Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-06-29

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It is raining drones over vital
security installations in the
Jammu region.
After a sensational drone
attack on Jammu Air Force
Station late on Sunday, two
more drones were spotted over
Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military
station located on the
Jammu-Pathankot National
highway in the wee hours of
Monday. Alert troops fired
upon them.
On May 14, 2002,
Kaluchak military station was
attacked by three Pakistani ter-
rorists who had infiltrated via
the International border.
Wearing combat dresses the
fidayeens (members of the sui-
cide squad) had barged inside
the Kaluchak military station
after lobbing grenades at the
front gate.
At least 31 people, includ-
ing three Army personnel, 18
Army family members and 10
civilians, were killed and 47
others were wounded in one of
the bloodiest terror attacks.
Repeated incidents of
drone spotting and their use for
weapons dropping, narcotics
smuggling is keeping security
forces on the tenterhooks for a
long time.
Defence Spokesman in
Jammu, Lt Col Devender
Anand said, “On midnight of
27-28 June 2021, two separate
drone activities were spotted
over Ratnuchak-Kaluchak
Military area by troops. The
first drone was spotted at
around 2345 hours on June 27
and the second was noticed in
the vicinity at around 0240
hours on June 28, 2021”.
Immediately, a high alert
was sounded and Quick
Reaction Teams engaged them
with firing.
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Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Monday
announced eight new schemes
involving C1.5 lakh crore of
addition credit facility to pro-
vide a helping hand to the sec-
tors worst affected by the
restriction imposed under the
Covid-19 lockdown across the
country. Health and tourism
sectors have drawn special
attention of the FM. The
Government also extended
benefits from the free food-
grain programme for unprivi-
leged people till November.
Under the news schemes,
the Centre would extend a
federal guarantee on bank loans
to healthcare sector while waiv-
ing visa fees for 500,000 foreign
tourists to perk up tourism.
Together with previously
announced C93,869 crore
spending on providing free
foodgrains to the poor till
November and additional
C14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy,
the stimulus package — most-
ly made up of Government
guarantee to banks and micro-
finance institutions
for loans they extend to Covid-
hit sectors — totalled up to
C6.29 lakh crore.
Addressing a press confer-
ence, Sitharaman said,
“Economic relief measures are
being announced today.”
She provided C23,220 crore
of additional funding for set-
ting up children and paediatric
care/paediatric beds at hospi-
tals to prepare healthcare infra-
structure to deal with any
emergency arising for Covid
wave hitting children.
To incentivise job creation,
the Government committed
to paying the employer and
employee’s share to provident
fund (PF) for all new recruit-
ments done till March 2022.
Previously, the Government
paid C902 crore for 21.42 lakh
beneficiaries of 79,577 estab-
lishments.
With the tourism sector
being hit hard by the pandem-
ic, she announced up to C10
lakh loan to tourist agencies
and C1 lakh loan to tourist
guides while waiver of visa fee
for the first 5 lakh foreign
tourists visiting India after
travel restrictions ease.
Tourist visa fee waiver
will cost the Government
C100 crore.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Days after blocking Union
Information Technology
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s
Twitter account for almost an
hour, Twitter courted a new
controversy on Monday after a
page on its website showed a
distorted map of India. This
time map on Twitter showed
Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh
as separate countries. This is
the second time Twitter has
misrepresented India’s map.
Earlier it had shown Leh as part
of China.
However, soon after a
backlash on social media,
Twitter removed from its web-
site the distorted map of India.
Sources said the Ministry
of Electronics and Information
Technology is looking into the
issue, and the Government
may take strict action against
Twitter. “The Government has
taken cognizance of this issue
and is inquiring about when
the changes were made in the
map,” sources added.
The distorted map
appeared on Twitter website’s
Career section under the head-
ing “Tweep Life” section. The
section on the career page has
a world map.
It showed a demarcation
between the map of India and
Jammu Kashmir and
Ladakh. Jammu Kashmir
and Ladakh were represented
as separate countries. The com-
pany showed that there was a
team of Twitter users all over
the world.
The misrepresentation
caused an uproar online amid
the ongoing impasse between
the Government and the
microblogging platform. Many
Twitter users shared screen-
shots and slammed Twitter’s
gross misrepresentation of
India’s map.
The distorted map was
first noticed by user
@thvaranam.
The hashtag “Twitter Ban”
in India became one of the top
trends on it. In fact, a twitter
user said Twitter is banned in
China but still shows China
occupied Ladakh as part of
China. But doesn’t show
Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh
as part of India. Even big-tech
crawls before China despite not
being allowed.
?=BQ =4F34;78
India saw a new vaccine
record at 32.36 crore doses as
it surpassed the United States
in total number of doses
administered so far. The US has
given 32.33 crore doses.
In fact, India has recorded
the highest weekly vaccination
with over 3.3 crore jabs admin-
istered in the last 5 days since
the launch of the revised vac-
cination policy on June 21.
This comes amid a dip in
fresh Covid cases as India reg-
istered 46,148 cases in the last
24 hours and 979 deaths, tak-
ing the overall cases to
3,02,79,331 and the total num-
ber of deaths to 3.96 lakh.
Responding to a tweet by
the Union Health Ministry
which said India has overtak-
en the US in the total number
of Covid vaccine doses, the
Prime Minister congratulated
those who got vaccinated
against the coronavirus disease,
and also lauded front-line war-
rior working hard to
ensure so many citizens got
the vaccine.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In a finding that will have a
major bearing on the much-
anticipated “third wave” of
Covid-19, a sero-survey con-
ducted by the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC)
has revealed that more than 50
per cent of the paediatric pop-
ulation — already exposed to
SARS-COV-2 — has devel-
oped antibodies.
One of the key findings of
sero-survey of SARS-CoV-2
infection among the children in
Mumbai — conducted by BYL
Nair Hospital and Kasturba
Molecular Diagnostic
Laboratory of the BMC —
suggested that “more than 50
per cent of the paediatric pop-
ulation in a healthcare setting
have already been exposed to
SARS-COV-2”.
“The overall sero-positiv-
ity is 51.18 per cent. This
includes 54.36 per cent from
the public sector and 47.03 per
cent from the private sector.
Moreover, it is found that, the
proportion of paediatric pop-
ulation having antibodies
increased as compared to ear-
lier sero-survey. Seropositivity
is highest in the age group 10-
14 years i. e. 53.43 per cent,”
Mumbai Municipal
Commissioner IS Chahal said,
giving details of the sero-sur-
vey findings of paediatric pop-
ulation.
Anticipating that the pos-
sible third wave of Covid-19
might affect children dispro-
portionately, Chahal and
Additional Municipal
Commissioner (Western
Suburbs) Suresh Kakani had
directed the two medical estab-
lishments to conduct
sero-survey of paediatric pop-
ulation during the second
wave itself.
As per the directions, BYL
Nair Hospital and Kasturba
Molecular Laboratory con-
ducted the sero-survey between
April 1 to June 15, 2021.
B0D60AB4=6D?C0 Q:;:0C0
The mudslinging between
Raj Bhavan and Nabanna
(State secretariat) hit a new low
with Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Monday
calling Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar a “corrupt man”
alleging that his name had fig-
ured in the Jain hawala scam.
Hours later, the Bengal
Governor refuted the charges
saying he had nothing to do
with the scam and that he had
never had to move the court on
the issue.
He added that the names of
her own party colleague and
former Union Minister
Yashwant Sinha and late
Trinamool Congress leader Ajit
Panja were indeed in the charge
sheet though they were acquit-
ted in the case.
The Chief Minister’s alle-
gations came hours after
Dhankhar raised a demand
for an audit by Comptroller
and Auditor General into the
financial affairs of Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration. He
said “thousands of crores of
taxpayers money have not been
accounted for” and hence he as
the Governor of the State was
“empowered to order an audit”
into GTA finances.
Mamata said, “Though I
feel bad saying this, he is a cor-
rupt person… the Governor
was named in the 1996 Jain
hawala case. I am sorry to say,
but he is a corrupt man. Why
did the Central Government
allow such a person to become
a Governor? If the Centre does
not know it, then I am telling
them. Check the chargesheet,
you will know if he was named
or not.”
Mamata further said, “He
(Governor) later appeared in
the court and got his name
cleared and later on a fresh writ
or PIL was filed and the mat-
ter is still pending... I have
already written to the Centre
three times seeking his with-
drawal from Bengal.”
Referring to his north
Bengal visit, the CM said the
Governor was trying to create
disturbance in the State by
encouraging divisive elements.
“He is intentionally trying
to disturb north Bengal… he
went there and spoke to peo-
ple who believe in dividing the
State,” the Bengal
CM said questioning the tim-
ing of his visit to that part of
the State.
