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  • Surgical Strikes In Pakistan Gave Confidence That Borders Under Modi Govt. are Safe: Amit Shah

    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.).

  • Present strength of militants in Kashmir lowest in last decade: Lt Gen B S Raju

    Srinagar: Lieutenant General BS Raju, General Officer Commander (GOC), Chinar Corps said that Pakistan continues to instigate youth from Kashmir Valley into terrorism by various means, indoctrinates and sends them back across Line of Control (LoC).

    He said that terrorists from the neighbouring country also continue to target our security forces and civilians in crowded areas, expecting forces to react and cause more civilian casualties.

    “Pakistan remains the key instigator to push youth towards terrorism by various means. It has attracted many youths for studies. But along the way, a few have been indoctrinated. Some of them have trained and sent back through the Line of Control (LoC) as part of infiltrating columns as well as through the international border.

    Militants from Pakistan target our security forces and civilians within the Valley in crowded areas. They expect us to react and cause more civilian casualties. They then use this as propaganda to tarnish our image and then go for reacting,” he said.

    Accusing Pakistan of using social media to spread misinformation and attract new recruits, Raju observed that terrorists encourage overground workers to throw grenades or fire pistol at low-value targets and also initiate them into terrorist ranks but people are aware of Pakistan’s design.

    “The recruitment by terrorists in 2020 is fairly under control, especially when compared to 2018. The present strength of terrorists in the valley is 217, which is the lowest in last decade. Pakistan’s desire to send weapons and drugs by drones/tunnel is definitely a challenge.

    Pakistan’s basic desire is to destabilise Kashmir. As we became strong on the LC and were able to plug the gaps, Pakistan began to adopt alternate means of using drones to drop weapons. To defeat the use of drones, we are using advanced surveillance devices to detect and Jam these aerial platforms,” he added further. (PTK)

  • MeT predicts Precipitation of low intensity from Jan 22

    Srinagar, Jan 17: Weather office said on Sunday that light to moderate snowfall in the higher reaches and rain in the plains of Jammu and Kashmir is likely to occur from the evening of January 22 to January 25.

    According to the KNS correspondent,  official of the local meteorological (MeT) department said, “A western disturbance is most likely to affect J&K and Ladakh from the evening of January 23 to the forenoon of January 25.

    “This will result in fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate snowfall/rain in the plains of J&K during the above mentioned dates with the main activity on January 24.”

    The official added that the new system would be much weaker than the previous one. “So we expect precipitation of lower intensity compared to the previous one”, he said (KNS).

  • Earthquake of Magnitude 4.1 Hits Near Katra In Jammu and Kashmir

    The epicentre of the earthquake was 93 km east of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India’s National Center for Seismology said

    Katra: An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 was reported near Katra in Jammu and Kashmir today, according to India’s National Center for Seismology.

    The epicentre of the earthquake was 93 km east of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, the agency said. The earthquake struck at 10:01 PM at a depth of 10 km from the surface.

    No casualties due to the earthquake have been reported so far.

  • China imposes temporary travel ban on Pakistan passengers due to Covid-19

    ANI

    China has imposed a temporary travel ban on Pakistani passengers after 10 of them tested positive for COVID-19.

    According to Geo News, China has also stopped operating flights from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for three weeks.

    China | Representational Image | File Photo

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez confirmed that the national carrier has temporarily halted the flights after the development.

    Pakistani passengers, who travelled to China with a negative coronavirus test report, later tested positive upon arrival, informed the spokesperson.

    On Thursday, China reported 144 COVID-19 infections, the highest number of cases in over 10 months, due to a severe outbreak in the northeast that has put over 28 million people under lockdown, reported Geo News.

    North China’s Hebei Province reported 90 locally transmitted infections and nine asymptomatic cases on Thursday.

    By the end of Thursday, there were 553 locally transmitted confirmed cases and two imported cases being treated in hospitals in Hebei, Xinhua reported.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday recorded 2,417 new infections and 45 deaths, reported ARY News.

    The total COVID-19 caseload in Pakistan stands at 514,338, along with 10,863 deaths.

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

  • China builds 1,500-room hospital in 5 days after surge in coronavirus cases

    AFP

    Beijing: China on Saturday finished building a 1,500-room hospital for COVID-19 patients to fight a surge in infections the government said are harder to contain and that it blamed on infected people or goods from abroad.

    The hospital is one of six with a total of 6,500 rooms being built in Nangong, south of Beijing in Hebei province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

    China had largely contained the coronavirus that first was detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 but has suffered a surge of cases since December.

    A total of 645 people are being treated in Nangong and the Hebei provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, Xinhua said. A 3,000-room hospital is under construction in Shijiazhuang.

    Virus clusters also have been found in Beijing and the provinces of Heilongjiang and Liaoning in the northeast and Sichuan in the southwest.

    The latest infections spread unusually fast, the National Health Commission said.

    “It is harder to handle,” a Commission statement said. “Community transmission already has happened when the epidemic is found, so it is difficult to prevent.”

    The Commission blamed the latest cases on people or goods arriving from abroad. It blamed “abnormal management” and “inadequate protection of workers” involved in imports but gave no details.

    “They are all imported from abroad. It was caused by entry personnel or contaminated cold chain imported goods,” said the statement.

    The Chinese government has suggested the disease might have originated abroad and publicized what it says is the discovery of the virus on imported food, mostly frozen fish, though foreign scientists are skeptical.

    Also Saturday, the city government of Beijing said travelers arriving in the Chinese capital from abroad would be required to undergo an additional week of “medical monitoring” after a 14-day quarantine but gave no details.

