10 CRPF Trooper, 5 Cops, Doctor, Baby Among Fresh Cases
Srinagar: Ten CRPF personnel, five policemen, a doctor and an 11-month-old baby were among 163 fresh cases of covid-19 reported in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. The cases which include 32 travelers take the overall tally of the covid-19 patients in the J&K to 5041.
Sources said that Shopian reported 45 cases, Kulgam 16, Baramulla 3, Srinagar 10, Anantnag 5, Kupwara 9, Bandipora 3, Budgam 11, Pulwama 33, Jammu 6, Udhampur 3, Kathua 4, Samba 8, Rajouri 1 and Doda 6 Among the cases, 92 were confirmed at diagnostic laboratories at SKIMS Soura, 45 at CD Hospital and 11 at SKIMS Bemina.
Dr. G H Yatoo, Nodal Officer Coronavirus Control Measures at SKIMS, told GNS that out of the 1867 samples processed at the viral diagnostic lab today, 92 returned positive for the virus. Professor Farooq Jan, Medical Superintendent SKIMS Soura, told GNS among them 39 from Shopian, 17 from Kulgam, 15 from Anantnag, eight from Kupwara, five from Srinagar, three from Bandipora, two each from Baramulla and Pulwama besides one from Budgam.
Sources said that ten CRPF and five police personnel are from south Kashmir districts while doctor is from SKIMS and 11-month-old from Badamwari here and his sample was received from CMO Srinagar.
Dr Riyaz Untoo, Principal SKIMS Bemina, told GNS that 11 samples tested positive for COVID-19 and included nine from Budgam and two from Srinagar. Sources said that 45 tested positive from the pathogen at CD hospital. (GNS)
New Delhi: The peak stage of COVID-19 pandemic in India has been delayed by the eight-week lockdown along with strengthened public health measures and it may now arrive around mid-November during which there could be a paucity of isolation and ICU beds, and ventilators, according to a study.
The study conducted by researchers from an Operations Research Group constituted by ICMR said the lockdown shifted the peak of the pandemic by an estimated 34 to 76 days and helped bring down the number of infections by 69 to 97 per cent thereby allowing time for the healthcare system to shore up resources and infrastructure.
In the scenario of intensified public health measures with 60 per cent effectiveness after lockdown, the demand can be met until the first week of November. After that, isolation beds could be inadequate for 5.4 months, ICU beds for 4.6 and ventilators for 3.9 months, projections by the health researchers showed.
However, this shortfall is estimated to be 83 per cent less than what it could have been without the lockdown and public health measures.
With sustained government steps at increasing the infrastructure and different pace of epidemic in different regions, the impact of unmet need can be reduced. If the coverage of public health measures can be increased to 80 per cent, the epidemic can be mitigated, the researchers stated.
According to the model-based analysis for COVID-19 pandemic in India, with the additional capacity which has been built up for testing, treating and isolating patients during the lockdown period, the number of cases at the peak would come down by 70 per cent and the cumulative cases may come down by nearly 27 per cent.
In terms of COVID-19 mortality, approximately 60 per cent deaths were prevented and one-third of this mortality prevention is attributed to the reduction in unmet need for critical care as a result of the intervention, the analysis showed.
The researchers said the management of COVID-19 will involve a dynamic review of policies and significant strengthening of the healthcare system.
“While lockdowns will delay the onset of peak and will give the much needed time for the health system to respond, strengthening the health system response in terms of testing, isolation of cases, treatment and contact tracing, as is being done currently, will have to be the mainstay to reduce the impact of the pandemic in India until vaccine becomes available,” it said.
The overall economic health system cost of this pandemic is estimated to be 6.2 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The country saw a record spike of 11,929 cases pushing India’s COVID-19 caseload to 3,20,922 on Sunday while the death toll rose to 9,195 with an increase of 311 fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
India registered more than 10,000 cases for the third day in a row and is the fourth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministry on June 9 said coronavirus related health infrastructure in the country has been strengthened with the availability of 958 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals with 1,67,883 isolation beds, 21,614 ICU and 73,469 oxygen supported beds.
Also, 2,313 dedicated COVID Health Centres with 1,33,037 isolation beds, 10,748 ICU beds and 46,635 oxygen supported beds have also been operationalised. Moreover, 7,525 COVID Care Centres with 7,10,642 beds are now available to combat COVID-19 in the country.
The ventilators available for COVID beds are 21,494, the ministry had said, adding that order of 60,848 more ventilators has been placed. (PTI)
The creation of Ladakh as a Union Territory, after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, is being used by the Chinese as a pretext for the breakdown of existing border agreements.