?C8Q B894:
Olympic-bound Rahi
Sarnobat displayed sen-
sational form to clinch the
women’s 25m pistol gold medal
at the ISSF shooting World Cup
here on Monday, however
teen sensation Manu
Bhaker ended seventh in the
same event.
Sarnobat’s gold is India’s
first in the ongoing edition after
the country secured one silver
and two bronze medals earlier
in the tournament.
The 30-year-old Sarnobat
fired a final score of 39 after
qualifying second with a total
of 591.
Her stupendous perfor-
mance in the final included
perfect scores in the third,
fourth, fifth and the
sixth series.
“After I got assurance about
the gold, it was more about
technicalities for me in the last
few series as I wanted
to try out a few things so I was
doing that,” she said about her
stellar performance.
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New Delhi: Over 300 drones
and unidentified flying objects
have been sighted along the
sensitive border with Pakistan
post the 2019 abrogation of
Article 370, central security
agencies have said, even as
they grapple to find a suitable
technology to check these lethal
sky-floaters. PTI
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New Delhi: It will be unfair to
put a date for any Covid wave
as the behaviour of coron-
avirus is unpredictable and a
disciplined and effective pan-
demic response can help the
country get away from any sig-
nificant outbreak, Covid Task
Force chief VK Paul said on
Monday.
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Nainital: The Uttarakhand
High Court on Monday stayed
the Char Dham Yatra reversing
a State Cabinet’s decision to
open it partially for residents of
three districts from July 1. P3
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Paris: Star Indian archer
Deepika Kumari on Monday
regained the number one posi-
tion in global rankings follow-
ing her hat-trick of gold medals
at the World Cup Stage 3 here.
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The State Government has
yet again extended the
Covid-curfew in the State
by one week with more
relaxations.
According to the guidelines
issued by Chief Secretary Om
Prakash, the Covid curfew will
be effective till 6 am on July 6.
However, as part of relax-
ations provided in this phase of
the Covid curfew, the market
will remain open from 8 am to
7 pm on June 29, 30 and July
1, 2, 3 and 5.
The shops selling vegeta-
bles-fruits, dairies, sweet shops
and florists will be allowed to
open daily from 8 am to 7 pm.
All the gymnasiums will be
allowed to open at 50 per cent
capacity while observing Covid
protocols.
Further, all coaching insti-
tutes will be allowed to teach
students aged above 18 years at
50 per cent capacity while
observing Covid protocols.
Areas under the forest
department including tiger
reserves and zoos will be
opened with Covid protocols for
tourism, forest management
and maintenance. The depart-
ment will issue standard oper-
ating procedures (SOPs) for
this. The rest of the relaxations
and restrictions will remain
effective as in the past phases of
the Covid curfew.
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BSP supremo Mayawati’s
decision of going it alone in
Uttarakhand has ensured multi
cornered contests in Assembly
constituencies of Haridwar and
Udham Singh Nagar in the cru-
cial Assembly elections slated
early next year.
Though the strength of
the BSP which once was a for-
midable political force in
Uttarakhand has decreased
substantially in recent times the
party believes that it has a
chance in Haridwar and
Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Both districts have sizeable
populationofDalitandMuslims,
the traditional vote banks of the
party in the State. Haridwar
district has a population about
seven lakh Dalit and Muslim
votes presents a good prospec-
tive for BSP in the elections.
In Haridwar, the BSP had
won five Assembly seats in the
Assembly election of the year
2002 and improved with six
seats in the Assembly elections
of 2007 but in the elections of
2012 the party could manage to
win in only three seats in the
district while it drew a nil in the
elections of 2017.
In Udham Singh Nagar
BSP had won Sitarganj and
Pantnagar- Gadarpur seats in
the elections of 2002 and 2007
but in the last two elections the
party has fizzled out there.
A look at the performance
of the party suggests that in the
first and second Assembly elec-
tions BSP presented a good
performance but the slide start-
ed in the third elections (2012)
and the party logged in its
worst performance in the elec-
tions of 2017 where it failed to
win even a single seat.
The BSP cornered 10.9
per cent votes and won seven
seats in the first Assembly
electionsofUttarakhandinthe
year 2002. In the elections of
2007, the party
increased its vote
percentage to 11.8
to bag eight seats.
In the elec-
tions of 2012,
the party fur-
ther increased
its vote share
and cornered
12.2 per cent
of total votes
polled but could
manage to win
only three seats (Manglaur,
Bhagwanpur and Jhabreda).
However the party
assumed the position of
Kingmaker as it helped in the
formation of a Congress
Government in the State.
However the party was
decimated completely in the
Assembly elections of 2017 in
the state and now faces an
uphill task in the upcoming
election for putting in a good
performance.
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Spontaneous coronary artery
dissection (SCAD) is an ail-
ment which is not known to
many but is still a factor one
should be aware of, especially
women. Associate director of
cardiology at Max super-spe-
ciality hospital in Dehradun,
Dr Preeti Sharma recalls that a
22-year-old lady had excruci-
ating chest pain along with
nausea and bouts of vomiting.
She took antacids and the
pain was relieved in a few hours,
but again she had recurrence of
pain the very next day, this time
along with associated breathing
difficulty after which she soon
collapsed at home. She was
taken urgently to a nearby hos-
pital where she was diagnosed
with acute heart attack.This
came as a shock to her family.
“She was referred to our
centre. When we examined
her, she had low blood pres-
sure, weak pulse, and low oxy-
gen saturation. She was stabi-
lized with medications and
blood thinners. Her angiogra-
phy revealed spontaneous coro-
nary artery dissection (SCAD)
in two coronary arteries. She
was advised medical manage-
ment. She was discharged and
was kept in close monitoring
and a follow up angiography
done three months later
showed completely healed dis-
section and normal coronary
arteries,” said Dr Sharma.
She said unlike a more typ-
ical heart attack caused by a clot
that blocks an artery, a SCAD
heart attack starts with a tear in
an artery. The tear blocks the
artery and blood flow to the
heart, leading to a heart attack.
“Although SCAD causes a
small percentage of heart
attacks overall, it is responsible
for 40 per cent of heart attacks
in women under the age of 50.
And, it is mostly happening to
young women - more than 90
per cent of SCAD patients are
female. While SCAD patients
range in age from their teens to
their 80s, the average patient is
42-year-old,” she said.
SCAD patients are gener-
ally healthy and do not have the
usual aspects that can lead to
heart attacks like smoking,
diabetes or being overweight -
so SCAD is often misdiag-
nosed and may lead to treat-
ment that can cause more
artery damage. She further
added, “SCAD is happening to
a group of women who appear
healthy, are thin, and have no
risk factors. So even though
they have classic heart attack
symptoms, they are often being
misdiagnosed.”
Patients often report
extreme emotional or physical
stress in the days before a
SCAD, like a death in the fam-
ily, breakdown in marriage, job
stress, or intense physical exer-
cise — even lifting heavy items.
The long-term prognosis for
SCAD survivors after their ini-
tial SCAD presentation is good.
Recurrent SCAD events, how-
ever, are frequent and these
patients must be followed close-
ly. Conservative medical man-
agement for stable patients with
resolved symptoms is typical.
Revascularisation via per-
cutaneous coronary interven-
tion (PCI) or coronary artery
bypass graft surgery (CABG)
may be necessary for a small
percentage of patients.
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?C8Q =4F34;78
Ahuge mass of rock and
snow broke from a left val-
ley of Raunthi Gad, crashing
down in the Rishiganga valley
and triggering a deadly flood in
the Rishiganga river that wiped
out a hydel power plant in
Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district
in February, a report by the
Geological Survey of India
(GSI) has said.
According to Saibal Ghosh,
Director, Geo-hazard Research
and Management (GHRM)
Centre, GSI Central
Headquarters, the event was
initiated by a “snow/ice/rock”
mass avalanche, along with a
portion of jointed rock mass
having an approximate dimen-
sion of 400m x 700m x 150m,
from the left valley wall of
Raunthi Gad (a left-bank trib-
utary of the Rishiganga river).
“The dislodged rock or ice
constituting from the avalanche
crashed to the Raunthi Gad val-
ley floor after travelling about
2,900 metre with a vertical fall
of around 1,800 metre.
“The energy of impact at a
very high speed has pulverised
the snow/ice/rock, besides gen-
erating melt water, and the
entire dislodged material of
snow/ice/rock has rapidly flown
in the downstream of Raunthi
Gad and further down the slope
along the Rishiganga valley,
causing this huge deluge and
impacts to the elements-at-
risks exposed across its path,
including the formation of a
temporary lake on the
Rishiganga river just immedi-
ately upstream of the confluence
with Raunthi Gad,” Ghosh was
quoted as saying in a statement.
