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India, Indonesia Coast Guards sign MoU to boost maritime relations

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Bakamla RI (Indonesian Coast Guard) have signed an agreement on ‘Maritime Safety and Security’ to boost maritime relations amid the Covid-19 pandemic, despite limitations of travel and physical meetings.

The MoU between Vice Admiral Aan Kurnia, Head of Indonesian Coast Guard and Director General, ICG, K Natarajan through video conference.

Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Ambassador of India to Indonesia & Timor-Leste’ was also present on the occasion at Jakarta. A token ceremonial handing over of the MoU to the respective Defence Attache’ was undertaken – Captain Amitabh Saxena at Jakarta and Captain Asdi Yasin at New Delhi being the recipients, as per an official release.

India and Indonesia are historically connected through the Indian Ocean and it has been the resolve of both nations to ensure safe and secure sea passage for all seafarers in the region. This is also enshrined in PM Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR i.e. Security And Growth for All in the Region.

Relations between the two countries were elevated to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in May 2018 during the visit of Hon’ble PM of India to Indonesia. The focus on maritime security was re-iterated with the Shared Vision of India-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. The logical step of an MoU between the two Coast Guards was also conceived at this stage.

This MoU will strengthen cooperation by augmenting information exchange mechanisms. This real-time Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) will then be the foundation for controlling and responding to incidents of piracy, smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration and other such maritime crimes which will bring safety and security to the region and also result in protection of our precious marine environment.

The MoU will also provide avenues to improve our interoperability and carry out joint search and rescue when required. There is also an immense scope of jointly working towards capability and capacity building through closer involvement of all stakeholders.

-ARK

World Bank provides $400 mn support for Ganga rejuvention programme

ganga
Photo Credit: World Economic Forum

New Delhi (NVI): The World Bank today signed a USD 400 million loan agreement with the Indian Government to enhance support for the Namami Gange project that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga River.

The Second National Ganga River Basin Project will help stem pollution in the iconic river and strengthen the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people, according to a statement by the World Bank.

The USD 400 million operation comprises a loan of USD 381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to USD 19 million, it said.

The agreement for the USD 381 million loan was signed today by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the GOI and Qaiser Khan, Acting Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank. The Guarantee instrument will be processed separately, the statement said.

“The Ganga is India’s most important cultural, economic and environmental resource, and the government’s Namami Gange program seeks to ensure that the river returns to a pollution-free, ecologically healthy state,” said Sameer Kumar Khare.

“The new project will extend the Government of India and World Bank’s engagement in this critical national program to make the Ganga a clean, healthy river,” he added.

The Bank has been supporting the government’s efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.

“The continuity provided by the Second National Ganga River Basin Project will consolidate the momentum achieved under the first World Bank project, and help NMCG introduce further innovations, and benchmark its initiatives against global best practices in river rejuvenation,” said Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga.

“The government’s Namami Gange Program has revitalized India’s efforts to rejuvenating the Ganga,” said Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India. “The first World Bank project helped build critical sewage infrastructure in 20 pollution hotspots along the river, and this Project will help scale this up to the tributaries.  It will also help government strengthen the institutions needed to manage a river basin as large and complex as the Ganga Basin.”

The sprawling Ganga Basin provides over one-third of India’s surface water, includes the country’s largest irrigated area, and is key to India’s water and food security. Over 40 percent of India’s GDP is generated in the densely populated Basin. But the Ganga river is today is facing pressures from human and economic activity that impact its water quality and flows.

-ARK

Army recovers arms, ammo near LoC in J&K’s Baramulla

Srinagar (NVI): The Indian Army today recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

“A search operation was launched close to Line of Control in Maidan Nala, #Uri Sector, #Baramulla today afternoon. Cache of arms comprising of 3 x AK 56, 2 x Pistols with magazines and ammunition was recovered,” Srinagar-based Chinar corps tweeted.

