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Coronavirus: 2 Indian crew test positive on a Japanese cruise ship

Representational image
New Delhi (NVI):  Two Indian crew members have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus on the cruise ship quarantined off Yokohama, Japan, Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, reported in a tweet today.

More than 3,700 passengers and crew are stuck on the Diamond Princess ship that is essentially a floating quarantine zone. The ship was placed under quarantine on February 4, 2020, and it isn’t scheduled to be lifted until February 19.

“Many Indian crews & some Indian passengers are onboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus. We are closely following the developments,” Jaishankar tweeted.

Meanwhile, the death toll in China’s Hubei province from the outbreak leapt by a record 242 on Thursday to 1,310, with a sharp rise in confirmed cases after the adoption of a new methodology for diagnosis, health officials said.

The rise in the toll more than doubled the prior provincial daily record of 103 set on Monday, while the number of new cases soared by 14,840, taking the total number of infected people to 48,206 cases.

Mobile internet snapped over rumours about Geelani’s death

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesdays night snapped internet services in Kashmir over rumours relating to separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s health.

The services were snapped late on Wednesday night after some social media posts claimed that the health of the 90-year-old has deteriorated.

But Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmed Khan termed the reports about death of Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani as baseless.

He said a team from SKIMS visited his home for health checkup. “I personally talked to his son also. He confirmed Geelani sahib is stable,” he said.

Meanwhile, security forces were deployed in vulnerable areas of the Valley.

In a late night development, the All Parties Hurriyet (Freedom) Conference released an ‘urgent’ statement from Muzaffarabad (Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir), saying that all Imams and people should gather at Eidgah, Srinagar, for the funeral in case Geelani breaths his last.

In a two-page statement, Hurriyet announced that Geelani (90) has recently expressed his wish to be buried at the Mazar-e-Shuhada, Eidgah, Srinagar.

Hurriyet, which has its office in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad, also appealed to the people of the Valley to be respectful to the leader and join the funeral (in case he is no more).

The written statement said that for the last few days, the chest infection of Geelani was not responding to the ongoing treatment.

“There are rumours in the Valley about Geelani’s health condition. Till late night, nothing adverse has been reported. We are taking stock of the situation,” said a senior officer of the Srinagar police.

Considered as the senior most Hurriyat leader, Geelani was previously a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir but later on founded his own party by the name of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

Global carbon dioxide emissions flatlined in 2019: Report

New Delhi (NVI) Despite widespread expectations of another increase, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions stopped growing in 2019, International Energy Agency report said.

According to IEA data, after two years of growth, global emissions were unchanged at 33 gigatonnes in 2019 even as the world economy expanded by 2.9%. This was primarily due to declining emissions from electricity generation in advanced economies, thanks to the expanding role of renewable sources (mainly wind and solar), fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power generation.

“Other factors included milder weather in several countries, and slower economic growth in some emerging markets, IEA report said in a statement.

While commenting IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol said “we now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth.”

“We have the energy technologies to do this, and we have to make use of them all. The IEA is building a grand coalition focused on reducing emissions – encompassing governments, companies, investors and everyone with a genuine commitment to tackling our climate challenge,” he added.

A significant decrease in emissions in advanced economies in 2019 offset continued growth elsewhere.

The United States recorded the largest emissions decline on a country basis, with a fall of 140 million tonnes, or 2.9%. US emissions are now down by almost 1 gigatonne from their peak in 2000.

Emissions in the European Union fell by 160 million tonnes, or 5%, in 2019 driven by reductions in the power sector.

Natural gas produced more electricity than coal for the first time ever, meanwhile wind-powered electricity nearly caught up with coal-fired electricity.

Japan’s emissions fell by 45 million tonnes, or around 4%, the fastest pace of decline since 2009, as output from recently restarted nuclear reactors increased.

Emissions in the rest of the world grew by close to 400 million tonnes in 2019, with almost 80% of the increase coming from countries in Asia where coal-fired power generation continued to rise.

Across advanced economies, emissions from the power sector declined to levels last seen in the late 1980s, when electricity demand was one-third lower than today.

