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  • DTU cancels end-semester exams

    PTI

    New Delhi: The Delhi Technological University (DTU) on Tuesday said it is cancelling its end-semester exams scheduled from July 18.

    The announcement came after the Delhi government’s decision to cancel all forthcoming semester and finals exams of universities under it due to the COVID-19 situation.

    “In view of the recent announcement directions by the Govt of NCT of Delhi to cancel all semester examinations, it is decided that the end term examinations of even semester 2019-20 for intermediate semesters of all programmes, including Ph.D Course Work, and all semesters of ex-students commencing from July 18 stand cancelled,” the varsity said.

    The varsity said guidelines for assessment of various courses pertaining to intermediate semesters of all programmes will be notified in due course, it said.

  • Newborn baby girl found buried alive in Maharashtra

    PTI

    Mumbai: In a shocking incident, a newborn baby girl was found buried near a house in Nanded district of Maharashtra, police said.

    Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel, who shared the video of the newborn being dug out by a villager, said he had spoken to Nanded SP and sought a thorough probe in the matter.

    “If we are really serious about protecting the girl child, there should be exemplary punishment for the accused,” the Lok Sabha member said.

  • “Above 3 Lakh animals on every Eid- Ul Adha”, Kashmir likely to face dearth of sacrificial animals this time

    Srinagar: The continuous closure of animal mandies in other states is likely to create a serious crisis of sacrificial animals on the occasion of upcoming Eid-ul-Adha this year in Kashmir.

    In absence of smooth supply of animals from other states amid pandemic, people are forced to buy mutton at exorbitant rates from the market, a complaint prevalent for the past few months.
    General Secretary, All Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association, Mehraj-Ud-DinMehraj Ganie, told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that this time mutton dealers would face dearth of sacrificial animals in Kashmir
    “On Eid-ul-Adha, around 3.50 lakh animals are sold only for sacrificial purposes. However, this year the demand is also down,” he said.

    He added that there are three responsible dealers who provide stock to markets in Kashmir.
    “One is barkarwalas, second local sheep unit holders and third local mutton dealers,” he said.
    He added that local mutton dealers are main stakeholders in supplying the sacrificial animals to market.

    “But since the mandies in other states where we get supplies are closed, Kashmir is likely to face the dearth of sacrificial animals on this Eid,” he said.

    However, he added that they are waiting if the government will take an initiative to ensure smooth management of sacrificial animals in the coming days.

    Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal in Islam. Every year on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, , an estimated three lakh fifty thousand animals are being used for the sacrificial ritual (Qurbani) in Kashmir, which approximately amounts to a whopping sum of Rs 3. 50 crore.

    One of the mutton dealers said that every year on the occasion of Eid- Ul Azha around 1000 trucks with livestock are being imported to Kashmir from other parts of India.

    “On Eid festivals, Kashmir is having a huge mutton demand. Every year to prevent mutton scarcity, we imported sheep in abundance from different Mandis including New Delhi, Amritsar and Himachal Pradesh,” he said.

    Another dealer said that on an average a sheep is sold at Rs 10,000, so on an estimate it amounts about 300 crores. The mutton demand has remained on the higher side from last few years.
    The valley is still importing 57 per cent of its mutton requirement from outside with its consumption touching 253.88 lakh kilograms annually. (KINS)

  • LAC standoff: Indian and Chinese commanders hold talks on further disengagement in eastern Ladakh

    PTI

    The talks are taking place days after the implementation of the first phase of the disengagement process from the friction points.

    Indian and Chinese military commanders on Tuesday began a crucial round of negotiations to finalise a framework for a time-bound disengagement process from friction points like Pangong Tso and Depsang as well as to pull back large number of troops and weapons from rear bases along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, government sources said.

    The fourth round of Lt General-level talks began around 11:30 a.m. at a designated meeting point in Chushul on the Indian side of the LAC, the de-facto border between the two countries, the sources said.