New Delhi’s hopes for an early resolution to the crisis in Ladakh through diplomatic channels, as happened during the earlier crises, have been hampered by lack of any immediate leverage with Beijing.
Moreover, the creation of Ladakh as a Union Territory, after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, is being used by the Chinese as a pretext for the breakdown of existing border agreements.
The Chinese intransigence on not engaging on Pangong Tso, after having altered the status quo there, has led to fears that it is working on a ‘two-step forward, one-step backward’ strategy to make net gains in border areas.
The Sunday Express spoke to three diplomats – all former Indian ambassadors to China – who were involved in diplomatic negotiations with Beijing during the crisis at Depsang in 2013, Chumar in 2014 and Doklam in 2017. They said that in each of these cases, there was an event or a visit, the success of which was important to Beijing, and this provided India immediate leverage during negotiations with the Chinese to resolve the crisis. Unlike then, the current negotiations are likely to be lengthy, leading to a protracted standoff along the Line of Actual Control.
During the 2014 Chumar crisis, it was the first visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to India after the election of a new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lending the event great significance.
In the 2017 Doklam crisis, resolution was aided by the BRICS summit to be hosted by the Chinese government which did not want it happening under the shadow of a border standoff between the two largest BRICS members.
In 2013, India was to be the first foreign stop for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after taking office.
In October 2017, the then Foreign Secretary, now External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar had told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs: “Both sides were obviously conscious of the importance of de-escalating the situation and ending the face-off before the BRICS Summit in Xiamen which was scheduled for 4-5 September 2017.
New Delhi’s hopes for an early resolution to the crisis in Ladakh through diplomatic channels, as happened during the earlier crises, have been hampered by lack of any immediate leverage with Beijing. File Photo | Photo Credit: AP
BRICS is a forum where India and China work closely together and obviously, neither side wish to see their leaders meeting at Xiamen under the cloud of Doklam incident.”
This time, the Indian side, an official familiar with the ongoing diplomatic talks in Beijing said, has been surprised by the breakdown of agreements and protocols signed between the two countries since 1993 for the management of the border – the 1993 agreement between Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and Chinese Premier Li Peng, in which India accepted the concept of the LAC, forms the basis of all further negotiations and agreements between the two countries.
This is seen to be linked to the Chinese reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and creation of Ladakh as a separate Union Territory in August last year. Beijing argued that New Delhi had violated border agreements. It now seems to be using it as a pretext for unilaterally altering the status quo on the Ladakh border.
In its statement last August, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, referring to border agreements, stated, “We urge India to be cautious in its words and deeds on the border issue, strictly abide by the relevant agreements reached between the two sides, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the border issue.”
In a closed-door informal session of the UN Security Council on August 16 on the issue, the Chinese Permanent Representative in the UN argued that India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 challenged China’s sovereign interests and violated bilateral agreements on maintaining peace and stability in the border area.
On October 31, when Ladakh formally became a Union Territory, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang had referred to the bilateral treaties and the boundary dispute in his press briefing: “China urges the Indian side to earnestly respect Chinese territorial sovereignty, abide by our treaties and uphold peace and tranquility in the border areas and create favourable conditions for the proper settlement of boundary question”.
The matter got a new lease of life last Friday when Wang Xianfeng, press officer at the Chinese mission in Islamabad, tweeted an article by an influential Chinese scholar, Wang Shida of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). CICIR is a Beijing-based think-tank, affiliated to the Ministry of State Security.
In his article, Wang said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had conveyed his country’s position on the Ladakh issue to Jaishankar when he visited Beijing after abrogation of Article 370 last year. “India’s moves challenged China’s sovereign rights and interests and violated the agreement on maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas between the two countries,” the article quoted the Foreign Minister as having said, specifically mentioning the violation of the 1993 border agreement.
China’s refusal to talk about the Pangong Tso area after having altered the status quo there – it is engaging with the Indian side on the situation in the Hot Spring and Galwan Valley sectors — has led to fears that Beijing may be following its “two-step forward and one-step backward” strategy which would leave it with the net gain of one-step while sounding reasonable.
In Pangong Tso, the Chinese soldiers have come in eight kilometres, moving their usual deployment from Finger 8 to Finger 4 on the northern bank of the lake. This has curtailed the patrolling limits of Indian soldiers who used to go up to Finger 8 which India says denotes the LAC.
