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Jindal Steel felicitates its COVID-19 warriors

New Delhi (NVI): Jindal Steel today felicitated twenty-five of its outstanding COVID-19 Warriors, who worked round the clock to see that every infected JSPL employee was back in the best of their health in the shortest possible time.

The group of these twenty-five outstanding employees included doctors, administration staff, drivers, cooks, security guards, etc.

“We may be living in a challenging era, but we believe in putting our employees at the core of our operations, and doing everything possible so that they remain in their best of health. Today’s felicitation is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of these brave JSPL employees,” said JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal after felicitating the Corona warriors.

“These employees served their colleagues selflessly and courageously through these difficult times. These outstanding employees will further inspire others, in and outside the organisation,” Jindal added.

India is battling the Covid-19 pandemic which has led to huge job losses and economic decline in the country. JSPL has taken several measures, in keeping with the Government guidelines and WHO protocol, to protect its employees from the virus, and to create a safe workplace, the company said in a release.

But, as the severity of the crisis shows, there could still be some instances where people get infected by the virus despite taking all possible precautions, it said.

“Few of the JSPL employees contracted the virus. In this crisis, the rest of the JSPL workforce rose to the occasion and ensured that the infected employees recovered in no time,” JSPL said in a statement.

“JSPL stands with the Union Government and state governments in protecting the lives of its employees and their families, and ensuring their well-being, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, while contributing to the India Growth Story,” it added.

-ARK

A year after Art 370 move in J&K, mixed feelings amid new challenges

J&K Bar Association issued 3 notices over its constitution
Kashmir (Representative Pic)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The coming Wednesday will mark the first anniversary of the Centre’s historic announcement to abrogate Article 370 that revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided the erstwhile state into two Union Territories— Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Just two days short of the first anniversary of the decision, NVI spoke to a cross-section of society in J&K including top leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party, teachers, students, civil society activities to gauge the feedback on what J&K achieved a year after the rollback of Article 370.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said after the move that the revocation of Article 370 will usher in a new dawn in J&K, there are mixed feelings as the UT residents still demand better infrastructure, jobs and internet connectivity like the rest of the country. The Covid-19 pandemic has also added to the challenges that were there before, though.

However, according to Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Article 370 move has helped restore peace for the security forces. “A peaceful atmosphere is prevailing in J&K. The recruitment of local boys into militancy has gone down. People are happy and the overall security situation has improved a lot,” J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh told NVI.

For BJP leaders in the UT, the rollback of Article 370 has helped fulfill BJP founder Shama Prasad Mukherji’s slogan—Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan (one constitution, one leader and one flag). “From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, India is one. No special treatment to any state or UT, all are one and the same,” said J&K BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur. He said that the BJP will be celebrating August 5 by holding virtual rallies and in every district of J&K, tricolor will be hoisted and sweets will also be distributed among people.

While the security forces and ruling party leaders suggest that the UT has benefitted from the abrogation of Article 370, there are certain residents who have their apprehensions.

Imtiyaz Nazir, a student who is pursuing PhD in Kashmir University said the rollback of article 370 by the BJP government at the Centre on August 5 last year, was indeed a historic move as all the previous governments that have ruled India from time to time, couldn’t do it.

“But the question remains, what J&K has achieved after integration with the union of India. Militancy is there even though street protests have declined, unemployment is as it was before. The development hasn’t taken place the way it was promised,” he said. “Domiciles have been given to almost 2000 people who were non-J&K residents,” Nazir added.

Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal, the elder son of former Prime Minister and Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah said, “Accession to India was a bridge between India and J&K. When India was under British, J&K was an independent country. Had Pakistani invaders not attacked Kashmir to grab it, we would have been an independent country still. The then Maharaja Hari Singh had to seek Indian forces’ help to defeat the invaders and for that, accession was a pre-condition. We entered into an accession in 1947 on three conditions— defence, foreign affairs and communication.”

Kamaal said that his father Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah took the reins of J&K and that Article 370 was incorporated in the J&K constitution by the then constituent assembly in 1952. “Its rollback is against the very law of India. It’s a forcible reunion and my party’s National Conference has rejected last year’s August 5 announcement,” he said.

Awami National Conference Vice President Muzaffar Shah said that there has been no outcome of the rollback of Article 370.

“Kashmir’s economy has gone from bad to worse. There is huge unemployment,” he said.

Ravi Kumar, a Jammu-based industrialist said that initially, it seemed that the decision may help Jammu revive its ailing economy, but nothing of that sort happened. “Our economy is in shambles. That apart, now non-J&K people are applying for government jobs and even putting in all efforts to buy land to set up their own business units,” he said.

