President Hassan Rouhani warned Iranians on Saturday to prepare to live with the novel coronavirus “for a long time”, as the country gradually rolls back restrictions imposed to curb the outbreak.
People should not assume that “this disease will be eliminated in 15 days or a month: we must therefore follow the instructions for a long time,” Mr. Rouhani said during a weekly meeting of the coronavirus taskforce.
“We must end all gatherings, be it marriage, mourning, or family visits, until told otherwise by the Health Minister,” he added.
Authorities have progressively lifted restrictions imposed to tackle the virus, and activity has almost returned to normal in most of the country’s 31 provinces.
The rising trajectory of infection figures since a low in early May and the lack of observance of physical distancing measures have authorities worried. According to Mr. Rouhani, there is no “second path” for Iran and economic activity across the country must continue.
Two Buffalo police officers were arraigned on Saturday on felony assault charges after a viral video showed them shoving an elderly protestor who remains critically injured after falling at a march against racism.
Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were part of a unit in tactical gear enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew on Thursday during the protest involving long-time community activist Martin Gugino, 75, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement.
“The two defendants, who are Buffalo Police officers, pushed a protestor outside of City Hall, causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk,” Flynn said.
Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault during the virtual arraignment before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah. They were released on their own recognizance and are due back in court on July 20.
If convicted of the charge, they face up to 7 years in prison.
Members of the Buffalo Police Department’s Emergency Response Team, the officers have been suspended without pay and are being investigated after a local radio station released video of the incident involving Gugino, which went viral and had more than 78 million views by midday Saturday.
He remains in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center, where he was treated for a head injury, loss of consciousness and bleeding from the right ear, Flynn said.
The western New York state city saw pockets of looting after dark like many cities across the United States, where countless otherwise peaceful protests were staged in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
The video shows Torgalski pushing Gugino before he fell and McCabe about to kneel toward the man sprawled on the sidewalk before being moved along by a supervisor, the Buffalo News reported. Police initially said the man tripped.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said he has not asked for the officers to be fired.
“It is very important that the officers know they are getting due process,” Brown said. “Our information was that individual was an agitator.”
Country overtakes Spain in numbers even as study finds that infectivity rose from lockdown 1.0 to 3.0.
Registering a new high in the number of daily cases detected — 10,085 — India on June 6 overtook Spain to become the country with the fifth highest confirmed COVID-19 infections (2,46,292). The rise in cases comes despite the fact that 1,37,938 samples were tested on June 6, down from 1,43,661 on June 5, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The death toll increased by 292 to 6,941, even as the recovery rate remained at close to 48%. Cases have steadily risen, doubling every 17 days, among the fastest in countries with the most infections.
The increase in infections is reflected in a study led by officials at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), a Union Health Ministry body, tasked with disease surveillance. The study found that India’s reproduction number (R0), or the average number of people a single COVID-positive patient infects, has increased between lockdown 1.0 and the beginning of lockdown 3.0. Moreover, India needs 621 million ‘recoveries’ to achieve ‘herd immunity’ at current rates of disease transmission, says the study that appeared online on June 2 in the peer-reviewed Indian Journal of Public Health (IJPH).
India reported its first 100 cases on March 15, and its effective transmission rate then was 2.51. That means, on average, every two infected persons were infecting five others. However, not everyone spreads the virus equally. Some may have higher viral load, some a reduced load and yet others may be more mobile and spread it wider than more sedentary persons. To factor these varying rates of spread, epidemiologists compute reproduction rates in a population as an average. For a pandemic to end, this number must dip below 1.
The initiation of the lockdown reduced the R0, the authors say. “On April 2, 8 days after Phase 1 lockdown, the estimated Rt (the R0 at a particular period) decreased to 1.91. At the end of Phase 1 (April 14) and Phase 2 (May 3) of lockdown, Rt was 1.28 and 1.83. As of May 4, 2020, latest Rt of 2.04 was estimated,” the authors note. May 4, or the beginning of lockdown 3.0 saw easing of restrictions in public activity. Since May 4, India’s COVID count has multiplied five fold as have deaths.
