New Delhi: India’s engagement with the world and especially the Indian Ocean Region has been robustly strong, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday while lauding the Armed Forces for being the first responder in the region for humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations.

“India’s unique position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), complemented by a capability of the Armed Forces, enables it to contribute significantly in humanitarian aid and disaster relief situations,” said Singh while virtually inaugurating the 5th World Congress on Disaster Management.

He said that the armed forces have time and again demonstrated that they care for and stand by the country’s partners in times of need without distinguishing between natural or man-made disasters.

The minister reiterated India’s vision for the Indian Ocean encapsulated by the concept of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Singh underlined that SAGAR has both distinct and inter-related elements such as deepening economic and security cooperation among the littoral states, enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories, working towards sustainable regional development, Blue Economy and promoting collective action to deal with non-traditional threats like natural disasters, piracy and terrorism.

He maintained that while each of these elements require equal attention, developing an effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters is one of the most important pillars of SAGAR.

Singh made special mention of some notable humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions in the IOR undertaken by India in recent years, including Operation Rahat in Yemen in 2015 when India rescued and evacuated over 6,700 persons, including over 1,940 citizens of more than 40 other countries, cyclone in Sri Lanka in 2016, earthquake in Indonesia in 2019, Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and flooding and landslides in Madagascar in January 2020 where Indian assistance was promptly provided.

He added that the Covid-19 pandemic has not dented India’s commitment, which was demonstrated by India’s response during the oil spill in Mauritius in August 2020 and the oil tanker fire in Sri Lanka in September 2020.

India taking the lead and offering expertise of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (DRI) to friendly countries was also highlighted by Rajnath Singh.

“Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was first proposed by India during the 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in New Delhi. It is today an international coalition of countries, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector and academic institutions, that aim to promote disaster-resilient infrastructure,” he said.

Singh added that India has been regularly conducting exercises to deepen the HADR co-operation and co-ordination with its neighbours and friendly countries with a focus on sharing expertise and building capabilities.

He called for cooperating more closely to strengthen international architecture for building structures to prevent and manage future disasters.

He also suggested a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the pandemic on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, emphasising on the need to incorporate new ideas in global and national strategies for the implementation of the goals.

The 5th World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) has been organised in New Delhi from November 24-27, at the campus of IIT Delhi on the overarching theme of Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the context of Covid-19. (IANS)

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday expressed concerns over the decreasing trends of Covid testing in some states. The health ministry said that the decrease in the Covid testing would undermine the actual infection spread within the community.

“With the onset of winter and increased pollution in some states, prevalence of ILI/SARI and respiratory distress symptoms should be closely monitored, with tests conducted regularly for timely monitoring and clustering of cases for early hotspot identification”, said the health ministry.

In a letter to the states, the ministry said that in the absence of sustained levels of sufficient testing, it is very difficult to determine the true level of infection spread in a geography. With a majority of countries seeing multiple surges in the Covid cases in recent times and a few developed countries facing even fourth and fifth wave despite high levels of Covid vaccination, there is a need for continued vigil given the unpredictable and contagious nature of the disease.

The ministry added further that all efforts must be implemented to preserve the gains made so far and to prevent deterioration of Covid-19 scenario across the country.

“Nagaland has reported 342 average daily tests as on week ending 22nd November. This is in a stark contrast to a high of 1,250 average daily tests conducted in the week of August 23-29. It is also worrying to note that the state has recorded a positivity of 1.5 per cent in the week ending 22nd November, having stagnated over the past 4 weeks, with an abysmally low share of RT-PCR tests,” said the ministry to the states.

The health ministry has written letters to the states: Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Ladakh.

The ministry has directed these states to maintain the momentum and build on the progress made so far to bring the pandemic situation under control. (IANS)

Jammu: Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday lodged protest with Pakistan Rangers on violation of International Border by drone activity during commandant level meeting at Octroi post here in the city outskirts.

BSF spokesman here said that BSF and Pakistan Rangers commandant level border meeting was held at International Border of Border Outpost Octroi.

