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2 terrorists killed, 3 soldiers injured in encounter in J&K’s Kulgam

2 LeT militants surrender after gunfight in J&K's Kulgam
(Representational/file image)

Abid Bashir 

Srinagar (NVI): Two terrorists were killed while three soldiers, including a Junior Commissoned Officer(JCO), were injured in an encounter that broke out this afternoon, in Arreh Mohanpora village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police officials said.

A senior police officer informed that as the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired at the forces triggering an encounter., where in two terrorists were killed while three soldiers were injured. He further added that search operations are still on.

An official said that joint teams of police, Army’s 34 RR and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation on a specific lead about the presence of terrorists in the area.

This is the 17th such encounter in the area since June 1.  In south Kashmir, 48 terrorists have been killed since June 1 and in this year so far 120 terrorists have been killed in various encounters across Kashmir.

-CHK

Baloch outfit releases video message of Karachi Stock Exchange attackers

New Delhi (NVI): Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an outfit fighting for independence from Pakistan, has released a video in which the suicide attackers of June 29 Karachi Stock Exchange say their “operation” was aimed at stopping Pakistan, along with China, from exploiting the resources of Balochistan.

In the 12-minute video in Balochi language with English subtitles, one of the attackers Salman Hammal says, “If the world continues to ignore Balochistan, then Baloch youth will continue to sacrifice themselves.”

The video also shows four attackers training for the assault on Karachi Stock Exchange during which all of them were killed along with 7 policeman and guards.

“Pakistan is involved in looting Baloch resources since it occupied Baloch motherland 70 years ago,” Hammal says in the video, according to the subtitles.

“It (Pakistan) has now involved China and has been plundering Baloch resources through Sindak, Gwadar and other similar projects in Balochistan. Therefore, this gives Baloch nation the legal justification and it becomes their responsibility to resist against this exploitation,” he adds.

“We want to clarify that the main objective of our operation is to stop this exploitation of Baloch resources. It will be our utmost effort during this operation to avoid the loss of human lives. We will try our best that loss of human lives is kept at minimum during this operation in particular and in the movement in general. But even then, if a human life is lost or if we kill someone in our defence during this operation, then as our leader General Aslam has said, if someone gets killed while we defend ourselves, it will be not our fault but our opponent’s. It will also be Pakistan’s responsibility as it is them who are here to exploit and plunder Baloch resources,” the Baloch fighter added.

He said the BLA also wants to make it clear to the “upholders and champions of human rights like UN, EU or US State Department that you have failed to take notice of the Baloch genocide and (or) exert pressure on Pakistan to stop this genocide or play a role in stopping the exploitation of Baloch resources. You have failed to hear the voice of Baloch nation.

“Therefore we have been left with no option but to go to this extreme. We are not adventurists, nor have we any interest in dying but for our cause and to protect our land resources, we are sacrificing ourselves.”

The BLA fighter says, “If the UN, human rights organisations and the international powers, which have duty, continue to not take notice, then such attacks by BLA Majeed Bridage will further intensify as we will not allow anyone to exploit our resources without our consent.”

He said Balochistan is witnessing a humanitarian crisis and “this will further worsen until and unless the Baloch Motherland attains its independence”, its identity is recognised, the Baloch State is restored and the exploitation of Baloch resources stops.

BLA had earlier claimed responsibility for attack on Pakistan’s largest Stock Exchange.

PM Modi launches ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’ for Indian techies, start-ups

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minster Narendra Modi today launched the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’ to help Indian techies and start-ups to achieve the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission.

Taking to twitter, PM Modi said that today there is immense enthusiasm among the tech and start-up community to create world class “Made in India Apps”.

“To facilitate their ideas and products, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology along with the Atal Innovation Mission are launching the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge”,” the prime minister tweeted sharing the link to the LinkedIn post.

This challenge will run in two tracks – Promotion of Existing Apps and Development of New Apps.

“I urge all my friends in the tech community to participate,” he said while sharing the write-up “Let us Code for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.

