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India modifies travel advisory for Iraq

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New Delhi (NVI): India today modified its last month’s advisory for its citizens to travel to Iraq, saying they can now consider going to the country, except for five provinces where “unsafe security situation” prevails.

The advisory issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said Indian nationals can now travel to Iraq, except five Provinces, namely Nineveh(Capital Mosul); Salahuddin (Capital Tikrit); Diyala (Capital Baquba); Anbar (Capital Ramadi) and Kirkuk, due to the prevailing unsafe security situation

The Indians wishing to travel for employment and already having work permits and appropriate visas may return to their jobs in the safe areas in Iraq other than those listed as unsafe areas, and inform the Embassy in Baghdad or Consulate General of India in Erbil prior to travelling to Iraq, it said.

Those Indian nationals wishing to travel for religious purposes, and having appropriate visa and return air-ticket, may also travel for pilgrimage to the holy places of Najaf and Karbala, the advisory said.

It advised the Indian nationals not to extend their religious pilgrimage to the neighbouring Syria and not travel by road from Iraq to Syria or vice-versa.

Earlier, in the wake of rising military tensions between Iran and the US and the missile attacks by Iran at US bases in Iraq, the Indian government had issued an advisory on January 8, cautioning Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Iraq, until further notification.

Efforts to increase milk productivity through genetic improvement

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New Delhi (NVI): The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying is working towards increasing milk productivity through genetic improvement and reduction of input cost.

In this direction, a programme has been launched recently for improvement of milk quality by providing required testing facilities at the village and dairy plant level for safe human consumption.

The Animal Husbandry department, which is continuously working towards this direction, has proposed to further intensify the Quality Milk Programme for both cooperative and private sector with fund sharing basis.

Milk production in India has gone up by 6.4 per cent in the past 5 years. It increased from  146.3 million MT in 2014-15 to 187.7 million MT in 2018-19, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying said in a statement today.

About 54% of milk produced is marketable surplus and remaining 46% is retained in villages for local consumption. Out of the marketable surplus available with farmers only 36% is handled by organised sectors evenly shared by cooperative and private sector. The ministry has said that is a need to bring the remaining 64% surplus milk under the organized fold through various interventions.

During last 2 years milk procurement is also growing by about 9% in Cooperative sector, the ministry said.

With a thrust on better productivity, reduced input cost and better quality milk and milk product, the competitiveness and profitability in the dairy sector will get enhanced leading to increased demand of dairy products in domestic and international market.

This would also bring private investments in the sector to boost growth in rural income and also employment, the ministry added.

To achieve the target, public investment to further incentivise private investments would be facilitated for increasing processing facilities through convergence and leveraging the schemes of various departments and ministries.

Kala Kumbh exhibitions to promote GI crafts

New Delhi (NVI): In a bid to promote Geographical Indication (GI) crafts and heritage of India, the Ministry of Textiles is organising Kala Kumbh Handicrafts Thematic Exhibition in various parts of the country.

The exhibitions started on February 14 and will continue till Feb 23 at Bengaluru and Mumbai. They will also be organized in Kolkata and Chennai in March.

The exhibitions have been organised by the ministry through the Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and sponsored by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).

The GI tag is used on handicrafts which correspond to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). As on August 2019, 178 GI handicraft products were registered from all over India.

The artisans are the backbone of Indian handicraft sector and possess inherent skill, technical and traditional craftsmanship.

During the 10 day exhibitions, the visitors will be able to see a wide variety of handicrafts with their friends and family and by buying these handicrafts they can directly contribute in the improvement of the livelihood of these artisans and also create awareness of the rich heritage of the country, the Ministry of Textiles said in a statement today.

In Bengaluru exhibition, GI crafts like Mysore rosewood inlay, Channapatna lacquerware, Dharwad kasuti embroidery, Kolhapur chappal, Bidriware, Molakalmur handblock printing, Ananthapur leather puppet, Thrissur screwpine, Vishakapatna lacquerware, Sandur lambani embroidery, Jodhpur terracota, Jaipur handprinted textile, bronze casting, Medinipur mat weaving, Birbhum artistic leather and Khurdah palm leaf engraving are being displayed.

