Leh, June 19: Ladakh Union Territory Friday recorded 57 Covid positive cases taking the total number of virus affected people to 648.

Officials told KNO that 57 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in UT Ladakh. “The number of COVID-19 active cases in UT Ladakh has gone up to 648; 122 in Leh district and 526 in Kargil district,” they said.

As per the official bulletin also said that of the total 122 active cases in Leh, 5 positive patients are admitted in COVID hospital while 117 positive cases are in home isolation.

And of the total 526 active cases in Kargil district, 54 positive patients are admitted in COVID hospital, 350 positive cases are in home isolation while 122 positive patients are in COVID Care Centre (CCC). It also informs that till date 66 numbers of patients in Leh district and 29 in Kargil district were cured and discharged from COVID hospitals.

The bulletin said that 01 positive sample report of Leh district was received by Health department Leh from COVID Laboratory Chuchot Yokma yesterday.

The Health Department Leh received 109 sample reports yesterday from NCDC New Delhi; out of the total sample reports, 6 positive sample reports are of Leh district. While 50 positive  and 53 negative sample reports are of Kargil district.

The bulletin also informs that the condition of all 648 active cases of COVID-19 in UT Ladakh is stable. “91 passengers and 151drivers and helpers of 89 trucks/tankers and light motor vehicles were screened at Khaltsi check post yesterday. The vehicles were also sanitized,” the bulletin said.

The Health workers at Upshi check post screened 119 passengers yesterday including drivers and helpers who came to Leh in 65 tankers, 65 trucks and 03 light vehicles and one bus.

New Delhi, June 19: With India putting a ‘bravefront’ to the corona epidemic, there are reports of 13,586 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours taking the total number of infected people to 3,80,532 on Friday.

India added highest 12,881 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 3.66 lakh, while the death toll reached 12,881 as 334 more patients succumbed to the contagious disease.

So far, a total of 12,573 people have succumbed to the contagion in the country while 2,04,711 recovered. Currently, there are 1,63,248 active cases. The contagion tally nationwide had surged to 3,66,946 on Thursday.

Of the fatalities, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths on Friday with 5,751 people succumbing to the contagion till date, followed by Delhi and Gujarat with 1,969 and 1,591 fatalities respectively.Tamil Nadu has recorded 625 deaths, 435 people have died in Uttar Pradesh while Rajasthan has registered 323 deaths. West Bengal too is in the grip with 435 fatalities and Madhya Pradesh has seen 482 people dying while union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed 75 deaths till Friday.

The cured patients in Maharashtra stand at 60,838 with 1,672 fresh recoveries.

Tamil Nadu, the second most-affected state now houses 52,334 cases. A total of 28,641 have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

Delhi is continuously witnessing a hike in cases in the last fortnight, as the infections near 50,000-mark, registering 49,979 positive cases. The virus claimed 1969 lives in the National Capital with 65 deaths during the last 24 hours. As many as 21,341 patients have been discharged from Delhi hospitals after treatment.

Gujarat has 25,093 infection cases, according health ministry data. Though the number is half of that of Tamil Nadu, such high caseload makes the western state one of the most-affected. The number of active cases in the state are 6,103 and 17,430 have been cured or discharged.

Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state has seen its Covid-19 tally nearing the 15,000-mark. The number of infected people in the state is 14,598. While 5,259 are active cases, 8,904 have been discharged and 435 succumbed.

In Rajasthan, the corona outbreak is growing and the number of infected people has reached 13,857 while 10,742 people have fully recovered.

The contagion tally in West Bengal is 12,300 with 5,261 active cases and 6,533 cured or discharged.

Madhya Pradesh has 11,244 infected persons of which 2,374 are active cases whereas 8,388 patients have been cured or discharged.

Karnataka registered 7,944 cases and Andhra Pradesh recorded 7,518 cases.

Haryana on Friday registered 115 fresh Coronavirus cases, pushing the infection tally to 9,319 in the state.According to an official health bulletin, 76 fresh cases have been reported from Gurugram district, 15 from Mahendergarh, 10 from Panchkula, seven from Panipat, four from Bhiwani and three new cases from Jhajjar district.

