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Security of 2 Taj Hotels in Mumbai beefed up after threat calls from Pak

New Delhi (NVI): Two Taj hotels in south Mumbai — Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel at Colaba and Taj Lands End at Bandra (West) – received threat calls from Pakistan last night, with the caller threatening to carry out a terror attack similar to the 26/11 attacks. Security has been heightened at both the hotels following the calls.

While the two hotels have their security systems in place, the police said they are in the process of identifying the caller.

Adequate police deployment has been made in the area around the hotel and entry and exit restricted on the roads leading to the hotel, according to media reports.

Reportedly, both the hotels are shut because of the raging coronavirus disease outbreak but security has been beefed up to prevent any untoward incident.

The threat call was made at around 12.30am on Tuesday and was attended by hotel employees.

In addition to this, Mumbai Police has also intensified its patrolling across the city and also stepped up its vigil at all the vital installations following the calls.

-CHK

J&K records 4 Covid deaths in a single day, toll reaches 100

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir today witnessed four deaths due to the Covid-19, taking the total number of fatalities in the Union Territory to 100, health officials said.

They said that earlier in the day, two patients—one each from Srinagar and Shopian districts died at Chest Diseases hospital. The deceased included a 55-year-old woman from Bhagat area in Barazulla, Srinagar and a 23-year-old youth from Shopian.

The youth had met with an accident and was admitted to SHMS hospital where he was tested positive for virus during treatment. Dr Saleem Tak, Medical Superintendent CD hospital said that the youth was shifted from SMHS on 29th June after he was tested positive for COVID-19, and died at a hospital today. He said the patient was admitted with severe head injuries.

The second death is that of a woman from Barzulla area of Srinagar. “She was on a ventilator and had underlying medical conditions that include hypertension, and diabetes,” the doctor said, adding that the woman had tested positive for the virus a few days ago.

The third Covid death was reported in Basholi area of Kathua district in Jammu where an 85-year-old woman died in Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu. “She was suffering from chronic pulmonary disease and was on oxygen since past many days. She had already tested positive for the virus yesterday,” a doctor at GMC Jammu said.

The fourth death was reported from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, when a 55-year-old businessman, who had tested positive at SKIMS Bemina, passed away. He was admitted at SKIMS a few days ago and this morning his condition worsened after which he died in the afternoon.

With the fresh four deaths, the number of people who died of Covid-19 in J&K has reached 100 of which 88 were recorded from Kashmir and 12 from the Jammu region.

-ARK

Amit Shah’s tweet on internet to be snapped in J&K and Ladakh is fake: MHA

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today cleared the air over a tweet by Home Minister Amit Shah claiming that fixed line broadband and internet in J&K and Ladakh will be snapped, calling it fake.

The MHA statement came after a tweet was doing rounds on social media, claiming that the Home Minister has announced that the internet will be suspended in the two Union Territories.

MHA Spokesperson took to Twitter and wrote, “Claim : A tweet is circulating in the name of Union Home Minister mentioning fixed line broadband and internet in J&K and Ladakh to be snapped.

#FactCheck: This tweet is #fake. No such tweet has been done from Union Home Minister’s twitter handle.”

The screenshot of a tweet that was being circulated on social media reads – “Fixed-line broadband & mobile internet service to be snapped in the UT J&K and Ladakh from tonight”.

-RJV/ARK

How Vedanta is helping farmers post-lockdown in Odisha’s Jharsuguda

Representational image

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): Farming communities across the country have suffered due to the nationwide lockdown following the Covid-19 outbreak. The livelihoods of farmers who were hoping to sell their winter harvest at good margins have been impacted due to lack of manpower to harvest produce, broken supply-chain limitations imposed to marketplaces and movement, etc.

Farmers in Jharsuguda in western Odisha also had a tough time due to the unprecedented situation. However, post-lockdown, as Jharsuguda’s farming community begins for the new cropping cycle, Vedanta has extended its support.

Vedanta is India’s largest producer of primary aluminium, operating a world-class aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda with an installed smelting capacity of 1.6 MTPA.

From distributing top-quality seeds to guiding farmers through the cultivation cycle, Vedanta is working with experts from the Department of Horticulture, Government of Odisha and agri-scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra to help them.

Recently, Vedanta distributed seeds of high-yielding indigenous ginger variety to hundreds of farmers associated with its farm-based livelihood project ‘Jeevika Samridhhi’ helping them kick-start the new cropping cycle.

Since its inception, the project has been working with farmers to promote adoption of high-yielding cash crops and advanced methods of commercial farming for generating greater revenue from farming activities.

