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J&K: 5-yr-old boy among 8 fresh deaths in Kashmir, death toll at 275

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): A five-year-old boy was among eight Covid-19 patients who died due to the deadly virus in Jammu and Kashmir today, taking the death toll in the Union Territory to 275.

Officials said that eight patients who died include a 58-year-old man from Rajbagh, Srinagar; a 45-year-old man from Zoonimar, Srinagar; a 45-year-old man from Palpora, Noor Bagh, Srinagar; a male patient from Khanyar Srinagar; a 70-year-old male from Ganderbal; a 29-year-old woman from Qazigund Anantnag; a 54-year old man from Sonwar Srinagar and a five-year-old kid from Qazipora, Bandipora.

An official from SKIMS said that a patient from Rajbagh who was admitted on July 16 with chest infection and tested positive for COVID-19, died this morning.

Official sources said the patient was a ward officer in Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and had worked as a frontline worker in the last three months in the area.

An official from SKIMS added that two more patients including a 54-year-old man from Sonwar, Srinagar who was admitted on July 14 and a five-year-old boy from Qazipora Bandipora who was admitted on June 20 died at SKIMS this afternoon.

He said that the boy had burn injuries and was tested positive for COVID-19 on 16 July.

An official from CD hospital said that a patient from Shah Gund Hajin, at present living in Zoonimar area of Srinagar, who was tested positive for COVID-19. was brought dead to CD hospital.

He said the patient was already critical, was suffering from lung cancer and was tested positive on Tuesday evening.

An official from SKIMS Bemina said that a 29-year-old woman who was tested positive for COVID-19, also died today.

An official from SMHS said that a 45-year-old man from Palpora, Srinagar who was admitted on July 20 with bilateral pneumonia, died Wednesday.

He further added that a male patient from Khanyar, Srinagar who was admitted on July 21, died on Wednesday. He was suffering from diabetes, hypertension, bilateral pneumonia and was tested positive after his death, he said.

A 70-year-old man from Ganderbal, who was admitted on July 20 died on 21 July at SMHS, official said, adding that he was suffering from bilateral pneumonia and was tested positive a day after his death.

With eight more deaths, the death toll due to COVID-19 has reached 275 in Jammu and Kashmir including 255 from Kashmir division and 20 from Jammu division.

-ARK

India condoles death of 4 Bhutan soldiers who died during flood rescue operation

(Source: Twitter @thebhutanese)

New Delhi (NVI): India today condoled the deaths of four Bhutanese soldiers who lost their lives while saving people affected by floods in Gelephu town in the country.

“Our deepest condolences to the Royal Government of Bhutan on the loss of lives of the four brave Bhutanese soldiers who sacrificed themselves in saving those impacted by the floods in Gelephu. We stand in solidarity with Bhutan at this difficult moment,” the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a tweet.

The incident took place on Tuesday as four soldiers, who were part of a five-member rescue team, tried to cross Maokhola river to rescue people who were stranded near a water treatment plant.

The water level of the river increased suddenly due to flash floods following heavy rainfall and led to the incident.

-ARK

Pak shells forward areas along LoC in J&K’s Poonch

Ceasefire
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistani troops today violated ceasefire in Kirni and Qasba sectors along the Line of Control (LOC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, defence sources said.

“On 22 Jul 2020 at about 1915 hours, Pak initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & shelling with Mortars along LoC in Kirni & Qasba sectors in District Poonch (J&K),” a defence source said, adding the Indian Army is retaliating befittingly.

There has been no let-up in shelling from across the border this year as Pakistan continues to violate the ceasefire agreement to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists to this side of LoC.

Meanwhile, the construction of 140 underground community bunkers is in full swing at border villages in Rampur sector, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara districts.

People living close to the LoC in Kashmir had been demanding community bunkers in their villages since a number of people have either lost their lives in intense shelling by Pakistani troops or have been left physically handicapped due to loss of limbs.

-ARK

China reacts after US asks it to close its consulate in Houston

New Delhi (NVI): The United States has ordered China to close its Consulate in Houston by Friday, a development that is likely to escalate tensions between the two countries as Beijing has threatened a reciprocal action.

The US has taken the measure following reports in the American media that confidential documents were being burnt on the premises of the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

Reports of documents being burned in the courtyard of the Consulate General of China in Houston emerged on Tuesday night.

The Houston Police pressed fire tenders into action after they received calls regarding fire at the consulate campus. Later, some videos also emerged of fire and smoke billowing out of the consulate.

However, the fire tenders were not allowed to enter the consulate premises as they kept waiting. Later, the Chinese mission was informed of Washington’s decision which has asked the employees of the consulate to vacate the place by Friday 4 pm.

