Category: National

PTI

Bareilly (UP): A 15-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped in a village, police said on Friday.

According to a complaint given by the girl’s mother, she had gone to collect fodder on Wednesday afternoon when Shakir (20) and his cousin Shahid (19) dragged her to a sugarcane field and raped her.

On the complaint of the mother, an FIR has been lodged and both the accused have been arrested, Superintendent of Police (rural) Rajkumar Agarwal said.

The medical examination of the girl on Thursday has confirmed rape and the accused have also confessed to their crime, the SP added.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave his talk on the farmers movement while giving a press conference on Friday.

He said, “The Prime Minister works for five people. Demonetisation for them, bring GST. The farmers brought the bill. I would like to tell the farmers that you do not back off an inch. We are with you Don’t let the future you want to steal steal you. “

He said, “These are the three laws that need to be understood. The first law will end the market. The second law will allow a few big traders of the country to deposit millions of tons of grain. The third law is to prevent farmers from going to court. “

He said that the way the government is dealing with farmers, it is completely a criminal act, it is beating and threatening them. The government should cancel these three laws.

Rahul Gandhi said that the government should talk to the farmers, find solutions, the government should not think that the farmers are going home.

He said, “My concern is that these situations will worsen.” Rahul Gandhi said, “Who is responsible for the people who went inside the Red Fort? Go and ask the Home Minister.

He said, “This movement will not stop. This movement will go from village to cities. Now I want to ask the Prime Minister to talk and find solutions, otherwise the country will be damaged. This movement will go to other states also.”

He said in question, “If a thief enters your house, will you not speak. Farmers will remain silent. This theft is not only happening with the farmers but also with the workers and small traders.”

He called the agricultural laws a theft and said that whatever is happening, it is theft and nothing else. We also agree that there is a need for reform in the agricultural sector but not coercion. (PTK)

The Central government on Wednesday approved an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of milling copra by Rs 375 per quintal and ball copra by Rs 300 per quintal to boost farmers” income.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the minimum support prices (MSPs) of copra for 2021 season.
The MSP for fair average quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to Rs 10,335 per quintal from Rs 9,960 per quintal for 2020 season, while the MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs 10,600 per quintal from Rs 10,300 per quintal last year.

Briefing the Cabinet decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the MSP of milling copra is higher by 52 per cent than the production cost, while the support price of ball copra is 55 per cent higher.

The increase in copra MSP for 2021 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production, which was announced by the government in the Budget 2018-19.

Javadekar said the market prices are generally higher than the MSP, but if rates fall below the support price then the government agencies buy the product to safeguard the interest of farmers.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) are central nodal agencies to undertake price support operations at the MSP in the coconut growing states.

Cabinet briefing highlights:

India is number one in production and productivity of copra in the World. It is mainly grown in the 12 coastal states.

The government has approved an increase in the MSP of copra by Rs. 375 from 2020 to Rs. 10,335 per quintal as part of its effort to boost farmers’ income.

The new MSP for copra will impact the farmers of 12 coastal states

Cabinet approved industrial corridor nodes at Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru under CBIC.
Multi-Modal Logistics Hub and Multi Modal Transport Hub (MMTH) at Greater Noida have also been approved.

The proposals have total estimated cost of Rs. 7,725 crore and an estimated employment generation of more than 2.8 lakh people.
The Cabinet approved the export of Akash Missile System and a Committee for faster Approvals has also been created.

MoU between India and Bhutan on co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space has also been approved.

Approval to the opening of Indian Missions in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic
Union Cabinet approved modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country for producing 1st Generation (1G) ethanol from feedstocks such as cereals (rice, wheat, barley, corn & sorghum), sugarcane, sugar beet etc.

Cabinet also approved deepening and optimization of inner harbour facilities including development of western dock on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under PPP mode to handle cape size vessels at Paradip Port. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 3,004.63 crore.(KINS)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing stand-off in the Ladakh sector, Indian and Chinese soldiers have clashed at Naku La in north Sikkim border area. As per reports, the clash between the troops took place three days ago and soldiers from both sides were injured.

However, the situation is under control now. India and China have engaged in several border troops brawls at different locations before due to Chinese incursions into Indian territory.
India and China have clashed at Naku La before
Naku La, incidentally, was one of the original face-off sites between India and China, along with Pangong Tso, Galwan, Gogra, Hot Springs, in early-May last year.

On May 9, 2020, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel had engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector. At least 10 soldiers from both sides had sustained injuries.

The troops had, however, disengaged after dialogue at the local level.

The latest clash at Naku La comes even as Indian and Chinese troops are already engaged in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh.
In an effort to break through this ongoing confrontation in Ladakh, India and China held the ninth round of military talks on Sunday, which had remained inconclusive as India had once again asked China for ‘complete disengagement and de-escalation’ at all the face-off sites in eastern Ladakh.

The situation in Eastern Ladakh had deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5, 2020. Twenty Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of PLA men died in the violence.