Yaseen Ahmed, a trader from Kashmir said that nothing much has changed in the last one  year. “Kashmir’s economy has further shattered. There is no business, no employment, no development. Hotels are empty,” he said.

-CHK/ARK

Prison in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad secured after 18 hr long op, 8 attackers killed

New Delhi (NVI): The attack on a prison Nangarhar prison in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad city ended after an around 18 hours long gunbattle between the terrorists and security officials in which eight attackers were killed.

At least 29 people were also killed while 50 others were left injured after terrorists stormed Nangarhar prison compound in Jalalabad yesterday.

The prison was cleared of terrorists and five of the eight terrorists were killed inside the jail during the clearing operation by the defense and security forces, Fawad Aman, deputy spokesman for the Defense Ministry said in a tweet.

Three prisoners were also killed by terrorists, two of whom were Taliban, he added.

At 6:44 PM yesterday, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives at the entrance gate of the prison in PD4 of Jalalabad city.

Emal Neyazi, Nangarhar’s police chief, told TOLOnews that 2 blasts occurred inside the prison.

According to eyewitnesses, the attack began with a car bomb exploding at the prison entrance gate, and the way was opened for the attackers and they clashed with the security forces.

Nangarhar governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said the attack continued for so long because attackers used a shopping mall adjacent to the jail as cover.

According to the official, the dead bodies of 29 civilians were recovered from the spot and transferred to the provincial hospital. 50 injured people have been hospitalised. He said the wounded people are in stable condition.

The clearing operations were conducted slowly to protect the lives of policemen and inmates in the prison, and civilians in the mall, the official said.

Clashes also took place inside the prison after terrorists broke in but 700 inmates who fled the jail were re-captured. A total of 1,500 inmates were in the prison originally, a government source told TOLO news.

As per local media, Daesh (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack but these are unconfirmed reports.

The Taliban has denied involvement in the attack. The attack began on the last day of the Eid ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

-ARK

PM holds talks with Afghanistan Prez

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani held a telephonic conversation today where Ghani thanked India for the timely supply of food and medical assistance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the evolving security situation in the region and other areas of mutual bilateral interest.

PM Modi reiterated India’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan in their quest for a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive Afghanistan, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

In addition to this, both the leaders also exchanged greetings on the joyous festival of Eid–ul–Adha.

-CHK

Uttarakhand’s Valley of Flowers opens for tourists

New Delhi (NVI): The Valley of Flowers in Uttrakhand has been opened for tourists and people from outside the state will also be allowed to visit the place amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Valley of flowers, a UNESCO World Heritage site, usually remains open for visitors from June to October.

This year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the tourist hotspot for the first time in its history was not accessible at its scheduled time.

On August 1, the trek was also officially opened. Visitors from within the state and outside were allowed to enter.

Joshimath SDM Anil Chanyal said, “Although tourists from outside the state will be allowed to visit the tourist hotspot, they will be required to upload their COVID-19 negative certificate 72 hours prior to their visit.”

The Valley of Flowers, situated in the lap of Gharwal Himalayas, next to Nanda Devi National Park, famous for its over 500 plant species. It usually remains open for tourists from June 1 to October 31, and remains covered in snow during other months.

Notably, around 15,000 people visited the site last year, and now with its reopening, it is expected that it will give a boost to state tourism.

Meanwhile, the forest officials have also cleared all the internal routes of the valley for patrolling, as the risk of poaching looms here.

-RJV

No silver bullet for Covid-19 and there might never be: WHO

New Delhi (NVI): WHO today said that a number of Covid-19 vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and a number of effective vaccines are expected that can help prevent people from the infection but there is no silver bullet at the moment to fight coronavirus and there might never be.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remarks while addressing the virtual media-briefing on Covid-19 today. “For now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health and disease control. Testing, isolating and treating patients, and tracing and quarantining their contacts. Do it all. Inform, empower and listen to communities. Do it all,” he said.

Tedros also said that some countries which had experienced the worst of spikes and appeared to have recovered were now witnessing fresh spikes.

“Over the past week we’ve seen several countries that appeared as though they were past the worst now contending with fresh spikes in cases,” he said.

“However, we’ve also seen how some countries, regions or localities that had a high number of cases are now bringing the outbreak under control,” he added.

He said it is not easy to control the pandemic and that strict measures may cause their own problems for delivery of essential health services, the economy and societies overall.

The WHO DG further stated that on Friday, the Emergency Committee on COVID-19 met and reviewed the current pandemic.”At the time, 30 January, there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside of China. When the Committee met three months ago, three million cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO, and more than 200,000 deaths.

