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India hands over ventilators, PPEs to Guyana as part of USD 1 million aid amid COVID-19

New Delhi (NVI): Under the USD 1 million aid that India has extended for Guyana, 29 ventilators, personal protection equipment (PPE), 3,000 Hydroxichloroquine tablets and other protective equipment were handed over to Health Minister of Guyana.

“HC @drkjsrini handed over 29 Ventilators, PPEs, 30000 Hydroxichloroquine tablets & other protective equipment to Guyana Hon. Min of Health @fcsanthony1, procured under India’s USD 1 million aid,” tweeted the Indian High Commission in Guyana.

Indian High Commissioner KJ Srinivasa handed over the medical supplies and medicine to Minister of Health, Guyana Dr Frank Anthony.

The USD 1 million aid and life-saving medical supplies were allocated to Guyana to combat the COVID-19 outbreak and aims at improving health infrastructure and capacities in the country.

The government of India provided these aid to Guyana as a gesture of goodwill in support of its fight against COVID-19.

Earlier in August, Frank Anthony expressed keen interest to continue the bilateral collaboration with India in the medical and healthcare sector and also sought Indian collaboration in upgrading three Regional Hospitals in West Demerara, Suddie and Bartica at a cost of USD 17.5 million.

Guyana also indicated interest in procuring a potential COVID-19 vaccine from India. High Commissioner Srinivasa offered the assistance and collaboration of India in all possible sectors.

-RJV/CHK

In a first, India among top 50 nations in Global Innovation Index

File photo

New Delhi (NVI): Marking a major advancement amid the coronavirus pandemic, India has now joined the list of top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index for the very first time, ranked 48th, maintaining the top position among central and south Asian countries.

India has moved up four places in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 report which was released on Wednesday.

Compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD business school, the index assessed 131 economies.

According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) list, 2020, the rankings show stability at the top but a gradual “eastward shift in the locus of innovation” as Asian economies like China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam have advanced considerably in the innovation ranking over the years.

Switzerland, Sweden, the US, the UK and the Netherlands lead the innovation ranking, and the top 10 positions are dominated by high-income countries, WIPO said in a statement.

South Korea joined the top 10 for the first time while Singapore is at number 8. The top 10 is dominated by high-income countries.

India retained the highest rank in the Central and Southern Asian region, followed by Iran, said the report.

Moving up four positions since last year, India became the third most innovative lower-middle-income economy in the world.

It ranks in the top 15 in indicators such as ICT services exports, government online services, graduates in science and engineering, and R&D-intensive global companies, said the report.

Thanks to universities such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, and its top scientific publications, India is the lower-middle-income economy with the highest innovation quality, added the report.

The metrics include institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication and business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs.

-CHK

Indian Army initiates Tamul plate manufacturing to support ex-insurgents in Assam

New Delhi (NVI): Indian Army in its renewed and re-energised focus to rehabilitate ex-insurgents, has taken up a self-employment project ‘Manufacture of Tamul Plates’ operationalised at Borrangajuli Village in Tamulpur district in Assam.

As a pilot project, few ex-cadres are being engaged in making bio-degradable, environment friendly, cost effective Tamul plates which can be used in catering services to serve meals in offices and institutes for large gatherings.

This project is aimed at improving economic conditions and providing an opportunity to earn through self-employment, and is currently providing employment to ex-insurgents.

Furthermore, the manufacturing project is expected to expand in scale and scope. In this regard, additional machines are being purchased to augment existing capacities.

The project is conceived and executed by Indian Army in coordination with Aseem Foundation, a Pune based NGO.

Aseem Foundation is planning to market the product in Maharashtra and Assam, thereby generating more sales and resultant earning improving financial conditions of employees.

The raw material for the plate manufacturing is collected from farms located at remote villages and the finished product is supplied to establishments and institutions as far forward as possible.

The success of the pilot project can be gauged from the response of the locals who have requested to replicate the project in many more areas. The ex-insurgent families are happy since it would offer them an opportunity for dignified earning.

In addition to this, the villagers are also excited since the Tamul leaves and barks which were earlier being thrown as waste are being commercially sold. The local youth are being engaged for collection and stocking of raw material.

The success of this project will stimulate mushrooming of more such ventures leading to Engagement – Empowerment – Employment of the youth of Assam.  This project will further facilitate constructive mainstreaming of more ex-cadres and contribute towards Surakshito, Vikashito, Sarbashrestha AXOM.

-CHK

Coronavirus cases surpass 26 million worldwide

New Delhi (NVI): More than 26 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and nearly 8,63,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Some 17.2 million people have recovered.

In the US, the number of infections have surpassed 6.1 million while the death toll has crossed 1,85,000 in the country.

The United States has said it will stop paying its dues to the World Health Organization, a day after it said it would not participate in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX) , a global vaccine development and distribution project.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s coronavirus cases are nearing 4 million while the number of fatalities have climbed past 1,23,000.