The US has defended its move, saying the decision to close the Chinese Consulate was taken “to protect American intellectual property” and the private information of Americans.

“The US suddenly asked China to close down its Consulate General in Houston. This is a unilateral political provocation by the US side against China, a grave violation of the international law and basic norms governing international relations, a grave violation of relevant provisions of the China-US consular treaty, and a deliberate attempt to undermine China-US relations,” the Chinese spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Global Times.

“The Chinese side strongly condemned the move, and urged the US to immediately correct its mistakes. Otherwise, China will make a legitimate and necessary response,” the spokesperson said.

-ARK

Afghan teenage girl guns down 2 Taliban terrorists who killed her parents

New Delhi (NVI): Displaying exemplary bravery, a 15-year-old Afghan girl shot dead two Taliban terrorists with her father’s AK-47 rifle and injured another after they killed her parents in western Afghanistan.

Qamar Gul said the terrorists dragged her parents out of their home and killed them in front of her and her 12-year-old brother in Taywarah district of the western province of Ghor, the TOLOnews reported.

It was an action to “avenge” the killing of her family members, she said.

The incident took place at night when the Taliban men came and assaulted Gul’s parents. They dragged them outside the house and killed them. Qamar Gul, who was with her younger brother, took her father’s AK-47 rifle and started shooting at the terrorists. While two of them were shot dead, another was left wounded in the incident.

“They killed my father and mother in front of us and I took my father’s gun and started shooting and two of them were killed and another was wounded. We continued the fighting and my brother (a 12-year-old boy) also supported me and then our relatives came, and the Taliban escaped from the area,” Qamar Gul was quoted as saying by TOLOnews.

Meanwhile, Gul and her brother have been taken Firozkoh city, capital of Ghor province, by local officials in order to protect them from Taliban threats, reports the news portal.

While the provincial and local government officials have praised the teenage girl for her heroic act, the news of the incident created quite a buzz on social media, with Twitterati comparing her to Malala Yousafzai.

Noor Mohammad Kohnaward, provincial governor, while meeting Qamar Gul at his office told her: “The government of Afghanistan is praising you and the women of Afghanistan for your heroism and courage.” “Don’t worry about anything,” he added.

The locals have also urged the government to protect the girl and her brother against any kind of potential threat.

According to TOLOnews, Afghan government Officials have also said that the sister and brother will soon move to Kabul as President Ghani has issued an order in this regard, for their safety. The President will meet them at the Presidential Palace, they said.

-ARK

PM to lay foundation stone for Manipur water project tomorrow

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for Manipur water supply project tomorrow, an initiative to provide safe and adequate drinking water to every rural household of the country by 2024.

The prime minister will lay the foundation stone for the project through video conferencing.

“The Manipur Water Supply Project is an important component of efforts of the State government to achieve the goal of “Har Ghar Jal” by 2024,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The project outlay is about Rs 3054.58 crores with a loan component funded by New Development Bank, it added.

An externally funded project, it was designed to provide freshwater household tap connections (FHTCs) to remaining households in Greater Imphal planning area, and for 1,731 rural habitations covering 2,80,756 households in all 16 districts of Manipur, the statement said.

Moreover, the Jal Jeevan Mission is based on a community approach to water and has information, education and communication as key components of the mission. It looks to create a Jan Andolan for water, thereby making it everyone’s priority.

There are about 19 crore households in India and only 24 per cent have Freshwater Household Tap Connections (FHTCs).

The Mission aims to provide over 14 crore households with FHTC through partnership of all stakeholders, including state governments, panchayat raj institutions and local communities, the PMO office said.

However, the government provided funds under Jal Jeevan Mission to Manipur for FHTCs to cover 1,185 habitations with 1,42,749 households.

The Manipur government has also planned to cover the remaining households through additional sources of funding including funds from Department for Development of North Eastern Region.

Meanwhile, the Governor, Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh and his colleagues, MPs and MLAs are also expected to join the program from Imphal.

-RJV

Heavy rains lash Delhi-NCR, temperature drops

Street in Delhi after heavy rains.

New Delhi (NVI): A fresh spell of heavy rainfall lashed parts of Delhi-NCR this morning, which led to a dip in temperature in many areas of the national capital, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

According to Met department, the heavy rain downpour brought the temperature to 28 degree Celsius while also causing waterlogging in several low-lying areas

In a tweet, IMD said, “Thunderstorm with moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of isolated places of West, Southwest, Northwest Delhi, Hisar, Hansi, Bhiwani, Jind, Meham, Kaithal, Panipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Karnal, Kurukshetra during next 2 hours.”