One of the co-authors of the study Additional Director, NCDC, Sudhir Kumar Jain that The Hindu reached out to said the R0 was “decreasing” as of present but he didn’t explain the increasing R0 in the study. He directed this correspondent to the study’s corresponding author, Dr Tanzin Dikid, Joint Director, NCDC, who said she didn’t immediately have institutional clearance to discuss the paper with the media.
“In respiratory infections with a novel virus, herd immunity is usually the only way to stop a pandemic. The whole world is grappling with this,” said Dr. Jain.
A key wing of the NCDC is the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme that is tasked with monitoring infectious outbreaks and has experience in epidemiology. The authors of the study say that the lockdown has “slowed the pandemic” and that India’s health system responded to the pandemic “with swiftness.”
Their estimate for herd immunity at 45% was contingent on maintaining Rt of 1.83 which was “achieved at the end of extended lockdown.”
However the Rt could keep increasing when the lockdown is lifted and ought to be “deliberated extremely cautiously considering critical care demand and fatalities, nature and length of immunity developed after infections, and the possibility of viral mutations, the authors underline.
The infection trend was computed by a software that used existing infection trends to calculate the reproduction number at various points of the pandemic. Dr. Sanjay Rai, President, Indian Public Health Association which publishes the IPJH said herd immunity referred to the number of people protected, either by exposure or vaccination. “The first lockdown certainly slowed progression and was meant to prepare our health facilities but it isn’t clear what the objectives of the subsequent lockdowns were.”
Dr. Rai was among the signatories of a recent petition by public health experts that criticised the government for not taking field-level epidemiologists on board on deciding lockdown extensions, “Estimates of R0 are all projections based on various assumption and we still don’t know what the true numbers are for India,” he said.
India and Russia are the only countries with 2,00,000 cases plus where a lockdown has failed to curb a rise in cases. However, deaths in both these countries are the lowest when compared to other similarly placed countries. Brazil with 500,000 cases and 35,000 deaths didn’t impose a national lockdown. The U.S. with 1.9 million cases and over a 1, 00,000 deaths is still in a lockdown.
Government experts in charge of India’s COVID management strategy have at different points claimed that the lockdown was about stamping out the infection by mid-May but are now arguing that it was about ensuring the number of new cases didn’t exceed hospitals’ healthcare capacity.
Indian and Chinese officers meet at Moldo border personnel meeting point, opposite Chushul in eastern Ladakh.
India and China held crucial talks between senior military commanders on Saturday in an effort to ease the tension along the border.
Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh, Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, led the Indian delegation to the Chinese border personnel meeting point at Moldo, opposite Chushul in eastern Ladakh. The Chinese side was represented by Maj. Gen. Liu Lin, Commander of the South Xinjiang military region.
Sources said the difference in ranks did not denote a difference in seniority, and it was because of China’s military structure being different from India’s. The talks were scheduled to begin early but were delayed and started around 11.30 a.m. and went on for several hours, sources said.
No breakthrough
While the outcome was not known, the talks were not believed to lead to any major breakthrough but only set the stage for further talks.
India’s major demand is the restoration of status quo before May, as beginning early May Chinese troops moved in large numbers into Indian territory at Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra in eastern Ladakh, and de-induction of troops by China.
Another concern is Chinese build-up at Finger 4 of Pangong Tso up to where India has always held territory, while it claims areas as far as Finger 8. In addition, China moved armour and artillery close to the Line of Actual Control on its side, a measure which is against the boundary agreements.
As a procedure, at the end of the talks, the two sides finalise the minutes of the meeting. Once the delegation returns, the Corps Commander would give an update to the Northern Army Commander and the Army chief, sources explained.
Before the talks began, the Army issued an advisory to the media that both sides remained engaged through established military and diplomatic channels “to address the current situation in the India-China border areas” and speculation would not be helpful. “At this stage, therefore, any speculative and unsubstantiated reporting about these engagements would not be helpful and the media is advised to refrain from such reporting,” it said.
Since the tension began, both Armies have held dialogues at various levels, including three meetings at the level of Major-General. Military experts had already stated that the military talks would not lead to a solution but would set the ground for diplomatic talks to end the impasse.
On Friday, Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs, held a video-conference with Wu Jianghao, Director-General of the Asia Department at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China said both sides agreed to “implement the consensus that two countries do not constitute a threat to each other” and “do not let differences rise into disputes”.