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, June 19: The Government on Friday informed that 125 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (COVID-19), 23 from Jammu division and 102 from Kashmir division, have been reported today thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 5680.
Moreover, 50 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals, 25 from Jammu Division and 25 from Kashmir Division.
According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 5680 positive cases, 2411 are Active Positive, 3194 have recovered and 75 have died; 09 in Jammu division and 66 in Kashmir division.
The Bulletin further said that out of 295202 test results available, 289522 samples have been tested as negative till June 19, 2020.
Additionally, till date 249382 travelers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance which included 39182 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 31 in Hospital Quarantine, 2411 in hospital isolation and 45832 under home surveillance. Besides, 161851 persons have completed their surveillance period.
Providing district-wise breakup, the Bulletin said that Bandipora has 258 positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 50 Active Positive, 207 recovered (including 02 cases recovered today), 01 death; Srinagar has 608 positive cases (including 31 cases reported today) with 368 Active Positive, 222 recovered (including 05 cases recoveàred today), 18 deaths; Anantnag district has 595 positive cases (including 08 cases reported today), with 166 Active Positive, 424 recovered (including 01 case recovered today),  05 deaths; Baramulla has 562 positive cases (including 10 cases reported today) with 282 Active Positive, 267 recovered (including 04 cases recovered today), 13 deaths; Shopian has 602 positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 200 Active Positive, 393 recovered (including 01 case recovered today) and 09 deaths; Kupwara has 428 positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 110 Active Positive, 313 recovered (including 03 cases recovered today) and 05 deaths; Budgam has 291 positive cases (including 02 cases reported today), with 163 Active Positive and 123 recovered cases and 05 deaths; Ganderbal has 66 positive cases (including 01 case reported today) with 10 active positive cases and 56 recoveries; Kulgam has 664 positive cases (including 11 cases reported today), with 195 Active Positive and  461 recoveries (including 09 cases recovered today) and 08 deaths and Pulwama reported 300 positive cases (including 18 cases reported today) with 228 active positive cases and 70 recovered and 02 deaths.
Similarly, Jammu has 298 positive cases (including 08 cases reported today) with 113 active positive cases and 179 recoveries (including 13 cases recovered today) and 06 deaths; Udhampur has 203 positive cases (including 02 cases reported today) with 116 active positive cases, 86 recovered (including 05 cases recovered today) and 01 death; Samba has 124 positive cases (including 04 cases reported today) with 77 Active Positive and 47 recoveries; Rajouri has 73 positive cases (including 01 case reported today) with 58 active positive cases and 14 recovered and 01 death; Kathua has 182 positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 85 Active positive and 97 recovered (including 04 cases reported today); Kishtwar has 23 positive cases with 15 active positive cases and 08 recovered; Ramban has 201 positive cases with 85 active positive and 116 recoveries; Reasi has 31 positive cases with 09 active positive and 22 recovered (including 02 cases recovered today), Poonch has 108 positive cases (including 01 case reported today) with 58 active positive and 50 recoveries (including 01 case reported today) while Doda has 63 positive cases with 23 active positive cases and 39 recoveries and 01 death.
According to the bulletin, of the total 5680 positive cases in J&K 1958 have been reported as travelers while 3722 as others. The Bulletin said that the breakup represents districts from which the patients have been traced or are ordinarily residing.
The bulletin has informed the people that, the best way to protect themselves from COVID-19 is by maintaining physical distance of at least 2 metre from others, frequently cleaning hands with an alcohol based hand sanitizer or washing them with soap and water and following good respiratory etiquette and hygiene.
As a measure for social distancing in public places and workplaces wearing a face cover is compulsory.
The bulletin again explained that early detection of COVID-19 can prevent the spread of disease so we need to be responsible for the well-being of ourselves and everyone around us. “Not disclosing symptoms could put life of individuals and their families at risk. In case of symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing report early. Do not fear, call COVID-19 helpline numbers and seek medical advice”.
Advisory has further exhorted upon the people not to step out of home, unless absolutely necessary. “If you have to move out for unavoidable reasons, ensure that you wear a mask and practice social distancing, personal hygiene and frequent handwashing with soap and water.”
In case of any emergency people can avail free ambulance services 24×7 at their doorsteps by calling on toll-free number 108 while as pregnant women and sick infants can avail free ambulance services by dialling toll-free number 102.
People can also call on toll-free national helpline number 1075; J&K COVID-19 Helpline Numbers 0191- 2549676 (UT level Cell), 0191-2520982, 0191-2674444, 0191-2674115 (For Jammu Division), 0194-2440283 & 0194-2430581 (For Kashmir Division) for support, guidance, and response to health-related queries on Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
Public is advised to strictly follow the advisories issued by the government from time to time and rely only on the information released by the government through the daily media bulletin to print and electronic media.

