New Delhi, Aug 26: India recorded 67,151 new COVID-19 cases and 1,059 more fatalities during the past 24 hours, Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
With the latest additions, the total number of cases reached 32,34,474, while the death toll climbed to 59,449.
On a brighter note, as many as 63,173 more patients recovered from the virus, taking the overall recovery to 76.30 per cent.
As per the update from the ministry, the total number of recovered now stand at 24,67,759 while the active cases are 7,07,267.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said in the past 24 hours, 8,23,992 samples were tested, taking the total tests conducted to 3,76,51,512.

The case tally climbed to 7,03,823 in the worst-affected Maharashtra, while Tamil Nadu registered 3,91,303 cases and the figure stood at 3,71,639 in Andhra Pradesh.
The death toll rose to 23,111 in Maharashtra, 6,721 in Tamil Nadu and 3,460 in Andhra Pradesh.
Globally, the United States remains the worst-infected, with more than 59 lakh cases, followed by Brazil, recording over 36 lakh infections. The US also registered the highest 1.82 lakh fatalities, while 1.16 lakh deaths were recorded in Brazil.
India, at the third spot in terms of infections and fourth in fatalities, registered the first case and death on January 31 and March 13, respectively.

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Aug 26: Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday recorded 704 fresh cases of COVID-19 pandemic including 96 travelers taking the total number of positive cases to 34,480 in the Union Territory. Of the total 34,480 cases, 26,872 are from Kashmir and 7,608 from Jammu division.

Officials said that among 704 new cases, 509 belong to Kashmir division while as 195 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir division have reached to 26,872 including 20,291 recoveries while as total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 7,608 including 5,902 recoveries and 54 deaths.
They said that total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 7,630 including 5,978 from Kashmir division and 1,652 from Jammu division.
With 599 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached to 26,193 which is 75.96 percent of the total cases.
Pertinently, Srinagar district alone has 8,553 positive cases which is more than the total number of positive cases in Jammu division where total cases are 7,608.
“Cases tested positive in J&K include 198 from Srinagar, 16 from Baramulla, 55 from Pulwama, 64 from Budgam, 47 from Anantnag, 09 from Kulgam, 09 from Shopian, 49 from Kupwara, 22 from Bandipora and 40 from Ganderbal in Kashmir division while as 195 from Jammu division include 98 from Jammu, 17 from Rajouri, 27 from Kuthua, 15 from Udhampur, 03 from Ramban, 12 from Samba, 07 from Doda, 07 from Poonch and 09 from Kishtwar,” officials disclosed.
As per officials figures, 8,553 positive cases including 208 deaths and 6,793 recoveries are from Srinagar, 2,694 including 99 deaths and 2,061 recoveries are from Baramulla, 2,441 including 1,922 recoveries and 47 deaths are from Pulwama, 2,271 including 1,617 recoveries and 55 deaths are from Budgam, 2,193 including 47 deaths and 1,660 recoveries are from Anantnag, 1,877 including 1,610 recoveries and 31 deaths are from Kulgam, 1,646 cases including 1,519 and 28 deaths are from Shopian, 1,943 including 1,275 recoveries and 45 deaths are from Kupwara, 1,974 including 1,160 recoveries and 24 deaths are from Bandipora and 1,279 including 674 recoveries and 19 deaths are from Ganderbal.
In Jammu division, 2,561 including 1,780 recoveries and 37 deaths are from Jammu district, 858 including 760 recoveries and 04 deaths are from Rajouri, 782 including 641 recoveries and 02 deaths are from Kuthua, 752 including 635 recoveries and 02 deaths are from Udhampur, 651 including 627 recoveries and 01 death are from Ramban, 671 including 464 recoveries and 02 deaths are from Samba, 384 including 329 recoveries and 02 deaths are from Doda, 383 including 307 recoveries and 03 deaths are from Poonch, 360 including 181 recoveries are from Reasi and 206 including 178 recoveries and 01 death are from Kishtwar.
As per the daily information bulletin, 445,720 persons in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation while 43,764 persons have been kept under home quarantine besides that 7,630 persons are in isolation.
According to the bulletin, 349,523 persons have completed surveillance period and 44,146 persons are under home surveillance besides that so far results of 902,677 samples are available.
Out of 902,677 the number of samples tested negative stands at 868,197 while 34,480 have been tested positive, among them 7,630 are active and 26,193 persons have recovered.

