New Delhi: India saw the highest single-day spike of 11,929 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the number of infections to 3,20,922 on Sunday, while the death toll rose by 311 to 9,195, the Health Ministry said.
This is the third day in a row that there were more than 10,000 cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in India, which is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic.
There are 1,49,348 active COVID-19 cases, while 1,62,378 people have recovered and a patient has migrated, according to the ministry data updated in the morning.
The number of recoveries are more than the active cases as 50.60 per cent of the patients have recovered so far, an official said.
Of the 311 more deaths, 113 were from Maharashtra, followed by 57 in Delhi, 33 in Gujarat and 30 in Tamil Nadu.
There were 20 more fatalities in Uttar Pradesh, 12 in West Bengal and 10 in Rajasthan. Haryana and Telangana registered eight more coronavirus deaths each, followed by seven in Madhya Pradesh, three in Bihar.
Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttarakhand reported two deaths each.
Of the total 9,195 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,830 fatalities, followed 1,448 by Gujarat and 1,271 in Delhi.
The toll from the pandemic rose to 463 in West Bengal, 447 in Madhya Pradesh, 397 in Tamil Nadu and 385 in Uttar Pradesh. There have been 282 COVID-19 deaths in Rajasthan and 182 in Telangana.
The number of fatalities reached 82 in Andhra Pradesh, 81 in Karnataka, 78 in Haryana and 65 in Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 55 COVID-19 deaths, followed by 39 in Bihar, 23 in Uttarakhand and 19 in Kerala.
Odisha registered 10 deaths so far, followed by eight each in Jharkhand and Assam, and six each in Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Five people have succumbed to the contagion in Chandigarh, followed by two in Puducherry, and one each in Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh, the ministry said.
More than 70 per cent of the deaths have happened due to comorbidities, it added.
New Delhi: Petrol price on Sunday was hiked by a record 62 paise per litre and that of diesel by 64 paise as oil companies for the eighth day in a row adjusted retail rates in line with cost since ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 75.78 per litre from Rs 75.16 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 74.03 a litre from Rs 73.39, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
The 62 paise a litre increase in petrol and 64 paise hike in diesel price is the highest surge in rates since the daily price revision was started in June 2017.
This is the eighth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.
In eight hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 4.52 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.64 — a record increase in rates in any eight days since the daily price revision was introduced.
The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.
Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers, adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of international oil prices falling to two-decade lows.
The government had first raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each on March 14 and then again on May 5 by a record Rs 10 per litre in case of petrol and Rs 13 on diesel. The two hikes gave the government Rs 2 lakh crore in additional tax revenues.
State-owned fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL had frozen petrol and diesel prices since March 16, as if anticipating the government move and set off gains they accrued from continuing drop in international oil prices against the excise duty hike.
They, however, promptly passed the increase in local sales tax or VAT by state governments such as Rs 1.67 increase in VAT on petrol and Rs 7.10 in diesel by the Delhi government on May 4.
The total incidence of excise duty on petrol has risen to Rs 32.98 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 31.83. The excise tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre when the Narendra Modi government took office in 2014 and that on diesel was Rs 3.56 a litre.
The government had between November 2014 and January 2016 raised excise duty on petrol and diesel on nine occasions to take away gains arising from plummeting global oil prices.
In all, duty on petrol rate was hiked by Rs 11.77 per litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in those 15 months that helped government’s excise mop up more than double to Rs 2,42,000 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 99,000 crore in 2014-15.
It cut excise duty by Rs 2 in October 2017 and by Rs 1.50 a year later. But it raised excise duty by Rs 2 per litre in July 2019.
It again raised excise duty on March 14 by Rs 3 per litre.
Poonch: An army soldier was killed and two others were injured in shelling by Pakistan along LoC at Kerni sector in Poonch district, officials said on Sunday.
A police official told GNS that during the shelling in Kerni sector, one army soldier, identified as Sepoy Luingambui Abonmei of 10 Asam regiment, was killed and two others, Lelienkothein Senghon and Tangsoik Kwianiungar, were injured.
Both the injured have been airlifted to Udhampur command hospital for advanced treatment, the official added. (GNS)
Srinagar: The National Conference on Saturday called for an end to skirmishes on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is the people who continue to bear the brunt of escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
“The flaring up of tensions between India and Pakistan along the LoC has made the lives of locals living there no less than a terrible nightmare, the situation there has remained as it is since long, making the lives of locals miserable,” senior NC leader and Member of Parliament from north Kashmir Muhammad Akbar Lone said here.
