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Army Chief visits Sapta Shakti Command in Jaipur, reviews operational readiness

Jaipur (NVI): Army Chief General MM Naravane visited forward areas of the Sapta Shakti Command in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab on May 12 and 13th and met troops on the western front.

The Army Chief, accompanied by Sapta Shakti Army Commander, Lt Gen Alok Kler, visited formations in the field and reviewed their operational preparedness, including logistic aspects.

The COAS interacted with troops, and lauded them for their high morale and motivation. He appreciated, the high state of operational preparedness of the Sapta Shakti Command to thwart any threat that inimical forces may pose across the Western Front.

He commended efforts of the formations in the ongoing fight against Covid-19 pandemic.

While addressing the officers, the Army Chief declared that IBGs (Integrated Battle Groups) will be operationalised soon. He also advised optimisation of funds allotted under defence budget in view of the economic constraints due to COVID-19, and said that the funds should be utilised judiciously giving highest priority to operational needs.

During the visit, he exhorted all ranks to continue the excellent work and to maintain highest standards of battle readiness while ensuring force preservation to meet the emerging challenges efficiently and effectively.

Army Chief’s visit to the western front comes two days after Western Army Commander Lt Gen RP Singh visited forward areas in Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir to review the current security situation and operational readiness there.

J&K records 11th Covid death, 37 more test positive; tally at 971

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): A 72-year-old man from Jammu region, who was tested positive a day after his death, has become 11th Covid causality in J&K today even as 37 more persons tested positive in the UT, taking the total tally to 971.

Officials said that the elderly man from Preet Nagar area of Jammu’s Digiana was tested positive a day after his death, making him the 11th Covid victim in J&K.

They said the elderly man with multiple health complications including breathing issues was brought to Government Medical College, Jammu where doctors declared him as brought dead.

“The family members of deceased placed a request before health department to conduct examination of deceased for COVID19 testing after which his samples were taken on Tuesday late evening,” said officials adding that sample report was received today evening which came positive.

Dr. Dara Singh, Medical Superintendent of Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu, said that patient was brought in hospital by family but was declared as brought dead and his samples were collected on the request of family.

“Body is lying in mortuary of hospital and we have informed district administration regarding his positive report. Body shall now be handed over to the family through district administration as per Standard Operating Procedures,” Dr. Singh said.

He ruled out rumours that patient had died in hospital and reiterated that patient was brought dead on Tuesday. The fresh Covid death is second in Jammu while Kashmir has witnessed so far nine deaths due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, J&K reported 37 fresh Covid positive cases today, taking the tally of total positive cases J&K to 971. Officials said that out of 37 new cases, 34 were tested positive in Kashmir division while three were tested positive in Jammu division.

They said that out of 34 new cases in Kashmir division, 13 were tested positive at SKIMS and 21 at CD hospital laboratory and in Jammu, three were tested positive at GMC.

30,000 more Indians to be brought home

Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): About 30,000 Indians will return from 31 countries on 149 flights in phase-II of the exercise to bring home those stranded abroad, according to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The Phase-II from May 16 to 22 will cover countries like the US, Australia, France, Armenia, Belarus, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand & Ukraine.

People will be allowed to board the flights, including feeder flights in the destination countries and within India, only after thorough screening and only if they are asymptomatic for Covid-19.

During the first phase of the exercise which will end on May 15, a total of 64 flights operated to and fro 12 countries to bring home some 15,000 people.

China preparing to capture Taiwan’s island?

Dongsha Islands (Source: Focus Taiwan)

New Delhi (NVI): Taiwan is bracing for large-scale exercises by the Chinese military near China’s Hainan Province, possibly to capture the Dongsha Islands, which are currently controlled by Taiwan, according to media reports.

Taiwan’s top military official Maj. Gen. Lin Wen-huang, who heads an operations and planning office at the Ministry of National Defence (MND), has said his ministry is monitoring movements of “hostile forces” through intelligence gathering and surveillance, according to Central News Agency (CNA) of Taiwan.

His statement came after Japan’s Kyodo News reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is planning to hold a large-scale beach landing exercise near Hainan Province in August, with a scenario of capturing the Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands), currently controlled by Taiwan.

The Kyodo report, which did not cite its sources, said the Dongsha Islands are significant to Beijing as these are located at a strategic point, because Chinese warships have to sail by them when going to the Pacific from Hainan Province, according to CNA.

Maj. Gen. Lin said the MND has contingency plans in place for the South China Sea and that work to strengthen combat readiness and defence preparedness on Taiping Island and the Dongsha Islands will not stop.

Taiwan, along with Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, claim ownership of the South China Sea region, either in part or wholly. At present, Taiwan controls Taiping, the biggest island feature in the South China Sea, and the Dongsha Islands, with coast guard personnel deployed on them.

Lin said that although those deployed there are not military, they possess the same skills and capabilities as marines.

In a legislative session on April 30, National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng revealed that there are about 200 men and women guarding Taiping Island, equipped with light and heavy weaponry, the CNA said, adding he did not mention the Dongsha Islands.

