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MHA allows universities to conduct final year exams

New Delhi (NVI): Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to Union Higher Education Secretary has permitted conduct of examinations by Universities and Institutions.

“The final term examinations are to be compulsorily conducted as per the UGC Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for the universities; and as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare,” a statement by MHRD read.

In addition to this, UGC wants the universities to hold the exams latest by September end.

The UGC will allow institutes to conduct exams in the mode most feasible to them – online, offline or blended modes.

Due to COVID-19 impact, the academic year has been rendered shapeless as classes as well as the final examinations have been disrupted.

-CHK

Land bought by Rajasthan couple is a paradise for tigers, deers now!

New Delhi (NVI): This Rajasthan couple has a unique penchant for wildlife as a private land they bought 20 years ago is a paradise for tigers, deers and wild boars now.

Aditya and Poonam Singh bought a small plot of land in Rajasthan around two decades ago. They put up a fence and forgot about it. Slowly, life thrived and a forest grew back. Two waterholes have also developed naturally in the forest area and the forest diverts tigers from nearby farms.

A video of the small wildlife paradise was shared by World Economic Forum on Twitter which was then later retweeted by a Norwegian diplomat, Erik Solheim.

Over the years, the couple has bought more and more land. It is now a lush green patch of 40 acres. The couple has also got lucrative proposals to use the land in other ways but they have turned down all of them.

Awestruck by the marvelous feat by the couple, people across India are now asking how they can reforest land too, according to WEF.

Quoting India’s State of Forest Report, the video also claims that over the last 30 years, India has gained the size of Ireland. It wants to cover 33 per cent of the entire country in trees, up from 25 per cent at present, as per the video.

-ARK

Three teachers suspended over rape charges in J&K’s Kulgam

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The J&K School Education Department today suspended three teachers of two middle schools in south Kashmir’s Kulgam after a 20-year-old woman alleged rape by the trio.

Chief Education Officer (CEO) Kulgam, Muhammad Ashraf Rather said that the victim and the teachers, against whom there is a serious allegation of gang rape, hail from the same village.

“The girl has filed a complaint report in the local police station (in Kulgam district) alleging rape by the three teachers. One of the three was immediately arrested wherein one teacher has been put behind the bars. Two others are absconding,” Rather said.

He said in the complaint, the victim has alleged that she was taken to orchards nearby her school and later allegedly raped.

Rather said that the department has also constituted an inquiry committee to find out authenticity of allegations levelled by the student. “The victim is said to be 20-years-old and is not studying anywhere,” he said.

Meanwhile, the concerned Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) Kulgam has also issued suspension order against the accused persons.

The order available with the NVI reads: “On the basis of written complaint submitted by inhabitants of village Chachmulla regarding sexual harassment of a local girl, the teachers allegedly involved are hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect pending inquiry”.

Police have also registered a case after the woman filed a written complaint against the trio and investigations have been taken up on a fast track basis. “We have already arrested one person soon after the complaint was filed by the victim. Two others have gone into hiding and they will be arrested soon. The young girl will be examined medically and if the rape is proved, accused will accordingly be booked under the relevant sections,” said a police officer at police station, Chachmulla in Kulgam district.

-ARK

NIA files chargesheet against suspended J&K DSP Davinder Singh, 5 others

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The National investigation agency (NIA) today filed a joint charge-sheet against the suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh and five others including Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Syed Naveed alias Naveed Babu, for their involvement in harbouring militancy in J&K.

A statement issued by the NIA here said that a detailed charge-sheet has been filed against DSP Singh, Hizbul Commander Naveed Babu, former trade union leader Tanveer Ahmed Ahmed Wani, Hizb militant Rafi Ahmed Rather and others. The premier investigation agency in its statement said that in total, charge-sheet has been filed against six accused involved in strengthening and recruiting militants in the Valley, besides availing money through illegal routes for militancy-related activities from Pakistan based outfits and agencies.

The NIA statement read that the case was initially registered at police station Qazigund, in Kulgam, J&K on January 11, 2020 after the arrest of two militants of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, identified as Syed Naveed Mushtaq, the then district Commander of HM for Shopian and Ganderbal and Rafi Ahmad Rather along with Singh and Irfan Shafi Mir alias Advocate.

“They were arrested at a Naka near Qazigund while they were going out of Srinagar towards Jammu in the I-20 car owned and driven by Irfan Shafi Mir alias Advocate,” the statement said.

It said during the search of the vehicle, one AK-47 Rifle, 3 pistols and a cache of ammunition and explosives were recovered. “All the four accused persons were arrested by J&K Police on the same day. NIA took over the investigation of the case on January 17 this year by re-registering the same at Police Station, NIA Jammu. During the course of investigation, the four accused persons were interrogated thoroughly and searches were conducted at 15 places in Kashmir Valley as well as in Jammu.”