Coal-fired power generation in advanced economies declined by nearly 15% as a result of growth in renewables, coal-to-gas switching, a rise in nuclear power and weaker electricity demand.

Dr Birol also said that this welcome halt in emissions growth is grounds for optimism that we can tackle the climate challenge this decade.

“It is evidence that clean energy transitions are underway – and it’s also a signal that we have the opportunity to meaningfully move the needle on emissions through more ambitious policies and investments,” he added.

Temperature rises in plains

(Pic courtesy: SkymetWeather)

New Delhi (NVI): Northern plains today saw a marginal rise in the minimum temperature due to change in wind patterns.

Umaria in Madhya Pradesh is the coldest cities in the plains where the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.3 degrees celsius, according to Skymet weather.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa and Shahjahanpur, the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.4 degrees celsius.

Apart from this, Banda in Uttar Pradesh and Churu in Rajasthan recorded minimum temperature at  8.0  and 8.2 degree celsius respectively.

Angul in Odisha and Hisar in Haryana both recorded minimum temperature at 9.0 degrees celsius.

Cooch Behar in West Bengal recorded minimum temperature at 9.1 degree celsius.

Fursatganj in UttarPradesh and Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh both shivered at 9.2 degrees celsius.

According to the Skymet weather, this change in the wind pattern can be attributed to the Western Disturbance (WD) which is over Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Delhi and NCR region also saw a slight increase in minimum temperature to 12.3 degrees celsius from 8.3 degrees celsius recorded yesterday.

The maximum temperature today is expected to be around 25.0 degrees celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD said that some isolated parts of Odisha will also witness cold wave conditions during next 24 hours.

The weatherman has forecast that in Northwest India there will be a rise in temperature by 2 to 4 degrees celsius during next 24 hours, in East India there will be a gradual rise in temperature by 2 to 3 degrees celsius from today.

“No significant change is expected over West and Central India during next 24 hours,” weatherman said.

“No significant change is expected over rest of the country,” it added.

“The shallow to moderate fog is also expected over East India during next 2 days,” it further added.

The overall air quality in the national capital today is in “poor” category.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 269 which falls in the “poor” category.

Politicians, youth activists, students, journalists meet foreign envoys

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Various delegations, including politicians, youth activists, students, journalists and women activists today met foreign envoys who are visiting Kashmir for assessment of the situation in the aftermath of abolition of Article 370.

During their interactions, they articulated demands ranging from release of politicians to restoration of internet.

BJP spokesperson Khalid Jehangir, who was among the delegates,urged the envoys to suggest to the central government releasing of mainstream politicians, including three former Chief Ministers, to win hearts of people.

“Government of India knows sufferings of people of Jammu and Kashmir at administrative level. The more the Centre shows administration skills, the more wounds of people will get healed.  Further, I pressed for immediate release of the detained leaders including Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti if there are no charges of corruption against them. Politicians also enjoy human rights,” he said.

 

Politicians including ex- congress leaders Shoiab Lone and Usman Majeed also met the visiting delegation and raised the concerns in the backdrop of abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to the erstwhile state.

 

Youth activist from Baramulla, Tauseef Raina said he was flanked by other activists from his district who raised the issue of damage to people’s property due to ceasefire violation and promotion of the state a tourist destination.

 

“We told them to promote Kashmir handicrafts and tourism internationally. We urged the envoys that they should perform the role of bringing India and Pakistan on table for talks,” he said.

 

Activists from Pahari and Gujjar community also met the envoys and raised called for the implementation of Forest Conservation Act.

 

The envoys also had an interaction with a media delegation, who spoke about the continuing blockade of the broadband services in the valley. A delegation of students also met the visiting envoys.

 

Earlier the diplomats were scheduled to visit Baramulla to meet the apple growers and farmers but it could not happen because of “bad weather”.

 

Diplomats from 25 nations – including some from the European Union – reached Srinagar on Wednesday morning to assess ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir after abolition of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.

 

The group includes envoys from heads of missions from European nations like France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands and Bulgaria, central Asian countries including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Envoys from Canada, New Zealand, Poland and African countries like Uganda, Namibia and Rwanda and Latin American countries of Guinea, Dominican Republic and Mexico were also part of the delegation.