In Mumbai exhibition GI crafts like Chittoor kalamkari painting, Thrissur screwpine crafts, Pokharan terracotta crafts, Kutch embroidery & crochet crafts, Pingla patachitra, Birbhum kantha embroidery, Jajpur photachitra painting, Madhubani Mithila painting, Kolhapur chappal, Palghar Worli painting, Kondagaon wrought iron craft, Agate stone crafts and Krishna handblock printing are being displayed.

Meet Insha Wadoo- Kashmir’s PT Usha

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): On a cold winter morning in Kashmir, 25-year-old Insha Wadoo gets out of her bed, dresses up in a tracksuit, ties her shoes and sets off for her daily run.

A resident of downtown in Srinagar, Insha wants to become the Valley’s first female professional runner.

The sight of Insha, running up and down the streets of Rainawari in Srinagar in modest-looking running gear, is common for locals.

Despite facing a lot of criticism for choosing sports as a career option, Insha’s morale is high. “I don’t mind people criticising me for being a woman and an athlete,” says Insha.

She has won all the championships she competed in since 2012 and makes every little effort to see herself at national or even at international level.

“Running means everything to me. I want to run all my life and even the thought of ever being unable to run gives me goosebumps. It’s one of the basics of life for me– eating, drinking, sleeping and running,” says Insha.

She began running in 2010 and then never looked back. “I started running during my school days. I didn’t have coach that time; neither had any idol to follow. But now after winning a series of individual events, I want to run like great athlete P T Usha,” says the young runner.

She won her first road race in 2010 which was organised by Shaheen Sports Syndicate in Srinagar. In 2011 and 2012, she won another edition of Srinagar Marathon and Women’s College Annual Road and Cycle Race respectively.

After winning many events at school level, Insha joined Women’s College MA Road where she bagged ‘Best Athlete of the Year’ award consecutively for three years.

In 2013, Insha won 400-meter state open athletic championship. The event was organized by J&K Amateur Athletic Association. Later that year, she won 1500 meter race in Jammu.

“Though difficult for a girl to choose this field in Kashmir but I am very thankful to those who supported me especially my coach Khurshid Ahmad,” she says..

In 2015, she won ‘Kashmir Cyclothon 2015, Pedal for Kashmir’ and Padalon Cycle Marathon in 2016. Not only this, she was the first Kashmiri female runner to attend National Integration Camp by NCC Group HQ of Bihar and Jharkhand.

She also bagged third place in ‘First International Marathon’ and received cash prize of Rs 30,000.

Insha’s journey from an ordinary schoolgirl to an emerging athlete has not been a cakewalk.

She fought against all odds to train herself and achieve recognition. Though she couldn’t play for the state or at national level but she has achieved much more than her expectations.

Insha feels proud to have participated in an 50 km run with Australian ultra-marathon runner, Pat Farmer.

In 2017, Insha was felicitated for her achievements in the field of the athletics and cycling in a function held in Ludhiana, Punjab.

On the occasion, Insha was awarded Rs 30,000 by the Noble Foundation. However, the chief guest and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was impressed by her accolades and humble background, awarded her with Rs 1 Lakh.

In 2018, Insha bagged two gold medals at a championship held at BSF ground Paloura Jammu. She bagged medals in 400 metre and 800-metre events.

Insha also participated in Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and secured 13th position.

She also participated in senior national athletic cup federation at Patiala in the 5000 meter track event.

Insha has participated in prestigious events such as Senior National Inter-state Athletic championship held at Hyderabad, which is one of the blings in her career.

In Kashmir J&K Police Marathon, she has won five times and came atop for two times in cycling. In the college annual running and cycle races, she has stood first consecutively for three years, which also gave her the title of ‘Best Athlete of the Year’, all those years.

Last year, she was going to participate in Dubai Full Marathon to represent India but due to prevailing situation in Kashmir, she was not able to make entry for the event.

Insha is currently under the supervision of Paveela Prashar Bali, who is founder of “The Run Club” in Chandigarh. “She is very helpful to me and monthly she is paying me money for the diet so that I remain fit. I am very thankful to her,” Insha said.

