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China violating several agreements, amassing troops along LAC since early May: MEA

India-China face-off: Core issue is to 'strictly' follow bilateral border pacts, says MEA

New Delhi (NVI): India today reiterated its stand that China was responsible for the Galwan Valley face-off in Eastern Ladakh while saying that Beijing has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC since early May, in violation of several border agreements, following which the Indian side had to undertake counter deployments.

The MEA statement came a day after diplomatic level talks between the two nations were held to defuse the border tension after a violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley on June 15. 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the bloody clashes as the Chinese side violated the disengagement process agreed upon at the Corps Commander level talks held in Moldo on June 6.

“At the heart of the matter is that since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC. This is not in accordance with the provisions of our various bilateral agreements, especially the key 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava at a virtual press briefing here.

He said that the agreement notes in particular that ‘each side will keep its military forces in the areas along the line of actual control to a minimum level compatible with friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries’.

“Obviously, the Indian side had to undertake counter deployments and the resulting tension has thereafter expressed itself,” the MEA spokesman said.

“Respecting and strictly observing the Line of Actual Control is the basis for peace and tranquility in the border areas and explicitly recognized so in the 1993 and subsequent agreements,” Srivastava said, adding that Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in all sectors of the India-China border areas and abide scrupulously by it.

“They have been patrolling all along the LAC, including in the Galwan Valley, for a long time. All infrastructure built by the Indian side has always been on its own side of the LAC. The Indian side has never undertaken any actions across the LAC and has never attempted to unilaterally change the status quo. However, that has not been reciprocated by the Chinese side and that from time to time has led to face-offs,” he said.

The MEA spokesman said that over many years, both sides have developed patterns of patrolling and it is reasonable expectation that patrols will not be obstructed in the discharge of their legitimate duties.

“Unfortunately, we have experienced in the last many years obstruction to patrolling that often accompany efforts to unilaterally change the status quo. To provide for situations
where the two sides encounter each other, a set of procedures and norms have been mutually agreed upon. These are reflected in a number of agreements and understandings. While there have been occasional departures in the past, the conduct of Chinese forces this year has been in complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms,” he added.

Srivastava said the deployment of large body of troops and changes in behavior has also been aggravated by “unjustified and untenable claims”. The recent shift in the Chinese position on the Galwan Valley is one example, he said.

The MEA spokesman further said that it is imperative that the established mechanisms are used by both parties to address the current situation.

“The meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) yesterday was, therefore, a significant development. It was preceded by a discussion among senior military commanders on 22 June that focused on implementation of the understandings reached between them on 6 June 2020,” he said while referring to the diplomatic level talks held via video conference yesterday.

Srivastava also referred to the conversation between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries on 17 June, saying they had agreed that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner, and that the disengagement understanding of 6 June would
be implemented.

“We expect that the Chinese side to sincerely follow up on this understanding and ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he said, adding that a continuation of the current situation would only vitiate the atmosphere for
the development of the relationship.

-ARK

COVID cases in Afghanistan climb to 30,175; death toll at 675

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in Afghanistan saw a rise of 460 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 30,175, according to Afghan media reports.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 675 with 36 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health said, among the fresh cases reported, the highest count was reported in Kabul with 166 cases, followed by Paktia with 69 positive cases.

Other provinces which reported COVID-19 cases are Herat (59), Nangarhar (5), Takhar (38), Bamiyan (3), Baghlan (18), Logar (1), Kunduz (24), Wardak (13), Badakhshan (7), Laghman (1), Kunar (2), Kapisa (25) and Daikundi (29), as per the reports.

In terms of fatalities, eleven people were reported dead in Nangarhar, five in Kabul, five in Panjshir, three in Takhar, two in Kunduz, one in Kunar, Helmand and Paktika, three in Farah, and fours in Sar-e-Pul in the last 24 hours.

So far, 10,174 people have been cured and discharged from the hospitals in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also conducted 68,626 COVID-19 tests since February across the country.

-RJV

Another encounter breaks out in J&K’s Pulwama

July 18 Shopian encounter: Army completes summary of evidence
An encounter site in Kashmir (File Pic)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Hours after two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, another encounter broke out between security forces and militants at Tral area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.

A police official said that an encounter started in Chewa-Ullar village in Tral where joint teams of security forces launched an operation on the basis of specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area. “When the forces zeroed in on the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired at the forces triggering an encounter. The militants didn’t give time to the forces to make offers for surrender,” the official said.

He said it is believed that at least two to three militants are trapped in a house. “Firing is going on intermittently from both sides,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the authorities have snapped the internet in police division Awantipore as a precautionary measure.

This is the second encounter today as earlier in the day, two unidentified militants were killed in a gunfight with forces in Hardshiva village in the apple town of Sopore.

