Amethi (UP): One person was killed and about 10 others were injured in a clash between two parties in Raghaipur village under Sangrampur police station here, police said.
The incident took place on Wednesday when women belonging to rival groups involved in a land dispute had a tiff over a minor issue. It resulted in a clash in which about 11 people were injured of which one, Ram Anand Varma (57), succumbed to his injuries later in hospital, SP Khyati Garg said.
After the incident, the SP and deputy SP Piyush Kant Rai visited the spot.
Appropriate action will be taken against the accused, the SP said.
An FIR has been lodged by Sangrampur police in this regard and extra police force has been deployed in the village, she said.
Sharif (69), a cancer survivor, was currently isolating at home, Geo News quoted spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb as saying, adding that the Leader of Opposition was following his doctors’ advice on how to fight the infection.
Shehbaz Sharif, President of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a party spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
Mr. Sharif (69), a cancer survivor, was currently isolating at home, Geo News quoted spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb as saying, adding that the Leader of Opposition was following his doctors’ advice on how to fight the infection.
Speaking to Geo Pakistan, PML-N representative Ata Tarar revealed that Shehbaz, also the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had himself tested for COVID-19 after showing mild symptoms of the infection.
He said that the result of the test came back positive on Wednesday evening.
Shehbaz Sharif had appeared on Tuesday at NAB Lahore after he was summoned by the anti-graft body to answer questions related to the assets beyond means and money laundering case.
Earlier this week, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal had tested positive for COVID-19.
PML-N spokesperson Ms. Aurangzeb and her mother had also contracted the virus.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Memon also tested positive for the contagion. Memon is currently under self—isolation as well.
MQM lawmaker Shahana Ashar had also tested COVID-19 positive during the assembly session.
Last week, member of Punjab Assembly Shaukat Manzoor Cheema succumbed to the disease, after a month long battle with the deadly virus, The Express Tribune reported.
MPA in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel, and Sindh human settlement minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch also lost their lives to the virus in the same week.
Four other members of the K—P Assembly, Faisal Zeb Khan, Salahuddin Khan, Zeenat Bibi, and Jamshed Khan, also tested positive for the virus in the previous week.
The nationwide tally currently stands at 117,172 and the virus has claimed at least 2,317 lives in the country.
Srinagar: Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema Jammu Kashmir, headed by incarcerated Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has expressed concern and regret over some unfortunate incidents wherein those who die due to coronavirus (Covid-19) disease are not allowed to be buried in local graveyards.
MMU said many such incidents have also come to fore wherein hurdles are being created in performing the last rites of those who die due to the infection.
“This is unacceptable and a matter of deep concern,” the conglomerate of religious bodies said in a joint statement.
The MMU constituents which include Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid ,Darul Uloom Raheemiya, Muslim Personal Law Board, Anjuman Sharian Shian, Jamiat Ahle Hadeeth, Jamaat-e-Islami, Karwaan-e-Islami, Itihaad-ul-Muslimeen, Anjuman Himaayat-ul-Islam, Anjuman Tableegh-ul-Islam, Jamiat Hamdania, Anjuman Ulma-e-Ahnaaf, Darul Uloom Qasmiya, Darul Uloom Bilaliya, Anjuman Nusrat-ul-Islam, Anjuman Mazhar-ul-Haq, Anjuman Aima Wa Mashaaikh Kashmir, Muslim Waqf Board, Darul Uloom Naqshbandiya, Darul Uloom Rasheediya, Ahli Bayat Foundation, Madrasa Kanzul Uloom, Peerwaan-e-Wilaayat, Auqaf Islamia Khuram Sarhama, Anjuman Tanzeem-ul-Makaatib, Muhammadi Trust, and several social, religious and educational organizations in a joint statement made it clear that the Islamic scholars, Muftis and Shariah experts of international repute have already issued a Fatwa in the light of Qur’an and Sunnah that those dying due to this deadly virus are Shaheed.
The Islamic scholars, Muftis and Shariah experts also directed that the last rites including Namaaz-e-Jinazah and proper burial of those losing their lives due to coronavirus outbreak shall be carried out in an honourable and dignified manner with necessary precautions in place, the MMU said in the statement.
Quoting the Shairah and medical experts, the MMU said if it is not possible to carry out Ghusl (bathing) of any of those achieving martyrdom due to Covid-19, one can put water on the body using pipe or by wearing gloves.
The kit in which the hospital authorities wrap the deceased shall be treated as Kafan (final clothing of the deceased), the MMU said, adding that it is better if the family of the deceased wants to wrap the body with any cloth etc as a precautionary measure.
The Namaaz-e-Jinazah shall be performed while maintaining physical distance, the MMU while quoting medical experts, said.
It said that if the condition of the deceased demands burial along with the coffin, then it must be of thin plywood or a similar material; and that the burial must take place in the minimum possible time.