“The status quo has been altered by the Chinese in Pangong Tso unilaterally. Our NSA also spoke to his SR (Special Representative) counterpart in Beijing after the clashes in early May for restoration of status quo ante. That is our aim, but the Chinese side has not engaged so far,” an official familiar with the ongoing diplomatic talks in Beijing said.
Jammu: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday questioned the Congress over its opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 and its discreet silence over the provision that gave special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Article 370 was an “old stain” and it was done away the moment the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got the full majority, Rajnath Singh said while addressing the virtual ‘Jammu Jan Samvad rally’.
Singh said that by abrogating Article 370, BJP fulfilled its decade-old promise and is committed to the development and growth Jammu and Kashmir.
“We revoked it within 100 days in office at the blink of an eye. But I would like to ask why the Congress, which had a full majority but had supported Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, remained discreetly silent on it,” Rajnath Singh said.
“When we revoked it in August last year, the Congress called it an attack on secularism. But may I ask the Congress why the word ‘secularism’ remained absent from the preamble of the J&K Constitution?” he asked.
Singh pointed out that the discriminatory temporary provision was incorporated through an ordinance and not Parliament.
“If Article 370 was so important then why didn’t the Congress make it a permanent provision and why it was kept as a temporary provision?” he asked.
Singh said that the so-called during ‘Azadi’ movement in Kashmir, Pakistani and ISIS flags were hoisted with impunity but now the Tricolor could be seen across the Kashmir Valley.
The defence minister said that with an end to Article 370 oppressed people like refugees from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and west Pakistan and the Valmiki community got equal rights after more than 70 years of Independence.
“Today, I recall our visionary leader AB Vajpayee, who believed in Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat and Insaniyat. The BJP stands committed and today for us Kashmiriyat is Hazratbal shrine and Amarnath Baba,” he said.
Singh said that in the next five years the Narendra Modi-led government will bring a sea-change in Jammu and Kashmir’s image.
“The people of PoK will be envious of it. And, wait for some time PoK will demand to live with India and not with Pakistan. The day it happens our unanimous resolution of Parliament will also be fulfilled,” he said.
Srinagar: Pakistani troops on Sunday shelled mortars along the Line of Control in Rampur sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.
This is the second ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in Rampur sector and the third in the north Kashmir district in the last three days.
“On 14 Jun 2020, in the morning hours, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked Ceasefire Violation (CFV) along the LoC in Rampur by firing mortars and other weapons,” defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said.
Representational Picture
On Saturday, the Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Kamalkote Sector in Uri area of the district. A 48-year-old woman was killed on Friday in a ceasefire violation along the LoC in Rampur sector of the district.
Akhtar Begum, wife of Zahoor Ahmad Chechi, was killed on the spot when her house at Batgran was hit by a shell. A 23-year-old woman was also injured in the incident.
Four residential houses and a mosque have been damaged in the shelling by Pakistani troops.
Several families have taken refuge either in underground safety bunkers or moved to safer places elsewhere in the Uri tehsil.
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging at his Bandra apartment on Sunday, police said. He was 34.
His last screen appearance was “Chhichhore”, directed by Nitesh Tiwari.
He has committed suicide at his residence in Bandra. He was found hanging today. We are investigating,” Manoj Sharma, additional commissioner of police, Western Region, told PTI.
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging at home, Mumbai Police have confirmed | Photo Credit: HT Entertainment Desk
Sources from the Bandra Police said on the basis of primary information, a case of accidental death report will be registered. No suicide note was found from the spot, they said.
Rajput’s former manager, 28-year-old Disha Salian, ended her life by jumping from a high rise building on June 9.
Last week, the actor mourned Salian’s death and called it “devastating news”.
“It’s such devastating news. My deepest condolences to Disha’s family and friends. May your soul rest in peace,” he had written on his Instagram stories.
The last social media post shared by the actor, who hailed from Patna, was dedicated to his mother, who passed away in 2002 when he was a teenager.
“Blurred past evaporating from teardrops. Unending dreams carving an arc of smile.
“And a fleeting life, negotiating between the two,” read the Instagram post shared on June 3 with his mother’s picture.
An engineering dropout, Rajput was inclined towards dancing when he was a student at Delhi Technological University. He soon enrolled in choreographer Shiamak Davar’s dance classes and later joined acting guru Barry John’s classes.
He also performed as a background dancer in the song “Dhoom again” with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2006 film “Dhoom 2”.
But it was the small screen that gave the “outsider” his breakout role as the coy and mild-mannered Manav in soap opera Pavitra Rishta , which ran from 2009-11, and was produced by Ekta Kapoor.
