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  • India | Coronavirus deaths increasing significantly in several States

    At least two States also record a sizeable rise in weekly cases

    In the past two weeks (June 1-14), 4,122 new COVID-19-related deaths were recorded in India, up from 2,380 deaths in the preceding two weeks. While Maharashtra continues to record the highest number of new deaths, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh registered significant increases in the past week.

    Tamil Nadu and Delhi also recorded a surge in the number of new cases in the past week.

    Weekly deaths

    The chart below show the number of weekly COVID-19-related deaths between March 10, when the first death was recorded, and June 14. The darker the colour of the rectangle, the higher the number of deaths that week.

    For the fourth week in a row, Maharashtra recorded more than 400 deaths. Delhi recorded over 500 deaths in the past week, while Gujarat recorded more than 200 deaths in each of the past two weeks. T.N. and U.P. recorded a significant uptick, with more than 100 deaths in the past week. Haryana also registered a sizeable increase in new deaths.

    Weekly cases

    The chart shows the number of weekly COVID-19 cases between January 30, when the first case was recorded in Kerala, and June 14. The darker the colour of the rectangle, the higher the number of deaths that week.

    For the fifth week in a row, Maharashtra recorded more than 10,000 cases. T.N. and Delhi recorded a drastic upsurge in new cases over the past week, with more than 12,000 new cases each up from around 9,000 cases each in the previous week.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hits J&K, third in 3 days

    Strong tremors were felt in most parts of the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, Kishtwar and Doda districts.

    PTI

    An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 hit Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Tuesday, officials said, the third to hit the union territory in three days.

    However, there were no reports of any damage, they said.

    The earthquake occurred at 7 am and its epicenter was is Tajikistan, according to the officials.

    Strong tremors were felt in most parts of the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, Kishtwar and Doda districts. Tremors were also felt in Jammu, they said.

  • One Indian Army officer, two jawans killed in Ladakh scuffle

    Senior military officials from the two countries are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation

    In a major escalation in the ongoing standoff between India and China on the border, one Officer and two jawans of the Indian Army lost their lives during a violent faceoff between troops in the Galwan area in Eastern Ladakh on Monday night.

    “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers,” the Army said in a statement. Senior military officials from the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation, it stated.

    However, Army sources said there was no firing during the face-off. There has been no firing on the border since 1975.

    The two sides have been undertaking limited disengagement in a phased manner in the Galwan area before the Corps Commander lelvel talks on June 6 which was expanded to more areas in Patrolling Points 14, 15, 17A and Gogra areas after the talks.

    Last Saturday, in the first acknowledgment of the ongoing standoffs, Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane had stated that troops of India and China are “disengaging” in a phased manner from the standoff areas along the border following the series of ground talks and lot of disengagement has happened in the Galwan river area.

    The standoff began with a scuffle in the Pangong Tso area after Chinese troops came in large numbers and resulted large number of injuries on both sides. There was a second scuffle on May 9 at Naku La in Nirth Sikkim.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • SMC mayor loses no-confidence motion

    BJP, NC corporators voted against me: Junaid Mattu                 

    Srinagar: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu on Tuesday lost the floor test after 40 corporators voted against him.

    The special session of corporation was held after the majority of corporators had moved a no-confidence resolution against Mattoo.

    41 councillors including the Deputy Mayor were present. 40 councilors voted against Mayor while Dy Mayor who presided the session didn’t vote. Under rules, the presiding officer (Dy Mayor) has to vote when there is a tie.

    “Out of 70 councillors, 40 corporators have voted against Mattoo,” officials in SMC told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

    It is worth to mention here that Congress councillors didn’t participate in the special session today.

    Meanwhile, Mattoo in his tweet said that he respect the verdict of corporation.

    “The vote of ‘No Confidence Motion’ against me, and the @JKPC_has been passed in the SMC with 42 votes out of 70. The @BJP4India, @JKNC_and some independents have polled against the @JKPC_and @INCIndia abstaining whip where 28 Corporators abstained,” Mattoo tweeted.

    “I respect the verdict of the Corporation. The seemingly unthinkable seems to have happened as @JKNC_ and @BJP4India have come together in Srinagar. But more on that later. Time to spend some time with my family after nearly four months of our war against #COVID19,” Mattoo wrote on twitter.

    Meanwhile,  the authorities will hold fresh election for the post of SMC Mayor—(KNO)

  • Five drug peddlers arrested in J&K

    PTI

    Jammu, Jun 15 (PTI) Five alleged drug peddlers were arrested on Monday after a large quantity of narcotic substance including poppy straw was seized from them at separate places in Samba, Udhampur and Jammu districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

    Yaspal Singh, a resident of Dharamkot area of Punjab, was arrested when 42 kg of poppy straw was recovered from his truck during checking at Jakhani on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district, a police spokesman said.

    Another drug peddler, Suresh Kumar alias Sheeshu was arrested with 12 grams of heroin in his possession near Shiv Nagar in Udhampur district, he said.