He pointed out that
changes were also observed in
the hydro-meteorological con-
ditions between February 4
and February 6 (heavy snowfall
followed by sudden warmer cli-
mate), which possibly trig-
gered this huge snow and rock
avalanche or a landslide, caus-
ing a sudden domino effect of
flash flood downstream.
January 2021 was the
warmest January on record in
Uttarakhand in six decades, the
report states.
The debris from the river
wiped out the 13.2-MW
Rishiganga Hydel Project near
Raini and the barrage site at the
under-construction Tapovan-
Vishnugarh Hydel Project (520
MW) of the National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC) at
Tapovan was severely damaged
by the debris-laden flood water.
However, no major damage
has been noticed further down-
stream of Joshimath, but the
fury of the flash flood reached
down to the Srinagar reservoir
site in Rudraprayag district.
More than 72 people were
killed the incident and several
are still missing.
Vulnerability of the open
joints in rock mass in the high-
altitude areas, where freeze
and thaw actions are prevalent,
and the areas that face risks
posed by smaller mountain
glaciers or glacierets are also
becoming important locations
where such type of hazard can
be initiated, the report said.
The steep higher order
streams and the narrow river
valleys in the high-altitude
areas of the Himalayas remain
extremely hazard prone, which
are not only vulnerable to
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood
(GLOF) or Landslide Lake
Outburst Flood (LLOF) haz-
ards, but have also become
locale for a major disaster
caused due to the domino
effect of a large or mega land-
slide or avalanche, it added.
Immediately after the dis-
aster, the GSI, the 171-year-old
premier geo-scientific organi-
sation of the country, consti-
tuted a team of experts
to find out the causes leading
to the disaster.
According to Satya Prakash
Shukla, DDG, International
Affairs Division, GSI Central
Headquarters and the leader of
the team of geoscientists who
conducted the first-hand study
of the disaster site, “Multiple
lessons have been learnt from
this event of February 7, which
is an excellent but cruel exam-
ple of multi-hazard phenome-
na that occurred during the
winter time, when this type of
a phenomenon leading to such
a disastrous deluge is the least
expected in the Himalayas.”
Apparently, no ground evi-
dence has so far been observed
favouring the occurrence of a
GLOF causing this event, the
report said.
It was ascertained that the
momentum of the flowing
debris was extraordinarily high
and the same allowed a back-
flow of the debris near the con-
fluence between the Rishiganga
river and Raunthi Gad, and
also near the confluence with
the Dhauliganga river.
An artificial dam was
formed near the confluence of
Raunthi Gad and the
Rishiganga river by the flowing
debris, which blocked the flow
of the river and formed a small
lake, temporarily posing anoth-
er domino effect.
A study conducted by the
Wadia Institute of Himalayan
Geology has also pointed to
similar findings.
A study by the National
Remote Sensing Centre of the
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has indi-
cated that the time taken from
the initiation of the avalanche
and its disastrous impact up to
the Tapovan barrage site near
Joshimath was barely 50 min-
utes, which indicates the avail-
ability of a very low lead time
for raising any warning for the
downstream areas.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Indian Institute of
Management (IIM)
Kashipur, which recently com-
pleted ten years, will observe its
eighth Convocation on June 30.
The event would be conduct-
ed virtually keeping in mind
the scenario of Covid-19 pan-
demic. It will be streamed live
on the official website of the
institute.
During the eighth convo-
cation ceremony, IIM Kashipur
will virtually award degrees
and certificates to 44 students
from Executive Post Graduate
Programme in Management
(EPGP) Batch of 2017-19, 250
students from Post Graduate
Programme in Management
(PGP) Batch of 2018-20, 25 stu-
dents from MBA for Working
Executives Batch of 2018-20
and 264 students from MBA
Batch of 2019-21.
?=BQ 70A83F0A
Legrand Group India, a spe-
cialist in electrical and dig-
ital building infrastructure, ini-
tiated a vaccination drive at its
telemedicine center in
Haridwar. A camp was organ-
ised for the age group of 18 to
45 years along with Sambhav
Foundation which is locally
supporting the Legrand team.
The Legrand team was
successful in getting 272
localites vaccinated within one
day which was administered by
local PHC and doctors.
Commenting on this ini-
tiative Tony Berland, CEO and
MD of Legrand Group India
said, “In such an appalling
time, where the entire nation is
striving hard to stay safe and
secure, we at Legrand intend to
help our country’s people to
stand strong. We are elated that
through this initiative, we could
support the nation’s mission to
vaccinate all and protect them
from Covid-19.”
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An earthquake of magnitude
3.7 jolted Pithoragarh and
its adjoining areas in
Uttarakhand on Monday, the
District Disaster Management
office said.
Mild tremors were felt in
Pithoragarh, Kanda and
Bageshwar at 12.19 pm, it said.
The temblor had a
depth of 10 km and its epicen-
tre was in Pithoragarh dis-
trict, the office said.
There is no information yet
of any damage caused by the
quake, it said.
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Protecting the Right to
Education (RTE) for every
child in Delhi, Deputy Chief
Minister on Monday
announced that no school in
the national Capital can deny
admission to a child on the
grounds that they declared the
name of just one parent.
The decision is being con-
sidered significant since it will
help children who have lost one
or both parents to Covid 19.
Sharing the notification of
the Department of Educatoin,,
signed by Udit Raj Prakash,
Director of Education, Sisodia,
who also hold the portfolio of
Education Minister, tweeted:
No school in Delhi shall deny
admission to a child on
grounds that the child is declar-
ing name of his or her single
parent only.
The circular issued on the
behalf of Delhi Government
read: “All the heads of schools
of all managements are hereby
directed to not deny admission
to the candidates who have
filled details of just one of the
parents in the application form
while taking admission.”
The order will be applica-
ble for all Government, semi
Government, private and aided
schools in Delhi. Earlier, stu-
dents in Delhi faced difficulties
in getting admissions and pro-
ducing certificates if they
declared only one parent.
The online registration
process for the candidates seek-
ing admission for Classes VI to
IX at various Delhi schools
began on June 11, 2021.
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To create ecological balance,
Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on Monday
asked the Forests and Wildlife
Preservation Department to
revive the original flora and
fauna keeping in view the State’s
natural climate and habitat.
Capt Amarinder, review-
ing the functioning of Forests
and Wildlife Preservation
Departmentthroughvideocon-
ferencing, emphasized the need
to undertake massive plantation
oftraditionaltreesincludingber,
kikar, saal, shisham etc besides
katha amb — an indigenous
variety of Mango commonly
prevalent in Kandi region and
southern Punjab, which have
eventually dwindled due to pas-
sageoftimeasrevivalofitsplan-
tation would obviously offer a
natural habitat to old species of
wild animals and birds which
have now gradually extinct over
a period of time.
The Chief Minister also
complimented the Department
for undergoing plantation of
Chandan and high yielding
Bamboo (Bamabusa Balcooa),
which gives double the yield of
traditional bamboo. He asked
the Additional Chief Secretary
(Forests) Anirudh Tiwari to
encourage plantation of more
indigenous species and moti-
vate the farmers for plantation
of Poplar, which is not only
water efficient but also quite
remunerative due to its huge
demand in the wood industry.
The Department has also
been asked to fully explore the
potential of ecotourism and
concerted efforts should be
made to develop Siswan and
Harike as preferred ecotourism
destinations in northern India.
“Facilities like boating,
nature trails, boardwalks, bird
watch towers should be created
to attract the tourists,” said the
Chief Minister underlining the
need for multi department con-
vergence strategy to promote
allied agro forestry activities
such as Sericulture, Apiculture
(bee-keeping) to supplement
the income of the farmers.
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3. 347A03D=kCD4B30H k9D=4!(!! dccPaPZWP]S
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In what can be termed as a
repeat embarrassment to the
State Government machinery
for the second consecutive time,
the Uttarakhand High Court
expressed dissatisfaction at the
affidavit submitted by the
Government and ordered a
stay on the decision taken by
the Cabinet to start the Char
Dham Yatra from July 1 for res-
idents of the districts in which
the shrines are located.
This decision was taken
during hearing on PILs regard-
ing the status of medical health
services and against starting the
Char Dham Yatra in the State.
The High Court division bench
of Chief Justice RS Chauhan
and justice Alok Kumar Verma
directed the State Government
to submit a detailed affidavit in
the court by July 7 while also
asking it whether the live tele-
cast of the Char Dham shrines
is being done or not.
The State Government in
its recent Cabinet meeting had
decided to allow start of the
Char Dham Yatra from July 1
for residents of districts
to the shrines located in the
same districts.
This would have been fol-
lowed by start of Char Dham
Yatra for all residents of the
State in the second phase.
According to the case
details, advocate Dushyant
Mainyuli, activist Sacchidanand
Dabral and others had filed
PILs regarding health services
in view of the Covid-19 pan-
demic and the Char Dham
Yatra in the State.