“Pak Rangers objected to the BSF defence construction work,” said the BSF spokesman.

He said that protest was lodged by BSF regarding violation of IB by Pakistan based Drones and also apprised the Pak commander to refrain from such activities.

He said that the BSF delegation was led by Ajay Suryavanshi, Commandant and Pakistan delegation was led by Wing Commander Lt Col Aquil of 13 Wing Chenab Rangers.

During the meeting, he said that Commanders of both border guarding forces discussed various issues including maintenance of border pillars and latest infrastructure activities on border, Pakistan Drone operations and other activities.

Both commanders also agreed to resolve all ops matter and border issues with a mutual understanding, he added.

The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere and both commanders agreed to work for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere on the border. (UNI)

Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the registration of all unorganized workers in Jammu and Kashmir on the e-Shram portal of the central government.

Commissioner Secretary, Labour & Employment Department, Chief Executive Officer, J&K Building And Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Labour Commissioner, and other officers of the Department attended the meeting.

It was informed that the Department has so far registered 5,43,408 workers including 2,01,508 female and 3,41,900 male workers engaged in the unorganized sector.

It was further informed that the agriculture, construction, healthcare, transport, and handicraft sectors have contributed to approximately 20% of the total registrations. Other sectors with high registration tally are tourism, retail, domestic help, manufacturing, etc.

Regarding the ease of access to benefits under social security schemes for construction workers it was informed that through the unique ID generated on the e-Shram portal, the registration information can be accessed by multiple departments and agencies for ensuring timely disbursement of benefits to the verified beneficiaries.

The Chief Secretary asked the Department to register all the eligible workers including the temporarily engaged workers in the Government sector; on the portal and extend the benefits of workers’ welfare schemes to them within one month.

Further, Dr. Mehta asked the Department to focus on registering the unorganized workers being engaged under MGNREGA scheme as well as various Self Help Groups and cover them under the blanket of workers’ related welfare schemes.

To facilitate the registration on the e-Shram portal, the Department was asked to arrange the registration facilities across all Common Service Centres of Jammu and Kashmir, besides the district offices of the Labour Department.

By: Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported 174 fresh covid-19 cases while two persons died due to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

Among the fresh cases, 25 were reported from Jammu Division and 149 from Kashmir, taking the overall tally to 335881.

There was one death each from Kashmir and Jammu division respectively due to the virus during the last 24 hours, they said.

So far 4466 persons—2184 in Jammu and 2282 in Kashmir—have died due to the pathogen, they said.

Giving district wise details of the fresh cases, the officials said that Srinagar reported 58 cases, Baramulla 43, Budgam 18, Pulwama 0, Kupwara 11, Anantnag 3, Bandipora 8, Ganderbal 7, Kulgam 0, Shopian 1, Jammu 11, Udhampur 1, Rajouri 5, Doda 2, Kathua 0, Samba 0, Kishtwar 4, Poonch 1, Ramban 0 and Reasi 1.

A number of these cases were confirmed at CD hospital’s diagnostic labouratory and include female (50) (NA) from Chrarishareef, male (09) (NA) from Ganderbal, female (56) (NA) from Chanpora Sgr, male (50) (NA) from Murran pulwama, female (55) (NA) from Kulbagh, female (08) (NA) from Kahlil, male (70) (NA) from Sgr, male (40) (NA) from Habbak, female (20) (NA) from Hajan, male (40) (NA) from Buchpora, male (59) (NA) from Buchpora, male (75) (NA) from Lalbazar sgr, male (65) (NA) from Khaag budgam, female (55) (NA) from Jawaharnagar Sgr and male (54) (NA) from Umarbad Sgr.

Moreover, 135 Covid-19 patients recovered during the time, 25 from Jammu Division and 110 from Kashmir, they said.

So far 329731 patients have recovered, leaving active case tally at 1684—247 in Jammu and 1437 in Kashmir.

They said there was no new confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today. So far 49 black fungus cases have been confirmed in J&K, the officials said.

The government also informed that 67448 doses of covid-19 vaccine were administered during the time in J&K. (GNS)