People are also advised to refrain from spreading rumours and pay no heed to them at the same time.

Geneva: The World Health Organization warned Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic with people tiring of lockdowns despite the disease’s accelerating spread.

The warning came as it emerged the virus was present in Italy in December, months before its first confirmed cases and about the same time as the disease was first reported in China.

The virus, which has now killed more than 454,000 people and infected 8.4 million people worldwide, is surging in the Americas and parts of Asia even as Europe starts to ease restrictive measures.

Lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the disease have caused crippling economic damage, but the WHO said the pandemic still posed a major threat.

“The world is in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home… but the virus is still spreading fast,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference.

A vaccine remains months off at best despite several trials, while scientists are still discovering more about the virus, its symptoms and the extent to which it may have spread before being identified.

“Expect special package from Guv adminstration, J&K Bank for revival of all sectors”

Srinagar, June 19: Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries Sheikh Ashiq today asked the state Government to come up with the special economic package for revival of economic activity here which is in doldrums since August last year.

Taking to KNS, Ashiq said that GOI has excluded Kashmiri business community from Rs 20,000 crore special economic package to cushion the economy of people hit by Covid19 lockdown.

“We have been excluded from the package as the package was announced for those only who have suffered losses in last two months due to Covid19 lockdown. But, the businessmen in Kashmir are facing the losses from last ten months,” President KCC&I told KNS.

He added that they met the Union Home Minister and Union Finance minister and MoS PMO regarding the losses faced by the traders.

“We have brought into their notice about the challenges being faced by the business community in Kashmir. We were expecting good results from those meetings but the COIVD situation washed it all. We expect a special package from GOI for the losses suffered after August 5 shutdown,” he said.

Ashiq revealed that business has slowed down and there is very less cash flow in the market.
“Even after the markets have been opened up after Covid19 lockdown. The business fraternity here is facing yet another challenge i.e. lack of cash flow,” he said,” such a situation is the outcome of the lockdown from last ten months”
KCCI president asked the Lt Governor G C Murmu, Chief Secretary B V R Subramanyam, Financial Commissioner Finance A K Mehta to come up with a special package for revival of the economy and save millions of people become unemployed due to most of businesses in almost every sectors on brink of shutting down.

Ashiq also said that they are expecting some tailor made scheme from J&K Bank for support to businessemen of J&K who have been severely affected by the shutdown from last August.

” We have wonderful professional team in J&K bank. An experienced Chairman and a professional Banker as Managing Director will take businessmen along for the growth of bank and various sectors in Kashmir.”(KNS)

DDC visits spot to take stock of rescue operation

Kishtwar, June 19: Six persons are feared dead after the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into the river Chenab while as the rescue operation has been launched by the administration to trace the missing persons.

Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that a tipper with five labourers and one driver were on board skidded off the road yesterday and plunged into the river Chenab. The persons on board in the vehicle were identified as Sandeep Kumar (Driver), son of Prem Singh of Kadhail, Rajesh Kumar, son of Krishan Nand of Kadhail, Ravinder Kumar, son of Tota Ram of Jar, Rakesh Kumar, son of Vaid Vyas of Kadhail, Jabar Singh, son of Jagdish Raj of Jar and Manjeet Kumar, son of Doulat Ram of Sazar.