The court directions were
issued while hearing on these
petitions. The next date of
hearing on this has been
set on July 7.
The State Government is
eager to start the Char Dham
Yatra which it had postponed
earlier in view of the Covid
pandemic. The Government is
eager to start the pilgrimage
mainly due to economic rea-
sons- stating that multitudes in
the tourism business depend
on pilgrims for their livelihood.
Those in the tourism busi-
ness have also been demanding
for months now that both pil-
grimage and tourism be
resumed on a regular
basis without restrictions
in the State.
94DE2JD423:?6E564:D:@?
D?CD1BD381B481=I1DB1
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Uttarakhand High
Court’s order to postpone
the start of Chardham Yatra
and embarrassment suffered by
the Uttarakhand Government
in the HC has given an oppor-
tunity to the Opposition
Congress to brow beat the
State Government.
Spokesperson of
Uttarakhand Congress Garima
Dasauni said due to lack of
preparation, the State
Government always faces
reversals in the HC. She said
the HC had given a time till
June 28 to the State
Government for Char Dham
Yatra preparations but the State
Cabinet in its meeting of June
25 gave its approval to start the
Yatra from July 1.
“The HC appeared totally
unsatisfied by the reply filed by
the Government today and
directed the State Government
to stay the commencement of
Yatra till July 7,” she said.
Taking a dig at the BJP for
its “Chintan Shivir” in Kumaon,
Dasauni said the leadership of
the BJP has realised that it is
headed for a crushing defeat in
the Kumaon division and that
is why it is showing its undue
affinity for Kumaon.
She added people of
Uttarakhand are very angry at
the BJP Government for the
mismanagement and wrong
decisions during the pandem-
ic period and they have made
up their mind to throw the BJP
out of power in the State. “The
BJP is forced to do Chintan due
to its all round failure of its
Government,” she quipped.
BcPcT6^ec´b[PRZ^U_aT_PaPcX^]Tg_^bTS)2^]V
?=BQ 347A03D=
The State health department
reported 120 new cases,
three deaths and 280
recoveries from the coron-
avirus on Monday.
With it the cumulative
count of Covid-19 patients in
the State increased to 3, 39,739
while a total of 3,24,529
patients have so far recovered
from the disease. The death toll
from the disease in the State has
increased to 7,092.
The recovery percentage
from the disease is now at 95.52
and the sample positivity rate
is at 6.20 per cent in the State.
The authorities collected 24,031
samples in different parts of the
State on Monday.
Death of one patient each
was reported from
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital
Dehradun, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Rishikesh and HNB base hos-
pital Srinagar on Monday.
Dehradun district reported
41, Pithoragarh 17,Uttarkashi
15, Haridwar 10, Chamoli 8,
Almora and Rudraprayag 7
each, Nainital 6, Udham Singh
Nagar 3, Bageshwar and Pauri
2 each and Champawat and
Tehri 1 case each of the disease
on Monday.
The State now has 2,294
active patients of the disease.
Dehradun district is at top of
the table in the list of active
cases with 723 cases while
Pithoragarh is in the second
position with 274 active cases.
Haridwar has 243, Bageshwar
194, Pauri 149, Nainital 139,
Almora 116, Chamoli 107,
Rudraprayag 101, Champawat
78, Tehri 68, Udham Singh
Nagar 65 and Uttarkashi 37
active cases of the disease.
The State reported two
new cases of Mucormycosis
(Black fungus) on Monday
after which it now has 494
patients of the disease. Deaths
of two patients were also
reported from the disease on
the day. A total of 94 patients
have so far died from this dis-
ease while 94 have recovered.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing
vaccination drive, the health
department vaccinated 47, 512
people in 634 sessions held on
the day. A total of 7,84,361 peo-
ple have been fully
vaccinated while 34 76,444
people have been partially vac-
cinated in the State.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Dehradun district administration
has marked about 550 children who
have lost one or both parents or the sole
earning member of their family to the
Covid-19 disease since March last year.
The administration has collected this
data through various district officials like
sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs), Child
Development Project Officers (CDPOs)
and Anganwadi workers to identify the
potential beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri
Vatsalya Yojana (MVY).
The district probation officer (DPO)
Meena Bisht said she has received the data
of about 550 potential beneficiaries which
was collected in about the last 30 days.
Out of these potential beneficiaries,
more than 500 children are those who lost
one parent while about 50 children are
those who lost both parents to Covid-19
disease, informed Bisht.
According to her, the verification pro-
cedure of the children marked as potential
beneficiaries is also under process. She said
the eligible beneficiaries will get the ben-
efits under MVY from July 1.
Even those children, who will be
found as potential beneficiaries in the later
months, will receive the intended benefits
from the month of July after being veri-
fied as eligible beneficiaries under MVY,
informed Bisht.
The State Government announced to
provide free education, ration and health
facilities besides providing monthly finan-
cial support of C3,000 to the eligible ben-
eficiaries of MVY till they attain the age
of 21 years.
As per the officials, more than 1,200
beneficiaries have been identified so far
across the State with Dehradun being the
district with the maximum number of
potential beneficiaries of MVY.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Aresearch conducted by the
experts of All India
Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh has claimed
that the normal body
temperature is 98 degree
Fahrenheit (F) and not 98.6
degrees F which is generally
accepted worldwide.
The research has been pub-
lished in a preprint journal for
review and the researchers
claim that it will be published
later in the main journal for
public use.
The Associate Professor,
Department of General
Medicine, AIIMS Rishikesh,
Dr PK Panda and the members
of his research team Dr Nitin,
Dr Yogesh and Dr Ajit con-
ducted a study on the subject.
Dr Panda said a total of 144
participants were included in
the research. “The temperature
of all these participants was
recorded at least three times
each day for the whole year. In
this way 23,851 readings were
recorded in this entire
research,” he said.
Dr Panda said on the basis
of this research, it can be said
that during the last 150 years,
the average body temperature
of a person seems to be
decreasing continuously.
Researcher Dr Nitin said all
the 144 people involved in the
research were given digital
thermometers to measure the
temperature.
“Self-monitoring of oral
temperature with a ther-
mometer data was recorded in
the thermometry diary. In view
of the need for detailed study,
in this research data was col-
lected in three phases on gen-
eral people, people with fever
and people with post-fever
condition. It was found that
only when the temperature of
the mouth in the body is more
than 99.1 degrees, it can be
considered in the definition of
fever,” he said.
In the year 1886, scientist
Wunderlich had said the aver-
age temperature of the human
body is 98.6 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Since then an increase in
body temperature beyond this
is considered a fever by doctors.
?=BQ A0=060A
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
leaders discussed the
achievements and welfare
schemes of the State
Government during its four-
and-a-half years in office so far
during the party’s Chintan
Shivir on Monday.
BJP State president Madan
Kaushik informed that detailed
discussions were also held on
the performance of the party in
elections from 2002 to 2017.
The party leaders also dis-
cussed the political situation of
other parties in the State. The
party leaders talked about the
achievements of the current
State Government so far and
how the benefit of the welfare
schemes is reaching the last
intended beneficiary.
Stating that the BJP has to
contest the 2022 Assembly
elections on the basis of the
Government’s works he said
the schemes which will direct-
ly benefit the citizens were
also deliberated upon. Stating
that the achievements of the
Government are crucial for
the party in the coming elec-
tion, he said that some major
public welfare schemes will be
discussed as part of the road
map for 2022.
The party’s national gen-
eral secretary BL Santhosh,
state in-charge Dushyant
Kumar Gautam, co in-charge
Rekha Verma, chief minister
Tirath Singh Rawat, former
chief ministers Trivendra Singh
Rawat, Vijay Bahuguna, MP
and national media in-charge
Anil Baluni and other promi-
nent party leaders and office
bearers were part of the delib-
erations held on Monday.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Within the two weeks of
the launch of online reg-
istration service for pet dog
licenses, the Municipal
Corporation of
Dehradun (MCD)
received over 250
applications from
local pet dog owners.
In the last financial
year, the corporation
issued more than 4,000
pet dog licenses which
was a record breaking
number in the history
of the MCD.
At times, 150 to 200
people used to arrive in
the MCD premises daily
to apply for the dog
licenses which some-
times made it diffi-
cult for the officials to make
people follow Covid-19 guide-
lines on the premises.
Due to this, the corpora-
tion decided to launch online
registration service for pet
dog licenses. Initially, the
corporation had
planned to launch this
service by the end of
April but it was post-
poned due to the State-
wide Covid curfew. The
MCD recently
launched this online
registration service
about two weeks
ago and as per the
officials, they are
getting good
response from
the local pet
dog owners.
T a l k i n g
about the online registration
service, the senior municipal
veterinary officer, Dr DC
Tiwari said that this initiative
is quite helpful in restricting
the stay time of dog owners on
the MCD premises which saves
time of dog owners and the
staff here.
