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Minor Hindu girl abducted, forcibly married in Pakistan

New Delhi (NVI): Abduction of Hindu girls and their forcible marriage with their kidnappers continues in Pakistan, with the latest incident being reported from Sindh Province.

In the fresh case, a 40-year-old Muslim man abducted a 14-year-old Hindu girl in Chundiko in Sindh and married her forcibly, but not before converting her to Islam, according to a media report in Pakistan.

The abductor, Mohammad Aachar Darejo, got himself photographed with the minor girl. The picture also showed him and the girl displaying an alleged ‘nikah-nama’.

The photo has been doing the rounds on social media where users have condemned the incident and called on the authorities to hold an inquiry, reported Naya Daur.

The report said that in last year alone, more than 41 Hindu girls were kidnapped and converted to Islam by force.

Around 1,000 cases of Hindu and Christian girls being forced to convert were estimated in the province of southern Sindh alone in 2018, according to the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Tragically, such incidents are continuing with impunity despite Sindh Province having a law banning child marriage. ‘The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act’ of 2014 makes marriage below the age of 18 years, for both boys and girls, a punishable offence but there is no implementation of this law.

An estimated 4.5 million Hindus live in Pakistan, majority of them in Sindh, and they continue to face oppression and torture, including the form of rapes and forcible marriage.

Every year, thousands of Hindu and Christian girls and young women are kidnapped by Muslims in Pakistan and forcibly married. In many cases, the abductor-cum-grooms are elderly people, marrying minor girls.

And while these forced conversions have been going on for decades, a recent surge in reported cases has brought the issue back into the limelight, the Naya Daur report said.

“Some day coronavirus will end but this virus will always stay in Pakistan. 14-year-old Hindu girl, abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and marrited to her 40-year-old abductor in Chundiko area of Sindh,” Pakistani journalist Nailya Inayat tweeted.

“Chundiko Sindh, one 14 years old Hindu Girl suthi Oad have been abducted and later been forcedly converted and married to 40 years old Mohammad Aachar darejo. This is utterly ridiculous and condemned. However corona will end but this injustice will remain same in Pakistan,” tweeted netizen Shahzad Hussain.

Attack on doctors: IMA withdraws planned protest after assurance from Amit Shah

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has withdrawn a proposed symbolic protest over attack on doctors in some parts of the country after Union Home Minister Amit Shah today assured them of their security in the fight against COVID-19.

The Home Minister, along with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today interacted with doctors and senior representatives of the IMA, through a video conference here.

The Home Minister appreciated the role of doctors in general and particularly in the fight against Coronavirus and expressed confidence that doctors would continue to work dedicatedly in this fight, as they have been doing till now, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

While condemning the recent attacks on health professionals, Shah assured them that the Modi government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their wellbeing and security.

He said that PM is closely following all issues and concerns of doctors. All necessary arrangements would be put in place to prevent such incidents in future, he said. He appealed to doctors not to do even a symbolic protest as proposed by them, as it is not in national or global interest, the Home Ministry said in a statement.

“Considering the immediate high level response from the Union government and assurance given by the Union Home and Health Ministers, the IMA has withdrawn the proposed protest to maintain the fight against COVID-19 in an uninterrupted manner,” the statement read.

Union Health Secretary, Home Secretary, senior doctors and NITI Aayog representative were also present on the occasion.

Jhansi smart city project among several contracts bagged by L&T

New Delhi (NVI): Construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has won contracts worth hundreds of crores across the country, including Jhansi smart city project and manufacture and supply of heavy material handling equipment for BHEL, according to the company’s officials.

The company has “bagged a smart city project for design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning with five-year comprehensive operation and maintenance of an Integrated Command and Control Centre in Jhansi,” the official said.

“The vision of this project is to empower Jhansi, the land of Great Veerangana-Rani Laxmi Bai to embark on a journey towards sustainable development while conserving its glorious culture and heritage,” the company said in a statement.