Lone said people living along the LoC are distressed over the continued shelling from across the border, which has resulted in the loss of lives and property.
“This has become an everyday affair now, but those who can actually stop it from happening are not doing enough. There is no substitute to talks and only dialogue between the two frosty and rival neighbours can bring an end to the border skirmishes. If dialogue could be employed as a medium to deescalate soaring up tensions with China, why can’t it be done with Pakistan?” he said.
The MP said the fallout of such skirmishes along the LoC is being excruciatingly felt by the people who along with their belongings and livestock have become cannon fodder of these hostilities.
“These skirmishes also have a chilling effect on the economic activities of the people, dwelling in border areas. Caught between the devil and the deep sea, they aren’t able to manage their household chores and look after their farms.
“Peace on the border is far more indispensable since any fall out has a direct impact on the daily lives of the locals. Ubiquitous tension on borders besides affecting the economic activities also causes mental trepidation to the elderly and children,” he said.
Calling for an end to the border skirmishes, Lone urged the government to take a review of stock positions of all essentials in the border areas.
He also asked the government to initiate work on all major developmental works in the areas flanking the LoC without any delay.
The study, which remains underway, has been conducted by a user of the social media portal Reddit who goes by the username ‘/u/onosmosis’.
New Delhi: For each pro-Congress account spreading propaganda and fake news on Twitter, there are 120 doing the same for the BJP, a study has claimed.
The study has been conducted by a user of the social media portal Reddit who goes by the username ‘/u/onosmosis’. The user claims to have analysed lakhs of unverified Twitter accounts to identify trends in online misinformation.
Illustration by Soham Sen | ThePrint
Conducted with the help of an algorithm, the study started by identifying around 4 lakh Twitter accounts with a clear political leaning. Around 1.2 lakh of these accounts were identified as pro-Congress and 2.7 lakh as pro-BJP, according to the research, published on the user’s webpage UrbanNazi.com.
The study also identified the number of accounts that served as sources of misinformation and propaganda — while 17,779 pro-BJP accounts were identified thus, the number for the Congress stood at 147.
How the study was conducted
/u/onosmosis chose to stay anonymous for this report fearing troll attacks, but told ThePrint that he works as a software analyst at a tech start-up developing a platform for content management and sharing.
The study they conducted focused on identifying unverified politically-oriented Twitter accounts, because, according to /u/onosmosis, “unverified accounts publish tweets with hate, abuse and false information in larger volume than verified accounts”.
To do so, /u/onosmosis said they devised an algorithm to sift through lakhs of Twitter accounts in a bid to shortlist those that checked certain boxes.
For an account to be identified as pro-BJP, their Twitter bio had to feature something like “Followed by Narendra Modi” or “India supports CAA”. Other criteria included being followed by one or more verified accounts of a BJP office-bearer or minister, or at least 2 per cent of its total retweets coming from the verified accounts of a BJP party or leader.
The accounts were identified as pro-Congress if the Twitter bio mentioned “INC Supporter” or “I support Priyanka Gandhi”, or if at least 2 per cent of its total retweets came from verified accounts of the party or any of its leaders.
/u/onosmosis also put in four hours each day “to analyse stuff or modify my [computer] algorithm to capture tweets better and faster”.
The computer, which ran 24 hours a day, eventually shortlisted over 3.9 lakh unverified Twitter accounts with a clear leaning towards the BJP or the Congress.
The research started 19 September 2019. While /u/onosmosis published these findings on 25 January, the analysis of tweets is still underway, the user said.
Throughhashtags
According to the study, social media’s hashtag feature, which first took root with Twitter, is a common way to spread misinformation and propaganda.
For example, on the night of 5 January, as a masked mob bore down on students and teachers on the JNU campus in Delhi, a pro-BJP account called “@pandeymanishmzp” started using the hashtag #LeftAttacksJNU around 10.30 pm. The hashtag was then used over 2.3 lakh times in under 30 minutes, according to /u/onosmosis.
Within an hour-and-a-half of @pandeymanishmzp’s tweet, BJP IT head Amit Malviya used the same hashtag, tweeting, “…Left backed student’s union are targeting members of ABVP…”. He appeared to back these claims with an accompanying video that shows a man identified as ABVP secretary Manish Jangid purportedly making the same allegations.