(More details awaited)

Coronavirus cases surpass 1.26 lakh in Bangladesh; 1,621 dead

(Image source: United News of Bangladesh)

New Delhi (NVI): As Bangladesh is witnessing a spurt in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths, 39 new fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total death toll to 1,621.

In addition to this, 3,946 new cases were also detected during this period, taking the total number of Covid-19 patients in the country to 1,26,606, according to United News of Bangladesh.

So far, 51,495 people have recovered in the country after 1,829 more patients were recovered during this period.

Meanwhile, the detection rate of new patients has been recorded at 21.92 percent.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 40.67 percent and the mortality rate is 1.28 percent in the country.

-CHK

Ozone levels increased during lockdown: CSE

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): An analysis done by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) of air pollution levels in 22 cities across India has revealed that ozone levels increased during the nationwide lockdown that is in place since March 25.

According to the CSE analysis, while PM2.5 and NO2 (Nitrogen dioxide) levels plummeted, invisible ozone became the most prominent pollutant in several metropolitan cities.

“While the PM2.5 and NO2 curves fell and flattened dramatically in cities – a phenomenon that hogged the national attention — tropospheric ozone pollution (henceforth ozone) increased and even breached standards in several cities: a fact that was not noticed as widely,” says the report.

According to the researchers at CSE, ozone is primarily a sunny weather problem in India that otherwise remains highly variable during the year. It is a highly reactive gas; even short-term exposure (one hour) is dangerous for those with respiratory conditions and asthma. That is why ozone has a short-term standard – one hour and eight hours, as opposed to 24 hours for other pollutants, as per the report.

Ozone is not directly emitted by any source but is formed by photochemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases in the air under the influence of sunlight and heat. Ozone can be controlled only if gases from all sources are controlled.

Instead of the official method of considering only the fixed eight-hour average (from 8 PM to 4 PM) to assess ozone levels, CSE adapted the global best practice of calculating the maximum eight-hour average of the day. This indicated a higher level of exceedance in cities.

The cities covered by the CSE analysis include Delhi-NCR (including Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Noida), Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Ujjain, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Patna, Vishakapatnam, Amritsar, Howrah, Pune, Guwahati, Lucknow and Kochi.

While particulate levels hit the lowest possible range during lockdown phases, the share of PM2.5 fraction in the overall particulate concentration increased, the analysis shows.

However, as traffic nearly stopped, the daily NO2 curve flattened in all cities.

Crop fires in April were quite extensive in Punjab and Haryana, but their impact was blunted by the overall very low background and local pollution, said the report.

“This pandemic-led change in air quality has helped us understand summer pollution. Normally, every year, winter pollution is what draws our attention. The characteristics of summer pollution are different: there are high winds, intermittent rains and thunderstorms, and high temperature and heatwaves. This is in contrast to winter — with its inversion, lower mixing height of air, and cold and calm conditions that trap the air and the pollutants in it,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE.

CSE has analysed trends in PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and ozone in 22 cities across 15 states and the National Capital Territory of Delhi for the period January 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020. This also includes spatial trend analysis of ozone in selected cities.

Talking about ozone exceedance, if the maximum eight-hour average during 24 hours is considered (as the US Environment Protection Agency does to capture the health risks), then more than two-thirds of the lockdown days in Delhi-NCR cities and Ahmedabad had at least one station that exceeded the standard. In Ahmedabad, the city-wide maximum eight-hour average exceeded the standard on 43 days; in Ujjain, it exceeded on 38 days.

The city-wide maximum average in Gurugram exceeded the standard on 26 days — at least one station exceeded the standard on 57 days. The city-wide eight-hour maximum average in Ghaziabad exceeded the standard on 15 days, with at least one station exceeding on 56 days. In Noida,the city-wide maximum average exceeded the standard on 12 days; at least one station exceeded on 42 days. In Delhi, the maximum eight-hour average exceeded the standard on four days, and at least one station exceeded the standard on 67 days.

Ozone is a problem during spring and summer in the north, central and the arid parts of western India. It can even increase during warmer winters in the southern and coastal cities.

-RJV/ARK

Pakistan COVID-19 tally exceeds 1.91 lakh; death toll at 3,808

New Delhi (NVI): The smart lockdown across Pakistan to combat the spread of COVID-19 has seen a drop in the number of infections and deaths in the country.

The number of confirmed cases in the country reached 1,91,022 while the death toll reached 3,808 with the reporting of 78 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Geo News.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 74,070 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 69,536 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 23,887 cases, Balochistan is at 9,817, Gilgit-Baltistan at 1,337, Islamabad at 11,483 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 892 cases so far, according to media reports.

So far, nearly 77,754 people have recovered from the deadly contagion in the country after 4,283 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours.