Separately, in the midst of the tension, China has appointed a new commander to oversee the People’s Liberation Army’s Ground Forces along the India border. On June 1, it was announced that Lt. Gen. Xu Qiling was appointed as the new commander of the PLA Western Theater Command Ground Force. He will report to General Zhao Zongqi, commander of China’s Western Theater Command.
It will give legal status to the updated map of the country that claims parts of Indian territory
Nepal is expected to pass the Second Constitution Amendment Bill next week, giving the legal status to the updated map of the country that claims parts of the Indian territory. The Bill was introduced in parliament on May 31. It is learnt that the government of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli will try to get the Bill cleared on June 9.
When asked by The Hindu, a Nepalese source said the amendment would “most likely” be passed with the required two-thirds majority on June 9. It has already secured the support of the main Opposition Nepali Congress, and is expected to go through smoothly.
The passage of the Bill will intensify the diplomatic crisis between India and Nepal as Kathmandu claims Kalapani, which is part of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. It is understood that Nepalese and Indian diplomats are in contact, but there is yet to be any substantial dialogue on the dispute.
A Bill brought before the Nepalese parliament for amendment must go through a process whereby it can be improved upon. This includes a month-long phase when the public can write to the parliament secretariat to modify the Bill. Members of parliament can also bring in additional changes in the text.
The Madhesi parliamentarians have attempted a change in the amendment, asking parliament to take up amendments related to their region along with the Second Constitution Amendment. But it is not yet clear whether this will be accepted by parliament where the Nepal Communist Party enjoys majority.
His comment was seconded by SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal.
Giani Harpreet Singh, chief priest of the Akal Takht, the highest Sikh temporal seat, on Saturday said Sikhs wanted “khalistan” and if the government (of India) offered it, they would accept it.
Mr. Singh was responding to a question from a journalist on the shouting of pro-‘khalistan’ slogans on the Golden Temple premises in Amritsar on the 36th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
Heated arguments broke out between Sikh activists and police personnel and they almost came to blows as the former sought entry into the Golden Temple, which has not yet been opened owing to the lockdown.
Mr. Singh said, “If slogans are raised after the function, there is nothing wrong in it… If the government offers ‘khalistan’, what else can we ask for? All Sikhs want ‘khalistan’; we will accept it.”
His comment was seconded by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal. To a similar question, he said, “If anyone [government] offers it, we will accept it.”
It was on June 6, 1984, the Army stormed the complex of Harmandir Sahib (Golden temple) to flush out extremists led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Manoranjan Kalia, who was a Minister in the previous Akali Dal- BJP government, said people holding responsible post should not behove or do acts that caused a scratch on the communal harmony and peace of Punjab.
“By justifying the demand of ‘khalistan’, Jathedar of the Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh has injured the feelings of Punjabis. It was not expected from a person sitting on a responsible post,” he said.
With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of abating, it seems unlikely that Muslims from India will be able to undertake the Haj pilgrimage this year, sources said on Saturday.
However, they said the government will take a final decision on the matter only after Saudi Arabia makes its position on hosting the pilgrimage clear.
A circular issued by the Haj Committee of India on Friday said only a few weeks are left for the preparatory work in India for Haj 2020, yet the Saudi authorities have not communicated any further development regarding the pilgrimage.
“In view of the several inquiries received and concerns expressed over uncertainty over Haj 2020, it has been decided by the Haj Committee of India that, those pilgrims who desire to cancel their Haj journey this year, their 100% amount paid so far will be refunded without any deductions,” the circular issued by Haj Committee of India CEO Maqsood Ahmed Khan said.
“Coronavirus cases are increasing in Saudi Arabia and two lakh people have to go from here. We had made preparations, but now there is very little time left. We are waiting for an official word from Saudi Arabia,” a top source told PTI.
In response to a question, the source said, “This time, it is unlikely that people will be able to undertake Haj from India.”
Uncertainty has been looming large over this year’s Haj in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and though Saudi Arabia has not made a decision on whether the annual pilgrimage will be held or not, it did ask Muslims to delay their bookings till there is more clarity.
The bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement between India and Saudi Arabia was signed last December.
In 2020, a total of 2 lakh Indian Muslims were expected to perform Haj.
Over 95,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 600 deaths have been reported in Saudi Arabia due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Some countries have decided not to send their people for Haj this time. The most prominent among these is Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
The Haj 2020 is proposed in the period between late July and early August.
The Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam which every Muslim is required to complete at least once in their lifetime if they are healthy enough and have the means to do so.
The Srinagar NIT scholars shared memes making light of the fact that Eid coincided in J&K and Pakistan. But a fellow student found them ‘anti-national’ & filed a complaint.
Srinagar: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar has formed an internal committee to look into a complaint against 14 Kashmiri research scholars who have been accused of posting “anti-national” memes on an official WhatsApp group for the institute’s researchers.
The institute, it is learnt, has also decided to halt the fellowships of the scholars, even though the university officially denies it has taken any such action.
The incident centres on certain WhatsApp messages regarding Eid-ul-Fitr, which was celebrated in Jammu and Kashmir on 24 May, the same day as Pakistan and some other countries, and the rest of India on 25 May.
The date for Eid-ul-Fitr varies with the sighting of the new moon by local religious authorities. As the new moon this year was sighted in Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir on 23 May, they celebrated Eid the next day.
According to the complaint, accessed by ThePrint, the research scholars, besides exchanging ‘Eid Mubarak’ messages in the official WhatsApp group, also shared memes poking fun at the fact that J&K was celebrating Eid with Pakistan instead of India.
Some NIT scholars said the memes were meant to be jokes. They said the memes were shared after residents of Jammu & Kashmir were vilified on social media once it emerged that Eid date in the union territory would coincide with that in Pakistan, which claims Kashmir to be its own territory. They also called the administration’s response outsized compared to the nature of the episode.
“When to celebrate Eid depends on the moon sighting, so why should anyone object to that and, second, some memes were shared among friends and colleagues as a funny gesture. Does it warrant such a response?” an NIT scholar asked.
Memes kick up row
The memes in question include a famous scene from Sanjay Dutt-starrer Hindi film Munnabhai MBBS, depicting protagonist Munnabhai’s close companion Circuit as saying, “Bhai ne bola karne ka matlab karne ka (Bhai has said you ought to do it, so you must).”
In the movie, the dialogue seeks to represent Circuit’s efforts to execute all of Munnabhai’s instructions. In the meme, it was supposed to make light of criticism about the Eid date coinciding in J&K and Pakistan, NIT scholars said.
A screenshot of the Munnabhai MBBS meme
The screenshots sent by the complainant also include a popular meme that invokes a common joke among Muslims regarding the belief that “shaitan” or the devil remains chained during the month of Ramzan. The belief is meant to convey that sins ebb during the holy period.
The meme shows a man dressed in orange pyjamas sleeping on his bed, beside a new set of clothes and shoes.
While the original meme was meant to make fun of the fact that several people were excitedly waiting for the Covid-19 lockdown to end, the Kashmiri version gives it a twist.
The original meme
The meme repurposed in line with a joke commonly shared among Muslims
The meme shared on the group sought to depict the man in the photo as the devil waiting for Ramzan to end so he can go out.
Another meme cited by the complainant included a still from the popular Turkish series Dirilis Ertugrul, with a caption underneath saying “Eid Mubarak”. It wasn’t immediately clear why this meme was found offensive.
In his email to the NIT authorities as well as the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Home Affairs, the complainant has interpreted the meme as an attack on a particular religion because the man is wearing orange pyjamas. The colour saffron is often associated with Hinduism.
The complainant has sought suspension of the research scholars and also demanded that their scholarships be stopped and an inquiry be initiated against them.
An internal communication of NIT dated 25 May suggests that the dean of academic affairs, Kowsar Majid, on the direction of director Rakesh Sehgal, subsequently called for the 14 research scholars’ fellowships to be halted. However, the premier engineering institute told ThePrint that they had let the students off with counselling.
NIT registrar Professor S.K. Bukhari said the management had not taken any action yet but had advised and counselled the students to use the official WhatsApp group for academic purposes and not share posts others might find objectionable.
“It is not a major issue. Some scholars posted material found objectionable by an individual. We haven’t taken any action yet but we have advised and counselled all the students to be respectful to each other’s sentiments,” Bukhari told ThePrint Tuesday.
However, the scholars said the NIT’s decision to take action against them was a “disturbing development”.