The investigating agency said three more accused persons identified as Syed Irfan Ahmad, younger brother of Syed Naveed Mushtaq, Tanveer Ahmad Wani and Tariq Ahmad Mir were arrested in the case respectively for being part of the conspiracy to extend support to the banned militant organization Hizb-ul-Mujahideen by way of raising and transferring funds to the HM militants, harboring them and supplying them arms, ammunition & explosives to carry out subversive activities.

NIA said that the investigation has revealed that the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan-based militant organization Hizbul-Mujahideen and Pakistani agencies to commit violent acts and to “wage war against the Union of India”.

About the suspended DySP, the NIA said Singh was in touch with certain officials of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi through secure social media platforms. Investigation revealed that he was being groomed by Pakistani officials for obtaining sensitive information. “DySP Singh has revealed that militant commander Naveed Babu had deserted Police before joining militancy along with certain weapons and was responsible for various killings, including incidents of militancy in which labourers and truck drivers were killed after the abrogation of Article 370 from J&K.

“Naveed Babu had made efforts to recruit gullible Muslim youths to join cadre of HM, received funds from LoC traders and accused Tanveer Ahmad Wani, who was an Ex-President of LoC traders Association, was providing him funds with the help of other traders based in Pakistan administered Kashmir and were obtaining weapons and ammunition from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and Devender Singh while weapons were later used for militant activities,” the investigating agency said in its statement.

The statement also said that in February, 2019, in order to shield HM Commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq from the heightened surveillance of security agencies, accused Devender Singh, a serving Dy SP of J&K Police, along with Irfan Shafi Mir and Syed Irfan Ahmad, arranged safe shelter for him and his associate in Jammu. Devender Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of HM militants and also assured them help in procuring weapons.

The NIA said it has filed cases under various sections of the UA(P)Act 1967, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act in NIA Special Court at Jammu.

To recall, a Delhi court had granted bail to Davinder Singh early last month after the Delhi police failed to file a charge-sheet against him during the statutory period of 90 days in a conspiracy case.

-ARK

Denmark envoy calls on Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla

New Delhi (NVI): Ambassador of Denmark to India, Freddy Svane today paid a visit to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as the two diplomats had a discussion on strengthening bilateral cooperation in renewable energy, environment-friendly and clean technologies.

They both also discussed plans to commemorate 400 years of Danish engagement with India at Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu in November this year.

“Ambassador @svane_freddy of Denmark, a great friend of India with 2 terms in New Delhi, paid a courtesy call on Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla,” External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a tweet.

“They discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation, in areas such as renewable energy, environment friendly & clean technologies; and plans to commemorate 400 years of Danish engagement with India at Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu in November this year,” read another tweet by Srivastava.

It is pertinent to mention here that India and Denmark have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last month to develop deep cooperation between two countries in the power sector.

The MoU on Indo-Denmark Energy Cooperation between the Ministry of Power and the Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate, Denmark to develop a strong, deep and long-term co-operation between the two countries in the power sector on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit was signed on June 5.

-ARK

COVID-19 cases surpass 33,000 in Afghanistan; death toll tops 898

New Delhi (NVI): The Afghan authorities confirmed 239 new coronavirus cases in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 33,190, according to local media reports.

The country’s Ministry of Public Health said, 20,103 people have been cured and discharged so far, while 898 died from the respiratory disease in Afghanistan.

Among the fresh cases, Bamyan was on the top of the list with 90 new cases followed by Kunduz with 51 cases and Bamiyan with 33. While Nangarhar was at the bottom of the list with one positive cases in the last 24 hours.

The ministry also reported 34 new deaths, those deaths were reported in Kabul (10), Herat (6), Bamiyan (2), Baghlan (3), Badghis (1), Ghazni (8), Wardak (1) and Kapisa (3).

Apart from this, the recovery cases were reported in Nangarhar (190), Ghazni (111), Jawzjan (111), Panjshir (158), Kabul (23), Kandahar (15), Takhar (3), Baghlan (2), Badghis (4), Logar (10), Nimruz (1) and Parwan (1), as per the reports.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also conducted 76,415 tests since February across the country.

-RJV

India’s Covid positivity rate stands at 6.73%: Health Ministry

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Health Ministry today said that a number of states have reported lower COVID-19 positivity rate than the national average of 6.73 per cent, while the states’ tests per million are also higher than the national average.

According to the health ministry statement, the Union, State and Union Territory governments have made a joint effort to effectively manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

As part of the coordinated efforts, the Union government has emphasized on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of the cases, the statement said.

