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Vasant Raiji passes away at 100

Vasant Raiji (File photo)

New Delhi (NVI): Vasant Raiji, India’s oldest first-class cricketer, passed away at his residence in Mumbai today, at the age of 100.

Raiji passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

He was born in Baroda and went on to play for the city as well as Bombay in the Ranji Trophy as an opener. On January 26 this year, Raiji had celebrated his 100th birthday.

Taking to twitter, Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar wrote, “I met Shri Vasant Raiji earlier this year to celebrate his 100th birthday. His warmth and passion for playing and watching Cricket was endearing.”

“His passing away saddens my heart. My condolences to his family & friends,” Tendulkar added.

Board of Control for Cricket in India also paid tribute to Raiji, “BCCI mourns the sad demise of Vasant Raiji. The former first-class cricketer and historian, who turned 100 this year in January, passed away in his sleep,” BCCI tweeted.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, in total played nine first-class matches in 1940s. He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

While his on-field career didn’t last long, Raiji went on to write a few books on early Indian cricket.

Parts of Beijing locked down due to fresh coronavirus cluster

New Delhi (NVI): Parts of Beijing were placed under lockdown today after six new domestic coronavirus cases were reported, fuelling fears of a resurgence in local transmission.

Eleven residential estates in south Beijing have been locked down. In addition, nine nearby schools and kindergartens have also been closed after 7 cases have been confirmed so far linked to Xinfadi meat market.

Reportedly, China recorded 11 new coronavirus cases today, including 6 domestic cases in the capital.

In addition to this, these new cases have prompted Beijing officials to delay the return of students to primary schools and suspend all sporting events and group dining.

Furthermore, city authorities on Friday also closed two markets visited by one of the known cases.

Major supermarket chains including Wumart and Carrefour removed all stocks of salmon overnight in the capital, but said supplies of other products would not be affected, according to local media reports.

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

New Delhi (NVI): India has become the fourth worst-affected country in the world index due to coronavirus pandemic, after it surpassed United Kingdom in the total number of confirmed cases, as the country continues to witness huge spike in the infected cases.

Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at 3,08,993 including 8,884 casualties, according to the Union Health Ministry.

In the last 24 hours, a record 11,458 new cases of coronavirus and 386 deaths have been reported in India, both being at a record high in a single day till now. Maharashtra tops the country with the maximum number of coronavirus cases and has reported nearly 90,000 confirmed cases so far.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 38

Andhra Pradesh- 5,680

Arunachal Pradesh- 67

Assam- 3,498

Bihar- 6,103

Chandigarh- 334

Chhattisgarh- 1,429

Dadar Nagar Haveli- 26

Delhi- 36,824

Gujarat- 22,527

Goa- 463

Haryana– 6,334

Himachal Pradesh- 486

Jammu and Kashmir- 4,730

Jharkhand- 1,617

Karnataka- 6,516

Kerala- 2,322

Ladakh- 239

Madhya Pradesh- 10,443

Maharashtra- 1,01,141

Manipur- 385

Meghalaya- 44

Mizoram- 104

Nagaland- 156

Odisha- 3,498

Puducherry- 157

Punjab- 2,986

Rajasthan- 12,068

Sikkim- 63

Tamil Nadu- 40,698

Telangana- 4,484

Tripura- 961

Uttarakhand- 1,724

Uttar Pradesh- 12,616

West Bengal – 10,244

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andhra Pradesh- 80

Assam- 8

Bihar- 36

Chandigarh- 5

Chhattisgarh- 6

Delhi- 1,214

Gujarat- 1,415

Haryana- 70

Himachal Pradesh- 6

Jammu and Kashmir- 53

Jharkhand- 8

Karnataka- 79

Kerala- 19

Ladakh- 1

Madhya Pradesh- 440

Maharashtra- 3,717

Meghalaya- 1

Odisha- 10

Puducherry- 2

Punjab- 63

Rajasthan- 272

Tamil Nadu- 367

Telangana- 174

Tripura- 1

Uttar Pradesh- 365

Uttarakhand- 21

West Bengal- 451

A total of 1,54,330 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals in India. There are around 1,45,779 active cases currently, according to the Health Ministry.