The MMU further said: “While the medical experts are of the opinion that the virus remains with the dead body for three to twelve hours, the present outbreak is also a kind of plague; so whoever among Muslims dies due to it is a Shaheed.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has already directed to carry out the last rites of the person dying due to Covid-19 according to his/her religion or faith.
The MMU has stressed upon the Imams, scholars, intellectuals and respected citizens to take note of the complaints related to last rites of those losing their lives to Covid-19 and spread the above clarified awareness among the masses.
Srinagar: A 62-year-old woman from Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died at a hospital here on Thursday, taking the number of coronavirus-related fatalities in the Union Territory to 52, officials said.
“A COVID positive patient (62) from Kulgam passed away at 9:10 am of cardiopulmonary arrest at SKIMS hospital Soura,” the officials said.
They said the patient was admitted to the hospital on June 7 as a case of acute calcular cholecystitis with hepatic flexural growth (CA Colon).
Her sample was taken on the same day and came out positive following which the patient was shifted to the infectious disease ward a day later, the officials said.
With her death, the number of fatalities due to the infection in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 52.
Native American activists have long objected to honoring Columbus, saying that his expeditions to the Americas led to the colonization and genocide of their ancestors.
A group of protesters pulled down a statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday, the latest U.S. monument to be torn down amid nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racial inequalities.
The 10-foot bronze statue was pulled from its granite base by several dozen people led by a Minnesota-based Native American activist outside the state Capitol, documented by news photographers and television camera operators.
“It was the right thing to do and it was the right time to do it,” the activist, Mike Forcia, told Reuters in apparent reference to more than two weeks of protests over the May 25 death of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
Native American activists have long objected to honoring Columbus, saying that his expeditions to the Americas led to the colonization and genocide of their ancestors.
Forcia said he was advised by a Minnesota state trooper that he could expect to be arrested in the coming days and charged with criminal destruction. A city crew removed the statue, which was broken at the base.
According to a website for the Capitol, the monument was created by sculptor Carlo Brioschi and dedicated in 1931 as a gift to the city from Italian-Americans in Minnesota.
On Tuesday, a monument to Columbus erected in Richmond, Virginia, in 1927 was vandalized and thrown into a lake. In the early hours of Wednesday in Boston, the head of a statue of the explorer was removed and broken.
In Washington, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Congress on Wednesday to remove from the U.S. Capitol 11 statues representing Confederate leaders and soldiers from the Civil War.
The Congress on Wednesday asked the government in the spirit of parliamentary democracy to brief political parties on the dispute over the Kalapani-Lipulekh area.
In a statement, Rajya Sabha member and chairperson of the Congress’s foreign affairs department Anand Sharma said the new map published by the Nepalese government, depicting the Kalapani-Lipulekh area as their own territory, was a matter of national concern.
“It is regrettable that the present impasse has reached a stage, which has strained the friendly relationship. This needs to be addressed urgently”, he said.
India has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nepal. Both countries have successfully settled 98 per cent of common border issues, Mr. Sharma noted. “The Congress party is of the considered view that diplomacy and negotiations must be given a chance to resolve the present issue”, he added.
Insisting that the COVID-19 crisis should be turned into an opportunity to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said steps have to be taken to ensure that products imported from abroad are manufactured in the country.
Addressing the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata over video conference, the Prime Minister said this is the time to make bold decisions and investments for the country to scale new heights.
“India’s goal of self-reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. The COVID-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction,” Mr. Modi said.
The Prime Minister also said that people-centric, people-driven and planet-friendly development has become part of the BJP-led Central government’s governance.
“India is fighting multiple challenges along with COVID-19, including floods, locust attack, earthquakes…We have to turn crisis into an opportunity for creating Atmanirbhar Bharat and take steps to ensure that products which we import from elsewhere are manufactured in India,” Mr. Modi added.
Moscow won’t interfere in India-China tensions: Russian lawmaker
‘These bilateral disputes should be dealt with bilaterally’
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Russia won’t “interfere” and wants India and China to resolve their border dispute bilaterally, a senior Russian lawmaker said, referring to the five-week-long military standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), drawing a contrast to the U.S. offer of mediation that India declined last week.
“Our official position is that these bilateral disputes should be dealt with bilaterally. We respect the sovereignty of India and the sovereignty of China. Russia should not interfere in these kinds of disputes… We would encourage dialogue and prevent the use of military force,” said Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council (Upper House of Parliament), speaking to Indian journalists at a press meet through videoconference ahead of Russia’s National Day.
Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev had met Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla last week when the situation at the LAC was discussed. The meeting came the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump and reportedly conveyed India’s position that it didn’t require mediation offered by Mr. Trump.
