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  • To fight COVID-19, Sonia offers five suggestions to govt

    Scrap ₹20,000-cr. for Central Vista project, ban govt advertisements to media and put on hold all official foreign trips, she says.

    PTI

    In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, offering five suggestions to cut government expenditure, including scrapping the ₹20,000-crore for the Central Vista project, bannning government advertisements to media, and putting on hold all official foreign trips.

    “I am writing to convey our support for the decision taken by the Union Cabinet to reduce salaries of Members of Parliament by 30 per cent. Austerity measures which can be used to divert much needed funds to the fight against Covid-19 are the need of the hour. In this spirit, I am writing to offer five concrete suggestions,” Ms. Gandhi said.

    PM’s initiative

    She made it clear that the suggestions were in response to the Prime Minister asking for suggestions from the Congress during a telephonic conversation last Sunday.

    Ms. Gandhi said there should be a proportionate 30 per cent reduction in the expenditure budget (other than salaries, pensions and central sector schemes) for the Union government. “This 30 per cent (i.e. ₹2.5 lakh crore a year approximately) could then be allocated towards establishing an economic safety net for migrant workers, labourers, farmers, MSMEs and those in the unorganised sector.”

    • “First, impose a complete ban on media advertisements – television, print and online – by the Government and Public Sectors Undertakings [PSUs] for a period of two years. The only exceptions should be advisories for Covid-19 or for issues relating to public health,” she said. She noted that the Centre spent ₹1,250 crore annually on media advertisements.
    • “Secondly, suspend the ₹20,000 crore ‘Central Vista’ beautification and construction project forthwith. At a time like this, such an outlay seems self-indulgent to say the least. I am certain that Parliament can function comfortably within the existing historical buildings,”she stated. The money could be spent on “constructing new hospital infrastructure and diagnostics along with equipping our front line workers with Personal Protection Equipment [PPE] and better facilities.”
    • Ms. Gandhi said there should be a proportionate 30 per cent reduction in the expenditure budget (other than salaries, pensions and central sector schemes) for the Union government. “This 30 per cent (i.e. ₹2.5 lakh crore a year approximately) could then be allocated towards establishing an economic safety net for migrant workers, labourers, farmers, MSMEs and those in the unorganised sector.”
    • The Centre had spent ₹393 crore on foreign travel in the past five years. “All foreign visits, including that of the President, the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, State Ministers and bureaucrats must be put on hold in a similar fashion”. Exceptions could be made in case of special emergency or exigencies in national interest to be cleared by the Prime Minister.
    • Ms. Gandhi suggested that all money under the PM-CARES Fund moved to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to ensure “efficiency, transparency, accountability and audit in the manner in which these funds are allocated and spent. I understand that ₹3800 crore approximately are lying unutilised in the PMNRF [at the end of FY2019]. These funds, plus the amount in PM-CARES Fund, can be utilised to ensure an immediate food security net for those at the very margins of society,” she added.

  • Lockdown unlikely to be lifted on April 14: PM at all-party meet

    At the end of the three-and-a-half hour meeting, Narendra Modi said he would consult Chief Ministers before deciding the exit strategy.

    Agencies

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with parliamentary floor leaders of both Houses on April 8 said it didn’t seem possible that the countrywide lockdown can be lifted as per the original schedule of April 14, but added that he will consult the Chief Ministers before deciding the exit strategy.

    The meeting went on for nearly three-and-a-half hours. The Prime Minister heard everyone’s concerns and spoke about the ongoing lockdown. He said that as per the advice and information that he has been receiving it looks difficult to end the lockdown on April 14.

    Speaking to media, senior Biju Janata Dal leader Pinaki Misra said, “PM told us that it doesn’t seem likely to lift the lockdown for now. He didn’t give a deadline, but said that he will be consulting the Chief Ministers.”

    Mr. Misra said he flagged the urgent need to refinance the industries and ensure cash in the hands of labourers who find themselves out of job because of the lock down.

    “The rescue package that the government announced is extremely limited and will not help. Most countries have drawn up a package worth at least 10% of the GDP. In case of India by the same calculations it should have been 15-20 lakh crore. So far the government has only announced 2 lakh crores,” Mr Misra added. The industries, especially the MSME sector needs massive refinancing, he said.