BIMSTEC exercise held on Odisha beach

Bhubaneswar (NVI): BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise on flood rescue was inaugurated today by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai at the Ramachandi Beach in Odisha’s Puri district.

Delegates & rescue teams of 5 member nations namely- India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka & Myanmar, of BIMSTEC group participated in the event.

Nityanand Rai launched this field training exercise in line with the three day ‘BIMSTEC DMEx-2020’ event which is being organized in Bhubaneswar.

Highlighting the historicity and diverse cultural heritage sites in the BIMSTEC region, Nityanand said that this exercise will provide a platform for member states to evaluate existing capabilities, share best emergency response practices, improve existing emergency preparedness and strengthen regional response mechanism and also to conduct risk assessment in the context of cultural heritage sites at the time of disaster.

He said this exercise will help in sharing best practices and expertise, consolidating the disaster response, coordination and cooperation among BIMSTEC countries during disasters.

In order to bring in a feel of real disaster scenario, “simulated exercise sites including villages & Heritage Site (Konark Sun Temple)” were set up at Ramachandi Beach in Puri to depict flooded localities and houses due to the flood disaster.

Large number of simulated dummy structures including multi-storied buildings and houses were erected in inundated condition with marooned people & livestock at the exercise site to reflect the real disaster scenario.

A scenario of flood disaster caused by cyclone followed by heavy rainfall was created.

A large number of people were presumed to be stranded within the simulated villages and also the cyclone adversely affected a cultural heritage site.

A heli-borne rescue operation was carried out to demonstrate the coordination among various stakeholders to deal with emergency situation. Relief activities such as providing medical care to the needy, distribution of food packets etc.

For this Exercise, a Communication Centre, Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Base of Operation, Medical Camp, Facilitation Centre, Media Enclave etc. were established by the NDRF as per the International Search & Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) guidelines for familiarization & exercise purpose.

This Joint Field Training Exercise was conducted under the leadership of Satya Narayan Pradhan, Director General, NDRF.

International observers from ICCROM, INSARAG, UNDP also attended the exercise. It was witnessed by representatives from Senior Officials of MHA, MEA, NDMA, NDRF, State representatives & other senior dignitaries.

FASTag to be available free of charge for 15 days

New Delhi (NVI): The government has decided to waive the FASTag fee from February 15 to 29, 2020.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken this initiative to further increase digital collection of user fee through FASTag.

Road users can visit any authorised physical point-of-sale locations with a valid Registration Certificate (RC) of the vehicle and get a NHAI FASTag free of cost.

NHAI FASTag may be purchased from all NH fee plazas, RTOs, Common Service Centres, transport hubs, petrol pumps, etc.

To search for the nearest NHAI FASTag point-of-sale locations, one may download MyFASTag App, or visit www.ihmcl.com or Call 1033 NH Helpline number.

The applicable security deposit and minimum balance amount for FASTag wallet shall, however, remain unchanged.

NHAI had earlier announced for Free NHAI FASTag from November 22 to December 15, 2019 to encourage people to adopt FASTag.