During the conversation, Mr. Modi had also welcomed an invitation from Mr. Trump to an “extended” G-7 summit that would include India, Russia, Australia and South Korea. Unlike New Delhi, however, Mr. Kosachev said that Moscow has many misgivings about the invitation, which it sees as an attempt to build an “anti-China” front. Mr. Kosachev said the Russian government would take a final decision once its doubts had been cleared, including on whether India and Russia and other invitees would be accepted by G-7 nations as “equal members” of a new group, or whether they would simply be “special guests, with no power to influence outcomes”.
“The problem with this invitation to the G-7 format is that Mr. Trump is extending it, and he doesn’t have the right to expand the forum by himself,” said Mr. Kosachev. “Mr. Trump wants to get countries together to make a joint position on China. I don’t think given our specific relations with China, or India’s relations with China, that this [would work]… I am against building a bloc that is aimed at another country,” Mr. Kosachev added.
Asked about the U.S.-led efforts for an Afghanistan reconciliation process that Russia backs, which would bring the Afghanistan government’s representatives and the Taliban leadership to the table later this month, Mr. Kosachev said India should “contribute to the political dialogue” as well. Last month, India was a notable exception, as the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan from Russia, Pakistan, Iran and China. Mr. Kosachev said he was surprised by the decision and he supports India’s inclusion in the format as a “neighbour state”.
“India has a common border with Afghanistan, so I am in favour of having India as a participant of the formats. I am surprised if India is not invited… that is not a good move. I would recommend Russia to take steps to involve India as much as possible,” Mr. Kosachev said, adding that while he understood India’s decision not to engage with the Taliban, the reality was that the Taliban is an “influential player in Afghanistan”.
“In Russia, the Taliban is still classified as an extremist movement. But at the same time we are realists and we understand Taliban is an influential player in Afghanistan, so if you exclude them from political dialogue you will not reach a solution,” Mr. Kosachev said.
Won’t interfere in India- China border issue, says Australian envoy
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‘It a matter for China and India to resolve it bilaterally’
Australia would not “interfere” in the ongoing situation between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said its High Commissioner to India, indicating a different line from the U.S. on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison are due to speak at a “virtual” bilateral summit on Thursday, where the two sides are expected to strengthen strategic cooperation and announce a Mutual Logistics Supply Agreement (MLSA) for the reciprocal use of each other’s bases and other military facilities.
“In relation to the border issues…that is a matter for China and India to resolve, not a matter for Australia to interfere with. What we have seen in the past week when others have sought to step in, it has been made clear that India and China will resolve it bilaterally,” said High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell, in a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate, as well as a U.S. official’s reference to the LAC situation as proof that China poses a “threat” to its neighbours.
Australia and China are currently are locked in tensions as well over a range of issues, from trade and the coronavirus pandemic to China’s moves in the South China Sea. However, the envoy made it clear that the issues would be kept separate from India’s current tensions over the Chinese army action on the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim.
Speaking about the summit on Thursday, which has been scheduled six months after it was cancelled in January last because of forest fires in Australia and then put off due to the pandemic, Mr. O’Farrell said the relationship would reach a “historic high” after the Prime Ministers’ discussions.
“The mutual LSA makes it easier for defence forces of both countries to conduct exercises like AUSINDEX and to facilitate access to each other’s bases,” Mr. O’Farrell told journalists in Delhi. “It is the sort of a relationship we have with many of our allies,” he added.
Australia had submitted a draft of the MLSA soon after India signed a similar “foundational agreement” with the U.S. in 2016, and it has taken nearly four years to negotiate. India was likely to sign LSAs with Russia, Japan and the U.K. as well in the near future, said officials.
Amongst a number of other agreements due to be announced during Thursday’s summit are COVID19-related cooperation at regional and multilateral institutions, said the High Commissioner.
An Army personnel was killed and a civilian injured as the Pakistani Army heavily shelled villages and forward posts along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts on Thursday, officials said.
This is fourth consecutive day of firing and shelling by the Pakistan Army.
Officials said the Pakistan Army opened fire and shelled civilian areas and forward posts in Nowshera sector this morning, leaving an Army man dead and a villager injured.
Indian troops guarding the borderline retaliated resulting in heavy exchanges, they said.
Several houses were damaged as Pakistani troops on Wednesday night opened fire and shelled mortars.
Pakistan targeted over a dozen villages along the LoC in Nowshera and Balakote sectors late Wednesday night with heavy mortars and guided missiles, they said.
People living in border hamlets took shelter in bunkers, they said.
The heavy shelling has triggered panic among border dwellers, who have asked authorities to provide them with more bunkers.
Muzaffarnagar: Three persons have been arrested for allegedly using plastic scrap to make jaggery at Bhokaheri village under Bhopa police station here, as official said on Thursday.
Police raided a jaggery manufacturing unite (kolhu) and arrested three persons on Wednesday, SHO, Bhopa police station Sanjive Kumar said.
Police have registered a case against five persons including the trio that was arrested while two of them managed to escape, he said, adding that two loaded tractor trolleys of plastic scrap have been seized.
