J&K records 3,408 new COVID-19 cases, 48 deaths
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday recorded 3,408 fresh COVID-19 cases, raising the tally to 2,67,313, while 48 more deaths pushed the fatality count to 3,513 in the union territory, officials said.
Of the fresh cases, 1,251 were reported from the Jammu division and 2,157 from the Kashmir division, they said. Read more on The Dispatch.
‘Corona curfew’ extended till May 31 in J&K
Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday extended till May 31 the curfew imposed across the union territory to curb the spread of coronavirus. The restrictions were scheduled to end on May 24. Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 distts (districts) of J&K till 7 am on Monday, 24/5/21 is extended further till 7 am on Monday, 31/5/21. Curfew will be strict except for a few essential services. DCs (Deputy Commissioners) being given limited flexibility to ensure economic activities do not suffer, the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said in a tweet on its official handle. Read more on The Dispatch.
Court grants bail to former JK Bank Chairman Parvez Nengroo in tender fraud case
Srinagar: Former Jammu Kashmir Bank Chairman Parvez Ahmed Nangroo who had been arrested on charges of corruption was granted bail by the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption Kashmir on Saturday. An official told News Agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that a bail application was filed and argued on his behalf by Advocate Ishtiyaq Khan before the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption Kashmir. He said that the Special Judge Anti-Corruption granted the accused interim bail with a surety bond of Rs one lakh but ordered him to appear before the investigating team in between from 10AM to 2PM as and when called by the Investigating Officer. Read more on The Dispatch.
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine 80 per cent effective against B1.617.2 variant: UK study
London: Two doses from either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine are over 80 per cent effective in preventing infection from the B1.617.2 variant of COVID-19, first discovered in India, a new UK government study has reportedly found. The Oxford/AstraZeneca two-dose vaccine is also being produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield and being administered among the adult population in India to protect against the deadly virus. The UK findings are said to be based on data from Public Health England (PHE) and have also revealed that the two doses provide 87 per cent protection from the B.117 variant, first discovered in Kent region of England and also considered highly transmissible. Read more on The Dispatch.
Responsibility of all to save paradise of Kashmir by unitedly fighting Covid: Jitendra Singh
New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday appealed to people to turn the COVID-19 vaccination drive into a mass movement in Kashmir and said everybody, rising above political and ideological differences, should come together to fight the pandemic. In an interaction with political leaders and public activists from Kashmir, he said a successful vaccination campaign in the Valley will send a positive message across the country. Elected representatives, social activists, religious heads and senior leaders can play a vital role in turning the vaccination drive launched by the Modi government against Covid into a mass movement, Singh, who is the minister of state for personnel, said. Read more on The Dispatch.
Powerful earthquakes hit Chinese cities
New Delhi: At least four cities in China, in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province, Southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan Province, and North China’s Shaanxi Province, were jolted by earthquakes in 24 hours. At least three deaths were reported so far as reported by state media. The 6.4 magnitude quake in Yunnan’s Yangbi county, with a focal depth of eight kilometers, caused three deaths and injured 27 on Saturday morning. No casualties were reported in earthquakes that occurred in the other three regions yet. Hours after the 6.4 magnitude quake in Yunnan, Maduo county of Qinghai reported an earthquake with a 7.4 magnitude, regarded as the biggest earthquake in China after the Wenchuan earthquake of 8.2 magnitude in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province in 2008. Read more on The Dispatch.
Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur launches Home Isolation Kit for COVID-19 patients
New Delhi: In Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched Home Isolation Kit for COVID-19 patients in home isolation from Peterhoff in Shimla today. He flagged off 11 vehicles to different parts of the state carrying Home Isolation Kits. He also launched Himachal COVID Care Application and e-Sanjeevani OPD to connect people with AIIMS, Bilaspur for online consultation and treatment. Speaking on this occasion, Mr Thakur said, these kits would be provided to the COVID-19 patients in home isolation by concerned MLAs. He urged the elected representatives to ensure that the kits were made available to the patients at the earliest. Read more on The Dispatch.