Since May-June 2020, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has occupied an 8-km stretch from ‘Finger 4 to 8’ (mountainous spurs) on the north bank of Pangong Tso. (TOI)

New Delhi: Providing official secret information to a journalist is a ‘criminal act’ and both the giver and the receiver will have to go to jail, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday referring to the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami doing the rounds of social media.

Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said only five people — Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Home Minister, Air Force chief and National Security Advisor — were privy to the information, referring to allegations that the reported chats showed Goswami being privy to the Balakot air strikes beforehand.

‘Information was with 4-5 people. In such missions, information is not given to the pilot, it was with the Air Chief, Prime Minister, Home Minister, Defence Minister and NSA. Out of these five people, one has given information to this person. This is a criminal act. We will have to find out who did it, and both (the giver and the receiver) will have to go to jail,’ he said.

‘This process should start, but this process will not start because the prime minister may have given the information,’ he alleged.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said, ‘The law will take its own course, but I have an observation. This was top-secret information, this was not provided to anybody else.’ ‘Giving official secret information to a journalist is a criminal act, both on the part of the person who accepted it and on the part of the person who gave it,’ he said.

These people call themselves patriots, but there is nothing patriotic about putting the Air Force at risk, the Congress leader said.

He said there is nothing patriotic about taking political advantage over the strikes.

‘If Mr Arnab Goswami knows, if it is on his WhatsApp, I assume the Pakistanis also know it. It is not a very big jump. It is a criminal act and that investigation should begin,’ Gandhi said.

Referring to the contents of the purported chats, Gandhi said the distressing thing is that after the 2019 Pulwama attack, the journalist said that ‘this is good for us’.

‘This is a reflection of the mind of the prime minister that it is good that 40 of our people have been killed and we will win the elections,’ he alleged.

On February 26, 2019, India had launched airstrikes on what was said to be JeM’s training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot. (PTI)

Srinagar: A Nationwide survey conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in it nearly 40 institutes revealed that the vegetarians and smokers are at a lesser risk of contracting Covid-19 due to low seropositivity, as per media reports.

The survey also found that those with blood group ‘O’ may be less susceptible to the infection, while people with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ blood groups were at a higher risk.

In order to assess the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2,the CSIR took samples of 10,427 adult individuals working in its laboratories or institutions and their family members on the basis of voluntary participation.

The CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi study recorded that of the 10,427 individuals, 1,058 (10.14 percent) had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

In July last year, the Ministry of Health and Union reported that smokers were more prone to corona virus as smoking increasing chances of virus transmission from hand to mouth. They even cautioned about consuming tobacco as it may increase the risk of respiratory infections.

However, the new study suggested that the smokers are less vulnerable to the harmful corona virus despite being a respiratory disease. It also suggested that smoking may be protective against it.

Follow up on 346 seropositive individuals among the samples after three months revealed ‘stable’ to ‘higher’ antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2, but declining plasma activity for neutralizing the virus, Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist at IGIB and one of the co-authors of the paper said.

However, both the normal antibody as well as the neutralising antibody were much above the required threshold, he said.

repeat sampling of 35 individuals, at six months, revealed declining antibody levels while the neutralising antibody remained stable compared to three months.

“Our finding that smokers are less likely to be seropositive is the first report from the general population and part of growing evidence that despite COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective,” the study said.

The study found that higher seropositivity was found for those using public transport and with occupational responsibilities such as security, housekeeping personnel, non-smokers, and non-vegetarians.”

“Use of private transport, lower-exposure occupations, smoking, vegetarianism, and ‘A’ or ‘O’ blood groups appeared to be protective, using seropositivity as a surrogate for infection,” the paper added. (PTK)

The ward boy, Mahipal Singh, reportedly complained of breathlessness and unease, especially in the chest after taking a jab of covishield, the Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine.

A 22-year-old security guard at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU)

New Delhi: A 46-year-old ward boy at one of the district hospitals in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh died a day after receiving coronavirus vaccine on the first day of the vaccination drive. The ward boy, Mahipal Singh, reportedly complained of breathlessness and unease, especially in the chest after taking a jab of covishield, the Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine.

“He (ward boy) was given the Covishield vaccine at about 12 PM on Saturday. A day later, he suffered pain in the chest with breathlessness. He had worked the night shift after vaccination and we don’t think the death is due to any side effect of the vaccine. We are trying to verify the exact reason of his death”, Times of India quoted the chief medical officer (CMO) of the hospital as saying.

In Delhi, a 22-year-old security guard at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) as he developed an allergic reaction after receiving coronavirus vaccine. Reports claimed that the guard suffered headache, rash, respiratory distress, and tachycardia after getting the first shot.

The doctors informed that his symptoms worsened about half an hour after this initial stabilization. Hospital sources said that his condition is stable.

By India.com News Desk

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

PTI

A determined government had responded fiercely to the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama in Kashmir between 2014 and 2019, the Home Minister said.

