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Two elderly men die of Covid-19 in J&K, toll rises to 48

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir reported two more deaths due to Covid-19 as two elderly men who were tested positive for the deadly pandemic breathed their last in two separate hospitals today.

With this, the number of Covid-19 causalities in the Union Territory has jumped to 48, including a non-local resident and a CRPF trooper. Of the total deaths, Kashmir has recorded 43 and Jammu has witnessed five deaths so far.

Health officials said that a 50-year-old man from Panzath area of South Kashmir’s Qazigund and a 52-year-old man from Sopore died at GMC Anantnag and Srinagar’s CD hospital respectively.

Principal GMC Anantnag, Showkat Jeelani said that a man from Panzath, who was very sick died at GMC this morning.

“He was tested positive for COVID a few days ago and was suffering from Pneumonia besides other ailments,” the doctor said.

A doctor at SMHS hospital Srinagar said that a man who was an auto driver by profession met with an accident on May 19 and was admitted in SMHS hospital.

“Just two days ago, he had tested positive for the virus, after which he was shifted to CD hospital. His condition deteriorated today morning after which he succumbed,” the doctor said.

‘One ring phone scam’ in Kashmir amid Covid-19, Police issues alert

(Representational image)

Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): The Cyber Cell of J&K police today cautioned people in the Valley for “one-ring phone scam” urging the citizens not to return missed calls or to respond to the calls from unknown international numbers.

The scam has entered Kashmir at a time when the Valley is under a tight grip of Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed over 45 lives and infected over 4000 people so far.

The Cyber wing termed it as “global scam, which has got active in Kashmir also.” Talking to NVI, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Cyber Police Cell Kashmir, Tahir Ashraf said that just a day after “one ring phone scam” stepped into Kashmir, they got active and started taking measures to counter the same.

“We have issued an advisory for the people how to deal with the scam,” he said. The advisory issued by the Cyber wing read: “If your phone rings once and then stops. If this happens to you and you don’t recognize the number, do not return the call. You may be target of a one ring phone scam.”

The advisory further reads that one ring call may appear to be from the international number. For countering the scam, the advisory states that “don’t answer or return any calls from number you don’t recognize, report that number as a spam. Before calling unfamiliar number, check to see if the area code is international. Always be cautious, even if a number appears authentic.”

SSP Cyber Cell said that it is a global scam active across the world where scammers engage people for long durations to make easy money. “Since international calls are costly, the scammers engage people and earn money. By engaging people for long durations over phone, they can access bank accounts and steal the money as well as phone numbers are linked with the banks of the people across Kashmir,” he said.

He said if people encounter this issue, they should immediately contact their service providers to ensure that the number is marked as a spam. “People of Kashmir should also follow Twitter handle and Facebook account of Cyber Cell J&K police for regular updates about how one ring scam can be countered effectively,” the police officer said and asked people not to panic and “just follow updates on official accounts of cyber wing’s Twitter and Facebook for dealing with the scammers.”

“We will be updating the ways and means of countering the scammers on our official accounts on social media,” the SSP said.

Tourism hit hard by Covid: But here’re most visited destinations, normally

New Delhi (NVI): Before the Covid-19 pandemic, France was the world’s most visited country, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Although some countries are considering easing coronavirus lockdowns to reopen their borders, international tourist numbers could fall by up to 80% in 2020, says the World Tourism Organization.

With lockdowns beginning to ease, many countries are starting to think about how to restart an engine vital to their economies: tourism, reports World Economic Forum.

The European Union is exploring how it can safely open its internal borders to welcome summer visitors. While Australians may be allowed to travel to New Zealand from July, some Caribbean islands, like Saint Lucia, will begin to reopen in June, according to WFP.

However, in a normal year, these are the most visited destinations:

The most recent figures from the UNWTO show that France is the world’s number one destination for international tourists, Almost 90 million people visited the country in 2018.

Spain isn’t far behind, with over 82 million visitors. The United States, China and Italy complete the top five.

 

Park Güell is a public park in Barcelona, Spain

According to UNWTO, these countries are also among the hardest-hit by COVID-19, with the US, Italy, France and Spain (along with the United Kingdom and Brazil) to date recording the world’s highest number of confirmed coronavirus deaths.

The tourism industry accounts for 10% of GDP and jobs, globally.

Countries reliant on travel and tourism have seen “particularly large” disruptions, according to the International Monetary Fund, as lockdowns caused havoc in these economies, as they have in many others around the globe.

