China says US has ordered it to close Houston consulate

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July 22, 2020

Uttarakhand High court dismissed two writ petitions. This includes one petition by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. Swamy challenge the constitutional validity of Char Dham management Act 2019.

The Act brought 51 Mandir in the state which also includes the Char Dham Shrines, under the control of state government.

The bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chandra khulbe stated that the act does not violate right to equality and religious freedom.

The petitioners had challenge the act passed by government.

The Act argues that the constitutional guarantees of devotees and priests the right to manage their own affairs .

Swamy petition held that the Act violates Article 14 , 24, 26, and also 31-A.

The Act, which brings the Char Dham of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and many other temples under the purview of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Board, has faced protest from the Congress as well as from priests and pandas of the Badrinath shrine, who had earlier staged demonstrations in Dehradun and other districts.

While dismissing the PIL, said, “Except to the limited extent that the words ‘shall devolve’ in Section 22 must be read as ‘devolve on the Char Dham and shall be maintained by the Board’, and the words ‘may further acquire land’, in the proviso thereto, shall be read as ‘may further acquire land on behalf of the Char Dham’, the challenge to the validity of the 2019 Act, on the ground that it violates Articles 14, 25, 26 and 31-A of the Constitution of India, must fail.”

“We are satisfied, therefore, that all the Char Dham and associated temples are public temples whose secular functions can be regulated by a law made by the competent legislature,” the court said .

While the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat welcomed the judgment and said the constitution of the board was not a political matter. However, Swamy indicated he will appeal the matter in the Supreme Court.

Pakistan bans Bigo live, issues warning against TikTok

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July 22, 2020

Pakistan, on Tuesday, issued a final warning to wildly popularly video-sharing app, TikTok — a China based social-neteworking siter owned by ByteDance, after receiving complaints from different segements of the society for its immoral, obscene and vulgar content.

“Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene and vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, and their extremely negative effects on the society in general and youth in particular,” Pakistan Telecommunication Authority(PTA) said in an official warning.

“PTA had issued necessary notices to the aforementioned social media companies under law to moderate the socialisation and content within legal and moral limits, in accordance with the laws of the country,” the statement from Pakistan’s telecom regulator said.

“However, the response of these companies has not been satisfactory. Therefore, in exercise of its powers under PECA, PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue final warning to Tik Tok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application,” it added.

PTA’s warning came after it blocked live streaming app Bigo under the prevention of Electronic Crimes act.

Earlier this month, the Pakistan government had banned multi-player mobile game, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground(PUBG) for being “addictive”.

TikTok is already currently receiving much flak across various nations including India and the United Stated due to security and privacy issues of the users.

Notably, India, in an unprecedented move, banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, Club Factory, Shein, UC Browser, and others last month, calling them a threat to “sovereignty, integrity and national security.”

Coronavirus vaccine update: Serum Institute begins manufacturing of Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine

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July 22, 2020

Serum Institute of India on Tuesday announced that it has already started manufacturing the potential vaccine of coronavirus developed by the Oxford University. The Pune based company is looking forward to produced 3-4 million doses by the end of August, said Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director of Serum Institute.

The company on Tuesday announced that it will be starting trials of the covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca by the end of August on up to 5,000 Indian volunteers, after getting required permission from the authorities.

If all goes well, the vaccine will be launched next year in June, the company said.

While phase-3 trials of the vaccine have begun in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, Serum Institute is considering seeking permission to carry out a multicentric phase-3 trial ere in the country.

“Based on the safety and immunogenicity data of the phase-3 trial carried out in India, we will trigger production of the vaccines even before the results are formally available,” said Jadhav.

Serum Institute is the largest vaccine maker in the world, and is putting USD 200 million at risk by manufacturing commercial batch of nearly 300 million doses before the final nod to launch the vaccine in the market.

Meanwhile, Oxford University on Monday announced promising results of the vaccine, making it one of the leading ones among number of vaccine being developed across the globe.

The university has tied up with Serum Institute of India to manufacture and supply vaccine here in India along with as many as 60 countires having a combined population of 3 billion.

