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Covid-19 cases surpass 8,000 mark in J&K with 170 fresh cases

Over 3,200 cops COVID positive in J&K and 15 succumbed to virus
File photo

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The total number of confirmed Covid-19 positive cases today crossed 8,000 mark in Jammu and Kashmir as 170 fresh cases were reported including 10 Beacon men, four CRPF personnel and four minors.

Officials said that among new cases that were detected in J&K, 61 were tested positive at SKIMS, 11 at JVC Bemina and rest at other hospitals. “The total number of Covid positive cases has crossed 8,000. The new 170 cases include 10 Beacon men, four CRPF personnel, a doctor and four minors,” they said.

Among the 170 new cases, 128 belong to Kashmir division while 42 are from Jammu division, officials said, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir has reached 6,327 including 3,721 recoveries and 105 deaths while the total number of positive cases in Jammu has reached 1,692 including 1,254 recoveries and 14 deaths.

The officials said that the total number of active cases in the UT is 2,825 including 2,401 from Kashmir and 424 from Jammu.

With 101 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in J&K has reached 5,075 which is 63.28 percent of the total cases.

Cases tested positive in J&K include 41 from Srinagar, 5 from Kulgam, 21 from Baramulla, 1 from Shopian, 21 from Anantnag, 24 from Kupwara, 5 from Budgam, 2 from Bandipora and 8 from Ganderbal in Kashmir division while 42 from Jammu include 13 from Jammu and two from Udhampur, 10 from Kathua, 6 from Samba, 3 each from Ramban, Doda and Rajouri and 2 from Kishtwar.

As per the daily information bulletin, 2,90,760 persons in J&K are under observation while 40,929 persons have been kept under home quarantine. Besides that, 2,825 persons are in hospital isolation while 39 persons are under hospital quarantine.

According to the bulletin, 2,02,112 persons have completed the surveillance period and 44,736 persons are under home surveillance.

So far, results of 3,85,501 samples are available out of which 3,77,482 stand negative while 8,019 have been tested positive. Among positive cases, 2,825 are active and 5,075 persons have recovered while 120 have died.

Odisha: Covid-19 test in private labs fixed at Rs 2,200

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): The Odisha Government has fixed price for RT-PCR COVID-19 test in private labs for individuals at Rs 2,200, as per a notification by the State Health and Family Welfare department.

Four private hospitals in Bhubaneswar city have also been named in the notification, approved by ICMR for conducting the test.

The test can be conducted at the Department of Lab Services, Apollo Hospital, IMS & SUM Hospital, In DNA Life Sciences Pvt Limited (2 nd Floor, KIIT TBI ), and Gen X Diagnostics, Bhubaneswar.

The tests will be conducted under the supervision of RMRC, Bhubaneswar, the notification said.

Meanwhile, the total confirmed coronavirus cases in Odisha have climbed to 8,106 with 561 new positive cases in the biggest single-day spike so far, according to the state Health and Family Welfare Department.

Out of the new cases detected, 424 were reported from quarantine centres while the rest 136 are local contacts.

Among the fresh cases, 560 positive cases are reported from 19 districts of Odisha and 1 case is that of an NDRF personnel who had returned from West Bengal during Amphan duty.

With two more fatalities reported from Ganjam, the death toll from the disease has climbed to 29 in the state.

The number of active cases in the state currently stands at 2,567. As many as 3,534 patients have recovered from the disease in Odisha so far.

-ARK

JEE and NEET exams postponed, to be held in September

Quality education
Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’

New Delhi (NVI): Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today announced that JEE and NEET exams have been postponed while keeping in mind the safety of students amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a video message, the HRD minister announced that JEE Main exam will now be held between September 1-6, JEE Advanced exam will be held on Sept 27 and NEET exam will be held on Sept 13.

The announcement comes a day after the HRD Ministry had formed a panel and asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to give recommendations on the conduct of exams amid the ongoing pandemic situation.

“Keeping in mind the safety of students and to ensure quality education we have decided to postpone #JEE & #NEET examinations. JEE Main examination will be held between 1st-6th Sept, JEE advanced exam will be held on 27th Sept & NEET examination will be held on 13th Sept,” Nishank said in a video message.

This is the second time this year that these exams have been postponed this year. While JEE exam was scheduled to be held in April, NEET was to be held in May.

-ARK

J&K: Govt employee arrested for ‘anti-national’ social media posts

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): A government employee, working in the higher education department was today arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Cyber Cell for running an anti-national campaign on social media.

As per the official release, a person identified as Tahir Nazir Shalla, working in the higher education department was arrested for posting the controversial stuff on social media, which as per the police was in contravention of social media policy for the government.

An official in the Cyber Cell said that the employee was allegedly running an anti-national campaign on social media and tried to create a fake narrative. “The accused was circulating highly seditious and provocative posts through his social media accounts, which were highly prejudicial to maintenance of law and order,” he said.

He said that the accused has been handed over to Police Station Sopore in northern district of Baramulla by Cyber Cell. “The employee has also been booked under relevant sections of law for further course of action,” they said.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Cyber Cell said that it has identified many persons who are misusing social media by spreading false propaganda against the government.