Soon after the mishap, the local administration, Police and Army launched a rescue operation.

Meanwhile, District Development Commissioner (DDC) Kishtwar Rajinder Singh Tara visited the Slipor Morh (accident spot) in Block Paddar of district Kishtwar and took stock of rescue operations of missing persons in the accident there.

However, no person has been traced from the spot by the rescue teams so far, as the deep gorge and fast flow of river is hampering the rescue operations, officials said.

Precious Kashmir News

Srinagar, Jun 19: Welcoming the shift in the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) stand from belligerence to amity and peace, the National Conference (NC) on Friday demanded restoration of Special Status of Jammu and Kashmir allegedly taken away unconstitutionally, arbitrarily and unilaterally on August 5, 2019.

In a joint statement issued by ten senior leaders of the NC, including party president Dr Farooq Abdullah and two other party Members of Parliament (MPs) Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi, has welcomed the apparent shift in the BJP’s stand from belligerence to amity and peace, discernible from the recent statements of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.

The other NC leaders included Mohammad Shafi Uri, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Shammi Oberoi, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Devender Singh Rana, Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy, and Javaid Rana.

They welcomed the statement of Mr Gadkari that “India is not interested in expansion in land either from Pakistan or China” and that “India only wanted peace and amity”.

They also welcomed the bold admission made by the leader of Mr Gadkari’s stature that while he and his colleagues want to make India strong but “ the strength does not come from expansion” and that they want “peace not violence” and to “work together.”

The statement also notes with satisfaction the change from alleged hostile and aggressive posture that would day in and day out call for armed adventure across Line of Control (LoC), to a conciliatory posture advocated by Mr Rajnath Singh in his Jan Samvad address to party cadres.

It is stated that mere statements to create an atmosphere of “peace, love and amity” however are to have no meaning unless Government of India (GOI) respects the political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The statement underscores the need to restore special status of Jammu and Kashmir and the constitutional guarantees extended from time to time under binding covenants, unconstitutionally, arbitrarily and unilaterally taken away on August 5, 2019.

The signatories to the statement have expressed deep anguish over skirmishes on LoC and Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the consequent loss of life and property. The civilian population in the border areas, it is pointed out, is under huge economic stress and the border skirmishes are to further compound their problems.

The statement said that revocation of August 5, 2019 decisions and unconditional dialogue with all the stakeholders is pivotal to the lasting peace and prosperity in the region.

They demand immediate annulment of all the August 5, 2019 decisions and restoration of the August 4, 2019 constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir.

The statement also calls for opening of all traditional routes including Kargil- Skardu, Jammu- Sialkot, Poonch – Rawalakot, to allow free movement of people across LoC and LAC and to promote people to people contact and strengthen inter- regional trade and cultural links.

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, June 19: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today chaired a high level meeting to discuss and approve the First Capital Expenditure Budget (Capex) of Union Territory, J&K for the year 2020-21 here at the Raj Bhavan.
Advisors to the Lieutenant Governor- Kewal Kumar Sharma, Farooq Khan, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar and Baseer Ahmad Khan; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner, Finance Department; Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department; Bipul Pathak, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor; Administrative Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners, Jammu and Kashmir, besides all Deputy Commissioners and other senior officers participated in the meeting, in person and through video conferencing.

The meeting discussed the finalization of District Capex Budget for the year 2020-21, to cater the developmental needs of J&K with focus on the empowerment of Panchayati Raj System and strengthening grass root level of democracy through participatory management and mobilization of resources efficiently by fully providing matching grants through CSS and their effective implementation and monitoring.

The Lt Governor called for constitution of District Planning & Development Boards with focus on active public participation and their representatives to give shape to the Bottom up planning process for inclusive development of districts. He directed for formulation of initial preparation of documents as per the resource position including preparation of Panchayat level Plans and Block Level Plans and further consolidation of plans at district level by DDCs.