The state of Victoria, in Australia’s southeast, has reported 113 new cases of coronavirus and an additional 15 deaths.

South Korea has reported 195 new cases of coronavirus. That’s the lowest since August 17.

Peru has announced that it will resume international flights and reopen its borders to a limited group of countries from October 1, after months of coronavirus lockdowns.

Turkey is seeing the second peak of its coronavirus outbreak due to “carelessness” at weddings and other social gatherings, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, amid a rapid rise in the number of daily cases and deaths.

The number of new COVID-19 in Turkey cases rose by 1,596 to 273,301 in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data, while the death toll from the virus rose by 45 to 6,462.

-CHK

India’s COVID tally crosses 38-lakh mark with over 83k new cases

covid cases
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New Delhi (NVI): India witnessed it’s biggest single-day surge of 83,883 fresh cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 38,53,407, Union Health Ministry said.

The country’s death toll has gone up to 67,376 with 1,043 new fatalities being reported during the same period.

So far, 29,70,493 patients have been cured and recovered all over the country while active cases stands at 8,15,538. India’s recovery rate has risen to 77 per cent.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases climbed to 8,25,739, followed by Tamil Nadu with 4,39,959 cases, and Andhra Pradesh with 4,55,531 cases.

The other worst affected states are Karnataka (3,61,431), Uttar Pradesh (2,41,439), Delhi (1,79,569) and West Bengal (1,68,697).

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of fatalities at 25,195 followed by 7,516 deaths in Tamil Nadu.

The death toll in the national capital surpassed to 4,481, while 1,58,586 patients in Delhi have recovered so far, the healthy ministry data shows.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 4,55,09,380 samples tested up to September 2. Of these, 11,72,179 samples were tested yesterday.

In addition to this, the Government said India has tested over 11 lakh samples for the first time. Over 11,70,000 tests were performed in the last 24 hours. This is high levels of testing sustained over a period of time in widespread areas enable to diagnose cases early and facilitate seamless isolation & hospitalisation.

-RJV

 

Metro operations to resume from Sep 7; Maharashtra to wait more

New Delhi (NVI): Metro operations will resume across the country from September 7 in a graded manner, except Maharashtra, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri announced today.

While announcing the SOP guidelines at a press conference here, Puri said masks will be mandatory for metro passengers and staff. Only asymptomatic persons will be allowed to travel in the metro and Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system will be used to contain any Covid-19 infection from spreading.

“Metros having more than one line should open different lines starting from 7th September, 2020 onwards in a graded manner so that all corridors become operational by 12th September 2020,” the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said in a statement.

Daily hours of operations may be staggered initially, which needs to be increased gradually with resumption of full revenue service by 12th September. “Frequency of trains to be regulated to avoid passenger crowding at stations and in trains,” as per the Ministry.

​Apart from that stations/entry-exit gates in containment zones will remain closed. ​​In order to ensure social distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains will be done.

Metro rail corporations may make arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to the persons arriving without mask, as per the SOPs.

“Only asymptomatic persons to be allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into the stations. Symptomatic persons should be advised to go to nearby COVID Care Centre/Hospital for testing/medical attention. Use of Aarogya Setu App to be encouraged,” the Ministry said in its fresh set of guidelines.

Other highlights of the SOPs include:

(i) ​Provision of sanitizers to be made at entry into the stations for use by passengers. Sanitization of all areas having human interface viz. equipment, train, working area, lift, escalators, handrail, AFC gate, toilets etc. needs to be done at regular intervals.

(ii) ​Use of Smart Card and cashless/online transactions to be encouraged. Tokens and paper slips/ticket to be used with proper sanitization.

(iii) ​Adequate dwell time at stations to be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding ensuring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations to ensure proper social distancing.

(iv) ​Passengers to be advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic items for easy and quick scanning.

(v) ​Operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) & Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) guidelines. Intake of fresh air in air-conditioning system to be increased to the extent possible.

(vi) ​Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to be launched for passenger and staff through electronic/print/social media, poster, banner, hoarding, website etc.

(vii) ​Metro rail corporations to keep close liaison with state police and local administration for regulating crowd outside station and to deal with contingencies.

Based on these guidelines, Delhi, Noida, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai Line-1, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Maha Metro (Nagpur) Kolkata, Gujarat and UP Metro (Lucknow) have prepared their SOPs, the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Government of Maharashtra has decided not to resume operation of metro during September. Hence, Mumbai Line-1 and Maha Metro operations shall commence from October or as State Government may decide further, the release added.

-ARK

Tibetan-origin SFF soldier martyred in fresh clashes with China’s PLA at Pangong Tso

New Delhi (NVI): A Tibetan-origin soldier, who was part of the Special Frontier Force (SFF) to stop the Chinese misadventure at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), laid down his life in fresh clashes with the intruding PLA troops at Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh.

Coy Ldr Nyima Tenzin, from ‘Vikas Battalion’ of SFF was killed in action when the Indian Army was thwarting the Chinese attempt to change the status quo at the southern bank of Pangong Tso lake on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday.