The outcome of this challenge will be to give better visibility and clarity to existing Apps to achieve their goals, and to create tech products to find solutions to tech conundrums with the help of mentorship, tech support and guidance during the entire life-cycle, PM Modi wrote in his LinkedIn post.

The challenge will be jointly hosted by the government and members of the tech community to make it more holistic

Recently, the government has banned 59 mobile apps linked to China including Tik Tok, UC Browser, Helo, YouCam makeup and Mi Community in view of the information available that they are engaged in activities which are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity and defence” of the country.

-CHK

Bangladesh COVID-19 tally surges past 1.59 lakh; death toll nears 2,000

New Delhi (NVI): Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh exceeded 1.59 lakh after 3,228 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.

In addition to this, 29 new deaths were reported during this period, taking the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in the country to 1,997, according to United News of Bangladesh.

The daily infection rate was today recorded at 22.33 percent in the country.

So far, 70,721 people have recovered in the country after 2,673 more patients were recovered during this period.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate in Bangladesh is 44.29 percent while the mortality rate 1.25 percent.

-CHK

Afghanistan’s COVID tally crosses 32,600, death toll at 826

New Delhi (NVI): Afghanistan today witnessed a rise in coronavirus cases with 348 new infections, taking the overall tally to 32,672 across the country, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 826 with seven new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said, among the fresh cases, Kabul was on the top of the list with 164 new cases followed by Herat with 28 cases and Balk with 23.

Besides, Laghman was at the bottom of the list with one positive case in the last 24 hours, based on data by the ministry.

The MoPH also said, 19,618 people have recovered from the deadly disease in Afghanistan.

The recoveries were reported in Kabul (1,649), Kunar (107), Balkh (35), Zabul (16), Kandahar (12), Paktia (10) and Nimroz (4).
The deaths were reported in Kabul (1), Paktia (4), Nangarhar (1) and Nimroz (1).

So far, 75,155 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the country, as per media reports.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan also registered the first death of a high profile official from Covid-19. Yosuf Ghazanfar, President Ashraf Ghani’s Special Envoy for Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, died from the coronavirus on late Friday night.

-RJV

Coronavirus cases exceed 2.25 lakh in Pakistan; death toll tops 4,600

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistan reported 3,387 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 2,25,283.

Meanwhile, 68 people lost their lives due to the deadly contagion, taking the total number of fatalities to 4,619.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 90,721 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 80,297 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 27,506 cases, Balochistan is at 10,717, Gilgit-Baltistan at 1,536, Islamabad at 13,292 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 1,214 cases so far, according to media reports.

A total of 1,25,094 patients have recovered from the disease so far, making it almost half of the total cases.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government said it would reopen four border checkpoints with Iran from Sunday to facilitate the movement of goods.

-CHK

World’s biggest liquid air battery under construction in Manchester

World's Biggest Liquid Air Battery is now under construction in UK (Source: @guardian)

New Delhi (NVI): The construction of world’s largest liquid air battery, which can store renewable electricity and reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants, has begun in United Kingdom’s Manchester.

The project, known as the CryoBattery, will also be the first commercial battery of its kind. It will put up near Manchester and will help the country use renewable energy, The Guardian reported.

The plant will use spare green energy to compress air into a liquid and store it. When demand is higher, the liquid air is released back into a gas, powering a turbine that puts the green energy back into the grid.

United Kingdom government is backing the project with £10 million and the project will be run by energy storage company Highview and will help the UK make the most of the energy generated from its world-class solar and wind sectors.

The plant is due to be completed by 2022 and will be able to power up to 2,00,000 homes for five hours, The Guardian’s report said.

Once the project is completed, it will be able to store 250MWh of energy, almost double the amount stored by the biggest chemical battery can store, built by Tesla in South Australia.

A big expansion of wind and solar energy is vital to tackle the climate emergency but they are not always available. Storage is therefore key and the new project will be the largest in the world outside of pumped hydro schemes, which require a mountain reservoir to store water.