Meanwhile, Qi Yue-yi, a Taiwanese military expert in PLA issues, told CNA that China could have been preparing to target the whole of the South China Sea with the reported drill, but instead selected the area near its own Hainan Province so as not to alarm other claimants in the region.

Suicides among security personnel in J&K a matter of concern amid Covid-19

Kashmir
Representational Image

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Suicides and fratricides are not uncommon among CRPF and Army personnel deployed in Kashmir. Stress, daily threat of violence, worries for home and domestic issues, and long duty hours are pushing personnel to the brink.

The Covid-19 pandemic has further made their jobs more challenging, as they have to go beyond the call of duty now and ensure social distancing as well as security in the Union Territory. Corona is the invisible enemy they are coping with, and the risk of getting infected with the deadly virus bothers many.

Yesterday, two CRPF personnel committed suicide in the UT by shooting themselves dead with their service rifles. One of them left a suicide note behind that read: “I am afraid, I may have Corona.”

Concerned over the issue, the top brass of the security grid has stepped up efforts to prevent such incidents among their men.

To recall, leave applications of all security forces’ personnel– CRPF, Police as well as Army — were canceled on March 20, to deal with the pandemic in the Union Territory.

Speaking to NVI on the issue, Special Director General of CRPF in Kashmir, Zulfikar Hassan said, “Suicides among our men are very unfortunate. We will act but will first try to find out the exact reason for suicides.”

CRPF spokesman in Srinagar, Pankaj Singh didn’t shy away from saying that due to the lockdown, there is an increased amount of tension among the men on the ground. “This is a serious issue and a challenge for us. We need to fine-tune our daily briefings, counseling sessions and de-stressing measures.”

A CRPF commandant told NVI that due to Covid-19 outbreak, recreational activities are not taking place which is also a major source of tension among the men. “At this juncture, suicidal tendencies are a big worry for us,” he said.

“After performing day-long duties on roads, then facing law and order and at the same time taking part in anti-militancy operations is not that easy,” he added.

Not just the CRPF, but Police is also worried about its men despite the fact that 95 per cent of its workforce belong to J&K districts only.

“We give constant briefings to our boys with the sole aim of increasing their morale so that they keep away with any negative thoughts. Besides morning and evening briefings, we keep on passing direction to them throughout the day on wireless sets and also through their concerned officers to stay calm, stay alert as they are serving for the humanity,” a senior police officer in Srinagar said.

In 2019, the guidelines framed by a board of officers of psychiatrists, which include regular psychiatric evaluation, improving the grievance redressal mechanism, were handed over to the paramilitary forces by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs amid directions for the strict implementation of the same.

According to the data shared by the Central Government in Rajya Sabha in 2018, 228 CRPF jawans lost their lives due to suicides between 2010 to 2017 across the nation.

A CRPF official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that suicides among the forces are “noiseless self-executions.”

“Though these deaths aren’t yet alarming but that doesn’t mean these aren’t troublesome,” he said.

Experts and counsellors working towards addressing the psycho-social problems among the forces deployed in Kashmir say that stress, separation from families, long duty hours and poor command and control structures work as contributing factors for more than 70 per cent of deaths that have taken place since 2001.

In 2018, taking serious note of the suicides among the CRPF personnel in Kashmir, the then Director-General of CRPF, RR Bhatnagar, now advisor to  LG Jammu and Kashmir, had launched a maiden project to ascertain “jawans’ mental health”.

Bhatnagar had said that he had passed directions and “made it a point that every suicide case in the force is thoroughly investigated.”

“This is to see that if there were certain signals that the person who committed suicide was giving and if yes, were they picked up and responded to or not?”

Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) had conducted a study in 2004 into the factors causing stress while in 2012, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad also did a similar study for BSF and CRPF. Some of the reasons for committing suicide by police personnel cited in these studies were personal problems, illness and other family circumstances.

Coronavirus cases nearing 18,000 in Bangladesh; 269 dead

(Image source: United News of Bangladesh)

New Delhi (NVI): Bangladesh today saw the highest-ever jump in coronavirus cases in a single day as the health authorities confirmed the detection of record 1,162 new patients in the last 24 hours, raising the total cases to 17,822.

The total number of deaths from coronavirus continues to rise as 19 more people died during the period, taking the total casualties in the country to 269, according to United News of Bangladesh.

Another 214 patients recovered from the disease within last 24 hours and the number of total recoveries now stand at 3,361.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,926 policemen have been infected with coronavirus till now.

Among the total coronavirus-infected police members, 907 are from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) alone.

Pakistan records highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of positive coronavirus in Pakistan has increased by more than 2,500, taking the overall tally to 35,101 with at least 753 fatalities recorded so far.

Looking at the breakdown of cases, Sindh province has reported 13,341 coronavirus cases, highest among all the provinces, while Punjab has 13, 259 positive cases.

On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 5,021 cases, Balochistan is at 2,158, Gilgit-Baltistan at 457, Islamabad at 759 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is at 88 cases so far, according to Geo News.