India’s surgical strikes against Pakistan in the aftermath of Uri and Pulwama were instrumental in giving public assurance that the nation’s borders are safe under the BJP-led government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Karnataka on Sunday.

“The BJP government carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan twice and eliminated terrorists there,” Shah said.

These strikes gave confidence to the public that the nation’s borders are safe because Modi is the Prime Minister and the country is ruled by the BJP, he said, speaking at the Janasevak Samavesha, a meeting to greet winners of the recent Panchayat polls in Karnataka who were backed by BJP.

A determined government had responded fiercely to the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama in Kashmir between 2014 and 2019, he said.

Out of a total of 5,470 villages, party-backed candidates won in 3,142 villages, he said. Referring to the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive, launched nationwide on Saturday, he said both vaccines are safe and the exercise was being monitored personally by the Prime Minister himself.

With PTI inputs

 (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

Ahead of India’s massive vaccination drive, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday released a comparative fact sheet for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines, their contraindications and minor adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs).

Who should not take the vaccine?

1. No person below the age of 18 should take the vaccine

2. Pregnant and lactating women should not be administered the Covid-19 vaccine. This is because women who are pregnant, lactating or expecting pregnancy confirmation have not been part of any vaccine trials.

3. Anyone who has had an anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of Covid-19 vaccine (during trials) should not receive the vaccine

4. Anyone who has immediate or delayed-onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products or food items should not take the vaccine

5. Those who show active symptoms of Covid-19 can take the vaccine only 4-8 weeks after recovery

6. SARS-COV-2 patients who have been given SARS-Cov-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma treatment must also defer vaccine administration by at least 4-8 weeks after recovery.

7. Anyone with acute illness and hospitalised (even with non-Covid-19 related illnesses) should not take the vaccine now. They can take it  4 to 8 weeks after complete recovery

8. Covishield should be given with caution to those with thrombocytopenia (abnormally low platelets)

Following conditions are not contraindicated for Covid vaccines

1. Persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection (sero-positivïty) and or RT-PCR positive illness

2. History of chronic diseases and morbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies)

3. Immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune-suppression due to any condition (the response to the Covid-19 vaccine may be less in these individuals)

Side effects

For Covishield, possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) are: injection site tenderness, injection site pain, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills and arthralgia, and nausea.

Very rare events of demyelinating disorders have been reported following vaccination with this vaccine without the causal relationship establishment.

For Covaxin, AEFIs include injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness-giddiness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough and injection site swelling.

The guidelines specifically mention that Covid-19 vaccines and other vaccines should not be co-administered, i.e. they should be separated by an interval of at least 2 weeks.

Also, vaccine dosage cannot be interchanged, which means the first and second dose must be of the same vaccine either Covishield or Covaxin.

With inputs from the Deccan Herald

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

Srinagar: Thousands of users in Kashmir valley have flocked to extra ‘privacy-centric’ apps like Telegram and Signal after messaging giant ‘WhatsApp’ updated its terms of use and privacy policy a week ago.

Although WhatsApp clarified that it does not share data with its parent company ‘Facebook’, users yet prefer to download what they believe are ‘secure’ apps to protect their privacy.

The mass exodus of users according to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) in the valley comes in the wake WhatsApp’s new privacy policy suggesting further data sharing with its parent company.

Users according to the updated policy of WhatsApp have to give access to data sharing, including location, phone number with Facebook and its other units like Messenger and Instagram.

Users have to accept updated terms of use and privacy policy till 8th of next month or delete WhatsApp on their handsets.

Thousands of users in the trouble-torn valley which often experience internet ‘breakdown’ in order to protect their privacy, have switched over to extra privacy-centric apps’ like Signal and Telegram.

The updated privacy policy of WhatsApp sparked a row on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with netizens ‘censure’ messaging giant for exchanging user data with its parent company Facebook for monitory benefits.

“#Service provider is supposed to protect user privacy than to exchange it with others for mere #monitory #gains. #WhatsApp is not as important as privacy is, so I delete it right now (sic),” Tafseer Yakeen, tweeted.

Thousands of users which include academicians, police officers, businessmen, journalists, medicos, students and leaders of various political parties in Kashmir have deleted WhatsApp and downloaded Signal and Telegram to remain active on social media sans any fear of ‘breach’ in privacy.

“#telegram is similar to #whatsapp, no difference but #telegram is much more secure than its older #version forcing users to compromise on privacy (sic),” Taha a student wrote on Facebook.

In a blog post, WhatsApp, however, reiterated that private messages or sensitive location data will not be shared with Facebook. However, they added that business conversation on the platform might be readable and used for advertising.

“With some of the rumours going around, we want to answer some of the common questions we have received. We go to great lengths to build WhatsApp in a way that helps people communicate privately,” read the company’s FAQs post.

“We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way,” they added—(KNO)