Manish Jangid, ABVP Secretary, narrates what happened in JNU. Left backed student’s union are targeting members of ABVP so that academic session can be disrupted… #LeftAttacksJNUpic.twitter.com/1PLH6SefH6
The post was retweeted over 3,000 times with the video notching nearly 40,000 views.
The allegations are crucial because the exact perpetrators of that night’s attack remain unidentified. In the immediate aftermath of the assault, the Left and the Right had blamed the violence on each other, creating a web of chaos around the unprecedented episode that triggered protests across the nation.
/u/onosmosis also shared a purported instance of a pro-Congress account starting misinformation — Twitter user @Me_nehru, which is followed by the likes of Srivatsa YB, the Congress in-charge for Youth Congress national campaigns, and party spokesperson Udit Raj, a former MP.
@Me_nehru suggested in a tweet Wednesday that “shahin bagh protesters [were] arrested by police and kept in private school instead of police station?”. The tweet was posted with a video of an unidentified man making the same claim. It has been retweeted 119 times, while the video has been viewed 1,200 times.
Asked about the research, Pratik Sinha and Karen Rebelo, who are associated with the fact-checking portals AltNews and BOOM Live, respectively, said it was possible that each party had so many accounts affiliated to them.
They said they personally didn’t have data to back this claim, but acknowledged coming across misinformation perpetrated by Twitter accounts that support a political party.
The research falls in line with a 2018 BBC study on fake news in India, according to which “many more of the Twitter handles that have published fake news sit in the pro-BJP cluster, than in the anti-BJP cluster”.
‘Don’t support misinformation’
Approached for comment, both the BJP and the Congress denied the allegation that they supported accounts propagating misinformation.
Khemchand Sharma, a member of the BJP’s national IT and social media campaign committee, said the party’s online strategy relied on volunteers. He added that it “is not possible to give an exact number for the number of volunteers with Twitter accounts”, but said the party had at least one lakh social media volunteers.
“Working on misinformation is not the BJP’s motto,” he added. “We focus on a positive campaign and there is little the organisation can do about what volunteers do in their personal capacity.”
Congress social media head Rohan Gupta also acknowledged that the party depended on volunteer social media users but said it was not possible to estimate how many such accounts supported the party.
“We do not work on fake news,” he added. “Everyone knows the official trollers [sic] are official BJP office-bearers like [Sambit] Patra and [Amit] Malviya.”
Unanimous vote by Pratinidhi Sabha gives legal stamp to inclusion of Indian territory.
The Lower House of Nepal’s Parliament on Saturday unanimously passed the historic Second Constitution Amendment Bill guaranteeing legal status for the updated political map of Nepal which includes India’s territories in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district.
The voting in the Pratinidhi Sabha (House of Representatives) came after day-long discussions, which included praise from co-chair of the Nepal Communist Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” for the Nepalese democracy, which, he said, is reversing centuries of diplomatic humiliation.
Not tenable: India
Responding to the development, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it had “noted” the legislative process.
“The artificial enlargement of claims is not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable. It is also violative of our current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.
The territorial dispute stems from the fact that Nepal claims the land to the east of river Kali, which forms the country’s western border. As per Kathmandu’s understanding, the river originates from Limpiyadhura in the higher Himalayas, giving it access to a triangular-shaped land defined by Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh and Kalapani. India opposes the notion and says the origin of the river is much further down, which reduces Nepal’s territorial demand.
Saturday’s amendment was approved through a voice vote, following which all the members of the Pratinidhi Sabha gave individual signatures to the Bill which completed the voting process.
The voting showed that members from all the political parties of the Pratinidhi Sabha voted in favour of the motion moved by the government of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
Apart from the ruling Nepal Communist Party, the amendment received support of the Nepali Congress and the newly formed Janata Samajvadi Party-Nepal.
The total votes cast in favour were 258 and no one voted against the bill though 11 members remained absent or abstained. It is not clear yet why they did not vote. Four members including Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, the leading figure of indigenous Tharu community, have been suspended and could not participate in the proceedings.
“I hearby declare the Second Constitution Amendment passed with two-thirds majority,” Speaker of the Pratidhi Sabha Agni Sapkota announced amidst celebrations.