Besides seeds, the farmers were given orientation on ginger farming and Package of Practices (PoP) on growing the crop like land preparation, seed treatment, planting method, manure anf fertilizer, natural pest management, duration of cultivation etc. by agricultural experts.

CN Singh, CEO Vedanta Ltd. Jharsuguda said, “We rolled out Jeevika Samridhhi with the aim to support and benefit farmers in our periphery through adoption of advanced agricultural methodology and land and water management. Encouraged by the success of the first phase of the project, we launched the second phase enveloping more farmers in the projects ambit,” he added.

He further said that, “To help us achieve superlative results on ground, we have also roped the expertise of KVK and Horticulture Dept, Govt. of Odisha, for advising and technically upskilling the farmers.”

Meanwhile, a sustainable livelihood project ‘Jeevika Samridhhi’ run by Vedantas, focuses on land and water management, run in partnership with SEWA, Kolabira. It aims to introduce small and marginal farmers in the company’s peripheral community to better, more efficient and sustainable methods of farming, there by increasing the quantum of produce and sustained return on investments.

The project’s relevance is based on the need to augment irrigation infrastructure, promote advanced agriculture, application of bio-fertiliser and pesticides, and make farming a remunerative profession.

In the first phase of project, more than a hundred farming households of Siriapali village were benefited through the project, with an increase in irrigation potential of the village by 21 per cent and household income of beneficiaries by 20-25 per cent in just one year. In its second phase, the project covers over 250 farming households across three villages for a duration of two years.

Vedanta’s smelter in Jharsuguda is the only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne Club’ primary aluminium producers and exporters.

Currently, the company produces more than a third of Indias primary aluminium backed by world class assets, new-age technology and innovative practices and a robust sustainable development framework. With a strong focus on safety, the company is committed to delivering sustainable and robust growth, which creates value for its shareholders and stakeholders.

-RJV/ARK

Mahanadi Coalfields CMD appeals to maintain normal mining operations

MCL CMD BN Shukla

Subrat Kumar Sarangi

Bhubaneswar (NVI): Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), an Odisha-based subsidiary of Coal India Limited, while seeking cooperation of employees, today appealed to the trade union leaders to re-consider the decision of resorting to strike.

The workers demands pertain to policy decisions beyond the purview of the company and reiterated that no coal block allotted to Mahanadi Coalfields is going to be auctioned.

“At present, MCL has 48 Coal Blocks having mineable resource of 29,100 MT, which can meet the requirement of thermal coal for another 100 years and another miscellaneous 22 projects are in pipeline, which includes washeries, coal gasification, solar power, CHP etc,” the CMD, B N Shukla said.

He also added in his appeal, that company aims at achieving coal production of 263 million tonne (MT) by 2023-24.

In the current financial year, MCL has been assigned with a target of 173 MTs of coal. However, “MCL, at present, is lagging behind in its production and overburden removal targets,” the CMD added, emphasising that any further stoppage of work will not be in the interest of company.

Even during the lockdown due to pandemic the production and dispatch continued at full pace. Shukla said, stoppage of work is never in our agenda and all our differences/ grievances are resolved in an atmosphere of mutual trust and co-operation.

He also appreciated the efforts of trade unions in motivating the employees to work for the nation during the lockdown.

Central trade unions/federations have served notices for resorting to a three-day-long-strike in Coal India and its subsidiaries from July 2, 2020, in support of their charter of demands.

However, this matter has been referred to Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (C) of Bhubaneswar which has been seized under conciliation by Dy. CLC (C) Kolkata, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, as per the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

-CHK

Another infiltration bid foiled by Army along LoC in J&K’s Kupwara

July 18 Shopian encounter: Army completes summary of evidence
An encounter site in Kashmir (File Pic)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Another infiltration bid was foiled at Parkian Gali sector in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on the intervening night of June 29 and June 30, the Army said today.

Defence Officials said that a group of at least six to eight infiltrators were challenged at Parkian Gali along LoC but they fled away taking advantage of darkness.

“On night of 29/30, suspicious movement of 6-8 persons was observed in two groups in Parkian Gali Sector, Kupwara (J&K) along the LoC. Own troops challenged the infiltrators with fire. Infiltrators ran away taking help of darkness. Details awaited,” the Indian Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar corps tweeted.

Apart from that, the Tanghdar and Nougam sectors in Kupwara district have witnessed unprovoked ceasefire violation since last night as Pakistan fired mortar shells and small arms. Top Police and Army officers have been maintaining that frequent ceasefire violations were aimed at pushing militants into this side of the LoC.

Earlier on June 1, a major infiltration bid was foiled by the Indian Army at the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshehra sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, as three heavily armed terrorists were killed.