International Albinism Awareness Day 2020: History, significance and theme for the year

A caregiver attends to an abandoned toddler with albinism in Goma, North Kivu, DRC. (Source: @UN)

New Delhi (NVI): Albinism is a condition that affects millions of people across the world. International Albinism Awareness Day is celebrated on June 13 every year to create awareness and acknowledge the multiple forms of discrimination that people with albinism face worldwide.

Albinism is non-contagious, genetically inherited, rare difference present at birth. This condition results in a lack of pigmentation in skin, hair, and eyes causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light.

As a result, most people with albinism are visually impaired and are also prone to developing skin cancer. There is still no cure for the absence of melanin that is central to albinism.

According to United Nations (UN) report, the numbers of people having albinism vary, it has been estimated that in Europe and North America 1 in every 17,000 to 20,000 people have some form of albinism.

The condition is observed to be more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa with an estimate of 1 in 1400 people being affected in Tanzania. For the select populations in Zimbabwe and other specific ethnic groups of Southern Africa, the prevalence has been reported as high as 1 in 1000, the UN said.

In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to stop discrimination against people with albinism. In 2014, on December 18, the UN General Assembly declared June 13 as International Albinism Awareness Day. The first International Albinism Awareness Day was observed in 2015.

This year, the day’s theme is ‘Made to Shine’. The theme has been chosen to celebrate the achievements and successes of people with albinism worldwide.

It also symbolizes that even though people with albinism continues to suffer bullying, stigma, the world stands together with them in their fight for life that is free of violence and discrimination. A world where they are made to shine.

As people with Albinism continue to face all forms of human rights violations. At present, in some of the countries they have also been branded as ‘Corona’ or ‘COVID-19’ in an attempt to blame them for the pandemic.

The UN also said that, due to COVID-19 lockdown, this year celebrate the day by joining the online celebration. In solidarity with person and individuals suffering from albinism worldwide, use the hashtags #MadeToShine #standup4humanrights.

 

Global food safety begins on the farm

New Delhi (NVI): A safe food supply begins with protecting crops from diseases and toxins. Sound crop protection helps protect the environment by optimizing the use of existing farmland.

In recent decades, due to research and development in the field of agronomy, a wide variety of crop protection products have provided farmers with a set of carefully tailored tools for the production of safe and healthy crops.

Although, in the past, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides have themselves sometimes been viewed as threats to the safety of food and water.

But innovation in crop protection products has come a long way . These days crop protection agents are developed with both human health and the environment firmly in view.

Reportedly, over the course of the last 60 years, these agents have become more targeted and more effective and they are applied much more sparingly. Since the 1950s, the agronomy sector has achieved a remarkable 95 per cent decrease in the average application rate of active ingredients per hectare.

Roughly 600 million people around the world suffer from food-borne illnesses, while an estimated 3 million die from illnesses contracted from unsafe food or water.

This annual toll of 600 million people touches every part of the world, though the worst impacts are felt in regions like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where there is less access to refrigeration and other modern food-preservation technologies. While major improvements have been achieved in some regions since the 1980s, the problem is still vast and urgent.

The need for effective crop protection products has steadily grown as rising global temperatures have expanded the range of many pests and blights.

Advances in agronomy clearly represent an important part of the solution to climate change. The latest crop protection products address climate change directly – by enabling farmers to produce more food per unit of land than ever before in the history of agriculture.

J&K: Two militants killed in encounter at Kulgam district

2 LeT militants surrender after gunfight in J&K's Kulgam
(Representational/file image)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in the wee hours at Zadoora-Nipora area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, security official said.

The security officials said that a joint team of police, army and the CRPF launched a cordon and search operation on specific information about the presence of militants in Nipora village. “When the forces fired at the suspected spot, the militants opened fire at the security forces triggering an encounter. In the exchange of fire, two militants were killed in a clean operation,” a police official said.