Two years later, he made his foray into films with Kai Po Che! in 2013.
Police outside Sushant Singh Rajput’s home | Photo Credit: HT Entertainment Desk
He has starred in movies such as Shuddh Desi Romance , Raabta , Kedarnath and Sonchiriya but his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s in the 2007 biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story .
In his last screen appearance, “Chhichhore”, Rajput played the role of a father who conveys the message of hope and affirmation to his son after he attempts suicide.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned Rajput’s death, remembering him as a “bright young actor”.
“Sushant Singh Rajput…a bright young actor gone too soon. He excelled on TV and in films. His rise in the world of entertainment inspired many and he leaves behind several memorable performances. Shocked by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and fans. Om Shanti,” the PM tweeted.
“Chhichhore” director Tiwari said he had spoken to Rajput last week.
“I had to call people to confirm. It’s so shocking and unfortunately true. I am at a loss for words. I spoke to him last week over messages. We would text each other on and off. Now this is what I get to hear. He was like a younger brother to me,” Tiwari told PTI.
Abhishek Bachchan tweeted, “This is just so shocking. A wonderful talent. RIP Sushant.
Actor spoke of ‘fleeting life’ in last Instagram post, remembered late mother
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-S3cIDWOx/?utm
Sushant had shared a black and white collage of his picture and that of his mother’s on June 3 and wrote, “Blurred past evaporating from teardrops. Unending dreams carving an arc of smile. And a fleeting life, negotiating between the two…”
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has claimed to have found Covid-19 cure. Patanjali CEO Acharya Balkrishna cited results of ‘clinical case studies’. Many researchers are working on a vaccine for Covid across the world. Experts have said that it would take 1-1.5 years to develop a vaccine. Covid has infected over 77 lakh worldwide, and over 3 lakh in India so far.
The Sultanate is reeling from the double whammy of low oil prices and Covid-19. But with intra-GCC tensions high, a consensus on aid won’t come easily.
Oman has unofficially reached out to neighbouring Gulf countries for financial assistance in an effort to shore up its ailing economy, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
According to two unnamed officials in the region, discussions have taken place at the leadership and foreign ministry level between Gulf officials, but are preliminary and without any formal decision.
Gulf countries are unanimous in recognising that Oman is in dire straits and do not want to see it become distressed further, a US official also told Bloomberg.
Already among the most vulnerable economies of the six-nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Sultanate has been beset by low oil prices and lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Oman, the largest Gulf oil exporter that is not a member of OPEC, is one of the most vulnerable oil producers in terms of credit profiles along with Angola, Bahrain, and Iraq.
King Salman meets with Sultan Haitham in Muscat | File Photo | Photo Credit: SPA
It’s break-even oil price – the price required to balance its government budget – is $82, according to Fitch Ratings.
The ongoing OPEC+ cuts are only set to deepen deficits in the GCC and stall growth. Under the latest round of agreed cuts, Oman will slash its crude production by 23 percent.
Speaking with S&P Global Platts, Oman’s oil minister Mohammed Al-Rumhy highlighted how market stability was being undermined as a result of monthly production cuts.
Days before the price of oil collapsed, Moody’s had downgraded Oman’s rating due to rising government debt and lower fiscal buffers. The rating agency put it under review for downgrade in late March due to heightened vulnerability to oil shocks.
Fitch Ratings also downgraded Oman in March to “reflect the continued erosion of Oman’s fiscal and external balance sheets, which could accelerate in an environment of lower oil prices despite prospects for faster implementation of fiscal consolidation measures.”
In April, the World Bank predicted that its economy would contract by 3.5 percent in 2020 due to the oil price slide, which would put further strain on its fiscal and external deficits. It estimated public debt to exceed 70 percent of GDP in 2020 and beyond.
Mohamed Bin Zayed with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq | File Photo | Photo Credit: Twitter
Piling on top of that has been the disruption from the pandemic. Following a countrywide lockdown in mid-March, it has endured a slowdown in industrial activity, services, and tourism.
Fitch predicted that Oman’s non-oil economy will slip into a recession of 5 percent this year, and noted that “support from the rest of the GCC may be necessary for the sustainability of their currencies and debt levels.”
Ismail Numan Telci, Vice President at ORSAM and Associate Professor at Sakarya University, pointed out how the pandemic has had a devastating impact on trade revenues, especially given Oman’s dependency on Asia.