    Nationwide, the Health Commission reported 130 new confirmed cases in the 24 hours through midnight Friday. It said 90 of those were in Hebei.

    On Saturday, the Hebei government reported 32 additional cases since midnight, the Shanghai news outlet The Paper reported.

    In Shijiazhuang, authorities have finished construction of 1,000 rooms of the planned hospital, state TV said Saturday. Xinhua said all the facilities are due to be completed within a week.

    A similar program of rapid hospital construction was launched by the ruling Communist Party at the start of the outbreak last year in Wuhan.

    More than 10 million people in Shijiazhuang underwent virus tests by late Friday, Xinhua said, citing a deputy mayor, Meng Xianghong. It said 247 locally transmitted cases were found.
    Meanwhile, researchers sent by the World Health Organization were in Wuhan preparing to investigate the origins of the virus. The team, which arrived Thursday, was under a two-week quarantine but was due to talk with Chinese experts by video link.

    The team’s arrival was held up for months by diplomatic wrangling that prompted a rare public complaint by the head of the WHO.

    That delay, and the secretive ruling party’s orders to scientists not to talk publicly about the disease, have raised questions about whether Beijing might try to block discoveries that would hurt its self-proclaimed status as a leader in the anti-virus battle.

    Source: AFP

  • Here’s who shouldn’t be taking Covid-19 vaccine

    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.).

  • 5 militant ‘Associates’ held for pasting threat posters in Tral

    Srinagar: Five persons were arrested for pasting threat posters in Seer and Batagund villages of Tral area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said on Saturday.

    “On 13 January 2021 some threat posters of the (militant) outfit were found pasted in Seer and Batagund villages of Tral area,” a police spokesperson said in a statement to GNS. Accordingly, he said, a case— FIR No. 04/2021 under relevant sections of law— was registered in Police Station Tral and investigation was initiated.

    “During the course of investigation, Police party raided multiple places and rounded up several suspects. During the questioning of suspects and collection of other evidence five (militant) associates were found to be involved in pasting of the threat posters and were accordingly arrested.”

    They have been identified as Jehangir Ahmad Parray son of Ghulam Nabi Parray, Aijaz Ahmad Parray son of Ghulam Mohammad Parray, Towseef Ahmad Lone son of Mohammad Ramzan Lone, Sabzar Ahmad Bhat son of Abdul Rashid Bhat and Qaisar Ahmad Dar son of Gulzar Ahmad Dar, all residents of Gulshanpora Tral.

    “One Laptop and a printer used for the preparation and printing of the threat posters have been seized from their possession,” he said, adding, “Further investigation in the matter is in progress.” (GNS)

  • World Health Organization Convenes Emergency Committee Over New Rapidly Spreading Coronavirus Variant

    AFP

    Geneva: The World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee will meet two weeks early on Thursday (Jan 14) to discuss the new coronavirus variants from South Africa and Britain that have rapidly spread to at least 50 countries and sparked widespread alarm.

    The newly identified variants, which appear to be significantly more infectious than the strain that emerged in China in 2019, come as spiking virus numbers force many nations to enforce new lockdowns.

    The committee normally gathers every three months but the WHO said the director-general pulled the meeting forward “to consider issues that need urgent discussion”.

    “These are the recent variants and considerations on the use (of) vaccination and testing certificates for international travel,” the global body said on Wednesday.

    There are concerns that the new mutations may render certain vaccines less effective, undermining hopes that inoculations offer the best hope of recovery from the global pandemic.

    The committee of experts is overseen by France’s Didier Houssin and its recommendations will be published after the meeting.

    The meeting comes as global infections soared past 91 million and deaths approached 2 million, with governments around the world reimposing painful economic lockdowns and social restrictions.

    The newly discovered variants can only be identified by sequencing their genetic code, an analysis that is not possible everywhere.

    A third mutation, originating in the Brazilian Amazon and whose discovery Japan announced on Sunday, is currently being analysed and could impact the immune response, according to the WHO.

    Source: AFP/dv

  • 23 die in Norway after receiving Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine

    ANI

    Norway: Twenty-three people died in Norway within days of receiving their first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine with 13 of those deaths apparently related to the side effects of the shots, New York Post reported citing the health officials.

    All 13 were nursing home patients and at least 80 years old.

    Photo Credit: AP

    Common reactions to the vaccine, including fever and nausea, “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients,” New York Post quoted Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, as saying in a statement on Friday.

    While officials aren’t expressing serious concern, they are adjusting their guidance on who should receive the vaccine.

    More than 30,000 people in Norway have received the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccine since late last month.
    Agency’s medical director Steinar Madsen has stated that the “agency is not alarmed by this.”

    “It is quite clear that these vaccines have very little risk, with a small exception for the frailest patients. Doctors must now carefully consider who should be vaccinated. Those who are very frail and at the very end of life can be vaccinated after an individual assessment,” he said.

    The agency reported Thursday that a total of 29 people had suffered side effects, including the 13 people who died.

    Twenty-one women and eight men experienced side effects, officials said.

    Besides those who died, nine had serious side effects — including allergic reactions, strong discomfort and severe fever — while seven had less serious ones, including severe pain at the injection site, New York Post reported.

    According to health officials around 400 people die each week in the nursing home population.
    A Pfizer rep said the company is “aware of reported deaths” following the administration of the vaccine in Norway and is working with the Norwegian Medicines Agency to gather all the relevant information.

    The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Norway is 58,202, while the death toll stands at 517, according to the Johns Hopkins University