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Showing posts from January 15, 2023

China says COVID-19 outbreak has infected 80% of population

  BEIJING: The possibility of a big COVID-19 rebound in China over the next two or three months is remote as 80 per cent of people have been infected, a prominent government scientist said on Saturday (Jan 21). The  mass movement of people during the ongoing Chinese New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic , boosting infections in some areas, but a second COVID-19 wave is unlikely in the near term, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the Weibo social media platform. Hundreds of millions of Chinese are travelling across the country for holiday reunions that had been suspended under recently eased COVID-19 curbs, raising  fears of fresh outbreaks in rural areas  less equipped to manage large outbreaks. China has passed the peak of COVID-19 patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, a National Health Commission official said on Thursday. Nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital

7 Injured In Twin Jammu Blasts

  Jammu blasts: Security has been enhanced following the blasts and vehicles are being checked. Srinagar:  Seven people were injured in twin blasts in Jammu this morning, said police, with the terror attack raising security concerns over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir. The blasts at an industrial area in Narwal area of Jammu occurred at a time when the Union territory is under a heavy security blanket in view of the footmarch. Mr Gandhi's yatra is currently on a break at Chadwal, over 60 km from Jammu. The nature of the blasts is yet to be ascertained, said police. Forensic experts are at the blast site. Additional Director General of Police (Jammu) Mukesh Singh confirmed that seven people were injured in the twin blasts. The injured have been rushed to hospital and one of them is said to be critical. The area has been cordoned off and security has been enhanced following the blasts. Vehicles are being checked as part of a search operation

21 Unnamed Islands Of Andamans To Be Named After Param Vir Chakra Awardees

  Prime Minister Modi will also unveil a model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to be built on the island named after him. New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a ceremony to name the 21 largest unnamed islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after Param Vir Chakra awardees via video conferencing on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23. January 23 is observed as 'Parakram Diwas'. According to a statement, Prime Minister Modi will also unveil a model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to be built on the island named after him. Keeping in mind the historical significance of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and to honour Netaji's memory, Ross Island was renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep by PM Modi during his visit to the Island in 2018. Neil Island and Havelock Island were also renamed Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep respectively. It was decided that the unnamed i

Centre Blocks Tweets Sharing BBC Documentary Critical Of PM Modi: Sources

  Many tweets and YouTube videos of the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question" no longer appear on the microblogging and video-sharing websites New Delhi:  The centre has ordered Twitter and YouTube to take down links of a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people with direct knowledge of the matter have said. Tweets and YouTube videos of the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question" no longer appear on the microblogging and video-sharing websites. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry told the two social media giants to block the first episode of the BBC documentary, people familiar with the matter said, a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak  distanced himself from the documentary series , saying he "doesn't agree with the characterisation" of his Indian counterpart in the UK's parliament by Pakistan-origin MP Imran Hussain. The ministry told Twitter to remove over 50 tweet

Sweden allows burning of Quran in front of Turkish embassy; envoy summoned

  Rasmus Paludan is a convicted racist who had announced a "Quran burning tour" last year in April, Ramzan month Turkish government summoned the Swedish ambassador to Ankara on Saturday asking for an explanation of the burning of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. According to a report by the  Washington Post , Swedish right-wing leader Rasmus Paludan received permission to burn the Quran from the Swedish government. He was protected by the police while committing the act. Sources from the Turkish foreign affairs ministry said that the ambassador was made very clear about Turkey’s condemnation, stating that the act was provocative and “clearly a hate crime”. “Sweden’s attitude is unacceptable. We expect the act not to be allowed, and that insults to sacred values cannot be defended under the guise of ‘democratic rights’.” Recently, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland and Sweden applied for a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

AMU VC Tariq Mansoor writes: BBC series ‘The Modi Question’ gets it wrong. Indian Muslims want to move on from the past — we do not live there anymore

  The BBC has assembled 20 years of biased reportage, peppered it with outdated condiments and garnished it with loads of misplaced victimhood. The phrase, “white man’s burden” is well known. It signifies the responsibility, forcibly taken on by white aristocratic men, to make the world a better place. But equally worrying today is the “white media’s burden” — the self-acquired responsibility of the Western media to create false and illogical discourse around those who are either far from their universe or those they are heavily biased against. The  recent BBC series,  The Modi Question , is a perfect example of the “white media’s burden” — it is an  unwanted and unsubstantiated commentary   on a subject that they are prejudiced against. The mindless  targeting of the Prime Minister  of the world’s largest democracy fails several tests. Also in Opinion  | Shashi Shekhar Vempati writes: The BBC’s documentary on Narendra Modi and Gujarat riots questions integrity of India’s institutions

NATO allies pledge more arms for Ukraine, Germany holds out on tanks

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  KYIV: Western allies pledged billions of dollars in weapons for Ukraine on Thursday (Jan 19) and some promised to send the tanks Kyiv has requested if Berlin agrees, but Germany gave no sign of lifting a veto on deliveries it fears would provoke Moscow. The issue looks set to dominate Friday talks in Germany between Western allies at Ramstein, Washington's main European air base. Fearing winter will give Russian forces time to regroup and unleash a major attack, Ukraine is pushing for the German-made Leopard battle tanks, which are held by an array of NATO nations but whose transfer to Ukraine requires Germany's approval. "Our people are dying every day," Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy told German ARD television late on Thursday. "If you have Leopard tanks, give them to us." Ukraine needed them to defend itself, recapture occupied land, and did not plan to attack Russia, he added. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, has been reluctan