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  • 470 new covid-19 cases take J&K’s tally past 25000 mark

    Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Monday reported 470 new covid-19 cases including 107 travelers, taking the total tally past 25000 mark.

    Among them, 102 were reported from Jammu and 368 from Kashmir Valley.
    Giving district-wise breakup, official sources told GNS that Srinagar reported 115, Baramulla 41,
    Pulwama 30, Kulgam 10, Shopian 14, Anantnag 16, Budgam 31, Kupwara 17, Bandipora 79, Ganderbal 15, Jammu 58, Rajouri 5, Ramban 16, Kathua 8, Udhampur 2, Samba 5, Doda 4, Reasi 2 and Kishtwar2.

    In Kashmir, Srinagar tops the list with 6263 cases followed by Baramulla with 2178, Pulwama 1860, Kulgam 1619, Budgam 1568, Shopian 1534, Anantnag 1569, Kupwara 1273, Bandipora 1101 and Ganderbal 689.

    In Jammu division, Jammu district has 1613 cases, Rajouri 763, Ramban 605, Kathua 602, Udhampur 625, Samba 522, Doda 315, Poonch 275, Reasi 228and Kishtwar 165.

    Moreover 372 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals, 90 from Jammu Division and 282 from Kashmir Valley, the officials added. (GNS)

  • Covid-19 claims 8 more lives in Kashmir, J&K toll 481

    Srinagar: Eight more people died due to covid-19 in Kashmir Valley since overnight, taking the fatality count due to the virus to 481 in J&K, officials said on Monday.

    Official sources told GNS that the victims include a 70-year-old man from Palpora Kulgam, an elderly woman from Buchoo Tral Pulwama, a 65-year-old man from Chidibugh Tral Pulwama, a 71-year-old man from Yaripora Kulgam, a 45-year-old man from Palpora Srinagar, a sexagenarian man from Arampora Ganderbal, a 47-year-old man from Rainawari Srinagar and a 65-year-old woman from Budgam.

    Regarding the septuagenarian from Palpora Kulgam, a doctor at district hospital Kulgam told GNS that the he was brought to hospital yesterday and died on the same day. “The family had called officials on covid-19 helpline and later be was brought the hospital and died shortly after admission. His test returned positive for the novel coronavirus later,” the doctor added.

    The woman from Buchoo Tral was admitted to SMHS hospital as a case of bilateral community acquired pneumonia and died last night at SMHS hospital. “Her COVID swab was detected as positive,” a senior official said. A relative of the woman told GNS over phone that by mistake her residence was registered as Kulgam instead of Buchoo Tral. “She died at around 7 p.m. last night (August 9). Subsequently we took the body by undertaking that we will follow the covid-19 protocol and later we were informed that her sample has returned positive for the virus,” the relative added.

    Regarding the 65-year-old man from Tral, they said, he was admitted to SMHS hospital on August 1 and was later diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. “He died at 1 p.m. on August 10,” they said.

    Regarding the man from Yaripora, they said, he was admitted on August 01 and was as a case of “BHP, HTN and bilateral viral Pneumonia,” He passed at around 1:10 p.m.,” they said.

    Meanwhile, a regarding four others deaths, they said, two each were reported from SKIMS Soura and SMHS here. All of them had underlying ailments, they said.

    Regarding man from Rainawari, they said, he was admitted with bilateral pneumonia to SMHS hospital on August 1 and passed away on Sunday night.

    The woman from Budgam, they said, was admitted to the SMHS hospital on 23 July with bilateral pneumonia and lost battle with the disease on Monday morning.

    Regarding the man from Palpora, Srinagar, officials at SKIMS Soura said that he was admitted on 21 July and died today.

    Regarding the man from Arampora Ganderbal, the officials said, he was admitted on August 6 and died today.

    With these deaths, officials said, 481 people have died duo to the virus in Jammu and Kashmir so far. Among them, they said, 486 were from the Valley while 35 others from Jammu division.

    Srinagar district with 155 deaths tops the list followed by Baramulla (82), Budgam (36), Anantnag (33), Kulgam (32), Pulwama (32), Kupwara (27), Shopian (24), Jammu (23), Bandipora (18), Ganderbal (8), two each in Rajouri, Doda and Udhampur besides one each in Ramban, Samba, Poonch, and Kathua. (GNS)

  • Shah Faesal likely to join back administration

    Srinagar: Former IAS officer turned politician, Shah Faesal is likely to join back administration after he was conveyed by authorities that his resignation has not still been accepted, top sources said.

    Interestingly, despite Faesal submitting his resignation and forming a political party called the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM), his name was not removed from the list of J&K cadre IAS officers on the official website of the government.

    Faesal on Sunday lent credence to news reports that he is likely to join back by dropping his political bio from his twitter handle. His twitter bio said on Sunday evening, “Edward S Fellow @HKS Harvard University, Medico. Fulbright. Centrist.” He obviously has chosen to drop his political bio as the founder of the JKPM.

    He topped the 2010 civil services exam and was allotted his home cadre of the IAS.