“It is disturbing to see the management take the exact decisions recommended by the complainant, who is himself a student. To stop our stipends based on sharing of memes is beyond humiliating,” said a second NIT scholar.
“We are in this institute because we have qualified competitive exams, no one did a favour to us by admitting us here. Our work not only helps our careers but also helps the institute build its name. The scholars here have chosen research because they have a passion for it despite being paid low stipends. And today we are being told that your ‘hefty’ stipends have been stopped. We are not beggars,” said the scholar.
DC visits spot assures strict action against culprits, Police registers case, probe on
Srinagar: Miscreants made an unsuccessful bid to torch a shrine at Chattabal area of Srinagar late-night yesterday by hurling a petrol bomb that exploded on a parked two-wheeler.
Police sources said that at around 1 O’clock, miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at Babul Hawaij (Ra) shrine at Chattabal. “The petrol bomb however, landed on a two wheeler parked on a road side causing damage to it,” they told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
Soon after the incident, police officials and the officers from the administration visited the spot to take stock of the situation. Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary also visited the spot and ordered a probe into the incident besides condemning the act in strong words.
Police have registered case under sections 78/20 under section/447, 427, 295, 436, 511 of IPC in police station Safa Kadal.
Meanwhile, president of Itehadul Muslimeen Moulana Masroor Abbas Ansari strongly condemned the attack on the shrine stating that shrine is revered as it houses a copy of holy Quran written by the great grandson of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) Hazrat Moosa Kazim (As). In a statement issued here, Masroor Abbas Ansari said that some elements wan to trigger a communal frenzy by resorting such acts for their personal gains.
“It is clear that some elements are out to divide people on sectarian lines and we must remain vigilant to defeat these vested interests. We urge the administration to take strict action against those who are behind the act,” Ansari said—(KNO)
Srinagar: The Srinagar district administration reached out to and held interactive sessions with religious heads and heads of places of worship in various Tehsils across the district. Hundreds of clerics and heads of religious institutions participated.
The aim of the interactive sessions to urge these heads to be messengers and sensitize the masses about the critical need to follow precautions to prevent spread and contraction of COVID-19.
The sessions were held in Tehsils Khanyar and North Srinagar witnessing considerable participation therein. Religious heads of all places of worship belonging to all different faiths attended the sessions and took part in interactions and deliberations held on the occasion.
In Khanyar Tehsil Deputy Commissioner Srinagar chaired the interactive session in which besides religious heads of places of worship from the across the Tehsil civil society members and other respectable citizens were also present as participants.
Speaking on the occasion the DC said that COVID-19 is now a part of life at least till a vaccine becomes available and since lockdown and restrictions cannot be enforced forever following all precautions as due gains crucial significance.
He urged all religious and other heads to assist the administration in efforts to sensitise the masses about the dangers of taking the novel coronavirus for granted and the critical need to follow all precautions and guidelines to prevent its spread and contraction.
Referring to religious heads of mosques, gurdwaras, temples and churches who were present on the occasion Dr Shahid said people listen to them and believe in their words and messages and urged them to use their influence in spreading awareness and encouraging a culture of preventions.
Experts from Department of Preventive Medicine dwelled on precautions to be adopted by the public including mandatory use of mask, social distancing, hygiene and observing SOPs.
Tehsildar North and other senior officers organiser the interactive session at Hazratbal. Significant participation of religious and other heads as well as respectable members of civil societies were witnessed in each Tehsil.
During these sessions the importance of social distancing, using of face masks, washing of hands with soap, avoiding crowd and social gatherings among other guidelines were emphasises. The participants were urged to propagate these messages and help the administration in its efforts to contain spread of COVID-19 disease.
In each of these interactive sessions held across the district suggestions and feedback were also sought from participants and representatives and heads of mohallas. These suggestions and feedback were noted for incorporation in guidelines and improvements in services and efforts put in place on the ground.
The administration shared its future plans and strategies with participants in each interactive session and urged all citizens to support it in its sincere efforts. The participants in all these interactive sessions assured the administration of their full support and assistance to reach out to masses and spread the message of precautions and guidelines.
The district wise initiative to elicit greater involvement of clerics and heads of religious institutions for public awareness on precautions will cover more than 2000 mosques , madarsas, temples , Gurudwara,church and all places of worship. Printed material about precautions Wareness is also being distributed.