Rialto Bridge is a Arch bridge in Venice, Italy

Of the top five most visited nations, Spain in particular will be feeling the heat in this respect – international tourists spend about $81 billion in the country annually. That’s over 16% of its total exports, while the same figure is under 10% for France and Italy.

However, those numbers pale in comparison to Saint Lucia, though, where international tourism receipts make up more than 81% of total exports.

Delhi LG calls all-party meeting to discuss Covid-19 situation at 3 PM

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi’s Lt Governor Anil Baijal has called an all-party meeting at 3 PM today to review the current Covid-19 situation in the national capital.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to attend the meeting as he is unwell and has undergone a coronavirus test today.

LG Anil Baijal yesterday overruled Delhi government’s order reserving all beds in state-run and private hospitals only for city residents until COVID-19 pandemic crisis is resolved.

Baijal, who is also the chairperson of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), directed the authorities in the NCT to ensure that Covid treatment is not denied to patients on grounds on not being a resident of Delhi.

After the LG’s order yesterday, CM Arvind Kejriwal said that allowing treatment of people from outside Delhi in all hospitals will create a problem and challenge for people living in Delhi.

“LG’s order has created a big problem and challenge for people of Delhi. It is a big challenge to arrange for treatment of people coming from all over India amid the corona pandemic. Perhaps, it is God’s will that we serve the people of the whole country.  We will try to arrange for treatment of all,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in Delhi have surged past 29,000 while the death toll rose to 874.

State-wise details of Covid-19 cases in India

New Delhi (NVI): India has now become the fifth worst-affected country in the world index due to coronavirus pandemic, after it surpassed Spain in the total number of confirmed cases, as the country continues to witness huge spike in the infected cases.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at 2,66,598 including 7,466 casualties, according to the Union Health Ministry.

In the last 24 hours, a record 9,987 new cases of coronavirus and 266 deaths have been reported in India, both being at a record high in a single day till now.

Maharashtra tops the country with the maximum number of coronavirus cases and has reported nearly 88,000 confirmed cases so far.

The first confirmed coronavirus case in India was reported in the state of Kerala on January 30. Since then, the virus has tightened its grip across the country.

Total positive cases in States/UTs:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands- 33

Andhra Pradesh- 4,851

Arunachal Pradesh- 51

Assam- 2,776

Bihar- 5,202

Chandigarh- 317

Chhattisgarh- 1,160

Dadar Nagar Haveli- 22

Delhi- 29,943

Gujarat- 20,545

Goa- 330

Haryana– 4,854

Himachal Pradesh- 421

Jammu and Kashmir- 4,285

Jharkhand- 1,256

Karnataka- 5,760

Kerala- 2,005

Ladakh- 103

Madhya Pradesh- 9,638

Maharashtra- 88,528

Manipur- 272

Meghalaya- 36

Mizoram- 42

Nagaland- 123

Odisha- 2,994

Puducherry- 127

Punjab- 2,663

Rajasthan- 10,763

Sikkim- 7

Tamil Nadu- 33,229

Telangana- 3,580

Tripura- 838

Uttarakhand- 1,411

Uttar Pradesh- 10,947

West Bengal – 8,613

State/UT wise total death toll:

Andhra Pradesh- 75

Assam- 4

Bihar- 31

Chandigarh- 5

Chhattisgarh- 4

Delhi- 874

Gujarat- 1,280

Haryana- 39

Himachal Pradesh- 5

Jammu and Kashmir- 45

Jharkhand- 7

Karnataka- 64

Kerala- 16

Ladakh- 1

Madhya Pradesh- 414

Maharashtra- 3,169

Meghalaya- 1

Odisha- 9

Puducherry- 1

Punjab- 53

Rajasthan- 246

Tamil Nadu- 286

Telangana- 123

Uttar Pradesh- 283

Uttarakhand- 13

West Bengal- 405

A total of 1,29,215 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals in India. There are around 1,29,917 active cases currently, according to the Health Ministry.

Petrol, diesel prices hike for third consecutive day

petrol
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): Prices of petrol and diesel were hiked for the third consecutive day, after Public Sector oil companies got back to daily revision of fuel prices after keeping them unchanged for a gap of 82 days.

In the national capital, Delhi, petrol prices rose by 54 paise to Rs 73 per litre, while diesel was raised by 58 paise to Rs 71.17, according to the data by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

This is the third consecutive increase in the daily prices of the key auto fuels by the key state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs). So far in Delhi, the price of petrol has risen by Rs 1.74 per litre while prices of diesel has gone up by Rs 1.78 litre during the last three days.