    Known as an honest and upright officer, Faesal’s well wishers had cautioned him in 2018, when he resigned to join politics, that politics might not be his cup of tea. Sources here also said the government has recently “send him feelers that they are not averse to his joining back the civil service”.

    If he chooses to join back, Faesal would have created another record for the shortest political career in Jammu and Kashmir. He founded the JKPM in early 2019 amid much fanfare and expectations of an alternative political platform for the youth of J&K. (KNS)

  • COVID-19 claims four more lives in Kashmir, toll reaches 480 in J&K

    Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Monday recorded the death of four more lives, all from Kashmir region, taking the total number of people who died of dreaded virus in the UT to 480.

    Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that four patients who died include a 47-year-old man from Rainawari, a 45-year-old man from Palpora, Srinagar, a 55-year-old man from Arampora, Ganderbal and a 65-year-old woman from Budgam.

    An official at SKIMS said that a 45-year-old man from Palpora, Srinagar who was admitted on 21 July died on Monday.

    He further added that a 55-year-old man from Arampora Ganderbal who was admitted on 06 August died on Monday.

    An official from SMHS told KNO that a 47-year-old man from Rainawari Srinagar who was admitted with bilateral pneumonia on ist August died on Sunday late night.

    He added that a 65-year-old woman from Budgam who was admitted on 23 July with bilateral pneumonia died on Monday morning.

    With four more deaths, the death toll in J&K has reached to 480 including 445 from Kashmir division and 35 from Jammu division—(KNO)

  • ‘Turkey 3rd in world in developing local vaccines’: Erdogan

    Turkey has made great progress in developing vaccines, drugs against COVID-19, says Erdogan

    ANKARA: After the US and China, Turkey has become the 3rd country to develop vaccines locally, according to the World Health Organization data, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.

    Speaking at the opening of TUBITAK (Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council) Excellence Centers in the Gebze district of the northwestern Kocaeli province, Erdogan said Turkey has made great progress in developing vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 in collaboration with state, private sectors and universities.

    “COVID-19 Turkey Platform, founded by TUBITAK, is currently working on eight different vaccines and 10 different medicine projects [for COVID-19],” he added.

    Trials on animals for two candidate vaccines have been completed. One of them even received ethical clearance and started its clinical phase on humans, the president further said.

    Turkey has so far confirmed 239,622 cases and 222,656 recoveries from the novel coronavirus, with the death toll standing at 5,829.

    Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 727,700 lives in 188 countries and regions.

    More than 19.68 million COVID-19 cases have been reported around the world so far, with over 11.96 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

    The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

    With inputs from AA News

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

  • China-Turkey-Pakistan Alliance Dangerous For India Diplomatically, Economically & Militarily

    While all eyes have been on India and China after the recent scuffle in Ladakh, experts have warned that Indian must be prepared to counter China-Turkey-Pakistan alliance.

    By: EurAsian Times

    Over the years China and Turkey have been cementing their ties which have often been constrained by Turkey’s NATO membership. However, the bilateral ties got a fillip ever since China launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized the opportunity as he struggles to consolidate his AKP Party and reclaim the glory of Turkey’s Ottoman past. Another reason was that Erdogan’s ambitions to anoint himself as the leader of the Muslim world saw Turkey embroil itself in wars in foreign lands, thus putting Ankara in financial difficulties.

    Straddling two continents, Turkey is strategically important for China’s BRI, as a trade and transport hub, significantly cutting down freight transportation time from China to Europe and Africa. Turkey had also launched its own connectivity project to access the Caucasus and Central Asia through the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, known as the Middle Corridor.

    Turkey is also a priority country with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The bank is helping in the construction of the Salt Lake underground gas storage facility project, said to be the world’s largest storage project. Turkey is also an observer at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    So eager is Turkey for its partnership with China, that Erdogan who is positioning himself as the modern-day Caliph of the Muslims, has turned a blind eye to China’s oppression of its Uighur Muslim community.

    While Erdogan has turned a blind to the plight of Uighur Muslims, he has voiced support for Indian Muslims living in Kashmir. In fact, Turkey was one of the three countries, besides China and Pakistan, to condemn India’s decision to revoke J&K’s special status.

    Erdogan raised the issue in the UN General Assembly. During his February visit to Pakistan, he compared the struggle of Kashmiris with the Ottoman Empire’s fight during World War I.

    Turkey provides Pakistan with emotional, ideological, and political support, while China is providing both material and political support. With China’s support, the Kashmir issue has thrice been discussed in the UN Security Council since August 5, 2019.

    Pakistan’s insistence and Turkey’s focus has also seen the Organization of Islamic Cooperation raising the Kashmir issue more than it normally would have.

    Considering Erdogan and his party’s Islamist orientation and well-documented support to radical and terror groups, together with Pakistan’s support and sponsor of cross-border terror, and China’s expansionist tendencies, the China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus is one India needs to watch out for.

