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World Obesity Day: Overweight people have almost tripled since 1975

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, according to a World Health Organisation report which says that most of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

The WHO report further states that obesity is preventable and treatable.

Every year, March 4 is observed across the world as World Obesity Day with a view of promoting practical solutions to end the global obesity crisis. The day was previously observed on the 11th of October.

According to WHO, obesity rates have nearly tripled since 1975 and have increased almost five times in children and adolescents.

In 2016 report around 1.9 billion adults and 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight. Of these over 650 million were obese.

Obesity is a major risk factor for various noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and various forms of cancer. Raised body mass index (BMI) is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases.

The main cause of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended.

Overweight and obesity and their related noncommunicable diseases are largely preventable.

WHO is responding to the global obesity crisis, monitoring global trends and prevalence. The development of a broad range of guidance addressing the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.

With just 42 cases, how Taiwan stopped coronavirus in its tracks

New Delhi (NVI): Taiwan has recorded far fewer locally transmitted cases of coronavirus than in many other developed countries, according to a report by Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India.

With just 42 cases reported, the country has established a comprehensive national disease prevention mechanism for combating COVID-19, as per the report.

Amid the outbreak of coronavirus from December last year, many countries are taking up preventive measures to contain the virus.

The mechanism includes digitized disease monitoring systems, stringent border quarantine measures and extensive community-based countermeasures. It also provides advanced medical preparedness, abundant stock of preventive medical appliances and resources.

Even though Thailand and Taiwan were projected to have the highest risk of imported COVID-19, Taiwan has recorded far fewer locally transmitted cases then in many other developed countries, testifying to its effective disease prevention efforts.

Compared with disease outbreaks around the globe, outbreaks of communicable diseases in Taiwan have remained relatively low. In the past 60 years and more also, Taiwan has overcome outbreaks of cholera, malaria, smallpox, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases, accumulating considerable experience and establishing an extensive disease prevention mechanism. Preventive measures at each working level were further fine-tuned after the SARS outbreak in 2003.

As soon after COVID-19 outbreak started toward the end of December 2019, Taiwan’s government implemented the policies designed to intercept and block the transmission of diseases from outside of Taiwan’s borders by early January 2020.

Prez confers Lalit Kala Akademi awards

New Delhi (NVI): President Ram Nath Kovind felicitated 15 meritorious artists with the 61st annual Lalit Kala Akademi Awards at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Lalit Kala Akademi organises art exhibitions and award ceremonies every year to promote art as well as to honour talents.

The exhibition brings together the works of brilliance from across the country and also encourages budding art talents to learn new tendencies and mediums in the world of painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, drawing, installation and multimedia.

Artwork of the artists honoured today will be on display till March 22, 2020, at Lalit Kala Akademi galleries.

ISRO postpones launch of GISAT-1 satellite due to technical reasons

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has postponed the launch Geo Imaging Satellite-1 (GISAT-1) due to technical reasons. The Indian space body said that they will come up with a revised launch date now.

“The launch of GISAT-1 onboard GSLV-F10, planned for March 05, 2020, is postponed due to technical reasons. Revised launch date will be informed in due course,” ISRO said in a tweet today.

The satellite, which will help the sectors like agriculture, forestry and mineralogy, was scheduled to be launched tomorrow.

GISAT-1 will be India’s first agile Earth observation satellite operating from geo-stationary orbit, according to the ISRO.

The satellite was scheduled to be launched by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F10) at 5.43 pm from Sriharikota launch centre, tomorrow.

The satellite is expected to help in providing real-time imaging of the planet Earth.

“Geo Imaging Satellite #GISAT1 will help in real time imaging of the Earth from its 36,000 km orbital home. This will find several applications in agriculture, forestry, mineralogy, disaster warning, etc. Launch on-board #GSLVF10 from Sriharikota on 5th March at 5:43 pm IST,” the ISRO tweeted.

GSLV-F10 is as tall as a 16-storey building and weighs a whopping 4,20,300 kilograms, the ISRO said.

28 people tested positive for coronavirus in India: Harsh Vardhan

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan. (Source:@drharshvardhan)

New Delhi (NVI): Around 28 people have been tested positive for coronavirus in the country so far, including 16 Italian tourists, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan, said today.

“Contact tracing of the person tested positive in Delhi was conducted, where it was found that he has infected 6 members of his family who are in Agra. All 6 members tested positive for coronavirus,” Harsh Vardhan said while addressing a press conference on the outbreak here.

16 out of 21 Italian nationals have also been found positive for coronavirus, along with one Indian national who was with the tourist group. They have been sent at Indo-Tibetan Border Police’s (ITBP) quarantine facility in Chhawla, he said.

