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Scorching heat spells crisis for birds in Delhi-NCR

Raptors such as kites are more prone to heat exhaustion as they fly at higher altitudes.

New Delhi (NVI): As the temperatures skyrocket in the national capital, it’s not only people who have been suffering. Birds in and around Delhi-NCR are facing the brunt of the heatwave gripping the city. After temperatures shot up to 45 degrees Celsius last week, accompanied by very hot winds, over 30 birds suffering from heat exhaustion were rescued by Wildlife SOS.

In the months of May and June, Wildlife SOS has rescued many birds, suffering from dehydration and injuries caused mid-flight and have been safely released into their natural habitat.

Wildlife SOS is conservation non-profit organization, established with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress, and preserving India’s natural heritage.

On a single day, their team has responded to over ten calls regarding exhausted birds that were found in precarious conditions. Among them were black kites, pigeons, asian koyals, barn owls and common mynah birds.

In one such similar incident, a baby mynah had fallen out of its nest in Shankar Vihar and was rescued by a Wildlife SOS team when the family noticed the tiny bird in their garden. It was reunited with its mother soon after.

Summer season is the breeding time for birds, so the conservation organisation has received many calls involving baby birds. Raptors such as kites are more prone to heat exhaustion as they fly at higher altitudes. Planting more trees and leaving earthen water bowls around residential complexes, windows and terraces is helpful in preventing such situations from arising.

CEO & Co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan said, “The most common symptoms we have been observing in these birds are dehydration and heat exhaustion. Every year we get hundreds of calls during the peak of summer regarding birds that have fallen victim to the heat. We are very grateful for these individual acts of kindness and for the people who take the time and effort to care for these birds while help arrives.”

Wasim Akram, Deputy Director – Special Projects, said, “A large number of birds are falling prey to the soaring temperatures due to heat exhaustion and lack of shade. With various parts of North India reeling under the heat wave, such cases are bound to escalate in the months to come. Even the water bowls put out for these birds are drying up in the heat and so are local water bodies. As birds need to bathe themselves in summer to keep cool, this is causing quite a difficult situation. In most cases, immediate medical attention is required to prevent them from succumbing to heat stroke.”

-CHK

COVID cases in Afghanistan climb to 30,616; death toll at 703

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in Afghanistan saw a rise of 165 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 30,616, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 703 with 20 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health said that, among the fresh cases reported, the highest count of new positive cases was reported in Paktia with 34, followed by Hera with 27 cases.

Likwise, 21 cases were reported in Ghazni, 19 in Kandahar, 17 in Paktika, 10 in Khost, 8 in Nuristan, 7 in Laghman, 7 in Nangarhar, 7 in Balkh, 4 in Helmand, 3 in Uruzgan and 1 in Samangan.

But no cases were reported in Kabul in the last 24 hours, according to data by the ministry.

In terms to fatalities, 9 the deaths were reported in Khost, three in Helmand, three Paktia, two Samangan, two in Badakhshan, one in Uruzgan in the past 24 hours.

So far, the total number of people recovered from the virus reached 10,674 in Afghanistan.

-RJV

Covid tales: In absence of non-local workers, Kashmiris sow paddy crops on their own

Kashmiris plant paddy saplings in a field on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): For almost two decades, Kashmiris have been dependent on the non-local work force for a plethora of works especially construction, painting houses and sowing various crop varieties and harvesting the same as well. But this year, Covid has played a spoil sport and has left the Kashmiris with no choice other than to do all these jobs on their own.

Rice across Kashmir is sown in the month of June and today not a single non-local worker is seen working in the fields. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, workers from outside the Union Territory could not come to Kashmir. However, a few who didn’t leave last December continue to stay in the Valley. Their number is too less compared to what it used to be in summers in Kashmir.

“I had been repeatedly calling Ravi, who had been working for us for years now. But he has not been able to book a ticket due to the pandemic. He along with his half-a-dozen friends would sow our rice crops and I would pay them their dues well on time every year,” said Irshad Ahmed, who owns many kanals of paddy land in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Similarly, Gulab Kumar, who would reach Kashmir in the first week of April, said that he has suffered huge losses this year. “I would lead a group of 30 to 40 people, all from my village in Bihar, to Kashmir every year. Majority of them would work in fields both at the time of sowing paddy crop and at the time of harvest as well,” Kumar told NVI over phone from Bihar. He said that they have tried to travel to Kashmir, but all efforts have failed.

Aijaz Ahmed, a resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla said he had to invite all his relatives for sowing paddy crop this year. “I used to hire non-locals and would monitor the sowing of paddy crop myself. But this year, my family members including females and the close relatives had to play their bit in sowing paddy crops as no non-local labourer was present in Kashmir to do the job,” said Aijaz, who has over 20 kanals of paddy land.