    The Indian delegation is led by Lt Gen Harinder Singh, the commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, while Major General Liu Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang military region, was scheduled to lead the Chinese side.

    The key focus of the high level meeting is expected to be to a roll out of the phase two of the disengagement process including in Pangong Tso and Depsang, besides withdrawal of forces and weapons from the rear bases in a time-bound manner, the sources said.

    The Indian side is expected to insist on “total restoration” of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the troops of the two countries in Pangong Tso, they said.

    The sources said the two sides are also expected to finalise a roadmap for overall restoration of peace and tranquillity in the high-altitude region that witnessed an eight-week bitter standoff between the troops of the two countries.

    The talks are taking place days after the implementation of the first phase of the disengagement process from the friction points.

    China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has already completed pulling back troops from Gogra, Hot Springs and Galwan Valley and significantly thinned down its presence in the ridgeline of Finger Four in the Pangong Tso area in the last one week as demanded by India, according to people familiar with the developments.

    In line with a mutually agreed decision, the two sides created a minimum buffer zone of three kilometres in most of the friction points where they were locked in a standoff.

    The formal process of disengagement of troops began on June 6, a day after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on ways to bring down tension in the area.

    The two countries have already held three rounds of Lt General-level talks and the last one took place on June 30 during which both sides agreed on an “expeditious, phased and step wise” de-escalation as a “priority” to end the standoff.

    The first round of the Lt General talks was held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.

    However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. The second round of talks took place on June 22.

    The Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for over eight weeks since May 5.

    The tension escalated manifold after the violent clashes in Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

    Following the Galwan Valley incident, the government has given the armed forces “full freedom” to give a “befitting” response to any Chinese misadventure along the LAC.

    The Army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border following the deadly clashes. The IAF has also moved air defence systems as well as a sizeable number of its frontline combat jets and attack helicopters to several key air bases.

  • Bihar | BJP headquarters rocked by COVID-19 test

    PTI

    Bihar: More than 20 people, including four senior office-bearers of the BJP, have tested positive for COVID-19 at the party’s headquarters, said its Bihar unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal on Tuesday.

    Reports in a section of the media here, however, stated that the number of people found infected was as high as 75.

    Jaiswal, nonetheless, maintained “only 24 samples are positive. These reports are of preliminary rapid tests and we are still awaiting the results of the comprehensive QT-RPR. None of those who have tested positive are having any symptoms. Yet, by way of abundant caution, they have all quarantined themselves at home”.

    He said the samples were collected on Monday upon the request of the party office, after it was learnt that a person who visited the premises recently had tested positive.

    “Samples of 110 people were collected. These included not just party functionaries but all other staff members hired for running errands,” he said.

    Although Jaiswal did not disclose how many party functionaries were among those who tested positive, BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand confirmed these included “four office-bearers”.

    Party sources said the office-bearers were state vice-presidents Radhan Mohan Sharma and Rajesh Sharma, state general secretary Devesh Kumar and state general secretary (organisation) Nagendra.

    The party office premises situated on the Bir Chand Patel Marg were, meanwhile, being thoroughly sanitised.

    RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took potshots at the saffron party, saying “their office has become a corona hotspot and they are busy conducting virtual rallies and spreading infections thereby”.

    “I wonder to which jamaat (creed) these BJP leaders belong,” Yadav quipped, the pun alluding to the infamous Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi.

    However, Jaiswal rubbished the allegation and asserted that no crowds gather at the party office during the virtual rallies.

    “All senior leaders address these through Internet from their homes. Strict instructions have been in place to follow social distancing norms and wearing of masks at the party office,” he added.

  • BJP J&K Chief Ravinder Rana Tests COVID-19 Positive

    Srinagar: J&K’s BJP chief Ravinder Rana on Tuesday tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (covid-19).

    Announcing it on twitter, the BJP leader said that he has a slight fever and no other symptoms.