 Flash floods hit Jammu parts
 Sgr-Jmu highway remain closed
 Temperature dips to 22 degrees Celsius in Srinagar
 Weather to improve from tomorrow
Sajid Raina
Srinagar, Aug 26: A was killed while as dozens of livestock perished due to landslides triggered in Jammu parts as incessant rains lashed the UT on Wednesday, while Srinagar- Jammu National Highway, remained closed for the vehicular traffic for the second consecutive day today.
A 35-year-old man was killed after a landslide hit him at Kotli village of Manjkote in Rajouri district, officials said.
Officials told KNO that a landslide hit Kotli village area of Manjakote in Rajouri district in which a 35-year-old Shokit, son of Mohammad Hussain of Kallar village of Mendhar was killed.
“His body was removed from the debris site by locals of the area,” said officials.
Similarly, many animals are feared to have perished in an incident of cattle shed collapse in Sangiote village near Balakote in Poonch district area. The rescue operation by locals was going on, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, the officials said that heavy rainfall triggered flash floods in most of the rivers and small water bodies of Rajouri, creating panic among the masses.
They said that in many areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts, the authorities have sounded alert and have asked the people not to venture near the water bodies due to the rise in water level.
Meanwhile, incessant rainfall in the Valley has brought relief among the people from scorching heat as the Valley has witnessed prolonged dry spell.
The temperature in Srinagar as per the local Meteorological department (MeT) had gone down by 10 degrees today as compared to yesterday’s temperature. The officials in the MeT said that Srinagar recorded a temperature of 22.6 degree Celsius today.
He said Srinagar recorded 32.9 degree Celsius temperature yesterday.
Meanwhile, Director MeT, Sonum Lotus told KNO that there is possibility of more rainfall across Jammu and Kashmir till August 27 evening, saying that the weather conditions would improve from August 28 morning.

However, the incessant rainfall also triggered flash floods in some areas of the Valley.
According to the officials, a Water Supply Scheme got washed away due to flash floods triggered by incessant rainfall in Gurez area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, adding that Barnai-Tulai road in Gurez area was also blocked due to the landslide, thus affecting the vehicular movement in the area.
The flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall washed away the Water Supply Scheme in Barnia area while the landslides triggered by the heavy rainfall has also damaged a road in Burnai, Gurez Sub-Division, they said.
Sub District Magistrate (SDM) Gurez, Mudasir Ahmad said the men and machinery has been pressed to restore the road and to restore the damaged water supply scheme.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu highway continued to remain closed for the second consecutive day on Wednesday following the landslides triggered by the heavy rainfall.
Over 3000 vehicles are stranded near Qazigund as the highway has remained closed for vehicular movement today, IG Traffic T Namgyal told KNO.
“The road clearance work is going on. But, the shooting stones and landslides are still occurring at Panthal and Dalwas areas due to which the work has got hampered. The roads will be cleared soon,” he said.

People facing lot of difficulties, consider their plights: SC to Centre
New Delhi, Aug 26: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the government’s stand on waiving interest on loan repayments during the moratorium and said it “cannot hide” behind the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Reacting sharply to the Centre’s comment that the move would hit businesses and banks, the Supreme Court said: “This happened because you locked down the entire country.”
The Supreme Court has asked the government to make its stand clear by September 1 on a petition that asks that interest on loan repayment in the moratorium during the COVID-19 lockdown be cancelled. The court said the Centre had not clarified its stand even though it has “ample powers” under the Disaster Management Act to grant the waiver.
“There cannot be a solution which is one-size fits all,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said.
“You cannot be interested only in business and not about sufferings of people,” the Supreme Court said, noting that the matter had been hanging for a long time.
“The problem has been created by your (Centre’s) lockdown. This is also not the time to consider about the business. The plight of people has to be considered also. You have to tell us your stand on two things: disaster management act and if the interest on interest will be accounted for,” said Justice Ashok Bhushan.
The petitioners wanted some portion of an RBI notification issued on March 27 to be cancelled so that interest could be waived. They said the interest creates hardship, hindrances and objection in right to life guaranteed under the constitution.
The RBI had informed the court earlier that there cannot be an interest waiver during moratorium on term loan repayment as such a move will put the financial health and stability of banks at risk.
Reacting to the court’s sharp comment about “hiding behind the RBI”, Mehta said: “My Lordships may not say that. We are working in coordination with RBI.”
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, said the moratorium would end on August 31 and sought its extension. “As on September 1, we will be in default,” he said. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Aug 26: Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong termed the Galwan clash, which claimed lives of 20 Indian soldiers, as ”unfortunate incident” saying it is “brief moment from the perspective of history.”