After graduating in Home Sciences, Insha is now pursuing B.P.Ed. from Government College of Physical Education, Ganderbal. “All I need is just one chance to prove myself. I am not asking for more.”

She however, said that government is not helping her. “Recently I got a contractual government job, but as soon as I was going to join my duties, my order was revoked,” she said.

Coronavirus: Another medical worker dies in China

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New Delhi (NVI): As the new coronavirus keeps spreading in China, a hospital director has fallen victim to the deadly virus, according to state media.

Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuchang hospital in Wuhan, died this morning, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Liu’s death echoes that of another doctor recently, whose voice the Chinese government tried to suppress.

In a first, the number of new coronavirus infections in mainland China fell below 2,000 for the first time since January.

The number of new daily infections in mainland China had not been below 2,000 since January 30, while the daily death toll had not come under 100 since February 11. Chinese authorities say the stabilisation in the number of new cases is a sign that tough measures they have taken to halt the spread of the disease are having an effect.

Nearly 1,900 people have been killed and more than 72,000 have been infected due to the virus, that originated in Wuhan late last year.

Alwar coldest in plains at 5 deg Cel; pleasant weather in Delhi

New Delhi (NVI): The second half of February marks the arrival of spring in most parts of India. This time witnesses the change in the weather as the day and night  temperature starts increasing respectively.

However, some parts in north India plains are still under cold wave conditions, especially in Rajasthan. Alwar is the coldest city in the plains where the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.0 degrees Celsius, according to Skymet weather.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul and Sikar in Rajasthan the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius

Narnaul in Haryana and Umaria in Madhya Pradesh recorded minimum temperature at 5.7 and 6.6 degrees Celsius respectively.

Apart from this, Amritsar in Punjab recorded minimum temperature at 7.0 degrees Celsius.

Churu in Rajasthan and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh both recorded a minimum temperature at 7.2 degree celcius.

Karnal in Haryana and Ludhiana in Punjab both shivered at 7.4 degrees celsius.

Delhi and NCR region also saw a slight increase in minimum temperature to 10.2 degrees Celsius from 9.0 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

The maximum temperature today is expected to be around 27 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The overall air quality in the national capital today is in “poor” category.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 235 which falls in the ” poor” category.

The IMD said that there wil be a rise in temperature by 2 to 3 degree celsius over Maharashtra during next 24 hours.

“No significant change temperature is expected in rest of the country,” it added.

 

Goyal asks industry to change, expand export basket base

New Delhi (NVI): In order to promote the Make in India program, industry must adopt international quality standards and scale up production to remain globally competitive, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

“We will have to align ourselves with the world standards. We want imports to be curbed and international quality standards have to be adopted both for domestic industry and imports,” said Goyal while speaking at ‘DPIIT-FICCI Partnership Forum on Public Procurement for Make in India’, organised by FICCI and DPIIT.

The Union Minister also said that industry can explore opportunities arising out of US-China trade dispute. “There are sectors in which India has competitive advantage and let us start looking at scale. Commerce ministry and DPIIT should identify these sectors and make it publicly available to see the business opportunities to exploit.”

He urged the industry and DPIIT to identify the bottlenecks acting as deterrent so that Make in India can be successful.

He also urged the industry, especially PSUs and large companies to start paying advance to vendors at the time of delivery of goods which will help the MSME sector. “DPIIT should identify 100 PSUs and 250 private companies to start the process and we will monitor to see how many companies take it forward,” Goyal added.

J&K: Cases registered for misusing social media, ‘defying govt orders’

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir Police today registered cases against various social media users for “defying government orders and misusing social media platforms.”

“Lot of incriminating material has also been seized in this regard. This is the first FIR registered in Cyber Police Station Kashmir Zone Srinagar since its notification by the Government. The case is registered under FIR No. 01 of 2020 U/S 13 U A (P) Act, 188, 505 of IPC and 66-A(b) of IT Act,” police said in an official statement here.

“In the mid-January this year, J&K UT Government had issued an order vide Government Order No Home-03 (TSTS) of 2020 dated 14.01.2020, banning all social media sites to curb the misuse of the sites by miscreants for propagating false information/ rumors,” reads an official statement.

