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake, a move which was thwarted by the Indian Army.

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) also met and interacted with air warriors serving in these units during the course of his visit. He lauded the focussed efforts by the station personnel towards maintaining proficiency in all roles envisaged and urged them to continue performing their duty with due diligence, the IAF statement read.

While Bhadauria visited the eastern air bases, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane arrived on a two-day visit in Ladakh this morning, in the wake of fresh incursion attempts by the Chinese troops which were thwarted by the Indian Army.

India and China are locked in a stand-off since the last four months, triggered by China’s aggressive actions at multiple points in the Eastern Ladakh sector in early May. On one occasion, the militaries of the two countries engaged in a bloody fight on June 15, in which India lost 20 soldiers, including a Colonel. China also suffered an unspecified number of casualties.

Over these last four months, several rounds of talks have been held at military and diplomatic levels but China has refused to pull back its troops from the friction points, in its attempt to change the status quo at the LAC.

-ARK

Nepal plans to prioritise Indian tourists after COVID-19 situation improves

New Delhi (NVI): The government of Nepal is preparing itself to impress the Indian tourists after COVID-19 situation gets improves and lockdown restrictions are lifted.

According to the plan by Gandaki provincial government of Nepal, it has decided to keep the Indian tourists at the top of the priority list.

Nepal’s Tourist Minister Bikash Lamsal said, “The Nepal government is planning to give utmost preference to Indian tourists on their list as they form a major part of Nepal foreign tourist arrivals.”

Last year, more than 12 lakh tourists visited Pokhara-The City of Lakes, out of those 40 per cent were Indian tourists. In the year 2018, approximately 11.73 lakh tourists visited Nepal and the majority of the tourists were from India.

Moreover, the top activities like trekking, boating, paragliding, kayaking, etc are very popular among tourists in Nepal.

In addition, Bikash said as they were not able to host the tourists this year due to Coronavirus induced lockdown, but they are making efforts to welcome more foreign tourists in the upcoming years.

The minister also said, “We are celebrating the year 2019-2022 as Tourism Year with a target to host two million tourists. 2019 was Domestic Tourism Year, 2020 Neighbour Tourism Year, 2021 Tourism Infrastructure Improvement Year and 2022 International Tourism Year.”

As the situation is not favourable, we are working on plans to cover the loss incurred this year and will be focusing on revamping efforts next year, he added.

Due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal has suffered a loss of around 13 crore Nepali rupees on a daily basis because of the stop on all the tourist activities.

Reportedly, at least 10,674 companies have been shut down due to the recession and the tourism sector suffered huge losses in the last four months due to COVID-19.

-RJV

 

Army Chief arrives in Leh amid heightened tensions post ‘Chinese incursion’ attempts

File

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Army Chief General MM Naravane arrived in Leh this morning on a two-day visit to review operational preparedness amid mounting tensions between India and China in Eastern Ladakh in the wake of fresh attempts by PLA to change the status quo at Pangong Tso lake.

Defence officials said that Gen Naravane met top Army officials in Leh and sought feedback from them on recent brigade commander level talks with the Chinese military.

The Army chief’s visit comes in the backdrop of the two incursion attempts by China at LAC. First, on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday when the Chinese Army made an attempt to change the status quo on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake along LAC, but it was thwarted by the Indian Army.

PLA made a second incursion attempt on Monday even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation. That attempt too was thwarted by the alert Indian troops.

Official sources said that the Army chief will be in Ladakh for two days and will review the security situation in the region along LAC, especially Pangong Tso lake where both Indian and Chinese troops have been deployed in large numbers in the wake of fresh stand-off.

Brigade Commander-level Flag meetings were also held after the fresh set of skirmishes to pacify the situation after the fresh Chinese transgressions.

Ladakh’s former MLA and senior political leader, Deldan Namgyal told NVI that the situation in Eastern Ladakh is highly alarming as China has encroached the Indian territory and the fresh incursion in the area by the PLA has forced the government to snap telecom services in the area close to Line of actual control (LAC).

It may be recalled that this is the second visit of the Army chief to the Ladakh amid tensions with China. Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat had recently said that India has military option to deal with China if talks fail.

India and China are locked in a stand-off since the last four months, triggered by China’s aggressive actions at multiple points in the Eastern Ladakh sector in early May. On one occasion, the militaries of the two countries engaged in a bloody fight on June 15, in which India lost 20 soldiers, including a Colonel. China also suffered an unspecified number of casualties.

Over these last four months, several rounds of talks have been held at military and diplomatic levels but China has refused to pull back its troops from the friction points, in its attempt to change the status quo at the LAC.

-ARK

Steroids found to save lives of critical COVID patients; WHO strongly recommends

New Delhi (NVI): Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with steroids reduces the risk of death by 20 per cent, according to an analysis of seven international trials, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to update its advice on treatment.

The analysis – which pooled data from separate trials of low dose hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone – found that steroids improve survival rates of COVID-19 patients sick enough to be in intensive care in hospital.

The WHO’s clinical care lead, Janet Diaz, said the agency had updated its advice to include a “strong recommendation” for use of steroids in patients with severe and critical COVID-19.

Such patients should receive 7-10 days of treatment, a WHO panel said, cautioning against the use of steroids in patients with nin-severe illness, saying that “indiscriminate use of any therapy for COVID-19would potentially rapidly deplete global resources and deprive the patients who may benefit from it most as potentially life-saving therapy.”

“The evidence shows that if you give corticosteroids …(there are) 87 fewer deaths per 1,000 patients,” she told a WHO social media live event. “Those are lives … saved.”

“Steroids are a cheap and readily available medication, and our analysis has confirmed that they are effective in reducing deaths amongst the people most severely affected by COVID-19,” Jonathan Sterne, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Britain’s Bristol University who worked on the analysis, told the briefing.

The trials – conducted by researchers in Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Spain, and the United States – gave a consistent message throughout, showing the drugs were beneficial in the sickest patients regardless of age or sex or how long patients had been ill.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reinforce results that were hailed as a major breakthrough and announced in June, when dexamethasone became the first drug shown to be able to reduce death rates among severely sick COVID-19 patients.

Dexamethasone has been in widespread use in intensive care wards treating COVID-19 patients in some countries since then.

-CHK

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