-CHK

Harsh Vardhan launches eBlood services mobile app to make blood easily accessible

The eBloodServices Mobile App has easy-to-use features which will make it easy to obtain blood. (Source: @drharshvardhan)

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today launched the eBloodServices mobile app in partnership with the Indian Red Cross Society (ICRS), for easy access to blood needed for blood transfusion especially in the time of coronavirus pandemic, via video conference.

This application is developed by the E-Raktkosh team of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) under the Digital India Scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

To begin with, the app will cater to entire Delhi-NCR, and has the facility of placing an order for up to four units in one go. The app’s scope will be expanded in future, with plans of linking more blood banks to it and also in other cities.

Harsh Vardhan said, “Many people require blood related services on regular basis because of certain medical conditions in their families. Through this app, four units of blood can be requisitioned at a time and the blood bank will wait for as long as 12 hours for the person to collect it.”

“This is a useful app and there are plans of expanding its reach gradually,” the Health Minister added.

Once the request is placed through the app, the requisite units will become visible to IRCS, NHQ blood bank in its E-Raktkosh dashboard and will allow assured delivery within the specified time. This feature will make it easy for a blood seeker to obtain blood & shall bring the added advantage of complete transparency & single window access to the service.

Harsh Vardhan furthermore praised all the voluntary blood donors who have donated blood during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

To meet the demand for blood in the city, the Red Cross blood bank had started conducting blood donation camps by sending mobile blood collection units to various localities in and around Delhi.

After the launch, Vardhan also presided over the managing body meeting of the Indian Red Cross Society.

There, he said the IRCS has been playing a major role during COVID-19 pandemic alongside the government, especially in maintaining an adequate supply of safe blood by issuing passes to donors and organizing donation camps, according to a Health Ministry statement.

-CHK

Nepal coronavirus tally exceeds 11,000-mark

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Nepal reported 434 new cases of coronavirus today, taking the national tally to 11,162, according to local media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health and Population said, among the newly infected persons, 386 are males while 48 females. In total, 10,020 males and 1,142 females have contracted the infection in the country.

In the past 24 hours, 312 people achieved recovery and were discharged form the hospitals, taking the tally of recovery cases to 2,650.

The deadly disease has been spread across 76 districts of the country. In addition, coronavirus has spread to all districts in Nepal except Rasuwa in Bagmati Province, the ministry said.

So far, 199,737 sample tests have been performed in Nepal through the PCR, as per the reports.

Meanwhile, two more COVID-19 related deaths have been confirmed in Nepal by the health ministry today, taking the total death-toll of the disease to 26 in the country.

-RJV

IIT-Bombay scraps physical lectures for this year

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), File photo

New Delhi (NVI): Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) will go completely online in the next semester, for the rest of the year, as students will not be called for face to face lectures in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this move, IIT-B has become the first major educational institution in the country to scrap face to face lectures. An announcement in this regard was made by the Director of IIT Bombay, Subhasis Chaudhuri who said the decision was made after long deliberations that went on till late night yesterday. This is for the first time ever in the institute’s history that a new academic year will start with no students on the campus.

“After a long deliberation in the Senate, we have decided that the next semester will be run purely in the online mode so that there is no compromise on the safety and well being of the students,” Chaudhuri said in a Facebook post.

He further said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has made us rethink the way we impart education to our students. To ensure that our students begin the academic year without further delay, we are planning on extensive online classes details of which will be informed to all students in due course of time.”

In his FB post, Chaudhuri has also appealed for donation for students from economically less privileged families.

“A large section of our students come from economically less privileged families and would require a helping hand to equip them with the IT hardware (i.e. laptops and broadband connectivity ) to take these online classes,” the post read.

“We have estimated that we need about Rs 5 crores to help those needy students. We look forward to your overwhelming support to help these bright young minds to continue their learning without any further hindrances or delays,” he wrote.

Notably, other IITs are also likely to follow the suit on holding virtual lectures. However, no final decision has been taken yet.

Maharashtra is one of the worst affected states by Covid-19 in the country, with its capital Mumbai having the maximum density of cases.

-RJV/ARK

Pending class 10, 12 Board exams cancelled: CBSE tells SC

New Delhi (NVI): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today informed the Supreme Court that it will not conduct class 10th Board examination while the students of Class 12th will be given an option of appearing in exams after conditions are conducive.

Class 12 students will be evaluated on their performance in the last three school exams. They can also appear for the board exam at a later date to improve performance, in case they are not satisfied with the marks given by the board.

Meanwhile, CISCE too will not conduct ICSE, ISC exams this year. However, ICSE doesn’t agree to give option to students to write exam later.

SC had last week asked CBSE to consider scrapping the class 10 and Class 12 board exams in view of the growing cases of coronavirus infections in the country.

The court made this suggestion responding to a plea from a group of parents, who have asked for cancellation of the remaining board exams citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to this, the announcement by CBSE is also going to impact the admission process of all central universities as well as the national entrance exams including JEE Main and NEET 2020.

-CHK

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