Immediately after the passing of the bill, Nepal’s senior officials began sending out social media messages which indicated the diplomatic angle of the territorial dispute.
“The House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha) unanimously adopted the Constitution Amendment Bill, paving the way for accommodating the updated political-administrative map in the national emblem,” said Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, who also attached an image of the Coat of Arms showing the new map, including Indian territories.
The concluding session witnessed passionate speeches by the members of the parliament. The most important intervention of the day came from Prachanda, who described the day as a historic moment for Nepal.
“We are working to ensure territorial integrity national sovereignty and freedom of our people. The kings of Nepal lost our territory, but today we republicans are restoring it,” he said to applause from the other members. The unanimous voting was made possible by the cross party support ensured by Mr Oli’s government.
Nepal unveiled the new map on May 20 after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Darchula-Lipulekh link road on May 8. Nepal had earlier strongly protested when the updated Indian map published in November last year showed the region as part of Uttarakhand.
Nepal claims right to the region and says India was allowed to station troops there in the 1950s and that Delhi has refused to remove forces from the region ever since. Nepal’s Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe tabled the amendment bill on May 31 and the necessary month long discussion was fast tracked.
During the debates, Prime Minister Oli, Foreign Minister Gyawali, Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Madhesi leaders like Mahanta Thakur and Rajendra Mahato addressed the house.
The diplomatic fallout of the territorial dispute, is likely to be serious, said former foreign minister and Nepalese commentator Ramesh Nath Pandey, who warned of difficult days ahead for Nepal-India relations as well as for South Asian region.
“Now, Indo-Nepal border negotiations will be all the more complicated as secretaries have no right to negotiate on the provisions of our Constitution,” said Mr. Pandey. He argued that the territorial dispute of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh cannot be resolved at talks led by Foreign Secretaries or senior envoys as the disputed territories are now part of Nepal’s constitution and public imagination.
Srinagar: A Covid-19 asymptomatic patient suddenly developed breathlessness and died in the hospital this evening.
Official sources told News Agency KNT that a 60 year old patient from Nowgam Srinagar who was supposed to be discharged from the JVC SKIMS Bemina hospital tomorrow died of breathlessness this evening.
“The deceased patient admitted as asymptomatic Covid-19 on 5 June having underlying Diabetes, Hypertension and CKD suddenly became breathless at 8.00 pm today, developed unconsciousness and shifted to ICU,where he had hypertension. resuscitation,” said a medico.
The doctors tried their best, but couldn’t revive the patient.
His death was due to severe silent MI ( Heart Attack ) as the ECG was flat on screen.
The medico said that the patient was supposed to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow as his sample had been taken prior to his discharge. (KNT)
Srinagar: The share of travelers in Covid-19 positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has dropped from 45 percent to 36 percent, figures reveal.
As per data available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), out of 4730 positive cases(till Friday) the number of travelers is 1709 which is 36.13 percent of the total positive cases.
In Kashmir out of 3633 total cases 815 are travelers which constitutes 22.43 percent of cases detected in the division. Furthermore, in Jammu division out of 1097 positive cases 894 are travelers which constitutes 81.49 percent of total cases detected in the division.
In Anantnag ,out of 483 cases, 30 are travelers which means share of travelers in district is just 6.2 percent while as out of 570 cases 220 are travelers in Kulgam which constitutes 38. 59 percent of total cases in detected in southern district.
In Srinagar out of 502 cases 186 are travelers which constitutes 37.05 percent of the total cases detected in the district while as out of 381 cases 278 were travelers in Kupwara which is 46.71 percent of the total cases.
In Baramulla the share of travelers is 11.11 percent, 11.15 percent in Bandipora, 4.8 percent in Shopian, 21.81 percent in Budgam, 15.25 percent in Ganderbal and 19.21 percent in Pulwama.
In Jammu districts the share of travellers in positive cases is 72.79 percent in Jammu district, 95.85 percent in Ramban, 89.93 percent in Kuthua, 59.47 percent in Udhampur, 90.36 percent in Samba, 89.32 percent in Poonch, 90 percent in Rajouri, 83.33 percent in Reasi, 88.81 percent in Kishtiwar and 71.42 percent in Doda.