“Not long ago, an unfortunate incident happened in the border areas that neither China nor India would like to see. Now we are working to handle it properly. It is a brief moment from the perspective of history,” the Chinese Ambassador said while speaking at China-India youth webinar.

Sun Weidong said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India 70 years ago, bilateral relations have withstood tests and become more resilient. “It should not be disturbed by one thing at a time. In this new century, bilateral relations should continue to move forward instead of backward,” he said.

The Ambassador was convinced that China and India, two ancient civilizations, have the wisdom and ability to properly handle bilateral relations.

“China sees India as a partner instead of a rival, and an opportunity instead of a threat. We hope to put the boundary question at an appropriate place in bilateral relations, properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation, and push bilateral relations back on track at an early date,” the Ambassador said.

Sun Weidong said India and China “should live in peace and avoid conflicts.”

“No country can be isolated from the rest of the world and seek development on its own. We should not only adhere to self-reliance, but also stick to opening up to the outside world in line with the trend of globalization. Only in this way can we achieve better development,” he said.

The Chinese Ambassador emphasised that the economic complementarity between China and India is very strong. “China has been India”s largest trading partner for many years in a row, while India is also China”s largest trading partner in South Asia. The Chinese and Indian economies are interwoven and interdependent,” he said. “I think the two big economies of China and India should attract each other like magnets, rather than forcefully separate them.”

The Chinese Ambassador said language learning is indispensable in people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries, which “cannot be ignored, let alone be politicized.”

India and China are engaged in a standoff since April-May over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including Finger area, Galwan valley, Hot springs and Kongrung Nala.

The talks between the two sides have been going on for the last three months including five Lieutenant general-level talks but have failed to yield any results, so far.

The Chinese Army has refused to withdraw or disengage completely from the Finger area and seems to be buying time to delay its disengagement from there.

While efforts are underway to resolve the ongoing border dispute, India has rejected the Chinese suggestion to disengage equidistantly from the Finger area in Eastern Ladakh.

Earlier this month, China had expressed hope that India will treat Confucius Institutes in an “objective and fair manner”.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy had asked India to avoid politicising normal cooperation and maintain healthy and stable development of China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The remarks came after India begins a comprehensive review of local chapters of Confucius Institutes and agreements with Indian universities.

New Delhi, Aug 26: The National Testing Agency that conducts key entrance exams in the country has asked all states to help engineering and medical test candidates to move freely to exam centres amid the coronavirus crisis.
The Union Health Secretary, in a letter to all the states, asked them to order their district magistrates to ease inter-district movement so that students can reach their exam centres without facing any issue.
Some states, especially those run by the opposition, have asked the centre to defer holding the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
In an online meeting of chief ministers’ today, in which Congress president Sonia Gandhi also participated, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had said the “burden” of the Centre’s move to push ahead with JEE and NEET would “ultimately land on our head”.

Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Aug 26: The parliamentary panel on Information Technology (IT) would next week hear the viewpoint of Centre and administration of J&K Union Territory over suspension of telecom and internet services in the UT as well as its impact on the people.
The 30-member department- related standing committee on IT has convened a meeting on September 1 to record oral evidence from the representatives of Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Home Affairs and representatives of J&K UT, state Bihar and NCT Delhi over suspension of telecom and internet services.
The panel, comprising representatives of different parties including BJP, Congress, TMC, is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
However, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who is also part of the panel, has opposed the discussion, claiming that the matter is sub-judice.
“Since this issue is presently pending before the Supreme Court of India, any further deliberations on this would again be a violation of the relevant rules/directions as well as the recently issued advisory of the Speaker. I therefore appeal to your goodself that the sitting of the committee of Information Technology for the aforementioned purposed be revoked,” reads Dubey’s letter to Tharoor, a copy of which is with the news agency—KNO.
The BJP leader from Jharkhand further added, “I request you to consider not taking up those issues for deliberation in our Committee which is of ‘National Importance’, as otherwise, we would again be showing discourtesy to the desire of our Hon’ble Speaker.”
The matter is being discussed at a time when restrictions are still imposed on 4G internet in 18 out of 20 districts of the newly carved out UT. KNO)

  
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Aug 26: The committee constituted for coming up with proposals for revival of business sector in J&K would meet the business men on Friday and Saturday, an official spokesman said.
He said that the panel  would be meeting delegations and deputations of the business, industries and commerce fraternity at Banquet Hall in Srinagar on Friday (August 28) from 10 am to 12 pm.
The committee would meet the businessmen in Jammu  on Saturday (August 29) from 3pm to 5pm at Udhyog Bhawan in Jammu, the spokesman added.
He said the decision in this regard was taken at a 2^nd meeting of the committee held under the chairmanship of Advisor to Lt Governor, K.K Sharma and was also attended by its members including Financial Commissioner Finance, Dr. Arun Mehta, Commissioner/Secretary Industries and Commerce, Manoj Kumar Diwedi, Chairman Jammu Kashmir Bank, R.K Chibber and other senior officers.

The meeting decided that by inviting suggestions from different stakeholders would ensure making suggestions broad -based and in tune with the local needs and demands of the business fraternity of Jammu and Kashmir.

It was also decided that different departments like horticulture, agriculture, industries, tourism and other related sectors would also provide the requisite inputs within the shortest possible time.

The Advisor while addressing the meeting said the Government by constituting the committee is exploring the means of reviving the business sector in the UT which has taken a serious hit like other parts of the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that the requisite suggestions would be formulated and sent to the concerned for undertaking the necessary interventions for revival of business in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Committee also discussed in detail suggestions received from different business organizations, Industrial Associations of Jammu and Kashmir.

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Aug 26: Courts should be too slow to thrive the second application of a party for anticipatory bail where the earlier one has been rejected and there is no substantial change of circumstance or event, the High Court has said.
“Further repetition of prayer for anticipatory bail after rejection by the competent Court after invoking the power of review of the decision of the earlier Court may lead to judicial anarchy about which caution has been sounded by the Apex Court of the country in umpteen judicial dictums,” a bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey said while rejecting a bail application by one Laiq Parvez.
The applicant was seeking bail in anticipation of his arrest in connection with case bearing FIR No. (0/2020), registered by Police Station, Anti-Corruption Bureau, South Kashmir, for the commission of offence punishable under Sections 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Samvat 2006 and Section 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
Pervez claimed to have retired from Government service upon reaching the age of superannuation and rendering satisfactory service spanning over two decades on 30 of April last year as Programme Officer, Integrated Child Development, Senior Scale KAS Cadre post. He stated that after a period of six months from the date of retirement, a questionnaire with respect to verification was served on him by the Inquiry Officer, Anti- Corruption Bureau, South Kashmir, regarding allotments of land in favour of various unit holders during his posting as General Manger District Industries Centre Pulwama from June 2017 to ending February 2018.
The government said through B. A. Dar, the Senior Additional Advocate General, submitted that the case registered against Pervez is in its initial stage and a reasonable time was required for the concerned agency to investigate the matter.
“It is settled principle of law in the process of granting bail that the Court concerned should be satisfied that the accused being enlarged on bail will not be in a position to tamper with evidence,” the court further observed. “When allegations of tampering of evidence are made, it is the duty of the Court to satisfy itself as to whether those allegations have basis and if the allegations are not found to be concocted it would not be a proper exercise of jurisdiction in enlarging the accused on bail. This, if allowed, will encourage the litigant to make half a dozen applications on the same point without any new factor having arisen after the first one was rejected,” the court added. (GNS)