“The physical interaction
between the applicants and
the staff has also decreased due
to the online registration which
in turn has minimised the risk
of Covid-19 contagion in the
MCD premises. Besides this,
we also observed that many
applicants were senior citizens
last year who used to come to
the premises from far areas to
get an application form and
then again to deposit it. With
the online application system,
the applicant will need to visit
the MCD premises only once,”
Dr Tiwari said.
According to him, an
applicant can register for a dog
license by filling the relevant
details in the online application
form and the system will gen-
erate a special number once the
applicant is registered. After
this, the applicant will receive
the dog license as soon as he or
she will deposit the fee for the
license in the MCD premises,
informed Tiwari.
He also revealed that over
250 applicants have applied for
pet dog licenses within the two
weeks of the launch of online
registration system which is
goodstartconsideringtheCovid
curfew situation in the city.
He also disclosed that the
corporation has already issued
248 licenses. He said those who
want to apply for dog registra-
tion can visit the website nagar-
nigamdehradun.com/licence-
dog/. The corporation collect-
ed revenue of about C9,00,000
from 4,000 pet dog license reg-
istrations last year.
However, the officials stat-
ed that the revenue generation
will possibly be more this year
as people are more aware about
the registration of dog licenses
this time. Also, the corporation
will also start a campaign in
coming months to raise public
awareness besides penalising
the dog owners without dog
licenses, officials added.
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The Centre on Monday
informed a Parliamentary
panel that Covid-19 cases with
variants of concern rose from
10.31 per cent of total infections
in May to 51 per cent till June
20 and stressed that both
Covaxin and Covishield work
against these strains albeit with
slightly reduced potency.
Sources said the panel,
headed by Rajya Sabha member
Anand Sharma, was also
informed that the economic
impact of the second wave of
viral infection was “asynchro-
nous in its onset and wider in
its spread particularly in rural
hinterland”.
Union Home Secretary
Ajay Bhalla, Health Secretary
Rajesh Bhushan, Additional
Secretary in the Home Ministry
Govind Mohan, Additional
Secretary in the Finance
Ministry K Raja Raman were
among the officials who
deposed before the
Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Home Affairs on
‘Socio-economic fallout of the
COVID-19 pandemic’s second
wave’.
About the availability of
vaccinedoses,officialsinformed
the panel that135 crore jabs will
be made available in the coun-
tryduringtheAugust-December
period this year.
The doses would be of
Covishield, Covaxin, Bio E
Subunit vaccine, Zydus Cadila’s
DNA vaccine and Sputnik V,
they said.
Sharingdetailsaboutvarious
coronavirusvariantsofconcern,
officials told the panel that it
includes the Alpha, Beta,
Gamma and Delta variants.
These variants have been traced
in 174 districts of 35 states and
UnionTerritories,withthemax-
imum reported from
Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab,
Telangana, West Bengal and
Gujarat,theparliamentarypanel
was informed.
According to the details
shared by officials with the par-
liamentarians,coronavirus’vari-
ants of concern led to increased
transmissibility, change in viru-
lence and effect on diagnostics,
drugsandvaccines.“Officialstold
parliamentarians that the pro-
portion of
COVID-19
cases with
variants of concern has risen
from10.31percentinMayto51
per cent in June 20,” a source in
the panel said.
A study by the Indian
CouncilofMedicalResearchand
theNationalInstituteofVirology
on the efficacy of Covaxin and
Covishield against coronavirus
variants of concerns found that
“antibody potency is slightly
reduced against these strains as
comparedtostandardstrain.But
the vaccine is effective in pro-
tection against severe forms of
the disease,” the source added.
The panel was informed
that a similar study on evaluat-
ingtheefficacyofboththesevac-
cinesagainstthelatestvariantof
concern -- Delta plus -- is being
conducted and will be complet-
ed within the next two
weeks.
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Even as there has been ris-
ing concerns over the
Delta plus variant of the virus,
Covid Task Force chief V K
Paul on Monday asserted that
neither there is any scientific
data so far to establish that the
new variant is highly trans-
missible or reduces vaccine
efficacy nor any date when it
would arrive.
“It will be unfair to put a
date for any Covid wave as the
behaviour of coronavirus is
unpredictable and a disci-
plined and effective pandem-
ic response can help the coun-
try get away from any signif-
icant outbreak,” he said.
His assertion yet again
comes in contrast to AIIMS
chief Randeep Guleria’s pre-
diction that the third wave will
come in next eight weeks. Dr
Arora had on Sunday also
cited an ICMR study to claim
that the third wave of coron-
avirus could be delayed until
December this year.
Dr Paul said that another
wave of any size would be
dependent upon several fac-
tors, including overall disci-
pline in terms of Covid-appro-
priate behaviour, testing and
containment strategies, and
vaccination rates.
“And in addition, the
unpredictable behaviour of
the virus can also change the
pandemic dynamics. In such
a scenario, their complex fac-
tor will determine the chain of
transmission and outbreak,”
he told a news agency.
“Occurrence or non-
occurrence of any wave, is in
our own hands. To my mind,
it is not fair to put any date for
any wave,” he said.
“If we are determined and
disciplined and marshal effec-
tive pandemic response, we
should be in a position to get
away from any significant
outbreak,” Paul said.
Currently, three Covid
vaccines — Covaxin by Bharat
Biotech, Covishield by Serum
Institute of India (SII) and
Russia’s Sputnik V— are being
used for inoculation in India.
When asked about the
Delta plus variant, Paul said
scientific knowledge about it
is still in the early stage. “We
should wait for these aspects
to be studied systematically,”
he pointed out.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
Noted lawyer Parashant
Bhushan created a flutter
on Monday by tweeting that
he is not going to take vaccines
against Covid. Subsequently,
he received a lot of brickbats
in social media with netizens
demanding Twitter to act
against him for his tweets
that were against the policy of
the micro-blogging site.
In a series of tweets,
Bhushan said he is not anti-
vaccine but against the pro-
motion of universal
vaccination. Bhushan claimed
the younger population has a
higher chance of dying
through vaccination as com-
pared to suffering severe com-
plications or even death due to
coronavirus.
“For the record, I have not
taken, nor do I intend to take
any Covid Vaccine,” tweeted
Bhushan.
“The healthy young have
hardly any chance of serious
effects or dying due to covid.
They have a higher chance of
dying due to vaccines. The
covid recovered have much
better natural immunity, than
the vaccine gives them.
Vaccines may even compro-
mise their acquired natural
immunity,” Bhushan said in a
subsequent tweet.
Bhushan’s stand against
vaccination is not a new phe-
nomenon.
1WdbWP]RaTPcTbYPQa^f
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?=BQ =4F34;78
India on Monday suc-
cessfully test-fired a
new variant of the
nuclear-capable Agni bal-
listic missile. Having a
range of 1,000km to
2,000 km, this missile
will give operational flex-
ibility to the armed
forces.
I n d i g e n o u s l y
designed and built by
the Defence Research
and Development
Organisation (DRDO),
the missile, named Agni
Prime, was successfully
tested after it was
launched from the Dr A
P J Abdul Kalam island
off the coast of Balasore,
Odisha at 10.55 am.
The new generation
missile was tracked by
various telemetry and
radar stations positioned
along the eastern coast.
The missile followed text
book trajectory, meeting
all mission objectives
with high level of accu-
racy, officials said here.
Agni Prime is a new
generation advanced
variant of Agni class of
missiles. It is a canis-
terised missile. Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
Monday congratulated
the DRDO for success-
fully flight testing the
missile.
“Congratulations to
@DRDO_India for the
maiden successful flight
test of Agni P advanced
variant of Agni class of
missiles. I compliment
the efforts of the team
behind this mission,” he
tweeted.
He said many
advanced technologies,
including propulsion sys-
tems, innovative guid-
ance and control mecha-
nisms and state-of-the-
art navigation systems
have been introduced in
the missile.
Agni Prime is a next-
generation, nuclear-capa-
ble weapon made fully of
a composite material,
Two days ago, the
DRDO successfully test
fired an extended range
version of the indige-
nously developed ‘Pinaka’
rocket.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
In the Covid second wave
so far, India has reported
40,845 cases of mucormyco-
sis or black fungus, of which
nearly 85 per cent has been
seen in coronavirus-infected
patients. The fungal disease
has already claimed 3,129
lives.
These data were shared
by Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan in a meeting
of the group of ministers on
Covid on Monday.
Since April, mucormy-
cosis infections have sky-
rocketed across the country.
Till June 7, more than 28,000
cases had been officially
reported, thus showing that
the cases have nearly dou-
bled since then.