While on one hand, Kashmiris are themselves busy in the fields, non-locals, who would otherwise do the job, have suffered huge losses as they would earn good money during the month of June and also in the month of September, when paddy crop is ready to harvest.

-CHK

International commercial flights to remain suspended till July 15: DGCA

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): All scheduled international commercial passenger flight services to and from India will remain suspended till July 15, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced yesterday.

The restriction, however, will not be applied on international all-cargo operations and other flights specially approved services by the DGCA.

A circular released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated, “Scheduled international commercial passenger services to or from India shall remain suspended till 23:59 hours IST of July 15, 2020.”

The DGCA official release further stated that, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case to case basis.

Besides this, the government is currently running the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission – one of the largest initiatives to repatriate Indians stranded abroad due to
coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri had said that a decision to resume international passenger flights will be taken in July, further adding that it would depend on the coronavirus behavior and if the entire ecosystem and state governments are on board.

“I am often asked, when can you start international civil aviation? If you leave it to me, and if the ecosystem works, and if we have the predictability in terms of behaviour of the virus, I think in the coming month we should start taking the decision,” Puri said.

He also said that, these decisions will not be taken by the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry. These decisions will be taken by the governments after looking at their domestic situation.

-RJV/CHK

Nepal Covid-19 tally crosses 12,300; death toll 28

New Delhi (NVI): 554 new positive coronavirus cases have been reported from Nepal, taking the toll in the Himalayan nation to 12,309, according to local media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health and Population said, 434 males and 120 females are among the newly infected persons. In total, 10,940 males and 1,369 females have contracted the disease.

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

The ministry also said that, Nepal has performed 210,876 sample tests through the PCR method so far.

Apart from this, 136 persons have recovered from the hospitals in last 24 hours. With this total recovery cases stands at 2,834, of which 2,592 are males while 242 females.

Currently, 9,447 people are in isolation and 65,712 in quarantines across the country.

Meanwhile, another COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in Nepal today. With this, death-toll from coronavirus infection in the country has reached 28.

-RJV

Hizb wiped out from Pulwama’s Tral, 29 terrorists active in south Kashmir: IGP

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): In south Kashmir districts, 29 foreign terrorists are active who are hiding in upper reaches while Hizbul Mujahideen has been weakened in southern districts of the Valley but wiped off completely from Pulwama’s Tral area, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar today said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a wreath laying ceremony of a CRPF man who was killed in yesterday’s terrorist attack at Bijbehara, IGP said that militancy has not been wiped from South Kashmir yet but has been largely weakened.

“There are 29 foreign militants active in South Kashmir, who are hiding in upper reaches of southern districts and are not coming down. When our sources would give accurate information about them, we will go after them,” Kumar said.

“Militancy has not been wiped out from South Kashmir yet but we are in a process of doing that,” he said. “There have been massive jolts to the various terrorist outfits in South Kashmir this year. The remaining terrorists are being cleaned gradually. However, the Tral area, that has been the hot bed of militancy, has for the first time since 1989, no active Hizb terrorist. ”

Interestingly, Director General of Police (J&K) Dilbagh Singh recently said that Hizb has lost over 50 terrorists this year while Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have lost 20 each including top commanders.

Responding to a query whether security forces have shifted their focus to north Kashmir, the IGP said that the number of terrorists in north Kashmir is less as compared to south. “We have already started anti-militancy operations in north Kashmir also. Recently, we killed two local terrorists in Sopore area of Baramulla,” he said.

The IGP further stated that, “Both, human as well as technical intelligence is helping us to develop credible leads about the presence of terrorists. We develop leads and act against terrorists and later on identify the militant outfits they belong to.”

Talking about the attack at Bijbheara in which a CRPF man and a five-year-old boy were killed, he said eye-witnesses and police sources have identified the terrorist involved in the firing. “His name is Zahid Das and he is affiliated with the J&K Islamic State outfit. He came on a bike and fired indiscriminately in which a CRPF man and minor boy got killed,” he said, adding that “a massive manhunt has been launched to nab Zahid.”

-CHK

Delhi University postpones open book exams for final-year students by 10 days

Delhi University
Delhi University

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi University (DU) today postponed its online open-book examinations (OBE) for final-year students by 10 days citing rising cases of COVID-19. Exams earlier scheduled to start on July 1 will now begin on July 10.

The University will announce new dates for the final-year undergraduate and postgraduate exams including the School of Open Learning and the Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB), on July 3, 2020.

According to the notification by Delhi University, guidelines for the DU open book exam will remain same as announced before. Mock tests for the open book exams will start from July 4.

In addition to this, the notifications regarding conduct of OBE for persons with disabilities (PwD) and visually impaired (VI) students will also remain the same, DU informed.

Reportedly, the open book exams have been furiously resisted by both teachers and students of DU citing issues like absence of study material for many students and lack of internet connectivity in various parts of the country, among others.