The Health Minister added, “If Iran government supports the efforts made by India, then we have an intention to establish a test lab there as well. This will let us bring back our citizens from Iran after a thorough screening.”

“From now on, all flights and passengers will be part of universal screening, not just the 12 countries which were listed earlier,” Harsh Varshan added.

Meanwhile, the global death toll has reached 3,190 while more than 93,000 people have been infected in more than 80 countries. In China there have been 38 new deaths bringing the total to 2,981 and 80,270 positive cases in all.

North India up for another spell of rains from tonight

Light rains in Delhi
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New Delhi (NVI): Rain and thundershower activities are expected to commence over Western Himalayas particularly over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh tonight.

This is due to one of the strongest active Western Disturbance that is going to approach Western Himalayas by today evening, reports SkymetWeather.

There will be a gradual increase in rains by the evening of March 5, in parts of north India. Many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi NCR will start receiving rains at that time. Few rainfall activities are also likely over Northwest Uttar Pradesh, according to SkymetWeather.

Due to the Western Disturbance phenomenon, icy cold winds from the snow-clad mountains of Himalayas are reaching up to Northwest India, thus resulting in a significant drop in the minimum temperatures.

Karnal in Haryana is the coldest city in the plains of India, with its morning temperature settling at 9.2 degrees Celsius.

Punjab’s Ludhiana and Amritsar recorded minimum temperature at 11 and 11.4 degrees Celsius respectively.

Ambala in Haryana and Patiala in Punjab recorded minimum temperature at 11.6 and 12.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Apart from this Hisar in Haryana, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Raisen in Madhya Pradesh, Narnaul in Haryana and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh recorded minimum temperature at 12.3, 12.5, 12.6, 12.9 and 13.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Meanwhile, Delhi and NCR region also saw a slight increase in minimum temperature to 14.4 degrees Celsius from 14.3 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

The maximum temperature today is expected to be around 28 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

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

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 155 which falls in the “moderate” category.

The IMD has said that no significant change in the temperature is expected in the rest of the country.

J&K arms licensing case: IAS officer Rajiv Ranjan suspended

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): A day after being sent in 10-day police custody, IAS officer and former Kupwara District Magistrate (DM) Rajiv Ranjan was suspended today for his involvement in arms licensing case.

“In pursuance of Rule 3(2) of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Regulatory Authority, Jammu, holding additional charge of Vice-chairman, Jammu Development Authority, shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension w.e.f 29.02.2020 i.e. the date on which he has been detained in the custody of CBI, SCB, Chandigarh,” an official order read.

Yesterday, Kumar Rajiv Ranjan and Itrit Hussain Rafiqui, both former DMs of Kupwara, were arrested on Sunday for issuing gun licenses “fraudulently and illegally in lieu of monetary consideration” during their respective tenures.

While Ranjan was in office from 2013-2015, Itrit held the post from 2015 to 2016.

“The Special Judge CBI Cases, Srinagar has today remanded the then two District Magistrates, Kupwara in ten days Police Custody in a case related to irregularities in issuance of arms licenses. Both the accused were arrested by CBI in an on-going investigation of the said case,” a CBI spokesperson said yesterday.

The allegations in the case, as per the CBI spokesperson, were that during the period 2012 to 2016, the Deputy Commissioners of various districts of J&K, including District Kupwara had fraudulently and illegally issued bulk arms licenses in lieu of monetary consideration.

The roots of this massive scam go as back as 2012 when it first came to the fore.

Between 2009 and 2013, the Jammu and Kashmir government has issued over 92,000 gun licenses, 40,587 of which were issued in 2011 and 2012 alone.

Overall, the case involves issuance of over two lakh arms licenses in eight districts of the erstwhile state.

J&K: 21 suspected COVID-19 cases tested, no positive case so far

Jammu (NVI): The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is fully prepared to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak and no positive case of the disease has been reported so far, Principal Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring, Rohit Kansal said today.

Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Kansal said that that administration is monitoring the situation closely in order to identify suspects.

“21 suspected cases have been tested so far and no positive case has been reported so far across Jammu & Kashmir. Entire administrative machinery, including health machinery, is in a state of full alert,” he said.

Addressing media persons about the emerging situation due to the spread of COVID-19 virus commonly called Coronavirus across the world, he said that the situation is being closely monitored in Jammu and Kashmir to identify all suspected cases of the virus.

Ensuring that the UT of J&K is in a state of alert, Kansal said the surveillance for this virus has been increased ever since the first advisory was issued by the Government of India on 2nd February 2020.

He informed that “so far a total of 201 individuals have been contacted in Jammu and Kashmir. These include individuals who either had a travel history to countries such as China, South Korea, Iran, Thailand, Italy, South East Asia, etc or came in contact with persons who had traveled to these countries. 21 suspected cases have been tested to date and no positive case has been reported so far across J&K”.

