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Russia declares state of emergency after major Arctic Circle oil spill

New Delhi (NVI): Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled into a river in the country’s Arctic region.

The incident took place when a fuel tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk collapsed last Friday, according to foreign media reports.

President Putin has ordered an investigation into the accident and a manager at the power plant has since been detained.

Satellite images after the leak showed crimson water in the Ambarnaya river and nearby residents posted videos on social media of the polluted water, reported The Moscow Times.

The plant is operated by a division of Nornickel, whose factories in the area have made the city of Norilsk one of the most heavily polluted places on Earth, according to The Guardian. Nornickel is a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company.

“The incident led to catastrophic consequences and we will be seeing the repercussions for years to come,” Sergey Verkhovets, coordinator of Arctic projects for WWF Russia, said in a statement to the media. “We are talking about dead fish, polluted plumage of birds, and poisoned animals.”

Greenpeace has compared the disaster to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The emergency declaration will increase resources for the cleanup. However, the river will be difficult to clean because it is too shallow for barges and in a remote area with few roads.

People of Gilgit-Baltistan up in arms against Pakistan

Locals are also angry over Pakistan’s move to send ‘tourists’ to the region amid Covid-19 fears (Source: Facebook/Awami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan)

New Delhi (NVI): The people of Gilgit-Baltistan, a part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, are up in arms against the Pakistani establishment over a number of issues, especially the shortage of food grains created by Islamabad amidst the coronavirus crisis.

To highlight their angst against Pakistan, Awami (People’s) Action Committee, a prominent organisation of Gilgit-Baltistan, has called for a general strike in the region tomorrow.

The strike has been called to protest against Pakistan’s decision to reduce wheat quota for Gilgit-Baltistan in the midst of coronavirus crisis. The strike has been called at a time when the locals are also angry over Pakistan’s move to send ‘tourists’ to the region as they fear the incoming people would bring coronavirus cases to the region.

The people of Gilgit-Baltistan are also agitated over the construction of Daimer Bhasha Dam in the region and want its royalties to be paid to the locals.

The Awami (people’s) Action Committee is an umbrella organisation, which includes several political and civil society organisations of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan has been desperately trying to suppress the activities of this organisation and silence its leaders and members by invoking draconian laws like Anti-Terrorism Act and preventing them from travel outside the region, without permission from local authorities of the Pakistani establishment. Most of the leaders and activists are imprisoned with false cases.

Infrastructure in the region has been in shambles for 70 years, lacking proper roads, railway, commercial airport, hospitals and universities.

The only hospital in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir is the Combined Military Hospital, which is controlled and run by the military, with locals having no access. Local people have to walk long distances to reach a road from where sick persons can be transported to a government hospital in Rawalpindi. Many sick persons do not survive till then.

Similarly, anyone in Gilgit-Baltistan wanting to pursue higher studies has to go to Rawalpindi, Lahore or Karachi. In fact, one of the main reasons for backwardness of Gilgit-Baltistan is lack of quality educational institutions in PoJK.

Will take strict action on killing of elephant in Kerala: Environment Minister

New Delhi (NVI): Reacting to the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala who was fed firecrackers-filled pineapple, Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that the Centre has taken a serious note of the incident and strict action will be taken against those involved.

Taking to Twitter, Javadekar said that it is not in Indian culture to fee firecrackers and kill. He said those behind the killing of the elephant will not be spared.

“Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill,” he tweeted.

The Union Environment Minister also condemned the heinous act in a video message on Twitter. “Killing of an #Elephant in Kerala is absolutely unacceptable; Strict action will be taken against those involved in this heinous act: Union Minister,” he said.

The incident took place on May 27 in Kerala’s Malappuram, when the pregnant elephant died standing in the river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw.

The 15-year-old pregnant elephant died after it was fed a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers by some locals.

BJP leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has slammed the Kerala government over the incident.

“Mallapuram is known for its intense criminal activity especially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it. I can only suggest that you call/email and ask for action,” she tweeted.

In addition to this, people from all spheres of life have expressed anger, disbelief and grief on the death of the elephant. Many ministers, actors and celebrities have also strongly condemned the act and demanded strict action from the Kerala government.