Mucormycosis mainly
affects people who are on
medication for
health problems that reduces
their ability to fight envi-
ronmental pathogens.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Balram Bhargava,
Secretary (health
research) and Director-
General of ICMR on
Monday cautioned that the
second wave of covid-19 has
still not subsided as 80 dis-
tricts in the country have
high positivity. “There
shouldn’t be any laxity at this
stage,” said the ICMR chief
at a meeting of the group of
ministers on Covid.
A0:4B7:B8=67Q =4F
34;78
Two unexploded IEDs
recovered from the
Jammu air force station
hold clues to the investi-
gation into the early
morning airdropping of
two other IEDs that
exploded at the commu-
nication and logistics hub
of the Indian Air Force.
The recovery of the
unexplodedIEDshasfur-
theraddedtothemystery
of the first-ever drone
attackonanairforceasset
as it indicates that the
two suspected drones or
the quadcopters had a
significant payload carry-
ing capacity.
The aerial attack is a
first of its kind in the
country. But this is the
45th drone strike carried
outacrosstheglobeso far
this year. While drone
strikes are carried out by
state agencies, aerial hits
by terror groups through
suchmachinesaredubbed
‘attacks’ and the agencies
areseekingtodiscriminate
between the two through
theongoinginvestigation.
Security agencies,
meanwhile, are tracking
Jammu-Pakistancallsafter
leadsgatheredfromanaly-
sis of cell phone tower
dump data even as a few
Rohingyas are also under
surveillance, sources said.
In the wee hours on
Sunday, two blasts
occurred at about 0140
Hours and 0146 Hours at
the Air Force Station,
Satwari, Jammu. The
blasts occurred near
HelicopterDispersalPark.
While one of the IEDs hit
thetopofthesingle-storey
buildingthesecondexplo-
sive device hit the open
ground area behind the
structure.
Due to the impact of
the IED blast at the
rooftop, a crater was
formed and the sound of
the explosions was heard
in a range of one kilome-
ter which indicate use of
high-gradeexplosiveslike
RDXorPETNevenasthe
forensic reports of the
nature of blast material is
awaited. Since the thick-
nessoftheroofbuiltfrom
RCC(reinforcedconcrete
cement) slabs is between
six to nine inches, low
gradeexplosivescouldnot
have formed the crater,
officials said.
“These pointers
helpedtheinvestigatorsin
concluding that the blast
occurred due to an aeri-
al/drone attack and that
the likely target was a
helicopter parked at the
Helicopter Dispersal
Park,” an official involved
in the investigation said.
No fatal casualty was
reported from the inci-
dent.
The whirring sound
of only two drones was
heard.Followingthis,two
out of four IEDs went
unexplodedandtheinves-
tigators are studying the
materials used for fabri-
cating them.
All the IEDs were
equipped with impact
charge features to modu-
late the timing of the
explosions.
The one that explod-
ed on the roof of the
building exploded just
after hitting the surface.
Theotheronethatexplod-
ed in the open ground
blasted after six minutes.
Cell phone tower
dump data of the mobile
phone network is also
being analysed to trace
possible clues or calls
made in the immediate
aftermath of the explo-
sions at the air facility in
Jammu. Jammu-Pakistan
phone calls are also being
tracked in order to trace
the masterminds of the
drone attacks, investiga-
tors related to the drone
attacks probe said.
“It is highly plausible
that dismantled drones
were smuggled from
Pakistanandassembledin
Jammu before carrying
out the attack on the air
force station. However,
the possibility of a drone
flyingfromPakistantohit
thetargetinJammuisalso
being investigated. If the
machinesoriginatedfrom
Pakistan, then operation
couldbethehandiworkof
thestateactorsthere,”offi-
cials added.
Meanwhile, the secu-
rity agencies have con-
ductedsearchesinaham-
let close to Satwari which
is dominated by
Rohingyas.
Thesecurityagencies
arealsogrillingonearrest-
ed accused Nadeem, 20,
from whose possession 5
kg IED was recovered by
the Special Operations
Group (SOG) of Jammu
policeonSundayevening.
Nadeem hails from
Banihal town and was
arrestedbytheSOGfrom
NarwalareaunderTrikuta
Nagar police station.
Linkage between the
seized IED and the drone
attack is yet to be estab-
lished.
Belyingtheprevailing
trends in Jammu and
Kashmir, no terror group
has so far owned respon-
sibility for the drone
attacks.
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:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
Though she had to quit as head of Kerala Women’s
Commission last week following widespread protests
against remarks made by her towards a victim of domestic
violence, M C Josephine, the CPI(M) leader found herself
in another controversy on Monday.
Ace athlete Mayookha Johny, national record holder in
triple jump, held a press meet at Thrissur on Monday and
alleged that Josephine tried to hush up a sexual assault case
that happened in 2016 to save the hunter. “The Police to
whom we complained showed scant regard to us following
the interference of Josephine and since then the hunter has
been threatening the victim,” said Johny. The athlete said that
the victim was a close friend of her.
“The incident happened in 2016. Johnson, the accused,
has been tormenting my friend for quite some time.
Though she saved herself on many occasions from the
marauding Johnson, he once trespassed into her house and
molested her. The man also filmed the victim in compro-
mising position.” Said Mayookha.
The victim filed a complaint against Johnson immedi-
ately after the incident. But the police, though kind enough
to assure the victim of all possible help, Josephine who was
a close friend of the accused entered the scene and hushed
up the case. “Even after this, he continued to threaten the
victim and tried to misbehave with her as he had the tacit
support of Josephine,” charged Mayookha Johny.
Though Josephine was removed from the post of
Chairperson of the Womens Commission, she continues to
be the member of the Central Committee of the CPI(M), the
elite and apex policy decision making body of the party. The
membership of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) is a
coveted position because of the vast international contacts
offered by the august body.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala is facing
charges of protecting and safeguarding
‘professional gold smugglers’ in the State for
the services rendered by the latter in cash,
kind and other means.
The recent seizure of smuggled gold by
the Customs Dept from Kozhikode
International Airport has opened a pando-
ra’s box for the CPI(M). Leaders of the party
declaredthattheCPI(M)wouldkeepoffpeo-
ple with track records of gold smuggling and
criminal activities.
But all those who have been identified
with gold smuggling are the ones who act as
cyber warriors and professional musclemen
ofthepartywithlinkstotopleadership.Arjun
Ayanki and Akash Thillankeri, two young
activistsoftheCPI(M)whohavebeennamed
by the Customs Department have issued a
threat to the CPI(M) leadership for dump-
ing them at this hour of crisis. Arjun
Ayanki’s social media page is full of pho-
tographs featuring him with top CPI(M)
leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan. Last week’s road accident near
Kozhikode airport which claimed the lives
of five passengers in an over speeding car led
the Customs and Police officials to another
group which was giving the former a chase.
“The race between the two groups from
Palakkadu and Kannur were for the gold
worth crores of rupees smuggked in through
Kozhikode. But they were ignorant of the
seizure of the smuggled gold made by the
Customs officials on duty,” said a Customs
officials. According to high ranking Customs
officials in Kerala, Kozhoikode has become
theepicentreofgoldsmugglingandtheoper-
ators enjoy political patronage. “There is a
CPI(M)fractionintheCustomsDepartment
which make matters for us,” said another
Customs official who referred to the attempt
on the life of Sumit Kumar, Preventive
Commissioner, Customs in the month of
February. The case was hushed up by polit-
ical leaders despite Kumar’s open announce-
ment that his life was in danger.
Akash Thillankery , in his social media
post, has issued a warning to the party’s
Kannur district for dumping the duo fol-
lowing the seizure of gold and related inci-
dents. “I as a dedicatred worker of the Left
brand of politics is doing all that I could do
to strengthen anti-Fascist forces. But the
recent announcement by the district leader-
shipoftheCPI(M)that thepartywouldkeep
off such people is like dumping us after
exploiting our services.
?=B Q 90D
Lieutenant Governor, Manoj
Sinha on Monday paid his
obeisance at the Holy Cave
Shrine of Shri Amarnathji.
The Lt Governor, who is
also the Chairman of the Shri
Amarnathji Shrine Board,
accompanied by the senior offi-
cers from Army, Civil adminis-
tration, Police and the Shrine
Board, performed puja at the
shrine.
“May the divine blessings of
Lord Shiva ensure good health
and happiness in everyone's life
and bless us with strength to
overcome the ongoing health cri-
sis”, prayed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor was
accompanied by Lt Gen DP
Pandey, General Officer
Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps;
Pandurang K Pole, Divisional
Commissioner Kashmir; Dr.
Piyush Singla, Deputy
Commissioner Anantnag; Abdul
Jabbar, DIG South Kashmir
Range (SKR); Anup Kumar
Soni, Additional Chief Executive
Officer, SASB besides officers of
Army, Police, CRPF Shrine
Board.
The annual pilgrimage tes-
tifies to the tradition of the
wonderful cultural syncretism of
Jammu Kashmir.