The scope of work involves deployment of an Integrated Command and Control Centre, Intelligent Traffic Management System, City Surveillance, City Wi-Fi, technology-enabled Solid Waste Management, GIS, Citizen Portal and e-Office Applications, it said.

The company further said that it has secured an order from BHEL to manufacture and supply heavy material handling equipment with high end automation for its (5X800 MW) Thermal Power Plant at Yadadri, Telangana.

It has also bagged an order from M/s Birla Copper, a unit of Hindalco Ltd. to revamp its Copper Smelter complex at Dahej, Gujarat. The scope of work includes assessment, re-engineering, refurbishment of operating plant facilities.

Among the other contracts, L&T has secured an order from the State Project Management Unit, Government of West Bengal, for flood protection works and embankment strengthening of Damodar river in Purba Bardhhaman and Hooghly districts, using sheet piles and Bullah piles.

Pradhan asks LPG distributors to maximise free Ujjwala refills for benefit of poor

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan interacts with over 1000 LPG distributors through video conferencing

New Delhi (NVI): Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel DharmendraPradhan interacted with over 1,000 LPG distributors from across the country through video conferencing and asked them to maximise free Ujjwala refills for benefit of poor.

While lauding them for ensuring doorstep delivery of LPG cylinders during the lockdown, Pradhan appealed to the LPG distributors to proactively reach out and maximise the delivery of three free LPG cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. PMGKY has been announced for the poor to help them fight the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Minister also complimented them for taking all necessary precautions, including sanitisation of LPG cylinders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and ensuring safety of the delivery boys and their consumers, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said.

He further asked the distributors to continue making the delivery boys and through them the consumers aware about the importance of using face masks, AarogyaSetu app, cleaning hands and social distancing in defeating the pandemic.

The minister said that the frontline warriors, i.e., the delivery boys have proved effective in the dissemination of this useful information among the consumers. He urged the distributors to continue with the good work in following the SOPs of Social Distancing, sanitisation and hygiene at the workplace to minimise the risk of infection. He also urged them to be empathetic towards front line LPG warriors and take all possible care of them.

On Earth Day, PM gives a shout out to Covid-19 warriors

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today gave a big shout out to those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19 on the occasion of Earth Day 2020 and urged people to work towards a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous planet.

“On International Day of Mother Earth, we all express gratitude to our planet for the abundance of care & compassion. Let us pledge to work towards a cleaner, healthier & more prosperous planet. A shout out to all those working at the forefront to defeat COVID-19,” he tweeted.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also tweeted on the occasion saying that its Chandigarh ENVIS Centre organised a contest for students and teachers of over 50 Schools of the Chandigarh city, yesterday.

Earth day 2020 is not just the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but also the anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement to take climate action. The day is celebrated on April 22 every year.

As coronavirus has been spreading around the world and dominating news headlines, thoughts and attention, the need to take climate action has remained as urgent as ever, according to UN environment programme.

The first Earth Day took place in 1970. Outraged by oil spills, smog and polluted rivers, 20 million people took to the streets, protesting what they recognized as an environmental crisis. It was the planet’s largest civic event at the time and compelled governments to take concrete actions, including passing environmental laws and establishing environmental agencies.

In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution formally recognizing the day as International Mother Earth Day. On Earth Day 2016, the United Nations formally adopted the Paris Agreement, articulating the commitment of nations to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels; and to strengthen the ability of countries to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

Four militants killed in Kashmir encounter

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

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Four unidentified militants have been killed in an encounter at Mehloora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district, police officials said today.

Acting on a tip-off, joint teams of police, army and CRPF laid a siege in Mehloora village of Shopian late on Tuesday evening. “There were specific inputs about the presence of militants in the village. A multi-layer cordon was laid to ensure militants don’t flee,” a police officer told NVI, requesting anonymity.

He said that searches were intensified and with the first light of the day, hiding militants fired a volley of bullets at the security forces triggering a fierce encounter. “In the initial exchange of fire, two militants were killed while as two others continued to fire from different locations,” the officer said.