In early April this year, the Army foiled a major infiltration attempt at LoC in north Kashmir’s Keran sector, killing five terrorists while losing five of its soldiers from elite forces in an operation.

-ARK

COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up, far from over, warns WHO

COVAX
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus pandemic is not even close to being over and is in fact speeding up in some parts of the world, said World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus adding that about 1,80,000 people worldwide have tested positive in the last 24 hours.

Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached.

“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up,” WHO chief said while addressing a virtual media briefing.

“Some countries have now experienced a resurgence of cases as they start to reopen their economies and societies,” Tedros said. “Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move.”

He further added, “For many of our countries to really not hunt down this virus is our failure in contact tracing, because we have lame excuses, saying it’s too many and it’s too difficult to trace.”

Tedros also said that the WHO would be sending a team to Wuhan next week to investigate the potential animal source of the new coronavirus.

As per the latest data by Johns Hopkins University, a total of 10,199,798 coronavirus cases and 5,02,947 deaths have been reported so far around the globe.

-CHK

New swine flu strain with ‘pandemic potential’ found in China

New Delhi (NVI): Scientists in China have discovered a new type of swine flu with “pandemic potential”, a study published in the science journal PNAS has said. The flu is genetically descended from the H1N1, which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in 2009, and is named G4.

G4 originated in Mexico and caused a worldwide epidemic in 2009.

Scientists at Chinese Universities and China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention have observed that G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus. The tests have also shown that any immunity that humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection against G4.

Named G4 EA H1N1, the virus was detected after analysing 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces between 2011 and 2018.

“Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus,” the researchers note. They have said that controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented.

“Pigs are considered as important hosts or “mixing vessels” for the generation of pandemic influenza viruses. Systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is essential for early warning and preparedness for the next potential pandemic,” the scientists have said in the research article.

Swine flu was first recognised in the 1919 pandemic and still circulates as a seasonal flu virus. Swine flu is caused by the H1N1 virus strain, which started in pigs.

In 2009, the WHO declared H1N1 a pandemic. The infection is similar to seasonal influenza and symptoms include fever, chills and sore throat.

In India, the H1N1 virus outbreak had previously occurred during the 2009 flu pandemic. The virus killed 981 people in 2009 and 1,763 in 2010. However, the mortality decreased in 2011 to 75. It claimed 405 lives in 2012 and 699 lives in 2013. In 2014, a total of 218 people died from the H1N1 flu and India recorded 837 laboratory-confirmed cases in the year.

In 2015, India saw a significant swine flu outbreak, with nearly 30,000 confirmed cases and almost 3000 deaths by March 2015, according to the Ministry of Health. The worst affected states were Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi.

-ARK

India’s first COVID-19 vaccine candidate ‘COVAXIN’ gets human trials approval

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): An indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVAXIN, first to be developed in India, has received the approval by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for phase I and II of human clinical trials.

The drug has been developed by Bharat Biotech. Human clinical trials of vaccine are scheduled to start across the country in July.

It has been developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech.

The indigenous, inactivated vaccine has been developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotechs, BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility located in the Genome Valley, in Hyderabad.

Clinical trials under Phase I and Phase II of the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, approved after pre-clinical studies demonstrated safety and immune response would start across the country next month.

Apart from Bharat Biotech, many other Indian firms are also working to make a vaccine that has had a disastrous impact across the world affecting health and wealth of millions of people.

Meanwhile, a number of drug manufacturers across the world are also working to find a cure for coronavirus, but no pharmaceutical firm has won the race yet.

-RJV

Coronavirus cases surge past 10.3 million globally

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): More than 10.3 million people around the world have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus and more than 5,04,000 have died, according to John Hopkins University.

In the US, nearly 2.6 million have been infected with the novel coronavirus while more than 1,26,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly contagion.

States in the US are pausing reopening plans amid a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalisations. Among the states stepping back is California, which reported a record surge in COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile in Brazil, coronavirus cases have surged past 1.3 million while more than 58,000 fatalities have been reported.

Mexico reported 3,805 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,20,657. The Mexican health ministry also reported 473 new deaths, bringing the country’s coronavirus-related death toll to 27,121.

China reported 19 new cases of coronavirus on June 29, compared with 12 the day before. Seven of the new cases were in Beijing, where a mass testing campaign is underway in the wake of an outbreak that began in the capital’s main wholesale food market on June 11.

Thailand has reported no locally-transmitted cases of coronavirus for the 36th day as a state of emergency introduced to cope with the pandemic was due to expire today.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the pandemic is “not even close to being over” and that while there had been some progress initially, the pandemic was “actually speeding up”.

-CHK

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