Ibuprofen tested as potential treatment for COVID-19 in UK

Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): Scientists in the UK are running a trial to see if ibuprofen, the anti-inflammatory drug also used as a painkiller, can help Covid-19 positive patients in their treatment, reports BBC.

A team of researchers at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital and King’s College believe the drug could treat breathing difficulties in such patients. They also hope the low-cost treatment can keep them off ventilators.

In the trial, named Liberate, half of the patients will receive ibuprofen in addition to usual care, reports BBC.

Based on the study on animals, the results suggest that the drug might treat acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is one of the complications of severe coronavirus.

In the initial stages of the pandemic outbreak, there were concerns that ibuprofen might be bad for people to take, should they have the virus with mild symptoms.

France’s health minister Oliver Veran told BBC said that taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, could aggravate the infection and advised patients to take paracetamol instead.

However, a review done by the Commission on Human Medicines concludes that just like paracetamol, ibuprofen is safe to be consumed for coronavirus symptoms. Both the drugs can bring the temperature down and help with flu-like symptoms, they said.

Nepal’s Covid tally climbs to 2,634 with 334 new cases

New Delhi (NVI): 334 new persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in Nepal, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 2,634, local media reports said.

The country’s Ministry of Health and population said, this is the first time that single day cases have crossed the 300-mark.

Among the new infected cases, one man from Narayan Municipality-1; 20 men from Ward No. 2, one woman, 14 men from Ward No. 3 and one woman.

Similarly, coronavirus infection was also found in 2 men of Gaunpalika-1 and 3 men of Gaunpalika-1. Laxminarayan Tiwari informe

Apart from this, one man from Savik Banskot village of Dailekh, five men from Bhagani, 12 men from Dewalkanda, two men from Sadu and nine men from Sota were found to be infected with corona.

Of the newly infected, 319 are males and 15 females. With this, 2,450 males and 184 females have been recorded to have contracted the disease across the country.

Currently, 65 of the 77 districts and all the Provinces ki in the country have witnessed the transmission of COVID-19 virus, as per media reports.

The ministry also said that, 84,134 tests have been carried out using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method so far.

A total of 12 people have been discharged following recovery, which means the total recovery cases stand at 290 in Nepal.

Meanwhile, Nepal has recorded another coronavirus death today, which has taken the national COVID-19 death toll to ten.

Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh surge past 57,000

(Image source: United News of Bangladesh)

New Delhi (NVI): Bangladesh reported spike in coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours with the detection of 2,423 new cases, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 57,563.

The country also recorded a total of 35 death due to the novel coronavirus during this period, raising the death tally to 781, according to United News of Bangladesh.

So far, a total of 12,161 people have recovered from the deadly contagion, after 571 more patients made recovery.

The detection rate of new patients was recorded at 19.09 percent today.

Meanwhile, against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 21.13 percent and the mortality rate is 1.36 percent in the country.

Muslims help perform last rites of Kashmiri Pandit woman in J&K’s Bandipora

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Members of the Muslim community at Kuloosa village in Bandipora district of north Kashmir today helped in performing the last rites of an elderly Kashmiri Pandit woman who passed away this morning.

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, scores of Muslims including women assembled at the village in Bandipora to perform the last rites of Rani Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit woman. Witnesses said that Muslim women were seen mourning over her death as the deceased was close to them for years.

Soon after the news of death spread in the village, Muslims made special arrangements for performing the last rites of the deceased. They also arranged firewood for helping the KP family to cremate the deceased. “It is our duty to help neighbours irrespective of their religion,” Abdul Aziz, a village elder told NVI.

He said that the woman passed away in the morning. “Keeping social distancing norms in mind, we visited the bereaved family one by one and expressed our condolences,” he said. “We have not helped them today. We have been helping them for years and they have helped us too. We will always help them and always live with them and keep our age-old tradition of communal harmony intact.

In Kuloosa village of Bandipora, there are almost over a dozen KP families, who didn’t leave during the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley including members of Kashmiri Pandit community in 1990. Since then, the two communities have been living in the locality like one family, true friends and good neighbours.