Govt to bring quality control order for toys: MoS of WCD

New Delhi (NVI): Government is planning to bring measures for ensuring that toys available to children are of the required safety standards, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri said today.
Speaking at the event on ‘Value of Play – Importance of Toys and Games for Child Development’ here, Chaudhuri said “I understand that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in the process of bringing out Quality Control Order for Toys to check the quality of toys imported and manufactured here.”
She said, “Recently released National Education Policy (NEP) has now recognized the importance of Play amongst children and the need to create a flexible, multifaceted, multilevel, play-based, activity-based, discovery-based education for children from ages 3-8 years.”
Learning through play is relevant throughout the whole early childhood period and beyond, she said, adding “I can see ‘Play’ is an important aspect related to some of our schemes.”
Highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals, she said the SDGs are addressed in the national development agenda of the government which are being implemented through various development schemes/programmes.
“I want to ensure on behalf of the government that development of child is high on the agenda and we would continue to take steps to ensure that our children’s growth is healthy and safe,” she added.
She also urged the industry, schools and civil society to partner with government schemes.
DPIITJoint Secretary Manmeet Nanda said that the government is in the process of coming out with a Quality Control Order (QCO) to check sub-standard imports and manufacturing of toy.
“The draft QCO has been notified to WTO for comments by members countries,” she said.
She also mentioned that they are working with BIS to ensure that conformity assessment scheme for toy sector is not cumbersome for the industry, as majority of the players in the sector are from MSME sector.
FICCI Toy Sector Committee and Director, Pleasantime Products (United Toys) Chairman
Vivek Jhangiani said that FICCI intends to work towards improving learning outcomes with play and robust early childhood development learning systems.
“To ensure that India’s children develop well, adequate investment in early childhood development is essential. This will be our small contribution towards achieving India’s Sustainable Development Goals as envisioned by the United nations,” he said.

Cabinet approves funds for 3 PSGICs

SDRF
Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet today approved the immediate release of Rs 2,500 crore in the light of the critical financial position and breach of regulatory solvency requirements of 3 Public Sector General Insurance Companies (PSGIC).

The 3 PSGICs to receive the funds are Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL), National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL).

The Union Cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

We are just like tourists in Kashmir: Foreign Envoy Frank

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): One of the 25 foreign envoys, who began visit to Jammu and Kashmir today, said  they were “just as tourists” in the valley.

 “Kashmir is a beautiful place. We are here just as tourists,” Dominican Republic Ambassador Frank Hans Dannenberg told media persons here.

Frank Hans Dannenberg is among 25 diplomats who arrived in Srinagar for on the spot assessment of the situation post abolition of Article 370.

Others in the delegation  include European Union Ambassador Ugo Astutu, German Ambassador Walter Johannes Lindner, French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain,  Czech Republic Ambassador Milan Hovoraka, Austrian Ambassador Brigitte Oppinger Walchshofer and Slovakian Ambassador Ivan Lancaric.

Mexican Ambassador Federico Salas Lotfe, Danish Ambassador Freddy Svana, Italian Ambassador Vincenzo de Luca, Netherlands Ambassador Marten van den Berg, Namibian High Commissioner Gabril Pandureni Sinombo, Kyrgyzstan Ambassador Asein Isaev, Uzbek Ambassador Farhod Arziev, Hungarian Ambassador Gyula Petho and Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel are also part of 25 member delegation.

Others who landed in Srinagar include Tajik Ambassador Rahimzoda Sulton, Bulgarian Ambassador Elenora Dimitrova. Guinean Ambassador Fatoumata Balde, Ugandan High Commissioner Akello Dina Grace, Kenyan High Commissioner Wily Kipkorir Bett, Rwandan Charge de Affairs Joseph Kaba Keza, Polish Charge de Affairs Robert Dzie Dzic, Afghan Charge de Affairs Tahir Qadiry and New Zealand Charge de Affairs Graham Morton.

“It is fantastic to come here and see how things are working.  I am happy to be here”, said Danish Ambassador Freddy Svana.

On their arrival, the members of delegation were taken on a Shikara ride in the famed Dal Lake. During their stay, the envoys will be going to North Kashmir’s Baramulla where they would be interacting with fruit growers and students at skill center. The delegation will also meet the civil society members and politicians in Srinagar. The diplomats will also be briefed by the Army about the situation on the LoC and in hinterland

“We are here to get a firsthand account of the situation. While coming here, we came across people who were going to schools. Shops were also open,” said Afghan Charge de Affairs Tahir Qadiry

This is for the second time in the last one month when foreign diplomats were brought to Kashmir.  On January 10, Centre facilitated the visit of over 15 foreign diplomats to the valley for on the spot assessment of situation post abrogation of Article 370.

Last month, envoys of 15 countries including United States Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster and diplomats from Vietnam, South Korea, Brazil, Niger, Nigeria, Morocco, Guyana, Argentina, Philippines, Norway, Maldives, Fiji, Togo, Bangladesh and Peru had visited Jammu and Kashmir.

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