The Met department also predicted moderate to heavy intensity rainfall for Delhi and some parts of Haryana today.

According to IMD, the sky will generally be cloudy with light rains till July 25 in the national capital.

Meanwhile, the minimum and the maximum temperatures in the capital would oscillate between 23 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius.

Earlier yesterday, the Met department predicted: “Moderate to severe thunderstorm & lightning at isolated places very likely over Punjab, East Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,Telangana, Kerala & Mahe, Lakshadweep and northeastern states during next 12 hours.”

-RJV/ARK

Japan approves dexamethasone as second drug for COVID-19 treatment

New Delhi (NVI): Japan’s health ministry has approved dexamethasone, a widely used steroid, as a second treatment for patients suffering from coronavirus, reports Japan Times.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry included dexamethasone as a government-approved drug in a revised version of its handbook for coronavirus treatment.

According to the handbook, revised last Friday, dexamethasone showed promise in a clinical study performed by the University of Oxford in the UK.

Moreover, dexamethasone has drawn attention since it was reported in Britain last month that the drug reduced deaths among patients with severe cases of COVID-19.

A drug inexpensive and easy-to-obtain is used to treat a wide range of conditions including lung disease.

Last month, the UK government authorised the drug for the treatment of COVID-19 on the National Health Service (NHS), after the positive data report from the recovery trial, Japan Times reported.

During the trial, around 2,100 patients received dexamethasone compared to 4,300 patients who were not.

In addition, the University of Oxford team said that the drug reduced deaths by a third among ventilated patients and by a fifth among patients receiving oxygen only. While the death rate did not change for patients who did not require respiratory support.

However, taking into account the results of the Oxford study, the US National Institute of Health (NIH) revised its guidelines to recommend that the drug be administered to ventilated patients and those requiring oxygen injection.

-RJV

J&K announces lockdown across Kashmir barring one district till July 27

Lockdown

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir government today announced complete lockdown across Kashmir barring north Kashmir’s Bandipora district till July 27 in the wake of spurt in Covid-19 cases and deaths.

Officials said that from today onwards till July 27, strict lockdown will remain in place to prevent the further spread of the pandemic. “Further decisions about continuation or announcing relaxation will be taken depending on the,” they said.

Directorate of Information and Public Relations (J&K) wrote on its official Twitter handle: “Complete lockdown in all red districts of Kashmir excluding Bandipora from today evening till 6 am on July 27. DCs to issue orders today. Agriculture, Horticulture and construction activities to continue as per guidelines. Move of goods carriers/LPG and Oil tankers to continue unhindered.”

Interestingly, since Unlock-2, Covid positive cases have shown a huge spurt as so far, over 15,000 cases have tested positive and 260 people have died due to the pandemic. Many doctors and civil society members had urged the government to re-impose the lockdown to prevent the mass spread of the virus. Leading medicos have already stated that the deadly virus was already in the community and it was time to take precautions that include wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing.

Associate Professor at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar Dr Nisar-ul Hassan had urged the government to impose strict lockdown to contain the pandemic spread. Talking to NVI, Dr Nisar said that the government has taken the right step at the right time.

“Covid behavior in Kashmir has changed abruptly since Unlock-2 was announced by the government on July 1. Earlier, it behaved very mildly but at present, it is behaving very aggressively. People came out of their houses, joined offices, opened shops and the results didn’t follow the guidelines as the majority of people even didn’t wear a mask. Result is before us. We have crossed 15000 case mark and over 260 people have died,” the senior doctor said, adding that most of the deaths took place in the last fortnight and positive cases doubled as well.

“Government had no option other than to impose lockdown. We see people arriving to the hospitals with symptoms and that too bilateral pneumonia which is where a person needs immediate ventilator and oxygen support. This wasn’t the case earlier,” he said, adding that people must stay indoors to save themselves and others from the deadly virus which is already in the community.

-ARK

95-yr-old man, Odisha’s oldest Covid-19 patient, recovers

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): A 95-year-old man, the oldest person affected by the coronavirus in Odisha so far, has recovered from the disease.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has congratulated Udayanath Bisoyi of Chakunda Village from Sorada Block of Ganjam District for defeating the virus.

“Congratulations to nonagenarian Udayanath Bisoyi from Ganjam district on successfully winning the battle against #COVID19. Your win will inspire others to stay strong as #Odisha fights this pandemic,” the Odisha CM said in a July 21 tweet.

Bisoyi had undergone treatment in Tata Medical COVID hospital of Sitalapali of Ganjam. He has set an example for other patients fighting against Covid-19 as the entire state has witnessed a surge in positive cases.

The District Administration has also congratulated the doctors who have worked hard and set an example for the state.

-ARK

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