The J&K Police also said that arms and ammunition were recovered and perhaps, the consignment was meant for a terrorist group that planning to infiltrate. “A case has been registered and investigations taken up,” a police officer said.

-ARK

J&K Govt decides to reopen public parks, gardens in UT

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The Jammu and Kashmir government administration today decided to re-open all the public parks and gardens across the Union Territory from tomorrow amid strict Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision in this regard was taken in a review meeting chaired by Advisor to the J&K Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan. Khan, while speaking to NVI said that all the public parks and gardens shall re-open from tomorrow.

“We have decided to re-open all the parks and gardens across Jammu and Kashmir from tomorrow. People are, however, supposed to follow SoPs in spirit that includes wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing,” he said, adding carrying a hand sanitizer is also part of the SoP.

All the parks and gardens were closed for the general public in March this year in wake of COVID-19 outbreak in Jammu and Kashmir, which has claimed over 139 lives and infected nearly 9,000 people so far. The first announcement of the closure of parks and gardens in Srinagar was made by former Srinagar Municipal Corporation Mayor Junaid Azim Mattoo on March 11.

People in Kashmir, including the summer capital Srinagar, have been visiting gardens in the past over a week during evening hours in the wake of a rise in temperatures. The MeT department last week recorded 34.5 degrees Celsius day temperature, the season’s hottest day. In summers, especially in the peak months of July and August, people of Kashmir often visit parks and gardens during evening hours.

-ARK

Odisha: Proposal submitted for lane-driving on NH-16 to reduce traffic, mishaps

Bhubaneswar (NVI): The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionerate has submitted a proposal before the Home Department, Odisha Government, to implement a lane-driving system on NH-16 to reduce traffic and mishaps on the National Highway.

The proposed lane-driving system is already in place in major cities of the country.

The proposal has been submitted to the Home Department to segregate vehicles for the Left Lane, Middle and Right Lane on National Highway-16 connecting Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, as per an official statement.

The extreme left lane is meant for two-wheelers, middle lane for heavy vehicles like bus and right is for cars so that travel time between the city will be reduced and commuters will drive according to the speed limit. Police said lane driving plan is aimed at preventing road mishaps. According to plan the three-lane roads on both sides of NH will be demarcated.

The marking of lanes will be done by thermoplastic paint, installing signage and gantries in every two km on the National Highway. DCP, Traffic Sagarika Nath said if the plan & proposal to the Govt is approved, it will definitely reduce road accidents on NH and commuters will drive safely according to the guidelines.

-ARK

Islamic seminaries issue ‘fatwas’ against construction of only Hindu temple in Islamabad

The ceremony for the temple was performed recently by Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi.

New Delhi (NVI):  In a clear reflection of apartheid against minority Hindus in Pakistan, Muslim seminaries have issued ‘fatwas’ (religious edicts) against construction of a temple in Islamabad.

The fatwas have been issued after protests by Muslim extremists, which forced Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) to halt last week construction of the first ever Hindu temple in Islamabad citing the country’s Islamic ideology.

In its fatwa, Jamia Ashrafia said that while it is permitted to spend government funds on the upkeep and repair of prevailing houses of worship of minority communities, this did not allow for building new houses of worship for non-Muslims.

It further stated that in allowing Hindus to build new places of worship or to rebuild an abandoned place of worship in an Islamic state is un-Islamic as it is equivalent to aiding in a bad deed, which isn’t permissible.

The fatwa was issued after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan approved a grant of Rs 100 million for construction of first Hindu temple in Islamabad, a Krishna temple.

Another Fatwa issued by Lahore’s Barelvi seminary, Jamia Naeemia, said an Islamic state can’t use the public money to build a new place of worship for non-Muslims.

After construction of the temple was halted last week, its boundary wall was demolished by extremists and the materials from the Temple site were stolen.

People stole about a ton of iron from the site and overpowered security guards, on Monday night, Islamabad Police said, adding that it is the fourth time that people have tried to trespass, vandalize and rob from the site.