Urging public to not panic, he assured that entire administrative machinery including health machinery has been further activated and is in a state of full alert and all facilities as required are being put in place.

“100 per cent self declaration at the airports of Jammu and Srinagar will start from tomorrow to trace any such traveller having travel history to the infected countries. Further, check points for passengers travelling by road have been set up at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda (Zig) to identify individuals with travel history to these countries”, he added.

Further, dedicated 24×7 Data Control Centres have been established at Srinagar and Jammu to receive the information of travellers coming from the affected countries and to receive information from the Government of India to further transmit the same to the districts for their tracing at the earliest, Kansal said, adding that all suspected cases are being managed through the defined protocols.

“We want to assure everybody that there is absolutely no cause of panic. All the required protocols and steps are being taken. Doctors, health specialists administrative officers of health departments are reaching out to everybody through mass media informing people at large of the various respiratory hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette, hand hygiene steps that are needed to be taken. The department will continue to engage with everybody on these issues”, Kansal maintained.

Responding to a question by the media person, Bhupinder Kumar Mission Director NHM informed that adequate number of facilities have been raised both in Jammu and Srinagar as well as district-level including quarantine and isolation facilities, ICUs with dedicated ventilators have also been set up.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba today held a Video-Conference with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of States/UTs to review their preparedness to deal with the evolving situation of Coronavirus amid mounting concerns over rapid spread worldwide.

Union Health Secretary and other senior functionaries of the Government of India also participated in the meeting.

Chief Secretary J&K, B V R Subrahmanyam along with senior officers from administration and Health Department attended the meeting on behalf of Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Cabinet Secretary asked the Chief Secretaries to review, assess and monitor the arrangements in the States/UTs, and ensure adequate quarantine, isolation facilities and equipment are available to deal with suspected or confirmed cases as per the mandated protocol. Further, it was informed that filling up of self-declaration forms at the point of entries including airports has been made mandatory to record travel history of the passengers and contact, if any, with a person from any of the severely affected countries.

Earlier today, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan visited Airport and inspected ground zero arrangements made by the administration to stem the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at initial level.

The preparedness and arrangements are put in place for screening the passengers and tourists which are arriving daily by air to Srinagar airport.

Jammu: MC proposes renaming airport, varsity after Dogra rulers

Mubashir Bukhari

Jammu (NVI): After changing the name of historic ‘City Chowk’ to ‘Bharat Mata Chowk’, the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has proposed to name the state-run university and airport in Jammu after Dogra rulers.

Senior BJP leader and Deputy Mayor of JMC, Purnima Sharma said that two proposals were moved in the general house to rename Jammu Airport and Jammu University after Dogra rulers.

According to the resolutions, the Jammu airport should be renamed as Maharaja Hari Singh Jammu Airport and the local university as the Maharaja Gulab Singh Jammu University.

Sharma said that they have recommended to the UT administration to rename these institutions.

Maharaja Gulab Singh was the founder of the Dogra rule in Jammu and Kashmir and Maharaja Hari Singh was the last Dogra ruler, who acceded Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947.

Earlier, historic City Chowk in old Jammu was renamed ‘Bharat Mata Chowk’ while another intersection was named ‘Atal Chowk’ in memory of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the passage of a resolution by the general house of the BJP-led JMC.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the JMC polls, winning 43 of the 75 wards, after the urban local bodies elections were held in the erstwhile state in four phases from October 8 to 16 in 2018 after a gap of 13 years.

J&K to have redefined Industrial Policy soon: Lt Governor

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today said that J&K would soon have its own redefined Industrial Policy which would provide a comprehensive plan for the development of Industrial and Trade sectors.

The governor’s remarks came while interacting with a delegation of Jammu and Kashmir Economic Forum (JKEF)-an amalgam of several trade body associations led by Neeraj Anand.

He said that the Government would develop industrial areas and provide a suitable environment for its growth and is taking several initiatives to promote J&K as an investment destination.

Responding to pleas made by delegations, the Lt Governor said that Pashmina, Handloom, Handicrafts and other allied sectors were the backbones of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir and the Government was taking every possible measure to streamline the sector in J&K.

He asserted that J&K’s handicrafts are world-famous and the traditional handicraft industry has emerged as a large industry. He said that due to its large employment base and exports potential, the industry has been receiving priority attention of the government.

He urged the stakeholders to come forward and list the grievances and grey areas in their sectors so that a holistic view can be taken to bolster the UT’s economy.

The trade body members from all the Kashmir districts including, Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla, Gandrbal, Kupwara, Bandipora, Pulwama, Anantnag, among other districts were part of the delegation.

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