The ban was ordered to stall the rumor mongering and spreading false and fake facts having the effect of causing social instability, as per the statement.

Police also said that there has been continuous reports of misuse of Social media sites by the miscreants to propagate the secessionist ideology and to promote unlawful activities.

“Social media has remained a favorite tool which largely provides anonymity to the user and also gives wide reach. The FIR has been registered while taking cognizance of the social media posts by the miscreants by use of different VPNs, which are propagating rumors with regard to the current security scenario of the Kashmir valley, propagating secessionist ideology and glorifying terror acts,” they said.

IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar has made an appeal to general public not to use social media via VPN, in this regard.

How coronavirus is changing working life in China

New Delhi (NVI): Demand for chat apps is surging rapidly in China as millions of white-collar workers are forced to work from home following the coronavirus outbreak and companies keeping their staff away to contain the virus.

The work-from-home policies have led to a surge in downloads for WeChat Work, DingTalk, and Lark – three workplace chat apps operated by Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance respectively.

Provinces across China have ordered companies to shut or make staff work from home for at least another week after the Lunar New Year holiday. Many firms may extend that further.

According to data from research firm App Annie, both DingTalk and Lark saw downloads across China’s app stores surge over 350% during Chinese New Year week compared to one week prior.

Both DingTalk and WeChat Work suffered connectivity issues due to heavy usages, the companies confirmed in public statements addressing user complaints.

Downloads for WeChat Work surged by almost 70% in the same time.

Couriers and round-the-clock

Companies are also relying more on China’s army of couriers, who are keeping many self-quarantined residents fed and supplied. Jingshu Chen, who runs virtual reality startup VeeR, said that large video files her team once accessed on an office network are now delivered to employees’ homes via hard drives with couriers.

Some fear financial disruptions

John Rood, who runs a digital marketing agency in Shenzhen, said the nationwide work-from-home experiment could cause late payments from clients due to banking system quirks.

“A lot of Chinese banks require you to use a USB drive to log into your account, for security measures,” he said.

“But if the financial departments didn’t bring the USB drive home before the holiday, our payments will probably be delayed another week. “Others said they felt pressure to be online 24/7 as there was no means of clocking off as normal now.

One client manager at HSBC bank said the work-from-home policy has her feeling she cannot leave the house lest she miss a message in her department group chat.

“Your boss is in the group, so you need to be as fast as everyone else,” she said.

‘Heroes of Ola’ event held to felicitate top-rated driver-partners

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New Delhi (NVI): Ola lauded the commitment of its driver partners and commended their excellent track record, in an event ‘Heroes of Ola’ here. Top rated driver- partners of Ola were felicitated across 7 cities for their exemplary service.

‘Heroes of Ola’ is an ongoing program which recognises the efforts of driver-partners who continue to go above and beyond their call of duty.

Ola is an Indian company which is one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies.

The event was also attended by the families of these heroes, who were given letter of appreciation from Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO of Ola, along with utility gifts for them and their families.

The Company is reaching out to its 200 million+ consumers through various platforms, to enable sharing their experiences with Ola driver partners, who through big or small gestures, have gone above and beyond to serve customers, or have displayed exemplary character in service of the public.

Ola consolidated customer feedback received through multiple channels to shortlist star performers in Delhi. Offering the drivers more opportunities to reap the benefits of the program, Ola will reward heroes from across the country, every month.

Gayasuddin, Mukesh Kimar, Vikash Kumar, Ajit Singh, and Ashok Kumar were among those being felicitated in the city. The criteria for them receiving this award ranged from earning five-star reviews and customer feedback, among others.

Ashok Kumar, one of the ‘Heroes of Ola’ from Delhi, said, “It is a part of my job to treat my customers with respect and ensure that their rides are comfortable and safe. When your work is appreciated, it drives you to go the extra mile. This recognition is humbling, it brings great joy to me and my family.”

Commenting on the program, Arun Srinivas, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Ola, said, “Ola is focused on providing a platform that is equally convenient for its driver-partners as well as its customers. More often than not, the contributions of driver-partners go unnoticed. We find thousands of instances around us of courage, compassion and empathy from our service providers. Heroes of Ola is one such platform to bring these inspiring experiences to the forefront.”

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