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CAIT appeals Indian celebrities to stop endorsing Chinese products

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New Delhi (NVI) In an open letter to India celebrities, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has appealed to them to join the call for boycotting all Chinese products and stop endorsing them, as a mark of respect for the fallen Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley attack.

The traders’ body has appealed to celebrities including actors and cricketers “unite in this national movement” and stand in solidarity with the Indian soldiers who face “continued unabated aggression from China.”

The confederation has requested Aamir Khan, Virat Kohli, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Salman Khan to stop endorsing Chinese brands as a mark of respect for Indian soldiers.

“At a time when China’s army in the most clandestine manner has committed a barbaric attack on the Indian army at Ladakh border, the heart of every Indian is filled with deep anguish, resentment and abhorrence against the atrocities of the Chinese and their persistent attitude of antagonism towards India. The blood of every Indian today is boiling with a strong sense of vengeance and a firm resolve to hit back at China not only militarily but also economically,” read the letter.

CAIT has also invited Amitabh Bacchan, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty, Madhuri Dikshit, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Sonu Sood to join the nationwide campaign of “boycott Chinese goods” under its flagship movement “Bhartiya Saaman – Hamara Abhiman”.

20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the intervening night of June 15 and 16 in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley near Line of Actual Control (LAC).

There is a strong anti-China sentiment in the country after the “pre-meditated and planned” attack by the Chinese army on Indian troops that lead to violent clashes and casualties on both sides.

-RJV/ARK

COVID cases in Afghanistan climb to 27,532; death toll at 546

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in Afghanistan saw a rise of 658 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 27,532, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 546 with 42 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

Among the fresh cases reported, the highest count of new positive cases was reported in Kabul with 415, followed by Bamiyan with 62 positive cases.

Likewise, 40 cases were reported in Takhar, 27 in Kandahar, 6 in Balkh, 21 in Logar, 17 in Baghlan, 2 in Ghazni, 7 in Parwan, 22 in Kunduz, 14 in Panjshir, 4 in Faryab, 5 in Ghor, 6 in Zabul, and 10 in Daikundi.

In terms to fatalities, 17 COVID-19 deaths in Kabul, 19 in Herat, 1 in Balkh, 2 in Samangan and 3 in Faryab in the last 24 hours, as per media reports.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health said 7,660 people have recovered from the respiratory disease in Afghanistan.

So far, 61,599 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the country, as per media reports.

-RJV

Nepal COVID-19 tally hits 7,848; death toll 22

New Delhi (NVI): Nepal reported 671 new cases of coronavirus today, taking the national tally to 7,848, according to local media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health and Population said, Of the newly infected, 591 are males and 80 females. In total, 7,229 males and 619 females have been recorded to have contracted the disease, so far.

Currently, 75 of the 77 districts in the country have witnessed the transmission of COVID-19 virus, as per media reports.

In the last 24 hours, 19 persons have been discharged from health facilities following recovery. With this total recovery cases stands at 1,186, of which 1,072 are males while 114 females.

Meanwhile, two COVID-19 related deaths have been confirmed in Nepal by the ministry today, taking the total death-toll of the disease to 22 in the country.

-RJV

Bangladesh coronavirus cases exceed 1,00,000-mark

(Image source: United News of Bangladesh)

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Bangladesh crossed the 100,000-mark today after detection of 3,803 new cases in the last 24 hours.

In addition to this, 38 more patients lost their lives due to the deadly contagion, raising the death toll to 1,343 in the country.

So far, 40,164 people have recovered in the country after 1,975 more patients were recovered during this period.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 39.26 percent.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate was recorded at 1.31 percent in the country.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18, 2020.

-CHK

Coronavirus cases exceed 1.60 lakh in Pakistan; death toll tops 3,000

COVID-19: Pakistan imposes mini-lockdown in Islamabad

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistan has been witnessing a daily surge in the number of coronavirus cases as the tally crossed 1,60,000 today with more than 3,000 deaths.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Punjab province has reported 60,138 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Sindh has 59,983 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 19,613 cases, Balochistan is at 8,794, Gilgit-Baltistan at 1,213, Islamabad at 9,637 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 740 cases so far, according to Geo News.

So far, nearly 59,215 people have recovered from the deadly contagion in the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has announced plans to repatriate all of its those citizens stranded around the globe, including in the Middle East, as a result of the pandemic, according to media reports.

Between 40,000 and 45,000 of their nationals will be brought home every week, starting June 20.

About 1,20,000 Pakistanis are expected to return in the coming weeks and they will have to quarantine themselves at homes for 14 days.

-CHK

Over 1% of humanity, nearly 80 mn people displaced: UNHRC report

New Delhi (NVI):  Forced displacement is now affecting more than one percent of humanity. Nearly 80 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to violence and persecution, according to a report by UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, which comes two days ahead of 20 June World Refugee Day, found that by the end of last year, a record 79.5 million people were living either as refugees, asylum seekers or in so-called internal displacement within their own countries, marking a dramatic increase of nearly nine million from a year earlier.

By the end of 2019, one out of every 97 people in the world was living uprooted and displaced, the report states.

The report also highlights that swelling displacement are from conflicts in places like Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“One percent of the world population cannot go back to their homes because there are wars, persecution, human rights violations, and other forms of violence,” UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said.

He further added, “We are witnessing a changed reality in that forced displacement nowadays is not only vastly more widespread but is simply no longer a short-term and temporary phenomenon.”

Reportedly, the annual increase, from a figure of 70.8 million at the end of 2018, is a result of two main factors. First is worrying new displacement in 2019, particularly in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel, Yemen and Syria – the latter now in its tenth year of conflict and accounting on its own for 13.2 million refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people, fully a sixth of the world’s total.