On July 2, General Secretary of Islamabad Hindu Panchayat Mahesh Kumar Malhi had written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory, requesting deployment of security for construction of the boundary wall of Temple after hype was created on social media against its construction.

Reportedly, at a joint press conference by religious groups held on June 1, the Chief of Jamiat Ulema e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Islamabad chapter, Maulana Abdul Hameed Hazarvi said that they were going to raise the issue in the Shariat Court, The Nation newspaper reported.

Another Maulvi Maulana Tanvir Alvi said all the sects of Islam were agreed upon a point that no temple or church can be built in a Muslim country.

-CHK

CBSE reduces syllabus for classes 9-12 by 30%

CBSE
(File/Representational Image)

New Delhi (NVI): In a big respite for students, whose studies have been affected amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to reduce the syllabus of classes 9 to 12 by 30 per cent for academic session 2020-21.

The CBSE has taken the decision to reduce the burden on students in the wake of the pandemic situation.

“The revision of syllabi is a measure taken due to the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and at different parts of the world. Considering the importance of achieving the level of learning, the syllabus has been rationalized to the extent possible by retaining the core concepts,” reads a notice uploaded on the board’s official website.

“The Heads of Schools and Teachers may ensure that the topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics,” the statement read.

“However, the reduced syllabus will not be part of the topics for Internal Assessment and year-end Board Examination,” it said.

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also tweeted on the development, saying that looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class 9th to 12th.

Nishank said that a few weeks ago, he had invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of syllabus on social media by using #SyllabusForStudents2020. “We received more than 1.5K suggestions and expressed his gratitude to everyone for the overwhelming response,” he said.

-ARK

Bangladesh COVID-19 tally surpasses 1.68 lakh; 2,151 dead

Bangladesh lockdown

New Delhi (NVI): Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh exceeded 1.68 lakh after 3,027 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.

In addition to this, 55 new deaths were reported during this period, taking the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in the country to 2,151, according to United News of Bangladesh.

The daily infection rate was today recorded at 22.98 percent in the country.

So far, 78,102 people have recovered in the country after 1,953 more patients were recovered during this period.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 46.31 percent while the mortality rate 1.28 percent in the country.

-CHK

Foreign students might have to leave if classes go fully online: US Govt

Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): International students in the United States might have to leave or risk deportation if the schools they are enrolled in move classed entirely online in the upcoming semester, the US Government has announced.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), under the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced modifications yesterday, saying that it is modifying “temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester.”

The move is expected to affect the decisions of students planning to apply for higher studies in the US. As for the active or enrolled students, they may even consider dropping a semester. Notably, Indians are the second-largest group of international students in the US, after the Chinese.

As per an ICE release, the “US Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule”.

Schools should update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes, read an official statement.

However, nonimmigrant students within the US are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes, as per the SEVP statement.

The body has also recommended that if students find themselves in this situation, they must leave the country or take “alternative steps” to maintain their nonimmigrant status such as a reduced course load or “appropriate medical leave”.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has insisted that schools and colleges be open in the fall. “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!” Trump tweeted yesterday, shortly after SEVP released its new guidelines.

-ARK

Afghanistan COVID-19 cases climb to 33,384 with 920 deaths

New Delhi (NVI): Afghanistan today witnessed a rise in coronavirus cases with 194 new infections, rising the total to 33,384 across the country, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 920 with 22 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said, among the fresh cases reported, Herat was on the top of the list with 57 new cases followed by Daikundi with 32 cases and Takhar with 23.

In terms of fatalities, 22 people died were in the last 24 hours, out of this 13 were reported in Kabul, 3 in Nangarhar, 3 in Kunduz 1 in Balkh, 1 in Bamiyan and 1 in Samangan, the reports said.

The ministry also said that, 20,151 people have been recovered from the respiratory disease across the country.

So far, 76,910 people have been tested for coronavirus in the government’s testing centres in Afghanistan.

-RJV

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