    Rana recently accompanied BJP national general secretary, Ram Madhav and Union minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh besides several other senior national and J&K leaders including vice president Avunash Rai Khanna to Bandipora to express condolences to a party leader who was killed along with father and brother by militants. (GNS)

  • BJP’s National Youth Wing held virtual condolence meeting for Waseem Bari, and his family

    (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Ram Madhav)Waseem Bari | Photo Credits: Twitter/Ram Madhav

    Srinagar: The national leadership of Bhartiya Janta Party Youth Wing on Monday paid rich tributes to their slain leaders who were killed by militants a few days ago at Bandipora.

    Poonam Mahajan paid tributes, called Wasim a great leader

    The meeting was attended by all National Office bearers , States Presidents , and state in-charges of Youth BJP.

    National Vice President BJP Youth Er Aijaz Hussain said that all the national leaders held virtual meeting, prayed for the departed souls, and discussed their contribution for the making up of the party in the Kashmir Valley.

    “As we have said, all leaders have felt the pain of trio. Today a condolence meeting was held, in which the departed were remembered, by all the office bearers, and leaders,” he national leader, who is also the in-charge of BJP youth wing West Bengal said in the statement.

    “Their separation has created a void in us which will be unable to fill. But we are strong ready to work for the peace, party and the national. We won’t let the enemy have easy ground,” he added.

    Er Hussain said that National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Poonam Mahajan, a parliament member graced the meeting. She had earlier spoken to the family of the slain on the phone.

    Hussain had earlier paid visit to the family with all the national level leaders including Ram Madhav ji, the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Dr Jitendra Singh MoS for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, State President BJP Ravinder Rana and others. The party had offered help to the family who also asked for stern action against medicos who desecrated the dead bodies of the martyrs,” he added.

    “The meeting of Madhav ji, Jitender ji and Ravinder ji have boosted our morale, as well as the families of the departed,” he said.

    Wasim Bari, who was the former district president of Bandipora, was killed along with the father, and brother outside his home by militants.

  • Coronavirus crisis may get ‘worse and worse and worse’, warns WHO

    The new coronavirus pandemic raging around the globe will worsen if countries fail to adhere to strict healthcare precautions, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday.

    “Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from the UN agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

    “If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go – it is going to get worse and worse and worse.”

    Global infections stand at 13 million, according to a Reuters tally, with more than half a million deaths.

    Tedros, whose leadership has been heavily criticised by US President Donald Trump, said that of 230,000 new cases on Sunday, 80 per cent were from 10 nations, and 50 per cent from just two countries.

    The US and Brazil are the countries worst hit.

    “There will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future … There is a lot to be concerned about,” Tedros added, in some of his strongest comments of recent weeks.

    Tedros said the WHO had still not received formal notification of the US pullout announced by Trump. The US president says the WHO pandered to China, where the Covid-19 disease was first detected, at the start of the crisis.

    Trump, who wore a protective face mask for the first time in public at the weekend, has himself been accused by political opponents of not taking the coronavirus seriously enough, something he denies.

    A WHO advance team has gone to China to investigate the origins of the new coronavirus, first discovered in the city of Wuhan. The team’s members are in quarantine, as per standard procedure, before they begin work with Chinese scientists, WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan said.

    – Agencies

  • CRPF Inspector Among 7 More Die Of Covid-19, J&K Toll 188

    Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported seven more deaths due to covid-19 including a 65-year-old who died while his sample for the virus was being taken and a paramilitary CRPF Sub Inspector posted with 18th battalion at Uranhal Kulgam.

    The fresh deaths take the fatality count due to the pestilence in J&K to 188—17 from Jammu and 171 from Kashmir Valley.

    The deaths include two persons, both aged 55 years, from Nikat Arbal and Litter Pulwama respectively, CRPF trooper posted in Kulgam, 70-year-old man from Handwara, 73-year-old woman from Soibugh Budgam, 45-year-old from Sopore and a 65-year-old man from Rawalpora Srinagar who died while his sampling was being done at CD hospital, one of the exclusive facilities for the management of the covid-19 patients here.