Defence spokesman in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that joint operation was launched in early hours today on the basis of an intelligence input. “Cordon was laid and contact established. Firefight ensued and two militants were killed. Operation is in progress,” he said.

In their stepped up anti-militancy operations, this year, the security forces have killed 90 militants so far in various encounters across Jammu and Kashmir.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, 55 militants including top commanders that include Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Commander Reyaz Naikoo, Lashkar-e-Toiba top commander Bashir Koka and Jaish-e-Muhammad’s IED expert Abdur Rehman alias Fouji Bhai, who had participated in the Afghan battle also, were killed in various encounters in Southern belt of Kashmir.

Pertinently, after the outbreak of pandemic, the security agencies stopped handing over the bodies of local militants to their family members for last rites and instead buried them in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district in presence of close relations of the slain.

This was, however, to avoid large gatherings at the militant funeral, which according to police officials, was a move aimed to glamourize militants and to attract youth towards militancy.

Global coronavirus count surpasses 7.6 million

New Delhi (NVI): More than 7.6 million people have been infected with coronavirus around the world while more than 425,000 people have died due to the deadly contagion, according to John Hopkins University tally.

Brazil has overtaken the UK in the tally of cases and now stands at second position with 41,828 COVID-19 deaths so far. The total confirmed cases in the country stands at 828,810.

The United States has confirmed 2,046,643 cases of the virus with more than 114,000 fatalities being reported in the country.

South Africa saw its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases, recording 3,359 infections, a health ministry update said that the country has more than 619,270 cases.

Meanwhile, Mexico prepares to re-open businesses in half the country next week, even as the nationwide confirmed cases rose 139,196 with 16,450 fatalities so far.

China’s Hubei Province, once hit hard by COVID-19, will lower its emergency response from level II to III starting from today.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO), said Brazil’s health system was standing up to the pressure. “The system as such from the data we see is not overwhelmed,” the WHO’s expert Dr. Mike Ryan said, with few areas of Brazil using more than 80 per cent of their hospitals intensive care capacity.

COVID cases in India crosses 3 lakh, death toll 8,884

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in India saw a jump of 11,458 in the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 3,08,993, the Union Health Ministry said.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 8,884, with 386 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours.

With this, India now is ranked fourth in the world in terms of Covid-19 cases, after the US, Brazil and Russia.

So far, 1,54,330 patients have recovered all over the country.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 1,01,141, followed by Tamil Nadu with 40,698 cases, and Delhi with 36,824 cases.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of fatalities at 3,717, followed by 1,415 in Gujarat and 440 in Madhya Pradesh.

The death toll in the national capital rose to 1,214, while 13,398 patients in Delhi have recovered so far, the healthy ministry data shows.

The other worst affected states are Gujarat (22,527), Uttar Pradesh (12,616), Rajasthan (12,068) and Madhya Pradesh (10,443).

Meanwhile, estimating that the 90 per cent dip in public transport ridership during the lockdown is unlikely to pick up any time soon, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has called on States/UTs to come up with alternative modes of transport.

J&K: 80 travelers among 156 new Covid patients, tally climbs to 4,730

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

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir today witnessed yet another spike in Covid-19 cases as 156 new infections including 80 travelers tested positive for the deadly virus, taking the tally to 4,730 in the UT.

Officials said that among the new 156 cases, 47 were tested positive at SKIMS, 11 at CD hospital, 32 at JVC Bemina, 2 at Army’s Command Hospital in Udhampur and rest at other hospitals.

Among the fresh cases, 68 belong to Kashmir division while 88 are from Jammu division, officials said, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir have reached 3,633 including 1,733 recoveries and 47 deaths while the total number of positive cases in Jammu has reached to 1,097 including 353 recoveries and six deaths.

The officials said that total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 2,591 including 1,853 from Kashmir and 738 from Jammu while 266 more persons have recovered today from J&K.