    Data: The lockdown effect on jobs in India

    BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party too demanded that the lockdown should be lifted in a phased manner ensuring no inter-State transport. LJP president Chirag Paswan who attended the meeting said that the restriction should be far stricter in the urban areas. “The harvesting season has begun, so we told PM to ensure that the farmer is not inconvenienced during the lock down and harvesting can go on without any trouble,” Mr Paswan said.

    On behalf of the DMK, Lok Sabha floor leader T.R. Baalu attended the meeting. Minutes after the meeting, DMK president M.K.Stalin in a tweet said, “During today’s all party meeting with @PMOIndia, our floor leader TR Baalu stressed on the low testing numbers, inadequate PPEs, TN’s fund allocation, #MPLADS cut, and other issues. DMK and its cadre extend their full support to fight COVID-19.”

    The CPI(M) was represented by Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem, who among other things demanded that the union government should immediately release all pending dues to the state governments. Citing Kerala’s example he said that GST compensation arrears of nearly ₹3000 crore is pending. “Central assistance provided to the state of Kerala for COVID relief is ₹157 crore. It’s is only 1.4 per cent of the total ₹11,091 crores allocated nationally,” he said, seeking a hike in financial assistance to the State.

  • 6 more die in Israel from coronavirus, bringing death toll to 71

    2 residents of Beersheba assisted living facility among fatalities, raising number of virus deaths there to 10; 3rd death at Yavne’el nursing home; number of cases rises to 9,404

    TOI

    Israel reported six new deaths from the coronavirus Wednesday morning, bringing the number of fatalities in the country from COVID-19 to 71.

    At Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, a 97-year-old man and a 96-year-old man died.

    According to Hebrew media reports, the two were residents of the Mishan assisted living facility in the southern city, raising the number of people from there who died of the virus to 10.

    Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv announced the death of two men, a 77 and 75-year-old.

    Another victim, a 67-year-old woman, had numerous preexisting conditions, according to Rambam Medical Center. Her husband was also sick and hospitalized elsewhere, though it was unclear from reports whether he also was infected with the virus.

    The other fatality was a 85-year-old man being treated at HaEmek Medical Center in the northern city of Afula.

    The man, who suffered from preexisting diseases, was a resident of the Yokra assisted living facility in the northern town of Yavne’el.

    He was the third resident of the facility to die, the Ynet news site reported.

    The announcement of the deaths came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel rose to 9,404, an increase of 306 in the past 24 hours.

    The Health Ministry said 147 people are in serious condition, 122 of whom are on ventilators.

    Another 199 were in moderate condition, with the rest having mild symptoms.

    So far, 801 Israelis have recovered from the virus.

    On Tuesday, a 37-year-old man died from the virus, the youngest fatality in Israel.

    Almost all of those who have died from COVID-19 in Israel have been elderly and suffered from preexisting conditions, according to hospital officials.

    While the death toll has continued to steadily climb, experts have pointed to the relatively slow rise in the number of patients on ventilators as a source of potential encouragement.

    Putting a dent in the optimism, health officials are projecting that Israel will fall short of testing 10,000 people a day for the novel coronavirus in the immediate term because of a shortage of a key reagent. On Tuesday, the number of tests conducted, according to Channel 12, was under 2,000.

    It was announced Wednesday that a shipment of tens of thousands of virus tests was arriving from South Korea. However, those supplies would last for only a few days at the rate of testing required.

    A national lockdown barring intercity travel came into effect Tuesday ahead of the Passover holiday. A full closure will be in effect over the first night of the holiday on Wednesday, to prevent further spread of the virus.

    Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, director-general of the Health Ministry, said Tuesday that if the coming weeks bring a drop in cases from hundreds to dozens a day, the government will be able to move forward with plans to gradually ease the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the virus.

  • India sends more than 29 million hydroxychloroquine doses to U.S.

    Last week Mr. Trump said he has sought help from PM Modi to allow the sale of hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.

    PTI

    A sizeable chunk of the 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine bought by the U.S. to combat the coronavirus pandemic is from India, President Donald Trump has said as he acknowledged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “great” when he sought his help to allow the sale of the anti-malaria drug to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients in America.

    Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Mr. Trump requested Mr. Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer.

    Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Mr. Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

    “I bought millions of doses (of hydroxychloroquine). More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it (hydroxychloroquine) comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was great. He was really good,” Mr. Trump told Sean Hannity of the Fox News on Monday night.

    “You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India,” Mr. Trump said responding to a question on the usage of hydroxychloroquine.

    India on Tuesday allowed the export of hydroxychloroquine to the U.S., which has emerged as the global hotspot of COVID-19.

    By Tuesday night, nearly four lakh Americans tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the fatalities was more than 12,850. During the interview, Mr. Trump described hydroxychloroquine as a powerful malaria drug. The drug is being tested on hundreds of coronavirus patients in New York.

    But there are a lot of good things coming from that, Mr. Trump said.

    “Lot of people are looking at it and saying, you know I don’t hear bad stories, I hear good stories. And I don’t hear anything where it is causing death,” said the U.S. President.

    Hydroxychloroquine, an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria, is seen as a viable therapeutic solution by President Trump to coronavirus.

    Last week Mr. Trump said he has sought help from Prime Minister Modi to allow the sale of hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.

    India has received similar requests from several other countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal. India has said that it is reviewing its export ban order.

    Notably, India’s decision to ban the exports of hydroxychloroquine is driven by its desire to take stock of the domestic requirements and ensure that the country has enough of the drug.

    “I would be surprised if he would, you know, because India does very well with the United States,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a press briefing at the White House on Monday.

    India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the U.S., Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

    India manufactures 70% of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

    The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

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

  • Coronavirus | Nurse tests positive in Noida, 200 people from slum quarantined

    The 20-year-old woman worked with a lab technician who was tested positive in Delhi, officials said

    Special Correspondent

    A Delhi nurse working with a private hospital in Noida’s Sector 62 tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday evening. The 20-year-old woman worked with a lab technician who was tested positive in Delhi, officials said.

    A health department official said the girl was staying at a paying guest facility in Noida’s Sector 62 after the lockdown. Noida authorities have not added her to the list of infected persons in the district. In an official communication released on Tuesday night, the number of infected persons in Gautam Buddh Nagar stayed at 58.

    She has been admitted to the Child PGI hospital in Sector 30. The premises of the rented accommodation and the area around it has been sealed and was sanitised. Also, the wing of the hospital where she worked has been sealed and sanitisation of the hospital premises was carried out.

    In a related incident, Noida’s district administration quarantined 200 people living in a slum area of Noida’s Sector 8 on Tuesday night. District officials said they lived close to JJ Colony cluster where three people were tested positive on April 4.

    Dispelling rumours, district magistrate Suhas L.Y. described it as a cluster containment exercise. “No new case has been found in Sector 8. This is only an exercise of cluster containment as surveillance teams have traced possible contacts of JJ cluster where COVID-19 infected persons were found. Families are being only quarantined and kept under observation for their welfare and that of their surroundings,” he said.

  • Shab-e-Barat: Congregations banned in Srinagar, restrictions on movement of people

    The total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to 125, while three patients have died.

    PTI

    Strict restrictions on the movement of people in Kashmir to contain the spread of coronavirus were in force for the 21st consecutive day on Wednesday, even as authorities in the city banned religious congregations on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat.

    Officials said tight curbs were in place across the valley in view of the surge in the number of positive cases in Kashmir.

    In view of the prevailing health situation, District Magistrate Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary has issued an order prohibiting all sorts of religious congregations and public movement on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat in Srinagar.

    Shab-e-Barat, also known as the night of forgiveness, will be observed on April 8-9. Members of the Muslim community visit graveyards and offer prayers in memory of their loved ones.

    The order issued under Section 144 of CrPC states that the decision to prohibit religious gatherings during the occasion has been taken based on recommendations of authorities and reports from the field besides taking into account the current precarious health situation due to COVID-19 pandemic.

    It states that these restrictions will remain enforced through the intervening night of April 8 and 9, adding that violations will attract strict action under Section 188 of the IPC and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act.

    Security forces have sealed off the main roads in the valley and erected barriers at several places to check the unwanted movement of the people and to enforce the lockdown, the officials said.