The statement further read that the investigation has been set in motion to identify other persons involved in similar anti-State campaigns on social media and spreading false propaganda.

Earthquake tremors felt in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi (NVI): A 4.5 magnitude earthquake was felt in parts of the Delhi-NCR region this evening with its epicenter at 63 km south of Gurugram in Haryana, according to National Centre for Seismology.

Delhi-NCR region has recorded some low-intensity quakes in the recent past also.

Meanwhile, an earthquake of magnitude 4.6 also hit near Champhai in Mizoram earlier today.

(More details awaited)

PM condoles death of Sikh pilgrims in bus-train collision in Pakistan

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed grief over the tragic demise of Sikh pilgrims in a bus-train collision in Pakistan’s Punjab.

At least 19 Sikh pilgrims were killed today when the passenger vehicle in which they were traveling was hit by a Karachi to Lahore train- Shah Hussain Express- in Sheikhupura district, Pakistan, Geo News reported.

“Pained by the tragic demise of Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan. My thoughts are with their families and friends in this hour of grief. I pray that those pilgrims injured recover at the earliest,” PM Modi tweeted.

According to the news report, the railway officials said that the accident took place at a train crossing without a barrier and all the wounded have been shifted to a nearby hospital.

It was also reported that all the bodies have been shifted to the hospital and rescue operation has been completed. The wounded were given first aid by locals at the time of the accident.

All the dead are said to be from one family and were on their way home from Nankana, one of the pious Sikh religious sites while eight others were hurt.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has also issued a statement expressing grief over the loss of lives in the accident and directed authorities to provide best medical treatment to the wounded.

Chief Minister, Punjab, Usman Buzdar also expressed grief, saying that he deeply sympathises with the victims. He gave directions for provision of best treatment to the wounded.

Meanwhile, train accidents in Pakistan have increased in frequency in recent years, according to reports. Last year in November, more than 70 people died when a Karachi-Rawalpindi train caught fire during its journey.

According to the Dawn, more than 100 train-related incidents occurred in 2019 alone, with several resulting in fatalities.

-RJV/ARK

Bangladesh COVID-19 tally surpassed 1.56 lakh

Bangladesh lockdown

New Delhi (NVI): Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh exceeded 1.56 lakh after 3,114 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.

In addition to this, 42 new deaths were reported during this period, taking the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in the country to 1,968, according to United News of Bangladesh.

The daily infection rate was today recorded at 21.26 percent in the country.

So far, 68,048 people have recovered in the country after 1,606 more patients were recovered during this period.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 43.51 percent and the mortality rate is 1.26 percent in the country.

-CHK

Coronavirus cases exceed 2.21 lakh in Pakistan; death toll at 4,551

New Delhi (NVI): Pakistan reported 4,426 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 2,21,896.

Meanwhile, 78 people lost their lives due to the deadly contagion, taking the total number of fatalities to 4,551.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 89,225 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 78,956 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 27,170 cases, Balochistan is at 10,666, Gilgit-Baltistan at 1,524, Islamabad at 13,195 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 1,160 cases so far, according to media reports.

A total of 1,13,623 patients have recovered from the disease so far, making it almost half of the total cases.

On a positive note, the recovered patients have surpassed the number of active 1,08,273 COVID-19 infections in the country.

-CHK

COVID-19 cases surpass 32,300 in Afghanistan; death toll tops 800

New Delhi (NVI): The Afghan authorities confirmed 302 new coronavirus cases in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 32,324, according to Afghan media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Public Health said, 17,331 people have been cured and discharged so far, while 819 died from the respiratory disease in Afghanistan.

Among the fresh cases, Herat was on the top of the list with 43 new cases while Nuristan was at the bottom with one positive case in a day.

The ministry also reported 12 new deaths, those deaths were reported in Kabul (6), Kandahar (3), Paktia (2) and Takhar (1).

Kabul once again was on the top of the list of recoveries with 1,150 recovered cases in the last 24 hours followed by Paktia (57), Samangan (28), Kandahar (23), Takhar (20) and Uruzgan (12), as per the reports.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also conducted 74,287 tests since February across the country. These latest figures’ release came as the country is facing shortage of the testing kits.

-RJV

Hundreds of elephants die mysteriously in Botswana

Satellite image of some of the elephant carcasses. (Source: The Guardian)

New Delhi (NVI): Hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously in Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta.

The landlocked southern African country has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated to be around 1,30,000.

A cluster of elephant deaths was first reported in the Okavango Delta in early May, with 169 individuals dead by the end of the month. By mid June, the number had more than doubled, with 70 percent of the deaths clustered around waterholes, according to The Guardian.

The wildlife department has ruled out the possibility of poaching as the tusks were found intact.

Parveen Kaswan, IFS, also tweeted in this regard and stated, “Around 500 elephants have died in Botswana in last few days. Described as a ‘conservation disaster’ in which elephants are dying mysteriously in clusters. Tragic.”

The Botswana government has not yet tested samples so there is no information on what is causing the deaths or whether they could pose a risk to human health.

“This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn’t been seen in a very, very long time. Outside of drought, I don’t know of a die-off that has been this significant,” reported The Guardian, as told by Niall McCann, the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue.

However, there have been no reports of elephant deaths in neighbouring countries.

-CHK

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