Adar Poonawalla, SII’s chief exective officer, said that the vaccine will be launched under the brand name of Covishield if the trials are succesful both in the United Kingdom and in India. He further said that they are trying to keep the price of the potential vaccine as less as possible to reach the people of India in large numbers.

“We are going to give it at a very affordable price… We are planning to put it at about Rs 1000 or less than that… I don’t think any citizen of India or of any other country is going to have to pay for it because it is going to be bought by the government and distributed free,” he said.

Afghan girl shoots two Taliban militants dead to avenge parents’ death

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July 22, 2020

A teenage girl in Afghanistan, who killed two Taliban militants, is garnering heaps of praises for her bravery lately. The militants had killed her parents last week.

On July 17, a group of 40 insurgents stormed the village of Geriveh, in Ghor province, where Qamar Gul was living with her parents and brothers, officials said.

“The insurgents came to their doorstep and her mother went to see who was knocking,” The Guardian quoted Mohamed Aref Aber, a spokesman for the provincial governor, as saying. “When she saw that they were armed, she refused to open the door,” he added.

The Taliban militants came to her house as her father had reportedly complained about their demands of tax payments. The insurgents beat Gul’s parents ruthlessly and then shot them dead.

According to Aber, Qamar Gul witnessed the death of her parents, she then picked up her father’s rifle and shot 3 militants dead on the spot.

“Qamar Gul, who was inside the house, took an AK-47 gun the family had and first shot dead the two Taliban terrorists who killed her parents, and then injured a few others,” the village chief, local police head Habiburahman Malekzada told the media.

Gul, who is aged between 14 to 16, then started an hour long battle against the militants with the help of some villagers and pro-government militiamen and drove them away from the village.

Gul, along with her younger brother, had been taken to a safer place, the officials have reported.

After 35 years,11 Policemen Have Been Sentenced in the Murder of Raja Mansingh

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July 22, 2020

11 policemen have been sentenced in the murder of Raja Mansingh of Bharatpur and two others. During the hearing of this prominent murder case on 21 February 1985, 1700 dates were given and 25 district judges were changed. In the year 1990, the case was transferred to the court of the Mathura District Judge.

A judgment has been taken in the Raja Mansingh killing on July 21, 2020 (Tuesday) after 35 years. An advocate of the litigant, Narayan Singh Viplvi, said that so far eight final arguments have been held and 78 total witnesses were produced, out of which 61 witnesses have been submitted by the defense.

“At the time Congress workers insulted the Bharatpur flag and this made Raja Man Singh very angry” the statement by Dushyant Singh.

“On February 21, 1985 Raja Man Singh along with Thakur Hari Singh, Thakur Sumer Singh and others was going to Deeg police station to surrender when the then deputy SP Kan Singh Bhati and other policemen fired indiscriminately at Raja Man Singh near the Anaj Mandi as part of a well-planned conspiracy,” said Mr. Dushyant in a statement.

Raja Man Singh was a lieutenant when he left service because of State tensions. He had been a seven-time MLA. Singh was the second of the four brothers of Maharaja Brajendra Singh, an honorary Colonel, who had taken over his father Maharaja Kishen Singh in 1929. After prevailing his father, Brijendra Singh became the guardian of the Bharatpur fort.

Coronavirus Update : Karnataka reported 3,649 new cases of COVID-19

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July 22, 2020

On Tuesday Karnataka reported 3,649 new cases of COVID-19 , taking the total tally of infected to 71,069 in the state. The death toll in Karnataka stands at 1,464.

As part of Karnataka government’s lockdown plan to contain the spread of coronavirus, all essential shops in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts, except pharmacies, to remain closed.

Spike of 37,724 cases and 648 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours. Total Covid -19 positive cases stand at 11,92,915 including 411133 active cases.