But, considering the ongoing
situation due to Covid-19 pan-
demic, Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra
has been cancelled.
KOCHI: On the eve of his
retirement from Indian Police
Service, Loknath Behra, Chief
of Kerala Police made a star-
tling disclosure. “Kerala has
become the largest recruiting
centre of terrorist organisations
. This is because of the high
literacy rate among the youth
in the State. The terrorist
organisations prefer to recruit
educated perons for the anti-
national activities,” Behra told
media persons in his custom-
ary interaction before demit-
ting office.
Orissa born Behra is the
longest serving police chief in
Kerala having taken up the job
in 2016. He was responding to
a query on the influence wield-
ed by the Islamic State (IS) in
Kerala. “The instances of edu-
cated youth joining the terror-
ist organisation has to be
viewed seriously. These organ-
isations will not hesitate to go
to any extent to charm the edu-
cated and make them join the
dreaded outfits. There are any
number of persons who have
joined them from Kerala,” said
Behra. PNS
?=BQ 90D
The family of a Special Police Officer
(SPO) of Jammu Kashmir Police was
wiped out by a group of Jaish-e- Mohammad
terrorists late on Sunday night at
Hariparigam Tral in the Awantipora area of
South Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Meanwhile. a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
commander Nadeem Abrar, who was
involved in several attacks on security
forces and civilians in Kashmir, was arrest-
ed on Monday. “Top LeT commander
Nadeem Abrar arrested. He was involved in
several killings. Big success for us,” IGP
Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar said in a tweet.
According to police, Abrar was involved
in the killing of three Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) personnel at Lawaypora ear-
lier this year
Meanwhile, a fresh encounter also
broke out between security forces and ter-
rorists in the Parimpora area of the city here
on Monday in which one CRPF Sub
Inspector received injuries on his arm.
According to a police spokesman the
martyred SPO from Hariparigam Tral has
been identified as Fayaz Ahmad. Wife of
a martyred SPO, Raja Begum also suc-
cumbed late Sunday night while their
daughter, Rafia, died early Monday morn-
ing in the hospital.
According to a police spokesman, at
least 2-3 terrorists had barged inside the
home of a SPO and fired indiscriminately.
His wife and daughter also received critical
injuries and were rushed to the nearby hos-
pital. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir
range Vijay Kumar Monday visited the res-
idence of the SPO and expressed sympathies
with the bereaved family members and
assured them that the terrorists involved in
this barbaric act will be neutralised soon
Interacting with the media after meet-
ing the family of the martyred cop Kumar
said Jammu and Kashmir Police have been
working at the forefront of anti-terrorist
operations.
“Last night, two terrorists, who seemed
to be foreign terrorists, fired on one of our
SPOs. When his wife and daughter came to
rescue him, they fired on them too. They
were taken to the hospital where they suc-
cumbed to their injuries. We are saddened
by this incident. We will identify and neu-
tralise them soon. There is a Jaish-e-
Mohammed (JeM) in this area and it must
be them,” said the IGP.
EVcc`cZdedZ]]DA@
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KOCHI: In a rare gesture, hitherto unseen or
unheard in Kerala, Governor Arif Mohammed
Khan on Monday called on the parents of
Vismaya, the young bride who was found dead
under mysterious circumstances in her husband’s
house last week.
The Governor drove down to Vismaya’s house
at Kollam and consoled her parents and brother
who could not control their tears when they
recounted everything to the former. Governor
Khan told Vismaya’s parents that he stands by
them and they are free to call on him for any help.
“Vismaya, though I have not seen her, was like
my own daughter. It is as a mark of my respect
to those girls who lost their lives because of dowry
harassment that I have come here,” said the
Governor. He spent more than 20 minutes with
Vismaya’s family members . After coming out of
the meeting, the Governor set aside all protocols
and spoke to the media. “There are laws and leg-
islations against dowry. But still we see many
unfortunate incidents like the young girls losing
their lives because of harassment. The youth of
this country, especially the media, should inten-
sify their campaign against dowry, a social evil,”
the Governor told the waiting reporters. PNS
?=BQ =4F34;78
The India Meteorological
Department (IMD)’s latest data
shows Central Delhi has recorded
just 8.5 mm rainfall this monsoon
season so far and is the second-
most rain-deficient district in the
country. The rain deficit in Kistwar
district of Jammu Kashmir is the
largest in the country. It has record-
ed 5 mm precipitation against the
normal of 68.4 mm— a shortfall of
93 per cent.
Meanwhile weak monsoon
conditions are expected to contin-
ue over most parts of the country
until first week of July. This break
monsoon will adversely impact the
agriculture. This will also bring hot
and humid weather conditions in
north and northwest India.
According to the IMD, Central
Delhi has received only 8.5 mm
rainfall against the normal of 53.3
mm since June 1— a deficiency of
84 per cent. In the national capital,
East Delhi has received 19.2mm
rainfall against the normal of
53.3mm – a dearth of 64 per cent.
Northeast Delhi has gauged
20.7mm rainfall, which is 61 per
cent below normal, and South
Delhi got 22.2 mm – 58 per cent less
than normal. Southwest Delhi
and New Delhi have recorded 29.6
mm and 27.7 mm rainfall so far --
50 per cent below their respective
normal rainfall. North Delhi has
received 37.7 mm rainfall – 33 per
cent less than normal – and
Northwest Delhi 29.8 mm rainfall
– 22 per cent below the average pre-
cipitation. Only West Delhi has
received normal rainfall so far –
53.5mm against the average of
52.9mm.
June 1 to September 30 is offi-
cially considered the monsoon sea-
son in India. The IMD on Monday
said Delhi and nearby areas in
northwest India will have to wait for
another week for their first mon-
soonal showers.
Prevailing meteorological con-
ditions, large scale atmospheric
features and the forecast wind pat-
tern by dynamical models suggest
that no favourable conditions are
likely to develop for further advance
of southwest monsoon into remain-
ing parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and
Delhi and Punjab during the next
six to seven days, the IMD said in
a statement.
The weak monsoon is expect-
ed to impact kharif sowing season.
According to a private weather
forecaster Skymet, break monsoon
conditions are expected from June
29.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
Having factored the anticipated “third
wave” of Covid-19 in the State, the
Maharashtra Government is gearing itself
to administer 15 lakh doses per day.
Speaking at a function organised to a
dedicated Covid centre built by the stare-
MMRDA to the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC), chief
minister said: “In anticipation of the
third Covid-19, we have to take extra pre-
cautions.GiventhattheincidenceofDelta
Pluc Covid-19 infections is increasing, we
need to follow Covid-19 norms strictly.
Keeping this in mind, we are making
preparations to increase the vaccinations
to 15 per day”.
The Covid-19 centre that the
MMRDAhasdevelopedatMaladinnorth
Mumbai has 2,170 beds. Of these 2170
beds,1,536areOxygenbeds,whilethe190
ICU beds. Similarly, there are 200 Oxygen
beds for children, while 50 beds are pae-
diatricICUbeds.Uddhavsaidthatinaddi-
tion to the Jumbo Covid-19 centre set up
at Malad, the state govrrnment was plan-
ning to new jumbo Covid-19 centres in
Kanjurmarg,Sion,Worliandalso increase
thenumberofbedsinexistingjumbocen-
tresatNSCIWorli,NESCOGoregaonand
Richardson Cruddas Byculla to ensure
that there are no shortages. The Chief
MinistersaidthatthoughtheGovernment
plans new jumbo centres in Kanjurmarg,
Sion, Worli and increase the number of
beds in existing jumbo centres at NSCI
Worli, NESCO Goregaon and Richardson
CruddasBycullatoensurethatthereare
no shortages
The Chief Minister said that though
beds may be going empty, the second
wave had still not subsided in the past
nearly five months.
?=BQ =4F34;78;D2:=F
President Ram Nath Kovind, who took a
train ride Delhi Lucknow via Kanpur by
the special Presidential Express Train, on
Monday lauded the Indian Railways for pro-
viding easy transportation across the length
and breadth of the country. In a note he
penned in the Indian Railways' visitors'
book, Kovind also said he and his family
were extremely impressed by the train
journey.
Kovind, who is on a five-day visit to his
home state Uttar Pradesh, arrived at the
Charbagh railway station around noon. He
was received by Uttar Pradesh Governor
Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, state ministers and a large num-
ber of senior officials and public represen-
tatives.
After his journey, the president wrote
in the visitors' book of the Indian Railways,
praising the national transporter. My good
wishes to the Indian Railways, which pro-
vides easy and convenient transportation
from the inaccessible mountain ranges of
the Himalayas to the sea coast of
Kanyakumari and from the green land of
northeast India to the deserts in western
Gujarat. By undertaking a happy and pic-
turesquetrainjourneyafteralongtimefrom
Delhi to Kanpur and then to Lucknow, I and
my family are extremely impressed, Kovind
wrote in the visitors' book.
