Thursday, May 7, 2026
Home Blog Page 1378

Coronavirus: Govt issues advisory for its employees, ministries

New Delhi (NVI): The government today advised all the employees working in several Ministries and Departments to take precautionary measures to contain the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions today issued an advisory citing that all employees who are at higher risk i.e., older employees, pregnant employees and employees who have underlying medical conditions should take extra precautions.

It added that such employees should not be exposed to any direct contact with the public.

All the government offices have been advised to install thermal scanners at the entry of the building as feasible and asked to mandatorily place hand sanitizers at entry points.

The employees have been advised to avoid non-essential official travel. “Undertake essential correspondence on official email and avoid sending files and documents to other offices, to the extent possible,” the Ministry said in the statement.

“Meetings, as far as feasible, should be done through video conferencing and avoid meetings involving large number of people,” it added.

They also advised to take proper treatment/quarantine etc.if they found any flu-like symptoms, the Ministry said adding, “Look out for respiratory symptoms/fever and, if feeling unwell, should leave the workplace immediately after informing the reporting officers.”

“Ensure proper cleaning and frequent sanitization of the workplace, particularly of the frequently touched surfaces. Discourage, to the maximum extent, entry of visitors in the office complex,” it said.

“Routine issue of visitors/temporary passes should be suspended with immediate effect. Only those visitors whom have proper permission of the officer who they want to meet, should be allowed after being properly screened,” it added.

COVID: Central Rlys cancel 22 trains

New Delhi (NVI): Central Railways has cancelled 22 low-occupancy trains till March 31, in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Some of the cancelled trains include Deccan Express, LTT AJNI Express, Nandigram Express, Pune AMI Express, Nagpur Humsafar, Pragati Express, CSMT NZM Rajdhani and HWH CSMT Duronto Express.

Several divisions of Indian Railways have taken precautionary measures against the spread of coronavirus as a large population in the country travels in trains.

Union Min V Muraleedharan tests negative for COVID-19

V Muraleedharan (Source: @VMBJP)

New Delhi (NVI): V Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, today tweeted that he has tested negative for novel coronavirus.

“Last Saturday I had visited Research Div. of a Medical Institute, whose Hospital later reported a #COVID19 +ve case. As a measure of abundant precaution I am in home quarantine since then. Have tested negative for #COVID19. No to panic! Yes to precaution!,” the MoS, MEA said in a tweet.

The minister had visited Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMT) in Thiruvananthapuram on March 14.

After knowing that a doctor there had tested positive for the virus on returning from Spain, the minister had then placed himself in self-quarantine.

The Minister of State has also been keeping away from the Parliament and did not attend the BJP Parliamentary meeting in Delhi today.

India has reported a total of 125 positive cases until now, according to the Health Ministry.

 

J&K: 3 test positive so far, 2615 under surveillance

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir government today informed that 2,615 travellers and persons in contact with the suspected Coronavirus cases have been put under surveillance in the Union Territory while three positive COVID-19 cases have been reported so far.

According to the daily media bulletin on novel coronavirus (COVID-19), 2,060 persons are under home quarantine and 28 persons are in hospital quarantine while 297 persons are under home surveillance.

230 persons have completed their 28 days surveillance period, it said.

“So far, 113 samples have been sent for testing, of which 105 tested as negative and three cases have tested positive,” the government said in a statement.

The daily bulletin also said that reports of 5 new cases are awaited.

Yesterday, J&K official spokesperson tweeted that the total number of positive cases in the UT reached three with one more confirmed case who had a travel history to Saudi Arabia.
“One more case confirmed positive. Travel history to Saudi Arabia. Had reported high viral load earlier. Total 3 positive cases now,” he tweeted.

Home quarantined persons and their family members are requested to cooperate with the local surveillance teams/ health authorities and strictly follow the guidelines for home quarantine issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI.

Public, in general, has been requested to strengthen surveillance mechanism by making self-declaration about their foreign travel history to local health authorities. “Moreover all social, religious and political organizations are urged to avoid large gatherings,” reads the advisory.

Medical masks, according to the advisory should not be used by healthy persons who are not having any symptoms because it creates false sense of security that can lead to neglecting other essential measures such as washing of hands. “In fact, erroneous use of masks or continuous use of a disposable mask for longer than 6 hours or repeated use of same mask may actually increase risk of getting infection.”

COVID-19 can be transmitted in areas with hot & humid climates: WHO

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus can be transmitted in areas with hot and humid climates too, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today, seeking to bust the myth that the pandemic would end when the summer heat arrives.

“From the evidence so far, the #coronavirus can be transmitted in ALL AREAS, including areas with hot & humid weather. Adopt protective measures if you live in or travel to an area reporting,” a tweet by the WHO South-East Asia Region said.

This puts to rest the myth among some people that the summer heat will kill the virus and the pandemic will end.

Meanwhile, the global health body called on member states in the South-East Asia Region to urgently scale-up aggressive measures to combat COVID-19.