The agency appealed to countries worldwide to do far more to find homes for millions of refugees and others displaced by conflict, persecution or events seriously disturbing public order.

The report also notes diminishing prospects for refugees when it comes to hopes of any quick end to their plight. In the 1990s, on average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year. Over the past decade that number has fallen to around 385,000, meaning that growth in displacement is today far outstripping solutions.

-CHK

Nepal parliament passes bill to update map that includes Indian territory

New Delhi (NVI): The Upper House of Nepal’s parliament today passed a constitution amendment bill to update its map incorporating three Indian territories, a move that may further escalate tensions between the two countries on the border issue.

According to reports, all 57 members in Nepal’s Upper House voted in support of the bill. The amendment had been passed by 258 votes in the lower house on April 13.

The constitutional amendment will give legal backing to a new map that depicts Kalapani region as part of Nepalese territory. Relations between the two countries turned sour recently after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 80-km long road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand.

After the inauguration of the new road on May 8, Kathmandu had lodged a protest with New Delhi and came out with a new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.

After Nepal’s protest, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the road is “completely within its territory.” The 8–km road would reduce the Kailash Mansarovar yatra by six days.

Nepal’s action comes amid the ongoing India-China border face-off in Ladakh. At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the violent clashes with the Chinese army at Galwan Valley in Ladakh on Monday night.

However, India on Monday said that the onus is on the KP Sharma Oli government now to create a “positive and conducive atmosphere” for talks to resolve the row over the Kalapani-Lipulekh region.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in a virtual rally for Uttarakhand on Monday, had said that the Indian government believed in sorting out the “misunderstanding” in relations with Nepal through dialogue.

Highlighting the deep cultural and civilisational ties with Nepal, Singh had said that India and Nepal were bound together by “Roti and Beti” and no power in the world would break it.

-ARK

No Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri this year, rules SC

Jagannath Rath Yatra is held in Odisha's Puri every year.

New Delhi (NVI): The Supreme Court today ordered that the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra and related festivites in the temple in Odisha’s Puri will not be allowed to take place this year amid outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic

“Lord Jagannath will not forgive us if we allowed the Rath Yatra,” Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde said while hearing a petition seeking the postponement of the Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to begin on June 23 this year.

The SC bench headed by CJI SA Bobde further commented that such huge gathering can’t take place during pandemic.

“In the interest of public health and safety of citizens, we restrain the state from holding the Rath Yatra and associated activities. We direct that there shall be no Rath Yatra and associated activities this year”, the CJI ordered.

The Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra is considered one of India’s biggest chariot festivals.

A non-profit, Odisha Vikas Parishad, in its petition said the annual rath yatra in the coastal district in Odisha will draw some 10 lakh people and the religious event goes on for 10-12 days.

The rath yatra amid the COVID-19 pandemic “will be an invitation to infect lakhs of devotees”, the petition said, adding the Odisha government has also not allowed religious places to open before June 30.

-CHK

PM to launch ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ on Jun 20

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ on Saturday in six states to boost livelihood opportunities in rural India for returnee migrants and rural citizens.

“Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ to empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens,” a statement by Prime Minister’s office read.

The welfare scheme would be launched by PM Narendra Modi on June 20 at 11 am through video conferencing in presence of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. The Abhiyaan will be launched from Village Telihar of Khagaria District of Bihar.

Further, the Chief Ministers of five other States and Union Ministers of concerned Ministries will also participate in the virtual launch. The villages across 116 districts in the six states will join this programme through the Common Service Centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, maintaining the norms of social distancing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This campaign of 125 days, which will work in mission mode, will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers on one hand and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country on the other hand, with a resource envelope of Rs 50,000 crore”, the PMO said.

A total of 116 Districts with more than 25,000 returnee migrant workers across six states, namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha have been chosen for the campaign which includes 27 Aspirational Districts.

The campaign would be a coordinated effort between 12 ministries and departments including Road Transport & Highways, Rural Development, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Railways, Telecom, Agriculture, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Drinking Water & Sanitation, PMO said.

-RJV/ARK

Terrorists holed up in Kashmir mosque; forces trying to flush them out

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Srinagar (NVI): Security forces are making efforts to flush out terrorists, believed to be two in number, who took shelter in a local mosque in Kashmir’s Pulwama district today.

Considering the sanctity of the shrine involved, the security forces have been restraining from firing towards the mosque, officials said.

An associate of the two hiding terrorists has already been killed in an encounter that began early this morning after security forces received a tip-off about the presence of three terrorists in Meej village of Pampore in Pulwama district and laid a cordon there.

“When the security forces zeroed in on a suspected spot, the hiding terrorists opened fire, triggering an encounter. The terrorists opened a heavy volume of fire that was retaliated,” an official said.

Kashmir Zone police tweeted, saying, “In an ongoing encounter at Meej, Pampore, one militant has been killed whose identity is being ascertained.”

The terrorist was killed as he tried to enter a cowshed, officials said. Two others, however, managed to enter a local mosque.

“After coming to know that two militants are hiding in a mosque, the cordon was further tightened and so far repeated announcements are made on loudspeakers by the police and army asking militants to come out,” an official said.

Security forces have not opened any fire at the mosque, he said.

Security forces this year, so far, have killed 95 terrorists including top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba like Reyaz Naikoo, the chief operational commander of Hizb, Bashir Koka of Lashkar and Abdur Rehman alias Fouji Bhai of Pakistan, who was an IED expert of Jaish.

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