Andhra Pradesh has 55,773 cases, while Telangana has a total of 47,705 infections. Andhra Pradesh is the fastest-growing state in the country.while the state saw 62 deaths, the highest in a day so far, yesterday. The latest report said 1,232 patients also got cured and discharged from hospitals as the cumulative recoveries rises to 22,896. The state now has 32,119 active cases. The COVID-19 toll in the state now stood at 758 with 62 fresh deaths.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has called an all-party meeting via video conferencing on 24th July on Covid-19, said Kerala Chief Minister’s Office.

995 new COVID-19 cases, 905 discharges and 62 deaths have been reported in Mumbai on Tuesday. Total number of cases rises to 1,03,262 including 23,893 active cases, 73,555 discharged patients and 5,814 deaths, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

720 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Kerala on Tuesday. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 13,994 including 8,056 active cases. Number of COVID-19 clusters goes up to 101 in the state. Of them, 18 are large clusters, The Indian Express reported.

Kerala: Gold smuggling may have link with ‘Financing terror’

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July 22, 2020

kerala-gold-smuggling-1595348737 — Representative image

According to Times of India, National Investigation Agency (NIA) in its remand note claimed that the four accused in the case were part of a larger conspiracy that aimed at financing terrorism in India. The NIA was seeking extension of custody of second accused Swapna Suresh and fourth accused Sandeep Nair.

“Swapna Prabha Suresh (A-2), Sandeep Nair (A-4) and other accused had conspired together and separately at various places in Kerala to damage the monetary stability of India by destabilizing the economy by smuggling large quantity of gold from abroad and it is suspected that they had used these proceeds of smuggling for financing terrorism through various means. Their deliberate acts of using the diplomatic baggage of UAE as a cover to transact illegal business may have serious repercussions in the diplomatic relations with the government of UAE and it is prejudicial to the monetary and economic security of India as well,” the remand report said.

NIA also stated that further involvement of other people in this crime as well as the end users and beneficiaries need to be ascertained. “During the custodial interrogation the role played by other associates came into light including one Ramees KT, who is one of the kingpins in the case. Sandeep Nair stated that Ramees KT insisted on smuggling gold in large quantity and in maximum numbers during the lockdown period as the financial position of the country is weak etc. A-4 also stated that KT Ramees commands and always moved with a group of persons and have contacts abroad,” said the report.

On July 7, Thiruvananthapuram airport, the Custom officials had seized 30 kg of gold from the diplomatic baggage.The baggage was supposed to have food items . But later Custom officials checked the baggage after getting necessary approval from the ministry of external affairs.

Then the officials took Sarith ( former PRO at UAE consulate) into custody. Further, it was disclosed that Sarith is no longer an employee at the UAE consulate . But still after his dismissal, he continued introducing himself as PRO at UAE consulate.

To ease the burden on covid treatment centres, antigen test to replace RT-PCR while discharging patients

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July 22, 2020

The Kerala state government has ordered to replace RT-PCR test with antigen test while discharging the covid-19 patients. The decision will enhance the discharging process and will lessen the burden on covid-19 treatment centres.

The new strategy of using antigen test instead of RT-PCR has been introduced after an analysis of epidemiology of patients in the state. “It is essential that the technical strategies and guideline are refind biased on the knowledge for control and prevention of disease as well as for efficient management of resources,” the order said.

The order was issued in the wake of new guidelines introduced by WHO and the government of India. “It is a good decision that will help offload the burden on covid-19 treatment facilities. As per ICMR recommendation, asymptomatic patients can be discharged after 10 days even without testing. In Kerala, we are testing patients as an additional precaution,” Times of India quoted Dr K P Aravindan, health expert, as saying.

“At the same time, collectors of some of the districts are instructing those who have completed 14 days of quarantine to continue the same for another fortnight. This will force the public to hide the details regarding their symptoms, travel history etc. Similarly, Thrissur district collector is leant to have plans to use asymptomatic health worker for setting up covid first line treatment centres. Government should intervene to stop such decisions of the district administration,” he added.

With the recovery rate falling in comparison to new cases recorded everyday, the government has decided to switch to antigen test. RT-PCR tests while can take up to two or three days, antigen tests can provide rapid results in 30 minutes. Moreover, antigen test is way cheaper than RT PCR.