“The situation is evolving rapidly. We need to immediately scale up all efforts to prevent the virus from infecting more people,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region.

Eight of the 11 countries of WHO South-East Asia Region have confirmed cases of COVID-19. While Thailand has 177 confirmed cases, Indonesia 134, India 125, Sri Lanka 19, Maldives 13, Bangladesh 5, Nepal and Bhutan one each. These numbers are increasing quickly.

“More clusters of virus transmission are being confirmed. While this is an indication of an alert and effective surveillance, it also puts the spotlight on the need for more aggressive and whole of society efforts to prevent further spread of COVID-19. We clearly need to do more, and urgently,” she said.

Looking at the numbers, some countries are clearly heading towards community transmission of COVID-19, Singh said, adding that this should best be prevented.

Of critical importance are continued efforts to detect, test, treat, isolate and trace contacts.

Simple public health measures are critical, she said, adding practicing hand hygiene, covering your cough and sneeze, and practicing social distancing cannot be emphasized enough.

“This alone has the potential to substantially reduce transmission,” the WHO Regional Director said.

However, if community transmission does set in, countries would need to gear their responses to slow down transmission, as well as end outbreaks.

Emergency mechanism would then need to be further scaled up. A network of health facilities and hospitals for triage and surge would need to be activated to avoid overcrowding, she said.

Self-initiated isolation by people with mild diseases would continue to be the most important community intervention to reduce the burden on health system and reduce virus transmission.

Testing of all suspected cases, symptomatic contacts of probable and confirmed cases, would still be needed.

“We need to be geared to respond to the evolving situation with the aim to stop transmission of COVID-19 at the earliest to minimize the impact of the virus that has gripped over 150 countries in a short span of time, causing substantial loss to health of people, societies, countries and economies. Urgent and aggressive measures are the need of the hour. We need to act now,” the Regional Director said.

LCA conducts 1st flight after final operational clearance

Bengaluru (NVI): Indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) today conducted its first flight after getting the Final Operational Clearance (FOC), paving the way for production of the remaining 15 fighters from the FOC block which are planned to be delivered during the next financial year.

The maiden flight was conducted at HAL Airport in Bengaluru.

“Piloted by Air Cmde KA Muthana(Retd), Chief Test Flying (Fixed Wing), the aircraft took off from HAL Airport at around 1230 hours. It was airborne for 40 minutes,” said a statement issued by the HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) which has built the fighter plane.

R Madhavan, CMD, HAL. said the flight signifies exemplary teamwork between various stakeholders of LCA Tejas programme such as HAL, DGAQA, CEMILAC, IAF, ADA etc.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has achieved the target within a record time of 12 months after the release of Drawing Applicability List (DAL) and SOP by CEMILAC, the statement said.

“This would pave way for production of remaining 15 fighters from the FOC block which are planned to be delivered during the next financial year,” it added.

US begins first human trial of coronavirus vaccine

New Delhi (NVI): The United States has begun the first human trial of coronavirus vaccine as four patients have received the dose at Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle, Washington, reports in foreign media said.

In a press conference at White House yesterday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that this is one of the fastest vaccines development launches in history.

“I’m pleased to report today that a vaccine candidate has begun the phase one clinical trial. This is one of the fastest vaccine development launches in history. Not even close. We’re also racing to develop antiviral therapies and other treatments.”

Trump said efforts to develop medications to treat the novel coronavirus were also moving fast.

“We’re also racing to develop antiviral therapies and other treatments. And we’ve had some promising results — early results, but promising — to reduce the severity and the duration of the symptoms,” he said.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the US, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is funding the trial. The open-label trial will enrol 45 healthy adult volunteers aged 18 to 55 years over approximately six weeks.

The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by the NIAID scientists and their collaborators at the biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Food outlets, restaurants closed in Srinagar

Representational image

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): In order to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, Srinagar administration has today ordered closure of all restaurants and other eatery shops in the city.

“No restaurants, food courts, food joints, street food kiosks, roadside eateries, community kitchens , home-delivery of food services etc shall operate in Srinagar district till further notification by District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA),” read the order issued by DC Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

Besides food outlets, the administration has directed cancellation of all conferences, workshops, rallies, gatherings and sit-in protests.

“The Coronavirus epidemic has been notified under The Disaster Management Act 2005, by virtue of a notification issued by the Government of India. Further, notification under Essential Commodities Maintenance Act 1955 has been issued by the government to regulate production, quality and distribution of certain logistics,” the order read.

It further added, “The Epidemic Disease Act and rules are also in operation for such measures as may be required to contain the spread of Coronavirus and take action as warranted under law. Measures have been taken in Srinagar and further steps required are being notified which shall be implemented by the concerned without fail.”

In addition, the Jammu and Kashmir government has closed all schools, colleges, universities, coaching centres and other educational institutions in the state.