Foreign aid to combat COVID-19 being expeditiously dispatched to States, UTs: Health Ministry
New Delhi: Union Health Ministry has said that the incoming foreign aid to combat COVID-19 is being expeditiously dispatched to the States and Union Territories. The Centre has been receiving international cooperation of COVID-19 relief medical supplies and equipment since 27th of last month from different countries and organisations. The Ministry said, 16 thousand 530 Oxygen Concentrators, around 16 thousand Oxygen Cylinders, 19 Oxygen Generation Plants, more than 11 thousand ventilators and six lakh 60 thousand Remdesivir vials were dispatched so far through road and air. Read more on The Dispatch.
New Delhi: A Bangalore-based start-up has developed a novel, point-of-care Electrochemical ELISA test that enables fast and accurate estimation of total antibody concentration of COVID -19 in clinical samples. PathShodh Healthcare, the start-up incubated at the Society for Innovation and Development, Indian Institute of Science, has made a very significant breakthrough to develop the first of its kind, semi-quantitative Electrochemical ELISA test for COVID-19 IgM and IgG antibodies. While Qualitative analysis detects constituent elements in the sample, semiquantitative analysis gives an approximate estimation of their concentrations. Read more on The Dispatch.
India registering continuous decline in number of active cases of COVID-19: Health Ministry
New Delhi: Union Health Ministry has said that India is registering a continuous decline in the number of active cases of COVID-19 and further improvement in the recovery from the infection in the past 20 days. Addressing media, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Aggarwal said that the number of active cases has now come down to 11.12 per cent from the level of 17.13 per cent while the recovery rate has improved to 87.76 per cent from the level of 81.7 per cent on 3rd of May. He said, so far more than two crore and 30 lakh people have recovered from the infection. He said, from the last nine days, the recovered cases have actually exceeded the active cases which is a very positive trend. He added that there are 22 states in the country where the recovered cases are more than the daily reported cases. Read more on The Dispatch.
Kishtwar Conspiracy Case: NIA chargesheets three Hizb militants
Kishtwar: National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday chargesheeted three Hizbul Mujahideen militants in connection with the Kishtwar conspiracy case. In a statement to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), a spokesman said that NIA filed Charge-Sheet before the NIA Special Court, Jammu against three Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants namely Jaffer Hussain s/o Mohd. Ashraf Butt r/o Hunjalla,Kishtwar, Tanveer Ahmed Malik s/o Late Jamal Din Malik r/o Village Tantna, Doda, and Taraq Hussain Giri son of Ghulam Hussain, Village Pochhal Kishtwar in RC-08/2019/NIA/JMU. Read more on The Dispatch.
Srinagar: Seven DDC members in Budgam district of Kashmir have offered their resignation citing that the government has no plan for them and that they aren’t even allowed to visit their constituencies. As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), a video clip in this regard has gone viral on social media. The video clip has also been uploaded by the PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on twitter handle with a message that “Detaining DDC members from Budgam since seven months in the name of security defeats the purpose of their election. Held against their will, administration has also prevented them from touring their constituencies. They are so fed up that they have offered to resign.” Read more on The Dispatch.
Black fungus: DAK warns against irrational use of steroids in Covid-19 patients
Srinagar: The Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Saturday has warned against the irrational use of steroids in Covid-19 patients. “Indiscriminate use of steroids can trigger deadly black fungal infection, called mucormycosis which has reached to epidemic proportions in several states of the country,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement issued to GNS. Dr Hassan said steroids are life-saving drugs in severe Covid patients who have respiratory distress or need oxygen or ventilation. Duo ‘absconding’ after testing COVID-19 positive in Poonch; FIR sought Authorities on Saturday sought registration of a FIR against two persons who allegedly “absconded” after testing positive for the COVID-19 in J&K’s Poonch district. Read more on The Dispatch.
Hideout busted; arms, ammo seized
Jammu: Security forces busted a terrorist hideout near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir”s Poonch district on Saturday and seized some arms and ammunition, the third such recovery in a fortnight, police said here. The recovery includes an AK-56 assault rifle, a magazine with 30 rounds, and two Chinese pistols and a magazine, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch, Vinod Kumar said. Read more on The Dispatch.
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