“The fact that Omani partners in Asia have been badly affected by Covid-19 caused a slump in Asian demand to Omani crude exports. Asian partners are taking the lion’s share in Omani crude exports, therefore, such a slump in demand has necessarily affected Omani fiscal stability,” said Telci.
King Hamad with Sultan Haitham | File Photo | Photo Credit: Oman News Agency
Oman has the highest Chinese exposure among GCC states, with 45 percent of its exports – mostly oil – going to China.
It currently owes over $3.5 billion to Chinese banks, which is 5 percent of its GDP. A few days ago, Bank of Muscat completed a bilateral loan of $150 million with the China Development Bank (CDB).
Haitham presses forward
The double whammy of the collapse in oil prices coupled with Covid-19 couldn’t have come at a worse time for Oman.
It was beginning to address a host of domestic challenges following the death of its iconic ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Al Said, who was succeeded by his cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said in a smooth transition of power on January 11.
Diversification plans – underpinned by the Vision 2040 program – were underway to wean the country off its hydrocarbon dependence.
In his address to the nation on February 23, after paying respects to his predecessor’s role in building the modern Omani state, Sultan Haitham pledged to “take the necessary measures to restructure the state’s administrative apparatus” in order to “achieve good governance, performance, integrity and accountability.”
Only three weeks later, Haitham and his government had to contend with a record oil price plunge and a global pandemic.
In response, Haitham established an inter-ministerial committee to tackle the fallout. He introduced a 10 percent cut across the board to government ministry budgets, signaling an intent to reduce spending and introduce fiscal discipline.
Representational Picture | Photo Credit: Social Media
Haitham has prioritised restructuring the state and its administrative apparatus, and last week he signed a series of royal decrees that began to flesh out those commitments.
A private office was established to oversee civil ministries; while an Oman Investment Authority would oversee and coordinate operations of Oman’s fifty-plus state-owned companies (with the exception of part state-owned Petroleum Development Oman).
Additionally, the $17 billion authority will oversee the country’s sovereign wealth funds and refocus on domestic investment.
While it is still early to know the impact of these measures, Haitham’s strategy to implement good governance and efficient administration is evident.
The GCC: a stumbling block?
Politically, the region remains fraught.
Tensions in the Gulf have been stoked by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia’s joint war in Yemen, the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar, and Oman’s relationship with Iran. Reported Emirati meddling in Oman’s internal affairs has caused a great deal of friction as well.
It is against this backdrop of intra-GCC conflict that a financial bailout for Oman is being considered. Apart from a GCC-sponsored aid deal in 2011, Oman traditionally has not accepted financial support from its neighbours.
Oman’s importance is highlighted by its geostrategic maritime location, making its stability integral to Gulf states and allies like the US.
Till now, Muscat’s role as a mediator on regional and international matters has been a pillar of its foreign policy, which has allowed it to deftly chart a path of neutrality in the region.
“Rather than aligning with certain blocs against any of its neighbours, Muscat sees long-term peace and stability in the Gulf and greater Middle East as only possible when all actors are accommodated and engaged respectfully,” said Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy.
However, that neutrality is likely to come under strain in much more polarised regional bloc.
Any involvement with Doha in an aid deal won’t go down well with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Oman-Qatar ties have strengthened since the blockade began in 2017, there will be pressure on Muscat to bend the knee – especially with a new ruler on the throne.
“There is no doubt that pressures from Saudi Arabia and the Emirates will give Muscat a set of real foreign policy challenges to address,” Cafiero said, adding that Oman would be determined not to allow that pressure to compromise its sovereignty and relationships with Doha and Tehran.
Last month, Haitham met with the Qatari foreign and finance ministers. The talks had followed a series of meetings and phone calls between Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Cinzia Bianco, a Research Fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations, remarked how Oman is open to a unified Gulf strategy that could nudge the fractured bloc toward rapprochement:
As @CamilleLons notes this is unusual but it had been clear for weeks now this will happen. #Oman is actually at the final stage of debating how the financial support looks like and who will be the champions… 1/ https://t.co/xAspQemMUS
But with regional polarities so stark, Bianco believes it’s unlikely that a GCC-led bailout will be immune from any politicisation:
#Oman being #Oman, it is pursuing a collective #GCC option: something that instead of deepening the intra-GCC crisis, would be a first step towards solving it. This is why they wanted #Kuwait on board asap. 2/
Against this backdrop, Oman’s position now appears to be a precarious balancing act: as it attempts to preserve diplomatic independence without alienating neighbours, while trying to secure much-needed investment, trade – and now financial aid – to stave off economic collapse.