“Since then, the number of cases has increased more than fivefold to 17.5 million, and the number of deaths has more than tripled, to 680,000,” he said.

In addition to the direct toll COVID-19 is having, the Committee noted the health impact that disrupted services are having on a range of other diseases, he said.

He further stated that one of the areas that WHO has been continuing to study is the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19. “The WHO advance team that travelled to China has now concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus origins,” he said.

As a result of these efforts, WHO and Chinese experts have drafted the Terms of Reference for the studies and programme of work for an international team, led by WHO, he said.

The international team will include leading scientists and researchers from China and around the world. Epidemiological studies will begin in Wuhan to identify the potential source of infection of the early cases. Evidence and hypotheses generated through this work will lay the ground for further, longer-term studies, Tedros said at the briefing.

The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 6,90,000 people and infected at least 18.1 million since the outbreak of the deadly virus in Wuhan, China in December last year.

-ARK

Karti Chidambaram tests COVID-19 positive

New Delhi (NVI): Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a tweet, the son of former finance minister P Chidambaram said his symptoms are mild and he has gone into self-isolation on medical advise.

“I have just tested positive for #Covid. My symptoms are mild and as per medical advice I am under home quarantine. I would urge all those who have recently been in contact with me to follow medical protocol,” he tweeted.

This comes a day after Union home minister Amit Shah and Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa tested for coronavirus on Sunday.

-CHK

PM greets nation on Sanskrit Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted people on the occasion of Sanskrit Diwas or World Sanskrit Day.

Sanskrit is one of the most ancient languages of the world, which is believed to have originated around 3500 years ago.

In a tweet in Sanskrit, PM Modi described Sanskrit as a beautiful language which has made India a treasure house of knowledge for many years. He also urged everyone to work towards making Sanskrit more popular.

Sanskrit Day is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Shravan to promote its revival.

This year it is observed on August 3 with the objective to educate the younger generation of India about the ancient language.

-RJV

TA soldier goes missing in Kashmir, his vehicle found burnt

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Security agencies in Kashmir have started a massive search operation to trace a missing Territorial Army soldier who was reportedly abducted by suspected terrorists and his vehicle was found burnt in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district late last night.

A senior police official told NVI that preliminary investigations suggest the TA soldier has been kidnapped by the militants, who also set his car on fire before taking him along.

The soldier identified as Muzzaffar Manzoor, a resident of Shopian district, was abducted at Rambhama area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. “Manzoor serves in the Territorial Army and his personal mobile was coming switched off continuously,” the police official said.

He said that a massive search operation has been launched to track down the missing soldier. The police official said all angles are being investigated and the list of active militants is also being examined to find out who is behind the act. “Some rumours are there that the soldier may have joined the militancy. But why would he set ablaze his own car. So we are investigating every angle and are hopeful of a breakthrough very soon,” he said.

Earlier, on July 15, suspected militants had abducted Mehrajudin Malla, a BJP leader and vice president of Municipal Committee in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. His children had appealed all including militant outfits in a video message to release their father. On the same day, Malla reached home and police claimed that he was rescued by them. The police, however, didn’t elaborate how Malla was rescued.

-ARK

Health Ministry issues guidelines for reopening of gyms, yoga centres from August 5

New Delhi (NVI): The Health Ministry today issued guidelines for yoga institutes and gyms to open from August 5, under the third phase of unlocking the Covid-19 lockdown, adding that only those outside containment zones will be allowed to open.

Elderly people above the age of 65 years, people with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years have been directed not to use gymnasiums or yoga institutes in closed spaces.

Yogic kriyas are to be avoided or planned in open spaces. Users to be put in batches and allocated staggered timings to avoid overcrowding of people while entering and exiting the fitness centre.

Each batch could have a gap of 15-30 minutes in between to keep rush at bay and facilitate cleaning and disinfecting process, the guidelines stated.

“Those having oxygen saturation level below 95 percent should not be allowed to exercise,” it added.

The generic preventive measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 are as follows:

i. Individuals must maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet as far as feasible.

ii. Use of face covers/masks is mandatory at all times within the premises. However, during yoga exercise or exercising in gymnasiums, as far as possible only a visor may be used. Use of mask (in particular N-95 masks) during exercise may cause difficulty in breathing.

It asked people to frequently wash hands with soap (for at least 40-60 seconds) even when hands are not visibly dirty. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers (for at least 20 seconds) have been recommended wherever feasible.

The ministry guidelines have advised for self-monitoring of health by all and reporting any illness at the earliest to state and district helpline.

Gyms and Yoga institutes have been closed since March 23, when the nationwide lockdown was first imposed.

-CHK

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