So far, the contagious respiratory disease had infected 77,240 people and claimed 2,492 lives in the national capital.

-CHK

2.4 mn children face hunger and aid shortages in Yemen amid COVID-19: UNICEF

(Source: @UNICEF)

New Delhi (NVI): Approximately 2.4 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen were pushed to face hunger and malnutrition due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new UNICEF report.

In an official statement, UNICEF said that in the next six months, an additional 30,000 children could develop life-threatening severe acute malnutrition and the overall number of malnourished children under the age of five could increase to a total of 2.4 million.

A report by the organization stated that, after five years of war in the country, Yemen’s devastated health system and infrastructure struggles to cope with coronavirus pandemic, the already serious situation for children is likely to deteriorate considerably.

Furthermore, the health system is teetering closer to collapsing. After years of conflict, only half of health facilities are operational, with huge shortages in medicine, equipment and staff.

Around 9.58 million children do not have sufficient access to safe water, sanitation, or hygiene and this poor access to water and sanitation is stoking the spread of COVID-19, as per the report.

Besides, the United Nations recorded 3,467 children, some as young as 10-year-old, recruited and used by armed forces and groups over the last five years and with schools closed, 7.8 million children are not able to access education in the country.

“If we do not receive urgent funding, children will be pushed to the brink of starvation and many will die. The international community will be sending a message that the lives of children in a nation devastated by conflict, disease and economic collapse, simply do not matter,” said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF Representative to Yemen.

“We cannot overstate the scale of this emergency as children, in what is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, battle for survival as COVID-19 takes hold,” Nyanti said.

UNICEF is appealing for aid worth USD 461 million for its humanitarian response in Yemen, with an additional USD 53 million for its COVID-19 response alone. It said that, so far UNICEF has received just 10 per cent of the funds required for the COVID-19 response and around 39 percent of the humanitarian aid funding.

However, UNICEF is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the authorities across Yemen to get life-saving aid to children in desperate need.

Nyanti also said that, “UNICEF is working around the clock in incredibly difficult situations to get aid to children in desperate need, but we only have a fraction of the funding required to do this. Children in Yemen need lasting peace and stability in their country,” she added

-RJV

Locust swarm clouds over Gurugram, bordering districts of Delhi put on alert

(Source: Twitter)

New Delhi (NVI): A swarm of desert locusts have reached the outskirts of Delhi, after descending upon Gurugram today morning. The crop-destroying locusts are expected to head towards Uttar Pradesh.

The skies over many parts of Gurugram, including Cyber Hub turned dark, but the migratory pests are likely to spare Delhi for now.

However, the adjoining districts of the national capital have been put on alert.
The Haryana government has issued a high alert after locusts entered Rewari and Gurugram districts, with officials saying that all necessary measures have been taken, according to media reports.

Gurugram residents were last evening asked to keep their windows shut as precaution against a locust attack by the city administration as a swarm was sighted in an adjoining district.

Many residents of Gurugram shared videos from their high-rise perches after being alarmed by the invasion of locusts, which settled on trees, rooftops and plants. In addition to this, the district administration has asked residents to make clanging noises by beating utensils to ward off the insects.

Earlier In May, India withstood a destruction desert locust outbreak. The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and then spread to parts of Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

-RJV/CHK

NALCO clocks all-time high physical performance; net profit of Rs 138 crore

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): The National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Central PSU located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, earned a net profit of Rs 138.23 crore in financial year 2019-20, successfully handling the market downturn by improving productivity and sales.

NALCO, a Navratna CPSE which comes under Ministry of Mines, despite being adversely impacted by about Rs 2,900 crore due to fall in global metal prices, the company has continued to remain profitable and achieved a net turnover of Rs 8,426 crore.

The export turnover of the company for the fiscal was Rs 3,511crore, according to a statement released by the company.

However, weathering the sluggishness in the international metal market and falling London Metal Exchange prices, NALCO has continued to remain profitable by successfully handling the market downturn.

Riding on overall growth in production, improving productivity and sales, the company has been registering profit every fiscal since inception.

In addition to this, the Navratna CPSE has also achieved significant growth in production and sales.

Furthermore, Bauxite production of 73.02 lakh MT in mines and 21.61 lakh MT of Alumina Hydrate in alumina refinery, have been the highest-ever since company’s inception.

Both mines and refinery of NALCO has been performing beyond its installed capacities. The company also produced 4.18 lakh MT of Aluminium metal in FY19-20.

Sridhar Patra, CMD, NALCO, has attributed the success to the teamwork and dedication of the employees.

“We are optimistic that in the long run with our focus on increasing the production in mining and refining segments, opening up of the new coal blocks, backward integration in supply of key raw materials like caustic soda, we shall be able to tide over present economic crisis,” Patra said.

-CHK

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