(Source: Twitter)

According to reports, another soldier from the same unit had sustained injuries in the violent face-off with Chinese troops that has further escalated the tensions between India and China.

(via Twitter)

51-year-old Tenzin was martyred on August 30 while bravely fighting against the Chinese troops. He offered 33 years of service to protect India as a Tibetan and represented the unwavering spirit of Tibet that has faced oppression at the hands of China for years now.

The Tibetan government is in exile and India has its hosted spiritual leader Dalai Lama since 1959. The Tibetan government-in-exile operates from Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Over 1,60,000 Tibetans live in India.

Border tensions between India and China have further escalated after the June 15 Galwan Valley incident, when the Chinese Army made an attempt to change the status quo on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake along LAC over the last weekend, but it was thwarted by the Indian Army.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out the “provocative military movements” on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday, the MEA had said in a statement.

On top of that, the Chinese troops again engaged in “provocative action” along the LAC on Monday, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation. That brazen attempt too was thwarted by the alert Indian troops.

The SFF was created after 1962 war and constitutes only Tibetan nationals. It was a covert outfit that recruited Tibetans (now it has a mixture of Tibetans and Gorkhas) and initially went by the name of Establishment 22.

According to reports, the Vikas Battalion of SFF has been instrumental in occupying some key heights at LAC in Ladakh, including ‘Black Top’, in the fresh set of confrontations in the region near Pangong Tso lake.

-ARK

J&K’s Covid tally rises to 38,864 with 641 new cases

Over 3,200 cops COVID positive in J&K and 15 succumbed to virus
File photo

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir today recorded 641 fresh cases of the deadly coronavirus, including 56 travelers, taking the total number of positive cases in the Union Territory to 38,864.

Of the total cases, 29,568 are from Kashmir and 9,296 from Jammu division, the UT health officials said.

They said that among 641 new cases, 367 belong to Kashmir while 274 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir has reached 29,568 including 23,353 recoveries.

On the other hand, the total number of positive cases in Jammu division has reached 9,296 including 6,726 recoveries and 75 deaths.

The officials said that the total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 8,053 including 5,558 from Kashmir division and 2,495 from Jammu division.

With 595 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in the UT has reached 30,079 which is 77.39 percent of the total cases.

Srinagar district alone has 9,499 positive cases which is more than the total number of positive cases in Jammu division (9,296).

Cases tested positive in J&K include 131 from Srinagar, 22 from Baramulla, 16 from Pulwama, 56 from Budgam, 30 from Anantnag, 27 from Bandipora, 18 from Kupwara, 11 from Kulgam, 02 from Shopian and 54 from Ganderbal in Kashmir division while as 274 from Jammu division include 167 from Jammu, 14 from Rajouri, 19 from Kathua, 08 from Udhampur, 14 from Samba, 07 from Ramban, 08 from Doda, 14 from Poonch, 16 from Reasi and 07 from Kishtwar, as per the daily Covid bulletin.

Apart from that, 4,67,207 persons in the UT are under observation while 46,228 persons have been kept under home quarantine. Besides that, 8,053 persons are in isolation.

According to the bulletin, 3,66,216 persons have completed surveillance period and 45,978 persons are under home surveillance.

So far, results of 9,96,481 samples are available out of which 957,617 stand negative while 38,864 have tested positive. Among positive cases, 8,053 are active and 30,079 persons have recovered.

-ARK

LAC face-off: Reports of Indian troops occupying heights at Finger 4 not correct, says Army

pangong lake

New Delhi (NVI): The Army today denied certain media reports saying that the Indian troops have occupied heights at Finger 4 on the northern bank of Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh, adding that the Army has made “precautionary deployments” in the area.

“Reports of Indian troops occupying heights at Finger 4 are not correct. As part of the precautionary deployment carried out on 30 August 2020, some readjustments of our positions on North Bank of Pangong Tso Lake on our side of LAC had also been carried out,” the Army said in a statement.

Defence sources said that the Indian Army continues to be on the offensive at the ridgeline on Finger 4.

Some media reports had earlier claimed that Indian troops have recaptured the dominating heights on the ridgeline of Finger 4 on the northern bank of Pangong Tso.

As per sources, the Indian troops are close to the Finger 4 ridgeline where Chinese troops have been camping since April, in violation of the consensus between the two countries on LAC. China’s PLA troops have been occupying the area till Finger 4 ridgeline on the northern bank of Pangong Tso.

Border tensions between India and China have further escalated after the June 15 Galwan Valley incident, when the Chinese Army made an attempt to change the status quo on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake along LAC over the last weekend, but it was thwarted by the Indian Army.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out the “provocative military movements” on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday.

On top of that, the Chinese troops again engaged in “provocative action” along the LAC on Monday, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation. That brazen attempt too was thwarted by the alert Indian troops.

The armies of the two countries have been in a face-off situation for 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 in the Galwan Valley 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

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