The new project is sited at the Trafford Energy Park, also home to the Carrington gas-powered energy plant and a closed coal power station. It will cost USD 106.5 million, while Highview has also received USD 43.9 million of investment from the Japanese machinery giant Sumitomo in February.

CryoBattery works by using electricity to cool and compress air, turning it into liquid and storing it in industrial sized containers. It then feeds the liquid through a turbine, turning it back into electricity and pumping it back into the grid when it is needed.

“Air is everywhere in the world. The main competitor is really not other storage technologies but fossil fuels,” The Guardian reported as told by the Highview CEO Javier Cavada.

UK Energy and Clean Growth Minister Kwasi Kwarteng also said, “This revolutionary new facility will form a key part of our push towards net zero, bringing greater flexibility to Britain’s electricity grid and creating green-collar jobs in Greater Manchester.

“Projects like these will help us realise the full value of our world-class renewables, ensuring homes and businesses can still be powered by green energy, even when the sun is not shining and the wind not blowing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the liquid air battery is creating 200 jobs, mainly in construction, and employing former oil and gas engineers, with a few dozen in the continuing operation.

In addition to this, Highview is also developing other sites in the UK, continental Europe and the US, including in Vermont, but the Manchester project will be the first.

-RJV/CHK

Nepal COVID-19 tally hits 15,491; death toll 34

New Delhi (NVI): Nepal reported 232 new cases of coronavirus today, taking the national tally to 15,491, according to local media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health and Population said, 272 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours after recovering from the virus. With this, 6,415 have been cured or discharged across the country so far.

As of today, coronavirus has spread to all 77 districts of Nepal, as per the reports.

The ministry also said, there are 686 cases of infection in Province 1; 4,083 cases in Province 2; 525 cases in Bagmati Province.

Likewise, 1,133 cases in Gandaki Province; 3,942 cases in Province 5; 1,540 cases in Karnali Province; and 3,582 cases in Sudurpaschim Province.

At present, 9,042 people are in isolation and 33,125 are in quarantines across the country, it said.

Meanwhile, two COVID-19 fatalities have been confirmed by the ministry today, which has taken the total death-toll from the disease to 34 in Nepal.

-RJV

Niladri Bije: Dieties enter Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): On the auspicious occasion of Niladri Bije, the last ceremony of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra and his return with his siblings from the Chariot to Sri Jagannath Temple, the deities returned to the Ratna Bedi today.

Niladri Bije is the concluding episode of Rath Yatra after Suna Besha & Adhara Pana. The rituals started today at 4pm and Goti Pahandi of deities will start by 5pm, Puri’s Collector, Balwant Singh said.

Among all the rituals of Rath Yatra, the most interesting and last ritual is Niladri Bije. Goti Pahandi is the procession of trinity from the chariots to Ratna Singhasana.

Historically, this is the continuation of the fight between Lord Jagannath and Goddess Laxmi. Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra enter the temple after they return from the vacation, but Goddess Lakshmi did not allow Lord Jagannath to enter into the temple. A fight happens between Lord Jagannath and Laxmi in front of the temple as he did not take her along for the vacation to his aunt’s place.

As per the tradition, Lord Jagannath is taken to Bheta Mandap to meet the angry Goddess Laxmi and offer her Rasagola to calm her down and seek her forgiveness. After several persuasion finally Laxmi allows him to enter the Jagannath Temple in Ratna Singhasana.

-CHK

Amit Shah pays tributes to Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

New Delhi (NVI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah today paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his death anniversary and said that he was a patriotic saint, a great thinker and an exemplary orator.

He further said that, “He only reinforced the spirit of nationalism in India but also enriched the whole world with the ethos of Indian culture.”

Shah took to twitter and stated, “Relevance of Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts on education, universal brotherhood and self-awakening continue to remain unbroken even today.”

“Swami Vivekananda had great faith in the abilities of India’s youth power. He believed that only the youth can provide the right direction and empower the nation in the times to come,” Amit Shah said.

Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863. He passed away on July 4, 1902.

-CHK

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