Muslims in the area were visiting the family of the deceased, while maintaining social distancing, to offer condolences. The body of the woman was carried for last rites by the village elders, youth and was cremated in the presence of her family members and a large number of locals living in the village.

787 new COVID cases in Afghanistan; tally hits 18,054

New Delhi (NVI): Afghanistan witnessed a rise in coronavirus cases with 787 new cases, taking the overall tally to 18,054 across the country, according to Afghan media reports.

In the last 24 hours, among the new Covid-19 cases, 323 were reported in Kabul, 110 in Herat, 65 in Kandahar, 54 in Nangarhar, 48 in Badghis.

In addition, 40 cases were reported in Khost 36 in Paktia, 34 in Balkh, 32 in Paktika, 15 in Kunar, 18 in Nimruz, 8 in Takhar, 2 in Bamiyan, 1 in Logar and 1 in Parwan.

Meanwhile, Kabul Province has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan at 6,810, followed by Herat with 3,117 cases, and then Balkh with 1,179.

So far, 43,569 people have been tested in the country.

According to the Health Ministry, six people lost their lives over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from coronavirus to 300.

At least, 1,585 patients have been cured from virus or discharged.

Apart from this, the health officials have called on Afghan citizens to take the virus seriously to curb its further spread, as per media reports.

Pakistan surpasses China in COVID-19 cases; tally rises to 86,931

COVID-19: Pakistan imposes mini-lockdown in Islamabad

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistan today surpassed China in the total number of coronavirus cases, the first epicentre of the disease, after a record 6,500 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 86,931 with at least 1,790 fatalities recorded so far.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 34,557 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 31,104 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 11,373 cases, Balochistan is at 5,224, Gilgit-Baltistan at 824, Islamabad at 3,544 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 285 cases so far, according to Geo News.

So far, 30,128 people have fully recovered from the deadly contagion in the country.

As the number of infections continue to go up, Minister for Planning Asad Umar said an effective media campaign is being launched across the country to create awareness and to educate the masses for voluntary compliance of Standard Operating Procedures, according to media reports.

IMF calls for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, backs transition to green economy

New Delhi (NVI): In the wake of Covid-19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it is a good time to end fossil fuel subsidies and create a greener, fairer economy for the future.

Speaking at the launch of the “Great Reset” initiative by World Economic Forum yesterday, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, threw the weight of IMF behind the transition and said there is a good opportunity now to save the environment from the consequences of global warming.

The “Great Reset” is the WEF’s global initiative to build a better world in the wake of COVID-19.

“We now have to step up, use all the strength we have, which in the case of the IMF is $1 trillion,” to ensure that history looks back at “the great reset, not the great reversal,” Georgieva was quoted as saying in a WEF report.

She said this means putting the right investments and incentives in place – and breaking with unsustainable ones.

“I’m particularly keen to take advantage of low oil prices to eliminate harmful subsidies,” she said.

A report by IMF last year estimated annual fossil fuel subsidies at $5.2 trillion in 2017, or 6.5% of the global economy, illustrating the scale of the challenge.

At the WEF virtual meeting the IMF head drew a parallel with the way the Second World War prompted the foundation of the National Health Service in the UK.

“The best memorial we can build for those who lost their lives in the pandemic is a greener, smarter, fairer world,” Georgieva said.

Bernard Looney, the CEO of BP, who was also in the virtual meet, agreed with the IMF chief and said that he backed an end to fossil fuel subsidies and supported the green investment policies that organizations including the EU were beginning to put into place. BP’s alternative energy portfolio includes wind power, solar power and biofuels, WEF reported.

“We all know there is a carbon budget. It is finite, it is running out,” he said.

In the absence of a real action on the ground, catastrophic warming of over 4 degrees is predicted by the end of the century, IMF reports, adding that the current policies are putting us on a course for around 3 degrees of warming – enough to drown major cities, bring mass extinctions and make large parts of the world uninhabitable.

According to the WEF report, the United States and China are currently the world’s largest polluters. Although the COVID-19 lockdown caused a lull in CO2 emissions and dirty air, air pollution has already rebounded to previous levels in China, with the resumption of economic activities and quite possibly, the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity.

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