    The markets across the valley were shut and public transport was off the roads with only pharmacies and groceries allowed to open, they added.

    Educational institutions across Kashmir have been closed, while all public places including gymnasiums, parks, clubs and restaurants have been shut down more than a week before the nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister.

    While Narendra Modi announced the country-wide lockdown on the evening of March 24, the Union Territory administration here had on March 22 announced a lockdown across Jammu and Kashmir till March 31 as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

    The administration said essential services including healthcare personnel have been exempted from the restrictions.

    Restrictions were first imposed in many parts of the valley on March 19 to contain the spread of the virus infection. The measures were taken after a 67-year-old woman from Khanyar area of the city, who had returned on March 16 from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, tested positive for COVID-19 infection.

    The authorities have started an aggressive contact tracing campaign across the union territory to contain the spread of the infection.

    The total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to 125, while three patients have died.

  • Militant Killed in Sopore gunfight, searches on

    Srinagar, April 8: One militant was killed in a gunfight with government forces in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district following night long siege.

    Sources told GNS that while one militant was killed; searches for his colleagues were going on when this report was filed.

    A joint team of army’s 22 RR, 179 battalion CRPF and SOG had cordoned off Gulabad area of Arampora Sopore on Tuesday evening following inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

    Following 14-hours long siege, the gunfight broke out after the government forces approached the target spot where the militants were hiding.

    Last evening, the forces have also installed lights so as to prevent the escape of militant owing to darkness, they said.

    A police officer said the cordon-and-search operation was launched in the area following specific information about the presence of some militants. (GNS)

  • Video | Inside an intensive care unit fighting coronavirus

    The BBC’s Fergus Walsh is inside intensive care at University College Hospital in London as medics treat patients with coronavirus.

    Filmed and edited by Adam Walker

    Watch Video:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jrfRs0WeShU

    Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

  • 5 more PSA detainees released from J&K jails

    Srinagar: J&K Home Department Tuesday revoked the detention orders of five persons who were consequently released from Central Jail Srinagar and Kotbalwal Jail Jammu.

    “We have revoked the PSA (detention orders) of five more persons and ordered their release,” Home Department officials told Greater Kashmir. “Three of them were lodged in the Central Jail Srinagar and two in Kotbalwal Jail Jammu.”

    Among the released included one Imtiyaz Ahmad Gujree, a resident of Rainawari here, who was arrested on 28 August 2019 and was booked under PSA.

    In the past over a week, 35 persons (including five freed today), were released after their detention orders under Public Safety Act were revoked by the authorities. The officials said more release of persons is on cards.

    The step has been taken to decongest jails in J&K in the wake of deadly COVID-19 outbreak. The government is preparing a list of detainees including undertrials and convicts for their release likely to begun from Friday.

    The officials informed that there were 113 PSA detainees in Srinagar Central Jail. “With the release of three on Tuesday, 110 are still detained there,” they said.

    As reported by Greater Kashmir, on the directions of the Supreme Court, a high-powered committee has been formed in J&K to examine the cases of detainees.

    According to sources the scrutiny of cases has already begun and recommendations for release are underway.

    Pertinently, the cases of undertrials are being scrutinised by the judges while as the cases of convicts are being vetted by the Director General of Police, Prisons J&K.

  • Sopore Gunfight: House where militants were hiding catches fire

    Sopore, Apr 08: A gunfight broke out between forces and militants in Gulabad Arampora area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday late night after several hours long seige, officials said. The house where militants were beleived to be hiding has catched fire.

    Official sources told wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that contingents of Army 22 RR, SOG Sopore, 177 and 179 CRPF, 92 BN, Baramulla QRT and Police cordoned off Gulabad Arampora Sopore.

    As the forces intensified the searches, the hiding militants opened fire, which was retaliated and thus leading to a gun fight in the area.

    Officials said that the army has already rushed more reinforcement to the area.

    A police officer confirmed to—KNO, saying the cordon was launched following specific inputs about the presence of militants in the village.

    Sources said that two to three militants are believed to be trapped in the area.

    The firing was going on from both sides when this report was being filed. However, there was no immediate report of any causality on either side—(KNO)