    With inputs from the EurAsian Times

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

  • Record 64,399 new COVID cases; 861 deaths

    PTI

    New Delhi: With a highest single-day spike of 64,399 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally zoomed past 21 lakh on Sunday, while the death toll climbed to 43,379 with 861 more fatalities, the Health Ministry said.

    The number of recoveries surged to 14,80,884 with record 53,879 more people recuperating in the past 24 hours, taking recovery rate to 68.78 per cent,. The case fatality rate has dropped 2.01 per cent, according to the ministry data.

    There are 6,28,747 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 29.20 per cent of the total caseload in the country. The total coronavirus cases have mounted to 21,53,010, including 43,379 deaths, it said.

    This is the third consecutive day that the COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 60,000. India had crossed the 20-lakh mark on Friday.

    As many as 7,19,364 samples were tested on Saturday, the highest in a day. A total of 2,41,06,535 samples have been tested so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

    “India is performing around 500 tests for detection of COVID-19 per minute and the per-day testing capacity has increased over five lakhs,” scientist and ICMR media coordinator Lokesh Sharma said.

    Of the 861 more deaths, 275 are from Maharashtra, 118 from Tamil Nadu, 97 from Andhra Pradesh and 93 from Karnataka.

    Fifty-one more people died from the pathogen in West Bengal, 47 in Uttar Pradesh and 23 each in Punjab and Gujarat.

    Delhi registered 16 more fatalities, followed by 15 in Madhya Pradesh, 13 in Bihar, 12 each in Telangana and Odisha, 11 in Rajasthan and 10 in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Eight fatalities have been reported from Assam, seven from Haryana, five each from Puducherry and Uttarakhand, and four each from Jharkhand, Kerala and Tripura.

    Two persons each succumbed to the contagion in Chhattisgarh and Goa, while Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur and Meghalaya have registered a fatality each.

    Of the total 43,379 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum of 17,367, followed by 4,808 in Tamil Nadu, 4,098 in Delhi and 3,091 in Karnataka.

    There have been 2,628 fatalities in Gujarat, 2,028 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,005 in West Bengal, 1,939 in Andhra Pradesh and 977 in Madhya Pradesh.

    A total of 778 people have died in Rajasthan due to the pandemic, followed by 627 in Telangana, 562 in Punjab, 474 in Haryana and 459 in Jammu and Kashmir.

    There have been 382 COVID-19 deaths in Bihar, 259 in Odisha, 155 in Jharkhand, 140 in Assam, 117 in Uttarakhand, 106 in Kerala.

    Chhattisgarh has registered 89 deaths, followed by 80 in Puducherry, 72 in Goa, 41 in Tripura and 24 in Chandigarh.

    Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 20 deaths, Himachal Pradesh 14, Manipur 11, Ladakh nine and Nagaland seven.

    There have been six coronavirus deaths in Meghalaya and three in Arunachal Pradesh, while Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu reported two and Sikkim one.

    The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said, adding that state-wise distribution of figures was subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • COVID-19: Restrictions extended for one week in Srinagar

    Srinagar: District Magistrate Srinagar has ordered extension in restrictions on public activities including operation of commercial establishments and movement in Srinagar.

    The restrictions will continue to remain enforced for another week up to midnight on August 15.

    The extension has been ordered keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation which continues to exist in the district.

    Meanwhile the Srinagar district administration has initiated preparations ahead of the opening up of operations that the government has announced from August 16.

    Over this next week the district administration will sensitise all the concerned about COVID-19 preventive guidelines and SOPs that need to be followed.

    The idea is to ensure that the negligence reported during the last unlock – which resulted in rise in COVID-19 cases – is not repeated and that due care is taken to prevent further spread of the disease—(KNO)

  • Man arrested for killing wife in Reasi

    PTI

    Jammu: A young man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly strangling his wife to death in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

    The 24-year-old victim, Sapna Devi, was found hanging from a tree in an agriculture field at Thub Thanol on June 9.

    During investigation, the police team examined the spot and collected all circumstantial evidences which suggested murder and zeroed in on Devi’s husband Sudesh Kumar who broke down during interrogation and confessed to have murdered his wife, a police official said.

    “Based on the post-mortem report, doctor’s opinion and other eye and circumstantial witnesses, police completed the inquest proceedings and registered a murder case against the accused,” the official said adding that a probe is underway and further details are awaited.

  • Pak shells forward areas along LoC in Poonch

    PTI

    Jammu: Pakistani troops shelled forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Sunday, prompting a befitting response from the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.

    There have been no reports of any casualties so far, the official said.

    “Around 6:45 AM, the Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling mortars along the LoC in Mankote sector. Indian Army retaliated befittingly,” the spokesperson said.

    Later around 5:50 PM, Pakistan initiated small arms firing and mortar shelling in Shahpur, Kirni and Krishna Ghati sectors, the spokesperson said, adding that the Indian Army again gave a befitting reply.

    Intense cross-border shelling was still going on when reports last came in, a police official said.

    People in the shelling-hit areas have been directed to stay inside underground bunkers or at other safe places to avoid any loss of life, he said.