Cases tested positive in J&K include 1 from Anantnag, 2 from Kulgam, 5 from Srinagar, 6 from Budgam, 5 from Kupwara, 38 from Shopian, 7 from Baramulla and 4 from Pulwama in Kashmir while 88 from Jammu include 8 from Jammu, 21 from Ramban, 26 from Kathua, 12 from Poonch, 14 from Samba, 2 from Rajouri, 3 from Doda and one each from Kishtiwar and Rajouri.

In Jammu division, 261 including 117 recoveries and 3 deaths are from Jammu district, 193 including 37 recoveries from Ramban, 153 including 37 recoveries and 1 death from Udhampur, 149 including 59 recoveries from Kathua, 103 including 28 recoveries from Poonch, 83 including and 28 recoveries from Samba, 60 including 12 recoveries and one death from Rajouri, 49 including 20 recoveries and 1 death from Doda, 24 including 11 recoveries from Reasi and 22 including 4 recoveries from Kishtwar.

As per the daily information bulletin, 2,30,505 persons in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation while 41,964 persons have been kept under home quarantine. Besides that, 2,591 persons are in hospital isolation while 31 persons are under hospital quarantine.

According to the bulletin, 1,30,128 persons have completed the surveillance period and 55,738 persons are under home surveillance.

So far, results of 2,54,059 samples are available, out of which 2,49,329 tested negative while 4,730 have been tested positive. Among them, 2,591 are active and 2,086 persons have recovered while 53 persons have died. 47 deaths were reported in Kashmir and five in Jammu.

Covid-19 may trigger sharp rise in child labour: ILO-UNICEF report

New Delhi (NVI): COVID-19 crisis may push millions more children into child labour, which could lead to the first rise in child labour after 20 years of progress, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.

According to a new brief form International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF titled COVID-19 and child labour: A time of crisis, a time to act, child labour decreased by 94 million since 2000, but that gain is now at risk.

According the reports, children already in child labour may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions. “More of them may be forced into the worst forms of labour, which causes significant harm to their health and safety,” it said.

The brief by ILO and UNICEF comes was released on the occasion on World Day Against Child Labour.

“As the pandemic wreaks havoc on family incomes, without support, many could resort to child labour,” said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder.

“Social protection is vital in times of crisis, as it provides assistance to those who are most vulnerable. Integrating child labour concerns across broader policies for education, social protection, justice, labour markets, and international human and labour rights makes a critical difference,” he added.

According to the brief, COVID-19 could result in a rise in poverty and therefore to an increase in child labour as households use every available means to survive. Some studies show that a one percentage point rise in poverty leads to at least a 0.7 per cent increase in child labour in certain countries, the report said.

“In times of crisis, child labour becomes a coping mechanism for many families,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“As poverty rises, schools close and the availability of social services decreases, more children are pushed into the workforce. As we reimagine the world post-COVID, we need to make sure that children and their families have the tools they need to weather similar storms in the future. Quality education, social protection services and better economic opportunities can be game changers,” Henrietta added.

The report also noted that vulnerable population groups – such as those working in the informal economy and migrant workers – will suffer most from economic downturn, increased informality and unemployment, the general fall in living standards, health shocks and insufficient social protection systems, among other pressures.

“Evidence is gradually mounting that child labour is rising as schools close during the pandemic, the agencies said adding that temporary school closures are currently affecting more than 1 billion learners in over 130 countries. Even when classes restart, some parents may no longer be able to afford to send their children to school,” the report said.

As a result, more children could be forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs. Gender inequalities may grow more acute, with girls particularly vulnerable to exploitation in agriculture and domestic work, the report said.

The brief proposes a number of measures to counter the threat of increased child labour, including more comprehensive social protection, easier access to credit for poor households, the promotion of decent work for adults, measures to get children back into school, including the elimination of school fees, and more resources for labour inspections and law enforcement.

On the occasion, the ILO and UNICEF said that they are developing a simulation model to look at the impact of COVID-19 on child labour globally and new global estimates on child labour will be released in the year 2021.

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