Pertinently around 1 lakh 20 thousand residents of Jammu and Kashmir have been evacuated so far from different states, Union Territories besides other countries—(KNO)
Srinagar Man who was supposed to be discharged Tomorrow becomes 4th victim
Srinagar: Kashmir Valley on Saturday reported four more deaths due to covid-19, taking the death toll due to the disease to 57 in J&K—6 from Jammu and 51 from Valley.
The victims included a 74-year-old retired doctor and a 60-year-old from Srinagar, a 60-year-old resident from Shopian and a 75-year-old from Baramulla districts.
A 74-year-old retired doctor from Parraypora Srinagar died of covid-19 early Saturday morning at SKIMS Bemina here.
Dr Riyaz Untoo, Principal SKIMS Bemina, told GNS that the patient was on treatment for Covid-19 from June 2 at the hospital. “He was intubated and on Ventilator,” he said, adding, “The Consultant and SR Critical Care were on spot managing the patient who could not survive despite all efforts.”
The deceased, Dr Untoo said, was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Another patient, a 60-year-old man from Nowgam Srinagar who was admitted as asymptomatic Covid-19 on June 5 having underlying Diabetes, Hypertension and CKD suddenly became breathless at 8.00 pm today and developed unconsciousness, he said.
The elderly was shifted to ICU where he had hypotension, Dr Untoo said. “Resuscitation was tried as per protocol but the patient could not be revived and was declared dead.” He said that the patient was expected to be discharged on Sunday as his sample was taken today for testing prior to discharge.
Earlier, Professor Farooq Jan, Medical Superintendent SKIMS told GNS that a 75-year-old man from Kathbagh died at the tertiary care hospital around 2:15 p.m. “He had underlying disease such as KCO, COPD, HTN andT2DM,” he said.
Professor Jan said the body was kept in the mortuary while the test report returned positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old resident from Shopian died at SMHS hospital here.
Dr Nazir Chowdhary, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, told GNS that the sexagenarian was admitted on June 11 and his swab sample was taken the next day.
“He had bilateral pneumonia and died today morning. Later, the result of the sample returned positive for the covid-19,” he added.
“He had bilateral pneumonia and died today morning. Later, the result of the sample returned positive for the covid-19,” he added.
So far Srinagar district with 14 deaths has the highest fatalities, followed by Baramulla 11, Kulgam eight, Anantnag six, five in Shopian, Kupwara and Jammu three each, two each in Pulwama and Budgam while one death each has been reported from Bandipora, Doda, Udhampur and Rajouri. (GNS)
Leh: The Ladakh Union Territory on Saturday recorded highest single-day spike with 198 positive cases, thus taking the overall tally to 368.
As per the media bulletin released by the Directorate of Health Services UT Ladakh, as much as 198 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Kargil district of UT Ladakh. With this, the number of COVID-19 active cases in UT Ladakh has gone up to 368; 68 in Leh district and 300 in Kargil district. Six COVID-19 patients were discharged from COVID hospital Mahabodhi Leh today.
The bulletin, available with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) also informed that of the total 68 active cases in Leh, 20 positive patients are admitted in COVID hospital while 48 positive cases are in home isolation.
Out of the total 300 active cases in Kargil district, 81 positive patients are admitted in COVID hospital, 111 positive cases are in home isolation while 108 positive patients are in COVID Care Centre (CCC). It also informs that till date 47 numbers of patients in Leh district and 21 in Kargil district were cured and discharged from COVID hospitals, the bulletin reads.
The bulletin informed that 38 samples were tested at COVID-19 Laboratory Chuchot Yokma yesterday; 28 samples of Leh district and 10 samples of Kargil district. 2 repeat positive sample reports of two COVID patients already admitted in COVID hospital Leh and 26 negative sample reports are of Leh district and 10 negative reports are of Kargil district.
The Health Department Leh received 534 sample reports yesterday; out of 534 total sample reports, 14 Negative sample reports are of Leh district. 198 Positive and 322 Negative sample reports are of Kargil district.
The bulletin also informed that the condition of all 368 active cases of COVID-19 in UT Ladakh is stable.
117 passengers and 192 drivers and helpers of 122 trucks/tankers and light motor vehicles were screened at Khaltsi check post yesterday. The vehicles were also sanitised.
The Health workers at Upshi check post screened 120 passengers yesterday including drivers and helpers who came to Leh in 53 tankers, 20 trucks and 04 light vehicles—(KNO)