For Antigen test, professionals collect a nasal swab, which is then immersed in a solution that deactiavtes the virus. A few drops of this solution are then put on a test striP. The whole process should be done withing a hour of immersion of the nasal swab in the solution. If a person is infected with coronavirus, the test lines will appear on the paper strips in 15 minutes.

However, antigen test has been reported to result in false negative reports many times, leaving the room for doubt.

Director Anubhav Sinha declared openly that he is quitting from Bollywood

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July 22, 2020

In a procession of tweets, director Anubhav Sinha declared openly that he is quitting from Bollywood. He then went on to add “Not Bollywood” to his Twitter name as well.

ENOUGH!!!
I hereby resign from Bollywood.
Whatever the fuck that means.
— Anubhav Sinha (Not Bollywood) (@anubhavsinha) July 21, 2020

The ‘Article 15’ director then referred to Sudhir Mishra’s tweets which said, “What’s Bollywood? I came to be a part of Cinema inspired by Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Ritwick Ghatak, Bimal Roy, Mrinal Sen, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, K Asif, Vijay Anand, Javed Akhtar, Tapan Sinha, Gulzar, Shekhar Kapur, Ketan Mehta, Bharatan n Aravindan etc. That’s where I’ll always be. And Saeed Mirza. How did I forget Saeed Mirza! The grace, the vision, the charisma.”

What's Bollywood?I came 2be partof Cinema inspired by Satyajit Ray ,Raj Kapoor,Guru Dutt,Ritwick Ghatak,Bimal Roy,Mrinal Sen , Hrishikesh Mukherjee,KAsif,Vijay Anand ,Javed Akhtar,Tapan Sinha, Gulzar ,Shekhar Kapur,Ketan Mehta , Bharatan n Aravindan etc.Thatswhere I'll always be.
— Sudhir Mishra (@IAmSudhirMishra) July 21, 2020

Sinha, who has garnered a lot of prominence and adulation directing “Mulk”, “Article 15” and “Thappad” in recent years, is known for his straightforward posts on social media.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta responded: “”Chhor diya (left it) It never existed in the first place.”

छोड़ दिया… It never existed in the first place.
— Hansal Mehta #FancyLiberal/#UrbanNaxal/#Liberandu (@mehtahansal) July 21, 2020

Supreme court sents notice to Activist Lawyer Prashant Bhushan

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July 22, 2020

On Tuesday, the Supreme court initiated contempt proceeding against Advocate Prashant Bhushan. Activist Bhushan was allegedly involved in derogatory tweets against Indian judiciary.

The SC has also initiated contempt proceeding against Twitter India. Where Bhushan had posted comment in Twitter India.

The matter is scheduled to heard today.
The hearing will be headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

Bhushan is known for raising issues about Judiciary. And recently he criticized the top court about how they handled the matter of migrant workers.

Bhushan also said about the treatment out to jailed activitist like Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj . Both were accused in Bhima Karagoan.

Last month Mr Bhushan wrote: “When historians in future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction, & more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs”.

When historians in future look back at the last 6 years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal Emergency, they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction, & more particularly the role of the last 4 CJIs
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) June 27, 2020

A three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari will hear the case – via video conference because of the coronavirus lockdown .

Ghaziabad: Journalist Vikram Joshi passes away

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July 22, 2020

Journalist Vikram Joshi, who was shot at by unidentified miscreants near his housing in Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad on June 20, died at a hospital, doctors said on Wednesday.

The incident happened on Monday, days after Vikram Joshi had filed a complaint with Vijay Nagar Police Station claiming that some men were oppressing his niece. Joshi has undergone a bullet injury on his head.

Joshi was shot in front of his two daughters aged 5 and 11 while he was returning home on a bike. The entire incident has been grabbed on CCTV.

CCTV visuals reveal one daughter screaming for help while the second one can be seen sitting beside the injured journalist.