Reportedly, in Mumbai, a litre of petrol today costs Rs 80.01, while diesel is retailing at 69.92 per litre. Likewise in Kolkata, petrol is retailing at 74.98, while diesel is at Rs 67.23 and in Chennai, petrol price is selling at Rs 77.08 and diesel is at Rs 69.74, according to the IOC data.

Oil PSUs – Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL)- had suspended daily price revisions and retail rates were frozen on March 16 soon after the government on March 14, hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each.

Coronavirus cases surpass 7.1 million worldwide

Coronavirus cases

New Delhi (NVI): More than 7.1 million people have now been confirmed to have the coronavirus with at least 4,05,000 people dying from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, Brazil reported 679 deaths from coronavirus and 15,654 new cases, taking the total number of cases to more than 7,00,000 and death toll to more than 37,000 in the country.

In the US, the total number of coronavirus cases have surpassed 1.95 million with around 1,10,000 fatalities recorded in the country.

The United Kingdom reported 55 new coronavirus-related deaths, the lowest since the lockdown was imposed on March 23. The death toll now stands at 40,597 and a total of 287,399 people have been infected so far.

Poland announced the closure of a dozen coal mines for three weeks starting from Tuesday in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus as miners account for 20 percent of reported cases.

In addition to this, the government in Abu Dhabi has extended by one week a ban introduced on June 2 that prohibits people from moving in and out of the emirate and travelling between its major cities.

Furthermore, World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries to press on with efforts to contain the novel coronovirus, noting the global situation is worsening.

“More than six months into the pandemic this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online briefing.

COVID cases in India climb to over 2.66 lakh, death toll 7,466

New Delhi (NVI): The coronavirus cases in India saw a jump of 9,987 in the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 2,66,598.

The death toll due to the virus rose to 7,466 with 266 new fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours, Union Health Ministry said.

In Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 88,528, followed by Tamil Nadu with 33,229 cases, and Delhi with 29,943 cases.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of fatalities at 3,169, followed by 1,280 in Gujarat and 414 in Madhya Pradesh.

The death toll in the national capital rose to 874, while 11,357 patients in Delhi have recovered so far, the healthy ministry data shows.

Other states with a high virus hit included are
Gujarat (20,545) Rajasthan (10,763), Uttar Pradesh (1,947) and Madhya Pradesh (9,638).

So far, 1,29,215 patients have been cured all over the country. With this India’s recovery rate is said to be one of the best in the world.

Meanwhile, with India relaxing restrictions, a surge in cases is expected to begin soon, with several states already showing upward shift from their trend pattern in the last few days.

Covid-19: 198 more cases in J&K, tally climbs to 4,285

Srinagar (NVI): The number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 4,285 as the Union Territory witnessed another big spike of 198 positive cases today.

Officials said that among new 198 new cases, 43 were tested positive at SKIMS, 70 at JVC Bemina and rest at other hospitals.

Among 198 new cases, 165 belong to Kashmir division while 33 are from Jammu division, officials said, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir has reached 3,363 including 1,112 recoveries and 40 deaths while total number of positive cases in Jammu has reached 922 including 212 recoveries and 5 deaths.

They added that total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir is 2916 including 2211 from Kashmir division and 705 from Jammu division.

Cases tested positive in J&K include 14 from Anantnag, 10 from Kulgam, 9 from Srinagar, 40 from Budgam, 11 from Kupwara, 31 from Shopian, 33 from Baramulla, 9 from Bandipora, 7 from Pulwama and 1 from Ganderbal in Kashmir while 33 from Jammu include include 12 from district Jammu, 11 from Kathua, 4 each from Poonch and Samba and one each from Rajouri and Doda.

As per officials figures, 458 positive cases including five deaths and 220 recoveries are from Anantnag, 466 including 12 deaths and 220 recoveries are from Srinagar, 537 including 5 deaths and 150 recoveries are from Kulgam, 350 including 101 recoveries and 3 deaths are from Kupwara, 482 including 107 recoveries and seven deaths are from Baramulla, 401 including 133 recoveries and four deaths are from Shopian, 224 including 136 recoveries and 1 death is from Bandipora, 200 including 77 recoveries and 2 deaths are from Budgam, 188 including 16 recoveries and 1 death are from Pulwama and 57 including 26 recoveries are from Ganderbal.