    Two more drug peddlers, Ram Kumar and Yog Raj of Kathua, were arrested and 26 kg of poppy straw was seized from them during checking at Tapyal near Ghagwal on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district, the spokesperson added.

    Manzoor Ahmad alias Kaka , a resident of Gol-Gujral, was arrested with 10 grams of heroin during checking of a parked load carrier at Kunjwani bypass in the outskirts of Jammu, the spokesman said.

  • New Zealand confirms two new cases of coronavirus

    The country declared itself free of COVID-19 last week but had warned that new cases may emerge in the future.

    Reuters

    New Zealand said on Tuesday that it has two new cases of the coronavirus, both related to recent travel from the U.K.

    The country declared itself free of COVID-19 last week but had warned that new cases may emerge in the future.

    The two new cases were related, the health ministry said in a statement.

  • Hizb Commander, Ex-PDP MLC’s nephew among 3 militants killed in Shopian

    Srinagar: A top commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen along with his two colleagues, one of them the nephew of a former PDP MLC, were killed in a gunfight in Turkwangam area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Tuesday.

    Sources told GNS that a joint team of Police, Army’s 44RR and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Turkwangam early morning.
    As the joint team approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the team, triggering off an encounter in which three militants were killed.

    While police said that the identity of the slain militants was yet to be ascertained, official sources identified the slain as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen district Commander Zubair Wani of Turkawangam, Kamran Manhas, nephew of former PDP MLC Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a resident of Sharaab Kareena and Muneeb-ul-Haq of Sugan Zainapora Shopian.

    Kamran Manhas had announced joining the Hizb ranks in January 2019 and a picture showing him holding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social media then. Reacting to it then, Zaffar Manhas said he was in “absolute disbelief” and that he and his family could never imagine such a thing even in dreams. Since then Zaffar Manhas left PDP and joined Jammu and Kashmir Apni party.

    Kamran was the first youth from the Sharaab Kareena village to join militancy in more than twenty years. It could not be ascertained immediately if any other youth has joined the militant ranks since then.

    With the fresh killings, 19 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants have been killed in Shopian and Kulgam district this month alone.

    Meanwhile, internet services have been suspended in Shopian district to prevent protests, sources added. (GNS)

  • Leopard drags 2-year-old baby, half-eaten body found in Kulgam village

    Kulgam: In a shocking incident, a leopard dragged out a two-year-old baby from his house and mauled him to death in Damhal Hanjipora area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday morning.

    Official sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that leopard appeared in Gujarbasti Korial village of Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district and pounced upon a 2-year-old baby last night.

    On finding the boy missing, the family and authorities of Wildlife department searched for him and partly-eaten body of the boy was recovered from the bushes in a forest near his village on today morning.

    The deceased baby has been identified as Muhammad Sharief Dragad (02) son of Abdul Latief of Gujarbasti Korial Damhal Hanjipora Kulgam.

    In charge Wild Life Kulgam, Shabir Ahmad Naik told KNO that body of the baby was found in nearby forest area—(KNO)

  • Rupee settles 19 paise lower at 76.03 against US dollar

    PTI

    Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 19 paise and closed below the 76 per dollar mark on Monday as weak domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.

    Forex traders said risk appetite has waned amid fresh cases of COVID-19 globally.

    The rupee opened weak at 75.93 at the interbank forex market. It fell further and finally settled for the day at 76.03 against the US dollar, down 19 paise over its last close.

    It had settled at 75.84 against the US dollar on Friday.

    During the four-hour trading session, the rupee witnessed an intra-day high of 75.93 and a low of 76.15.

    Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 472.54 points lower at 33,308.35 and the broader NSE Nifty fell 130.65 points to 9,842.25.

    Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 1,311.49 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

    Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.85 per cent to USD 38.40 per barrel.

    The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.13 per cent to 97.19.

    Meanwhile, investor sentiment remained fragile amid rising coronavirus cases across the world.

    India saw a jump of over 11,000 cases for the third consecutive day on Monday, taking the total number of infections to over 3.32 lakh, while the death toll rose to 9,520 with 325 more fatalities, the Health Ministry said.

    Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 79.25 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.33 lakh.

  • Sensex tanks 552 pts on second COVID wave fears

    PTI

    Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex plunged 552 points on Monday, dragged by heavy losses in financial stocks amid concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infections.

    After sinking over 857 points during the session, the 30-share index settled 552.09 points, or 1.63 per cent, lower at 33,228.80.

    Similarly, the NSE Nifty tumbled 159.20 points, or 1.60 per cent, to close at 9,813.70.

    IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tanking around 7 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel, ITC and HDFC Bank.

    On the other hand, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and ONGC were among the gainers.

    Market traded on a negative note on subdued global cues on fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases, Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi said.

    With signs that the deadly disease is coming back in China and the United States, investor optimism about economic recovery is beginning to fade, traders said.

    The number of cases linked to the disease around the world has crossed 79 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.33 lakh.

    In India, the number of infections rose to 3.32 lakh and the death toll rose to 9,520, according to the health ministry.

    Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul tanked up to 4.76 per cent. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading over 1 per cent lower.

    International oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.93 per cent to USD 38.37 per barrel.