    Dr Salim Tak, Medical Superintendent at CD hospital told GNS that the quinquagenarian female from Pulwama was admitted on July 5. “She was suffering from Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bilateral pneumonia besides other ailments. She died today,” he added.

    Earlier a 45-year-old man from Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district died of covid-19 at SKIMS Soura.

    The quadragenarian was suffering from bilateral community acquired pneumonia (CAP) besides “multiple myelomas, thrombocytopenia and electrolyte dysfunction”, Dr G N Itoo, Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, told GNS. He died at SKIMS Soura around 5:45 a.m., Dr Itoo added.

    Meanwhile, a paramilitary CRPF trooper, who was posted in Kulgam, died at SMHS hospital. The trooper’s death is the second fatality due to the virus among the paramilitary ranks in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

    Medical Superintendent SMHS hospital Srinagar, Dr Nazir Choudhary told GNS that the 55-year-old died at the hospital this morning. “His sample came out to be positive this afternoon,” he added. The 65-year-old man from Rawalpora Srinagar who had died due to cardiac arrest while his sample was being taken for covid-19 tested positive for the virus later in the day.

    Dr Salim Tak told GNS that the man suffered cardiac arrest while his sampling was being done. “His sample was taken and it came positive for the covid-19 now,” he added. The other deaths include 555-year-old man from Pulwama, the 70-year-old man from Handwara and 73-year-old female from Sobugh Budgam, officials said. “They died in last few days and their sample same out positive today or late last night.”

    Srinagar district with 46 deaths has the highest fatalities followed by Baramulla (35), Kulgam (21), Shopian (16), Anantnag (14), Budgam (14), Jammu (10), Kupwara (11), Pulwama (6), Bandipora (3), Ganderbal (4) and Doda (2) while one death each has been reported from Poonch, Udhampur, Rajouri and Kathua. (GNS)

  • Will de-recognize private schools violating fee orders: Govt

    Complaints pouring frequently against some private schools of charging miscellaneous fee: DSEK

    Srinagar: The government on Monday said it will cancel the recognition of the private schools that violate the orders of the School Education Department and charge miscellaneous fees in the name of tuition fee during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The School Education department also warned the management of private schools of strict action in terms of relevant provisions of law in case of any violation.

    Following the government orders of de-recognition of involved private schools, the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) carried a series of stories wherein many private schools of Kashmir were allegedly charging the miscellaneous fee in the name of tuition fee.

    In this regard, the Directorate of School Education Department (DSEK) issued a circular, asking the private schools to refrain from violating the government orders.

    DSEK on June-16 issued circular— instructing all recognized private schools to charge only tuition fee from students on a monthly basis instead of quarterly basis for the lockdown period.

    “No fee hike shall be made during the academic session 2020-21 and the annual fee, if any, can be charged monthly on a pro-rata basis, after schools reopen,” reads the circular.

    DSEK in a circular said that the complaints are pouring on a frequent basis that some recognized private schools are still charging tuition fees as well as miscellaneous fees under the caption of tuition fee.

    It further stated that no School shall deny access to online education, material or classes for the continuous assessment to poor and deserving students, who are unable to pay school fees due to the prevailing situation.

    The School Education department impressed upon the recognized private schools to adhere to the instructions in letter and spirit.

    “In case any violation or non-seriousness, strict action shall be initiated against the particular School in terms of relevant provisions of law, which includes de-recognition thereof without further intimation,” it reads.

    In view of COVID-19 pandemic, the government earlier instructed the private schools in Jammu and Kashmir to extend the last date of deposit of school fees up to April-30 without any late fees.

    “No school shall either charge any fee for the online learning, assignments or shall link the result of the child on the basis of home assignment, “the government directed—(KNO)