During this memorable journey, I had
the pleasant experience of meeting my old
friends and relatives in Rura and Jhijhak. I
am confident that the Indian Railways, as
the preferred daily transport service for
crores of Indians, will maintain its leading
position in rail services across the world. My
thanks and good wishes to the entire team
involved in serving the Indian Railways, he
said.
?=BQ ;D2:=F
The setback faced by the Samajwadi
Party in the elections of chairper-
sons of district panchayats has exposed
the chinks in the armour of the party’s
election machinery and election strat-
egy ahead of the crucial 2022 UP
Assembly elections. The party leader-
ship went into a huddle on Monday.
The summary dismissal of 11 dis-
trict presidents of the party by SP chief
Akhilesh Yadav on June 26 has been
termed as an “impulsive decision”
which would be detrimental for the
interest of the party ahead of the next
Assembly elections.
“Election management has become
a huge challenge for the party. The set-
back in the election of district panchayat
chairpersons has exposed flaws in our
election strategy. We lost some seats due
to rejection of nomination papers,
even though we could have won there.
Targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party would serve no purpose as we
cannot absolve our leadership for fail-
ure to contest elections with adequate
preparations,” said a senior party leader.
Terming the setback in district
panchayat chairpersons' elections as a
“wake up call” for the party ahead of the
Assembly election, a senior party leader
said, “These elections were left at the
mercy of the district presidents
and many of them had little experience
in managing and contesting polls,” he
said.
Moreover, he said, coordination
committees constituted in each district
comprising former and sitting MPs and
MLAs for assisting the district president
proved to be ineffective.
Though the SP leaders are unwill-
ing to speak on record, they concede
that the misuse of official machinery in
district panchayat elections had become
an established tradition in UP during
the last 25 years and the party leader-
ship should have factored in this ele-
ment in its preparation for contesting
the elections of chairpersons of district
panchayats.
Meanwhile, SP president Akhilesh
Yadav alleged that UP Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath had gone “over the top”
in rigging the elections of district pan-
chayat chairpersons.
“BJP’s undemocratic conduct has
posed a threat to the constitutional insti-
tutions. Hijacking Samajwadi Party
candidates and preventing them from
filing nomination papers by the admin-
istration along with the BJP leaders, has
exposed the designs of the ruling
party,” he alleged.
The former Chief Minister said
Samajwadi Party leaders were being
harassed and the state had unleashed a
reign of terror against the elected dis-
trict panchayat members of the
Samajwadi Party.
“It is a matter of deep concern and
anguish that the officials remained
mute spectators instead of preventing
those obstructing the election process.
The State Election Commission also
remained helpless and the Raj Bhawan
is also conspicuous by its silence,” he
charged.
Listing incidents of high handed-
ness by the administration in districts
Yadav said the BJP forcibly registered
its victory in Balrampur district by
arresting the Samajwadi Party candidate
and snatching the nomination papers
while the Samajwadi Party candidate
was not allowed to file nomination for
the post of district panchayat chairman
in Lalitpur.
He said in Gorakhpur, BJP leaders
forcibly closed the main gate of the dis-
trict collectorate. The BJP kept guard at
every point leading to the nomination
room. Besides, he said the Samajwadi
Party candidate was stopped from fil-
ing nomination papers in Jhansi and in
Varanasi, the SP candidate's nomination
paper was rejected by the returning offi-
cer.
2?RPdVWcX]cdaUfPaQTcfTT]
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New Delhi: More than 40 per cent of
the fragile Kumaun Himalaya is sus-
ceptibletopermanentdisplacementin
case of earthquake of magnitude
rangingfrom7to8.6Mw,warnsanew
study by a team of Scientists from the
WadiaInstituteofHimalayanGeology,
Dehardun, an autonomous institute
under the Department of Science and
Technology (DST).
The scientists had carried out a
probabilistic assessment of co-seismic
landslides for the Goriganga valley
located in the Kumaun Himalaya as it
lies in the highest seismically active
zone of the seismic zoning map of
India. This research has been pub-
lished in the ‘Bulletin of Engineering
GeologyandtheEnvironment’recent-
ly.
Several studies suggest that this
region is prone to a great future
earthquake of 8.0Mw or greater. The
team of Scientists including Sandeep
Kumar, Vikram Gupta, Parveen
Kumar Y. P. Sundriyal estimated the
Newmark permanent displacement,
whichprovidesthedistributionofpre-
dicted slope failure in the area.
It was found that more than one-
third of the area was vulnerable to the
co-seismic landslide and that earth-
quakes of magnitudes 7.0, 8.0, and 8.6
(Mw) might moderately damage the
area of about 1459 km2, 1256 km2,
and 1134 km2 in the study region,
respectively.
This work is the first of its kind in
the Himalayas region, in which earth-
quake-induced landslides have been
explored in view of future major to
great probabilistic earthquakes, said a
scientist from the DST. PNS
344?0::D0A970Q =4F34;78
As lakhs of students across the country
wait for the announcement of the dates
for the revised schedule of the JEE Main
2021 and NEET 2021 entrance exams, the
National Testing Agency (NTA) under the
Ministry of Education (MoE) is likely to
make an announcement in this regard by
the end of this week.
MoE sources said a review meeting was
convened on Monday on the issue of
pending JEE and NEET. “The present tim-
ing could be conducive for the conduct of
entrance tests before the country is hit by
a probable third wave of the corona pan-
demic,theparticipantsdeliberated,”sources
said adding the JEE Main pending exams
will be held be July end and August begin-
ning and the JEE Advanced is likely to be
scheduled for August end or September
beginning.
The NEET UG exam conducted for
admission in MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BSMS,
BUMS, and BHMS courses will also be
announced simultaneously to end the
speculations and anxiety within the aspi-
rants, parents, institutions and all other
stakeholders related to the professional
courses.
Sources said Education Minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal was scheduled to inter-
act with candidates and parents over the
subject last week on social media but he
ended up by conveying only a recorded
messageonthesuggestionsofMoEofficials.
“There was nothing concrete and there
could have been a deluge of queries on JEE
and NEET which the Ministry was not pre-
pared to answer. This could have further
raised the anxiety of the candidates,” said
the sources.
While the entrance schedule is yet to be
notified, the admission brochure of the IIT
entrance - JEE Advanced — has already
been released by this year’s nodal institute
–IIT Kharagpur. This year’s JEE and
NEETwerepostponedtwiceduetothepre-
vailing pandemic situation in the country.
The JEE Advanced was earlier scheduled to
be held on July 3 but it too was postponed.
The decision comes in the wake of a MoE
directive to offer the relaxation as several
students had claimed that they could not
appear for the IIT entrance exam last year
due to the lockdown imposed by the state
governments due to pandemic.
As per the IIT brochure released on
Sunday while most rules remain as it is,
some eligibility and admission rules keep-
ing the pandemic in mind have been
tweaked. Along with the JEE Main 2021
qualifying candidates, those who were eli-
gible to appear for JEE Advanced 2020 but
failed to appear in the exam will now be
allowed to appear for the IIT entrance.
“This is a one-time measure valid only
forJEE-Advance2021.Thesecandidateswill
be considered in addition to and not as part
of the total number of candidates who
would qualify from JEE-Mains 2021 for
appearing in JEE-Adv 2021,” as per the
brochure. Till last year, an IIT aspirant had
to score 75 percent or more in the class 12
boardexamsasmandatoryeligibilityforthe
JEE-Advance, but for this year the criteria
has been relaxed considering the complete
scrapping of the class 12 Board exams this
year.
However, candidates should have
appeared and cleared their class 12 exams
and should be among the top 2.5 lakh suc-
cessful candidates including all categories
in JEE-Mains 2021, read the brochure.
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Mumbai:The Covid-19 deaths dropped
to 287 while the infections went down to
6,727, even as 10,812 patients were dis-
charged after full recovery from various
hospitals in the State.
A day after the State logged 405
deaths and 9,974 infections in the state,
Maharashtra witnessed the deaths drop
by 118, while new cases went down by
3247.
Of the deaths reported on Monday,
there were 101 current fatalities, while 186
were “old and hither-to unaccounted”
deaths, which have been added to the state
total Covid-19 toll as part of the ongoing
reconciliation process.
As 10,812 patients were discharged
from the hospitals across the State after
full recovery, the total number of people
discharged from the hospitals since the
second week of March last year increased
from 57,90113 to 58,00925. The recov-
ery rate in the State rose from 95.91 pee
cent to 95.99 per cent.
The total “active cases” in the state
dropped from 1,22,252 to 1,17,874. The
fatality rate in the State rose from 2 per
cent to 2.1 per cent.
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