Notwithstanding the disruption created by the COVID pandemic, the meeting discussed detailed proposal under the District Capex Plan 2020-21, physical status of projects those targeted for completion in the year 2020-21, status and progress of works under Centrally Sponsored Schemes and approved a District Capex Budget 2020-21 amounting to Rs. 5136.40 crore compared to Rs 3079.54 crore in the previous year, with a 67% hike, comprising three components viz CSS, Rs. 4543.47 crore , Negotiated loans Rs. 403.50 crore and UT Component of Rs. 189.34 crore .He stressed on the concerned authorities to take all the possible measures by taking into account  the standing operating procedure of COVID-19 of social distancing issued by the government from time to time to accelerate the various ongoing works on various projects under different district sectors schemes (CSS/UT component etc) for their time bound completion.

The projects /works on completion under priority sectors viz Health, Jal Shakti and Education sector would provide assured benefits to about 25 lacs souls/students and  on completion of 705 kms road would benefit large chunk of  un-connected areas which would result in spread effect in terms of high growth trajectory and ultimately raising living standard through better mobility.The meeting was also informed that a 30% increase in the project execution performance was achieved in the current fiscal in comparison to the last financial year owing to technological interventions to monitor projects using PULSE (Android Mobile App) & geo tagging, in addition to 100% physical verification and third party monitoring.

The Lt Governor directed the DCs for creating online dashboards to monitor real time progress of developmental projects and track & dispose grievances of general public also on the same platform. Focus to be laid on transparency and participatory processes by actively involving PRI’s in closely monitoring the road, water supplies and electricity projects in their districts. He further asked them to identify at least one iconic tourist place in each District and develop it for the promotion of tourism.

During the meeting, the Lt Governor observed that the ‘Back to Village’ programme has received a positive feedback from all the corners. He emphasized on completion of all the pending works, under the programme, on priority so that the aspirations of public are met reflecting their say in the planning and policy decisions.

The Lt Governor called for allocating some percentage of the budget for maintenance of assets and stressed on adopting convergence model by dovetailing of funds under various schemes for optimum utilization of resources in developmental works. He also cautioned against disturbing the material-labour ratio under MGNREGA, as has been done in the past.

He also directed the Administrative Secretaries for close monitoring of the implementation of developmental projects and asked them to put special emphasis on the execution of languishing projects for their completion within the stipulated time frame. He observed that the Government is aiming to achieve the status of aspirational UT and asked all the stakeholders to put in a strenuous effort to attain the same.

The Lt Governor expressed confidence that the District Plans approved during the day shall lead to significant improvement in quality of life of people of J&K with the participation of people at Grass root levels and will provide much needed growth momentum to the economy. Transparency, timeliness, and equity shall be the bedrock of implementation, he added.

New Delhi, June 19:  India has trashed China”s claim of sovereignty over the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, the site of a violent cross-border clash, saying such “exaggerated” and “untenable” claims are contrary to the understanding reached during a high-level military dialogue on June 6.

The Chinese military on Thursday said the Galwan Valley has always been a part of China.

In a sharp reaction to the claim by China”s People”s Liberation Army (PLA), Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava referred to an agreement reached between Chinese and Indian militaries on “disengagement” during the Lt General-level talks on June 6.

“Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding,” he said in a statement issued at around 1 am.

The Galwan Valley was the site of the violent clash between the two militaries on Monday evening in which a colonel and 19 other Indian Army personnel were killed.

It was the biggest confrontation along the Line of Actual Control between the two forces after their clashes in Nathu La in 1967 when India lost around 80 soldiers and China lost over 300 PLA personnel.

In a telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too talked about the need for implementation of the decisions taken at the June 6 meeting.

“As we have conveyed earlier today, External Affairs Minister and the State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China had a phone conversation on recent developments in Ladakh,” Srivastava said.

“Both sides have agreed that the overall situation should be handled in a responsible manner and that the understandings reached between Senior Commanders on 6th June should be implemented sincerely. Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding,” he said.

In the telephonic talks, Jaishankar delivered a strong message to Wang saying the “unprecedented” incident in the Galwan Valley will have a “serious impact” on the bilateral relationship and held the “pre-meditated” action by Chinese Army directly responsible for the violence.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it.

Prior to the clashes, both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.