On Monday, all parks and gardens in Srinagar were closed till further notice issued by DDMA Srinagar.

The Srinagar administration has also ordered closure of gyms, saloons and spas.

The government has asked tour operators, travel agencies to declare details of 100 per cent bookings done through them for all International and National air-travel, which may include local road journeys.

Pandurang Kondbarao Pole is new Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir

Kashmir Div Com

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir administration today appointed Pandurang Kondbarao Pole as new Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.

Pole will replace Baseer Ahmad Khan who was appointed as 4th advisor to lieutenant governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Sunday.

A 2001-batch IAS officer, Pandurang Kondbarao Pole was presently posted as Secretary to the Government, Department of Food, Civil, Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

According to Government Order No.385-JK(GAD) of 2020, “Pandurang Kondbarao Pole, IAS(JK 2004), Secretary to the Government, Department of Food, Civil, Supplies and Consumer Affairs, is transferred and posted as Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir,” the official orders read.

Besides him, the government has ordered the transfer of five other top officers.

According to an order issued here, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department, holding additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Transport Department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Department.

Navin Kumar Choudhary, IAS (JK:1994), Principal Secretary to the Government, Education Department, holding additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Technical Education Department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department. He has also been asked to hold the additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Agriculture and Horticulture Departments, upon the retirement on superannuation of Manzoor Ahmad Lone, IAS on 31.03.2020. “He shall also continue to hold the charge of Administrative Secretary, Technical Education Department, in addition to his own till further orders,” reads the order.

Shailendra Kumar, IAS(JK:1995), Chief Electoral Officer, J&K and Principal Secretary to the Government, Election Department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Social Welfare Department. The officer has been also asked to be Officer on Special  Duty in the Public Works (R&B) Department.

“He shall hold the additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Public Works (R&B) Department, upon the retirement on superannuation of Mr. Khurshid Ahmad Shah, IAS on 30.4.2020.”

Simrandeep Singh, IAS(JK:2008), Administrative Secretary, Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, has been asked to hold the charge of Administrative Secretary, Department of Food, Civil, Supplies and Consumer Affairs, in addition to his own duties, till further orders.

Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, IAS(JK:2012), Additional Secretary to the Government, Finance Department, holding additional charge of CEO, Mission Youth, has been asked to also hold the additional charge of Chief Executive Oficer, J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency, till further orders, relieving Principal Secretary to the Government, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department of the additional charge of the post.

Babila Rakwal, KAS, Director, Handlooms, J&K, has been transferred and posted as Vice-Chairman, Jammu Development Authority, relieving Ms. Avny Lavasa, IAS, Commissioner, lammu Municipal Corporation of the additional charge of the post. “She shall also hold the charge of Additional Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Jammu, in addition to her own duties, till further orders,” reads the order. Mussarat-ul-Islam, Director, Handicrafts, J&K, has been asked to hold the charge of the post of Director, Handlooms, J&K, in addition to his own duties, till further orders.

Govt sets up science & tech core team on COVID-19

WHO
Representational Image

New Delhi (NVI): With the total number of coronavirus cases reported in India reaching 126, the Government has set up an ‘S&T Core-team on COVID-19’, of experts who will reach out to the Indian scientific community to expand their scope of finding ‘immediate and urgent solutions’ to the ongoing pandemic.

K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI, tweeted yesterday that there is a need for the scientific community in the country to proactively work to find a solution to the global health problem.

“It is now time for all of us, individual scientists, institution leaders and groups of institutions to get together and contribute to containing, mitigating, and pushing back this pandemic,” he said in a tweet.

The Advisor said that his office has set up “an ‘S&T Core-team on COVID-19’, of experts, who will reach out to each of the clusters, help define problems that need urgent and immediate solutions.”

He added that the experts will also work with academia and industry to help link teams to solve these problems speedily.

“This is a time for team-work. This is a time for our S&T institutions to show national and global leadership. We have concentrations of institutions & industry in the NCR, Kolkota-Kalyani, Chandigarh, Lucknow-Kanpur, Mumbai-Pune-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyd, etc.,” he tweeted.

“These R&D hubs, linked to others, each needs to form a collaborative team and leadership. They can each while interacting, map out their strengths and what key COVID-19 problems they will address and solve in weeks, months, a year,” he added.

while exhorting the scientific community as well as academia, he said, “The goal is to make sure that our health-agencies, our science agencies, and most importantly our people and all peoples have the benefit of your knowledge, talents, and expertise speedily. Don’t hold back.”

Principal Scientific Advisor further added that in addition to the ‘top-down’ efforts of various departments and ministries, such as the Department of Biotechnology and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research etc., scientists need to proactively work together to ensure synergy and develop implementable solutions that health-workers and communities need.

Total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 126 today as one more death was reported from Mumbai today. The Health Ministry is working with other departments in the government to contain the spread of COVID-19, almost in a war footing.

1...1,3771,3781,379...1,601Page 1,378 of 1,601

MUST READ