Furthermore, Pakistan government has decided to further extend the suspension of domestic flight operations till May 29 as part of the precautionary measures aimed at combating the novel coronavirus, according to Dawn News.

However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has mentioned that only chartered, special and cargo flights would be allowed to be operated at airports in Pakistan.

Civilian killed in Budgam: Police registers FIR, DC orders probe

Indianapolis
Representational Image

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): An FIR was registered and a probe ordered into the killing of a civilian in CRPF firing at Narbal area of Central Kashmir’s  Budgam district today.

Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Tariq Ahmed Ganai said that police have registered an FIR and the investigation into the matter has been started. “I have also ordered a probe into the killing,” he said.

The deceased, identified as Peer Mehrajudin (25) of Beerwah, Budgam was shifted to SHMS hospital Srinagar in critical condition after he was fired at by CRPF personnel when he refused to stop at two security check posts. He was declared brought dead by the doctors.

The incident took place at Kawoosa area in Narbal on Srinagar-Gulmarg highway.

Earlier, Police said the incident occurred in Kawoosa area when the civilian was asked to stop his vehicle at check posts. He did not stop at one check post and tried to speed away at another, after which CRPF personnel opened fire.

J&K plans to provide tap water to every household by Dec 2022

New Delhi (NVI): Under the Central Government’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the Jammu and Kashmir administration aims to provide provide tap water connection to all rural households in the Union Territory by December 2022, Ministry of Jal Shakti said today.

The Ministry, in a statement said that during the current year, the UT is planning for 100% coverage of all 5,000 villages of 3 districts i.e. Gandharbal, Srinagar and Raisi.

J&K officials yesterday said there are 18.17 lakh households in the UT, out of which 5.75 lakhs are already provided with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs). They were presenting their action plan to the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation for achieving the goal of every household with tap water supply under the JJM.

Out of the remaining households, J&K plans to provide 1.76 lakh households by 2020-21, they said.

The UT is likely to get Rs 680 Crore as Central share under JJM for this financial year. The Union Territory is eligible for additional allocation based on physical and financial performance, Jal Shakti Ministry said.

In addition to this, the UT Administration is planning 100% coverage by December, 2022 ahead of national goal by 2024-25.

By doing so, Jammu and Kashmir will be a leading example to accomplish the ambitious target of providing tap connection to each rural household, the Ministry said.

“Out of 98 water testing laboratories, the UT plans NABL accreditation of 10 labs during 2020. Whereas, field testing kits will be provided at community level for testing of water quality for taking corrective measures,” it said.

The UT Administration has planned to provide drinking water to all 4 quality-affected habitations. Stress is being given on constitution of Village Water & Sanitation Committees in villages to mobilize the community to inculcate the sense of ownership.

Village Action Plans have been carried out for villages, based on which the action plan has been finalized. During this testing time of COVID-19 pandemic, such attempts to provide household tap connections in rural areas will definitely improve the ease of living of people, making them safe and lead a dignified life.

The main objective of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is to provide every rural household in the country a FHTC for drinking water in adequate quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis at affordable service delivery charges leading to improvement in their living standards.

Through this mission, the government intends to ensure the rural communities are safe from being infected amidst COVID-19 pandemic by providing the poor and marginalized sections of the society water supply through tap connections inside their house premises, thereby averting visits to water stand-posts while observing social distancing norms, the Ministry said.

In this regard, advisories have been issued to States/UTs to take up works related to drinking water on priority so as to achieve the twin objective of providing tap connections to rural households as well as creating job opportunities for local people and migrant workers.

In the last 3 months, detailed exercise carried out in consultation with States/ UTs wherein water supply schemes of every village were analyzed so as to provide tap connections to households, the Ministry added.

8,503 Indians return from abroad under Vande Bharat Mission since May 7

New Delhi (NVI): The Government of India is operating special flights to bring back stranded Indians from abroad, under Vande Bharat Mission. Till now, 8,503 Indians have flown back to the country in 43 inbound flights, the Ministry of Civil Aviation today said.

The citizens have been brought back to in flights operated by Air India and Air India Express in the last 6 days, under the mission which commenced on May 7, 2020.

The government started Vande Bharat Mission – one of the largest initiatives to repatriate nationals back to India – on May 7, 2020. Under this mission, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is coordinating with Ministry of External Affairs and the state governments to carry out the evacution.

Air India along with its subsidiary, Air India Express, is operating a total of 66 flights (42 by Air India & 24 by AI Express) to 12 countries viz. USA, UK, Bangladesh, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Philippines, UAE and Malaysia to repatriate 14,800 Indians back in the first phase.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation in a statement said, “Each and every function in this massive air evacuation mission strictly adheres to the safety and hygiene protocol laid down by the Government and DGCA.”

“MoCA, AAI and Air India leave no stone unturned to prioritize the safety of passengers, the crew and ground handling staff in these sensitive medical evacuation missions. Extensive and meticulous safety arrangements are made in accordance to government guidelines,” the ministry added.

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