In the morning, the security forces launched the final assault and killed two more militants.

“In total four militants have been killed in the encounter. The firing has stopped and the area is being sanitised,” the officer said, adding that search operation is on in the area.

“It was a clean operation without any collateral damage,” he said.

He said that the identity and affiliation of the slain militants is being ascertained.

Kashmir zone police tweeted, “Four unidentified militants killed. Arms and ammunition recovered. Operation over.”

Locals of Mehloora said the house where militants were hiding was razed to ground completely.

Police urged people not to go closer to the encounter spot till the area is properly sanitised.

UN warns of global hunger; COVID-19 cases top 2.56 mn worldwide

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 2.56 million people globally taking the fatalities to more than 1,77,000, according to John Hopkins University tally.

The United Nations has warned that global hunger could double as a result of the novel coronavirus, putting 265 million people at risk.

In addition to this, the total number of positive cases in US has reached 8,25,041 while more that 40,000 have lost their lives due to the deadly virus.

In UK, 823 new deaths were reported, taking the total to 17,337 in the country, according to Department for Health and Social Care.

Italy reported 534 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 24,648, with the positive cases till date standing at 1,83,957.

Meanwhile, Singapore has extended a month-long lockdown until June 1 after a surge in positive cases were reported.

Total Covid-19 cases rise to 19,984 in India; death toll at 640

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 19,984 and 640 died from the pandemic, the Union Health Ministry said this morning.

In the past 24 hours, 1,383 fresh coronavirus cases have been reported.

At least 50 people succumbed to the pandemic in a day.

Maharashtra continues to remain worst affected state with 5,218 coronavirus cases.

While Gujarat has replaced Delhi in the second place with 2,178 COVID-19 cases, there are 2,156 cases in national capital, Health Ministry data showed.

Other states with a high virus hit included Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Goa and Manipur have declared themselves as Coronavirus free states.

At present, the number of active coronavirus cases stands at 15,474, while 3,869 people have cured or discharged.

Over 541 tons of medical cargo transported by Lifeline Udan flights

(Source: Twitter @MoCA_GoI)

New Delhi (NVI): 316 flights have been operated under Lifeline Udan by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF and private carriers during COVID-19 lockdown, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said today.

196 of these flights have been operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Cargo transported till date is around 541.33 tons, the ministry said in a statement.

Aerial distance covered by Lifeline Udan flights till date is over 3,14,965 km, it added.

‘Lifeline Udan’ flights are being operated by MoCA to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India’s war against COVID-19, the ministry said.

Apart from this, helicopter services including Pawan Hans Ltd have been operating in J&K, Ladakh, Islands and North East region transporting critical medical cargo and patients. “Pawan Hans till 20 April 2020 have carried 1.90 tons of cargo covering a distance of 6537 kms,” the ministry said.

The domestic Lifeline Udan cargo includes COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits, Personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, gloves, other materials of HLL and ICMR; cargo requisitioned by State/UT Governments and postal packets etc.

Domestic Lifeline Udan flights operate in a hub and spoke model. Special focus has been on the North East Region, island territories and the hill states. Air India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

Bulk of the cargo comprises light-weight and voluminous products like masks, gloves and other consumables, that consume relatively larger storage space on the aircraft. Special permission has been taken to store cargo in the passenger seating area and overhead cabins, with due precautions, it said.

Health Min launches ‘Covid India Seva’

New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today launched ‘COVID India Seva’, an interactive platform for citizens’ engagement on COVID-19 and respond to their queries in real-time.

The interactive platform is aimed at establishing a direct channel of communication with millions of Indians amid the pandemic, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.


This initiative is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery in real-time and answering citizen queries swiftly, at scale, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said in a statement.

Through this platform, people can pose queries @CovidIndiaSeva and get them responded to in almost real time.

@CovidIndiaSeva works off a dashboard at the backend that helps process large volumes of tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets, and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time resolution, the ministry said.

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