Nine accused have been arrested; one man is still on run, officials said. Two policemen have been suspended. “Nine people have been arrested including two main accused – Ravi and Chotu.

A weapon was also abducted from their possession,” Kalanidhi Naithani, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Vikram’s nephew, while talking to ANI, alleged that the police is trying to save the main accused. He said that Kamal-ud-din’s son is the one who fired the shot in Vikram’s head.

Some boys including Kamal-ud-Din’s son used to eve-tease my sister. It was her b'day when incident occured. My uncle was coming home with her when Kamal-ud-Din’s son attacked him&shot him. We'll not accept my uncle's body till main accused is caught: Journalist Vikram's nephew pic.twitter.com/IdDhXC9qnt
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 22, 2020

He further added that they would not accept his body from the hospital unless the police arrest the main accused, Kamal-u-din’s son.

Ghaziabad: A group of journalists hold protest against the murder of Journalist Vikram Joshi.

Vikram Joshi passed away today. He was shot at in Vijay Nagar area on 20th July by unknown persons. 10 people have been arrested in the case so far. pic.twitter.com/TZjjiMqv00
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 22, 2020

Amarnath Yatra 2020 cancelled in the wake of coronavirus pandemic

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July 21, 2020

Amid the rising fear of coronavirus outbreak across the nation, the Jammu and Kashmir adminstarion on Tuesday announced that the Amarnath Yatra has been cancelled for this year. This decision was taken during the 39th meeting of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, owing to the safety concerns of the pilgrims.

Earlier, the board had mentioned that the Yatra will begin frim July 21 and will continue till August 3. In a virtual meeting, the board discueed the Supreme Court’s order wherein the court had dismissed the plea demandin ban on the Yatra and had left it to the Untion Territory administration to decide on the matter.

The board then assesed the situaion on the basis of ground relaities in the UT and has come to a decision that it would not be advisable to conduct the Amarnath Yatra this year in larger public interest.

“The Board is aware of and respects the sentiments of millions of devotees. To keep the religious sentiments alive, the Board shall continue live telecast/virtual darshan of the morning and evening aarti. Further, the traditional rituals shall be carried out as per past practice. Also, the Chhadi Mubarak shall be facilitated by the government,” the statement read.

“The health concerns are so serious that the strain on the health system, along with the diversion in resources to the Amarnath Yatra, will be immense. This would also unnecessarily put the Yatris at risk of catching the Covid-19,” the Board further said in the statement.

The coronavirus pandemic has put J & K’s health system at backfooot with a major surge in the coronavirus cases in July. The Amarnath Yatra will divert the much needed attention of entire medical, civil and police administaruion amid the crisis.

“The Board further deliberated the considered views of the government. The government made reasoned observations supported by facts which suggested that it would not be advisable to conduct the Amarnath Yatra this year and it would be advisable to cancel it in larger public interest.

This would enable the health, civil and police administrations to focus on the immediate challenges facing them, rather than diverting resources, manpower and attention to the conduct of the Yatra,” the board added.

Kulbhushan Jadhav: Pakistan’s deadline for filing a review petition, terminated on Monday.

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July 21, 2020

Pakistan’s deadline for filing a review petition in the high court against Jadhav’s sentencing terminated on Monday. India thinks that there is no need to respond to
Pakistan’s continuously altering position, and also deadlines, in the case.

Islamabad had promulgated an ordinance on May 20 asserting to ensure through it an effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s case, as pleaded by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year.

As per the ordinance, the review petition had to be filed in 60 days. Nonetheless, with Pakistan refusing to provide consular access in private, India has not been able to confront Jadhav on his legal rights.

After, the Opposition in Pakistan condemned the Imran Khan government of providing Kulbhushan Jadhav a way out, the country’s Ministry of Law and Justice on Sunday denied the allegations calling them “baseless”.

Earlier, Islamabad, Pakistan said that Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav has denied to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against his conviction by a military court despite Pakistani authorities” offer to do so, a claim dismissed by India as “farce”.

Cash from Cow dung|CM Bhupesh Baghel, launched Godhana Nyay Yojana

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