It has also helped the states to significantly ramp up testing capacities. This has resulted in reduced positivity in the country. Therefore, the current national positivity rate stands at 6.73 per cent, it added.

As per the data available on July 5, the states with their positivity rate less than the national average and tests per million higher than the national average are— Puducherry (5.55%), Chandigarh (4.36%), Assam (2.84%), Tripura (2.72%), Karnataka (2.64%), Rajasthan (2.51%), Goa (2.5%), and Punjab (1.92%).

However, in Delhi, the efforts being made by the UT were significantly bolstered by the Central Government to ensure an increase in testing, the ministry said.

Tests were ramped up through increased RT-PCR testing along with the new Rapid Antigen Point-of-Care (POC) tests which gives results in only about 30 minutes.

“As a result of concerted and focused efforts by Government of India to augment efforts, the average number of samples being tested per day which was only 5481 (June 1-5) has witnessed a huge increase to reach an average of 18,766 samples per day between July 1 to 5,” it said.

In spite of significantly increased testing in Delhi, the positivity rate has seen a substantial decrease from about 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three weeks, the statement added.

-RJV/ARK

Bangladesh COVID-19 tally exceeds 1.65 lakh; death toll at 2,096

(Image source: United News of Bangladesh)

New Delhi (NVI): Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh exceeded 1.65 lakh after 3,201 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.

In addition to this, 44 new deaths were reported during this period, taking the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in the country to 2,096, according to United News of Bangladesh.

The daily infection rate was today recorded at 19.25 percent in the country.

So far, 76,149 people have recovered in the country after 3,524 more patients were recovered during this period.

Against the total number of detected cases, the recovery rate is 45.98 percent while the mortality rate 1.27 percent in the country.

-CHK

World Bank and India sign $750 mn agreement for MSME Emergency Response Programme

Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): The World Bank and Government of India today signed an agreement worth USD 750 million for the MSME Emergency Response Programme to boost the flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

The World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of nearly 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs.

This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time, a Ministry of Finance release stated.

The agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director (India) on behalf of the World Bank.

Khare said, “The Government of India is focused on ensuring that the abundant financial sector liquidity flow is available to NBFCs, and that banks which have turned extremely risk averse, continue taking exposures in the economy by lending to NBFCs. This project will support the Government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivize NBFCs and banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis.”

The World Bank Group, including its private sector arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will support the government’s initiatives to protect the MSME sector.

Junaid Ahmad, World Bank’s Country Director said, “The MSME sector is central to India’s growth and job creation and will be key to the pace of India’s economic recovery, post COVID-19. The immediate need is to ensure that the liquidity infused into the system by the government is accessed by MSMEs. Equally important is to strengthen the overall financing ecosystem for MSMEs.”

The World Bank has till date committed USD 2.75 billion to support India’s emergency COVID-19 response, including the new MSME project. 

 –CHK

Kashmir reaping benefits of Article 370 abrogation: J&K BJP leader

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): BJP General Secretary for Jammu and Kashmir Ashok Koul today said people of Kashmir have started to reap the benefits of Article 370 roll back as stone-pelting on streets has completely vanished and there are no clashes or law and order issues at encounter sites now.

Talking to media persons at BJP’s Srinagar headquarters on the eve of birth anniversary of BJP founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the BJP leader said that even the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru had announced that Article 370 was temporary. “Talking about 35 A, the question is where did this come from? It was incorporated through a presidential notification which was wrong and totally unconstitutional,” Koul said.

The BJP leader said that all the regional leaders, be those from the National Conference of the PDP, played politics over  Article 370 and 35 A just to ensure that they remain in power. “Common people in Kashmir or Jammu got nothing and instead were befooled on one or the other pretext by the regional political parties,” he said.

He said people of J&K were kept in the dark for the past 70 years by none other than the leaders of political parties that ruled the erstwhile state. “Today, benefits of rollback of Article 370 are clear: Stone pelting has completely vanished and there is no protest or civilian killing at the encounter sites,” Koul said.

About former Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani’s recent announcement to part ways from the amalgam, Koul said: “Geelani is a veteran politician. He has been in the Assembly and knows the benefits of democracy. Had he taken the decision of quitting Hurriyat earlier, perhaps Kashmir would not have seen this much of bloodshed and chaos.”

Koul praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the special economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore for the Covid-hit states and UTs and free ration to poor. “I urge the J&K administration to ensure that all the benefits reach the common people of Kashmir,” he said.

He said that today’s function was organized by the BJP’s Srinagar unit to pay tributes to party founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who was born in 1901 in a modest family in Kolkata. “Today, we remembered our leader and paid him floral tributes,” Koul said.

-ARK

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