In Jammu, 234 including 70 recoveries and three deaths are from Jammu district, 168 including 21 recoveries are from Ramban, 130 including 32 recoveries 1 one death is from Udhampur, 118 including 40 recoveries are from Kathua, 73 including 4 recoveries from Poonch, 63 including 23 recoveries and 2 are from Samba, 57 including 13 recoveries are from Rajouri, 42 including 1 death and 2 recoveries are from Doda, 20 including 3 recoveries  are from Reasi and 17 including 4 recoveries are from Kishtwar.

As per the daily information bulletin, 214,595 persons in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation while as 42,381 persons have been kept under home quarantine. Besides that, 2916 persons are in hospital isolation while as 51 persons are under hospital quarantine.

According to the bulletin, 113,625 persons have completed surveillance period and 555,77 persons are under home surveillance.

Apart from that, so far results of 2,27,906 samples are available, out of which 2,23,621 stand negative while 4,285 have been tested positive. Among the positive cases, 2916 are active and 1324 persons have recovered while 45 persons have died.

Govt committed to ensure minorities are equal partner of mainstream development: Naqvi

New Delhi (NVI): Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said that in the past six years, the BJP government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked with commitment to “Development without Discrimination” and “Development with Dignity” to ensure that minorities have also become an equal partner of mainstream development.

Naqvi, who was addressing UP BJP Minority Morcha workers through virtual conference here today, said that the BJP is not only the largest political party of the world, it is also an “Inclusive Family” which is working for prosperity of all with a commitment to nationalism by removing the barriers of region and religion.

“All the poor and weaker sections including minorities have been equally benefitted through Modi Government’s schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojna, Ayushman Bharat, Kisan Samman Nidhi, Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana, electrification drive, PM Sadak Yojana, One Nation-One Ration Card etc. Besides, the Minorities have significantly benefitted through various welfare measures taken by the Union Minority Affairs Ministry,” he said.

“More than 3 crore 80 lakh students from Minority communities have been provided various scholarships during the last 6 years. More than 50 per cent beneficiaries of scholarship schemes are girl students,” he said.

At the same time, Naqvi said that while the Government is committed to “Honour” of all Indians, on the other hand some people are conspiring to create “Horror” in India.

He said that “Inclusive Empowerment” has been “Rashtraniti” (national policy) and not “Rajniti” (politics) for the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

He said the Modi Government has been working with commitment to happiness in eyes and prosperity in life of every needy. “This has ensured that each and every section of the society including Minorities have become an equal partner of prosperity, dignity and empowerment. All sections of the society are moving forward on the path of inclusive empowerment without any discrimination,” he said.

The Union Minister said that some people and organisations in the country itself are engaged in obstructing this journey of inclusive growth, empowerment, dignity and harmony due to their narrow and prejudiced political self-interests. “They are involved in a criminal conspiracy to disgrace India and Indians. We should not only be remain cautious of these nefarious elements but also expose and isolate them,” he added.

He further saud that unable to digest the positive atmosphere and constructive mood of the country, the ‘Bogus Bashing Brigade’ is trying to raise bogey of “Islamophobia”, intolerance, safety of Minorities etc just to defame India and disturb the fabric of communal harmony and unity of the country,” he said.

Taking an indirect dig at the Congress and Opposition parties, Naqvi said, while on one hand some political parties are confined to a particular family frame, on the other hand the BJP is “all-embracing family” which is moving forward with ethos of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” and commitment to “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat”.

Apart from that, Naqvi in his virtual conference said that more than 5 lakh master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts and people associated with them have been provided employment and employment opportunities through “Hunar Haat” during last about 5 years.

More than 10 lakh youths have been provided skill development training and employment and employment opportunities during last about 6 years through employment-oriented skill development schemes such as “Ustad”, “Garib Nawaz Self Employment Scheme”, “Seekho aur Kamao”, “Nai Manzil” etc, he said.

More than 50 per cent beneficiaries are girls. Thousands of Health Care Assistants, who have been trained under skill development programme of Minority Affairs Ministry, are assisting in treatment and well-being of Corona patients, he added.

In addition to this, the Minister informed that for the first time since Independence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi led Government is providing 100 per cent funding to develop schools, colleges, hospitals, community hall and other basic infrastructure on Waqf land under Pradhanmantri Jan Vikas Karykram (PMJVK) for weaker sections and needy especially girls in those backward areas which had been deprived of these basic facilities.

During last about 6 years, Modi Government has developed socio-economic-educational and employment-oriented infrastructure across the country in deprived Minority concentrated areas, he added.

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