Month: September 2020

The Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) spokesperson Gamshaad Baloch said in a statement that Pakistan is still vigorously promoting religious extremism in occupied Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The spokesperson urged the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that it must not overlook the current wave of religious violence Pakistan has unleashed against the peaceful secular people of Balochistan Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Furthermore, Gamshaad Baloch asked the financial terror watch dog to look into the facts that why Pakistan has failed to deliver as a responsible member state of the United Nations in terms of promotion of peace and prosperity in South Asia?

He said that on September 13, the religious foot soldiers of the Pakistan army, Sabah-e-Sahaba, armed with machine guns, attacked the peaceful protesting camp of Voice for Missing Persons of Sindhi & Baloch missing persons in Karachi in which several men and women were injured.

The videos and photos of this attack, now viral on social media, show that fanatics members of Sipah e Sahaba, the armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami were brazenly attacking the secular Baloch and Sindhi human rights activists whose loved ones disappeared.

FBM spokesperson said that just eight days ago on September 12, Jamaat-e-Islami, the mother organisation of all religious extremism forces across the world, held a rally in Karachi in which sectarian slogans were raised against another religious sect of Islam!

It showed that Pakistan didn’t abandon its policy of promoting religious extremism in the region to advance its deep state agenda of Punjab’s monopoly over resources of Baloch, Sindhis, and Pashtun nations.

If the past is a guide, then the country study of Pakistan shows that it will never heed to guidelines and warnings. Therefore the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) must immediately put Pakistan on the blacklist because it adopted religious extremism as a state policy to promote its vested in interests in South Asia.

It has internally subjugated Baloch Sindhi and Pashtun people to abject poverty and externally it has wreaked havoc in Afghanistan and India and above all, it has proliferated nuclear technology to rogue states like Iran, North Korea, and Libya, besides promoting its stockpile of dirty tactical weapons. Today these rogue states have become the deadliest countries for world peace.

Pakistani militia forces, locally known as Frontier Corps (FC) has turned the Balochistan coast & Southern Afghanistan border near Baramcha into opium trade corridors, and from these drugs corridors it is smuggling opium to Africa, Europe, and America, Gamshaad Baloch said.

He further maintained that Pakistan Army & ISI are earning billions of dollars through drug smuggling. Unfortunately, the international community and the FATF are overlooking this source of black money because Pakistan has deceptively termed drugs smuggling money as remittances it receives from its overseas citizens from Europe America and the Gulf States.’ (ANI)

Actor Payal Ghosh, who has accused Bollywood Director Anurag Kashyap of sexual harassment, will file an FIR against him at Oshiwara Police Station, Advocate Nitin Satpute said on Sunday.

“Payal Ghosh has decided to lodge an FIR against the accused. We will file a complaint at Oshiwara Police Station tomorrow. We are doing paperwork today. She has decided that she will lodge FIR against Anurag Kashyap,” Advocate Nitin Satpute, lawyer of actor Payal Ghosh said.

On Saturday, the Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi’ actor Ghosh accused Kashyap of sexual harassment. Speaking to ANI, she said, “Five years ago I met Anurag Kashyap regarding work. He called me to his house. When I went there, he took me to a separate room and tried to sexually assault me. He forced himself on me.””I request the authorities to kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. I am seeking action against him,” said Ghosh.Post the allegations, Kashyap responded on Twitter in which he denied the allegations, claiming that they were ‘baseless’. “I neither behave like this nor do I ever tolerate this at any price,” he said. (ANI)

India’s COVID-19 case tally crossed 54-lakh mark with a spike of 92,605 new cases and 1,133 deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

The total case tally stands at 54,00,620 including 10,10,824 active cases, 43,03,044 cured/discharged/migrated cases and 86,752 deaths, the Ministry said.

As far as active cases of coronavirus are concerned, Maharashtra has 3,01,273 active cases, Karnataka 1,01,148, Andhra Pradesh 84,423, Uttar Pradesh 67,825 and Tamil Nadu 46,506.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 6,36,61,060 samples were tested up to September 19 for COVID-19. Of these, 12,06,806 samples were tested yesterday.

In a development, India has reported high COVID recoveries of over 43 lakh (43,03,043) till September 20. According to the government, at least 94,612 people have recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, resulting in the Recovery Rate touching 79.68 per cent.

A total of 92,605 new confirmed cases (active cases) have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country, taking the cumulative cases to over 54 lakh so far.

The Central government also informed that about 52 per cent of the new cases (active cases) are concentrated in five states, but these are also the states contributing maximum to the new recoveries.

In another development for the first time, India conducted over 12 lakhs COVID-19 tests in 24 hours, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.

According to the Central government, India has performed remarkably on fulfilling the World Health Organisation’s advice of 140 tests/day/million population.

As many as 4,330 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Odisha, taking the state’s coronavirus count to 1,79,880, informed Information and Public Relations Department, Odisha on Sunday.

As many as 30 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Mizoram on Sunday, taking the State’s count of coronavirus cases to 1,578.

Delhi reported 3,812 new COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths and 3742 recovered/discharged/migrated today. The total cases in the national capital rose to 2,46,711, including 4,982 deaths and 2,09,632 recovered/discharged/migrated cases, said Government of Delhi.

As many as 11,322 RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 41,083 Rapid antigen tests have been conducted today. 25,55,007 tests done so far, the Government of Delhi informed. Kerala reported 4,696 fresh COVID-19 cases today, taking the total number of active cases till date to 39,415. The number of recovered cases so far is 95,702, according to the Kerala State Government.

Andhra Pradesh reported 7,738 new coronavirus cases, 10,608 recoveries and 57 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 6,25,514 including 5,41,319 recoveries, 5,359 deaths and 78,836 active cases, said State Health Department.

Jammu and Kashmir reported 1,457 new COVID-19 cases, 692 recoveries and 14 deaths, taking total cases to 63,990 including 40,957 recoveries, 1,001 deaths and 22,032 active cases, according to the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Uttar Pradesh reported 5,809 new COVID-19 cases, 6,584 discharges and 94 deaths, taking active cases to 65,954, discharges to 2,83,274 and death toll to 5,047, according to the State Health Department.

As many as 198 police personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, taking total infections in the police to 21,152 including 17,295 recoveries and 217 deaths, said Police.

Karnataka reports 8,191 new coronavirus cases, 8,611 discharges and 101 deaths, taking total cases to 5,19,537 including 4,13,452 discharges, 8,023 deaths and 98,043 active cases, said State Health Department.

Uttarakhand reported 878 new COVID-19 cases and 855 cured cases today. Total cases in the state rose to 40,963, including 27,828 recoveries and 491 deaths, according to the State Control Room. (ANI)

Hitting out at the present Imran Khan-led government, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday termed his government as “nalayaq” (worthless) and said that the country’s economy has been completely destroyed in the last two years.

Addressing the Opposition-led All Parties Conference (APC), Sharif said that the politicians who came to power were hanged, murdered, imprisoned or declared disqualified.

Dawn quoted the former Prime Minister as saying, “Pakistan has been constantly deprived of a democratic system…When the vote is dishonoured, the entire democratic system becomes meaningless. When it is decided before the election process as to who will win and who will lose, then it can be guessed how the public is betrayed and how the public’s mandate is stolen.”

Pakistan has been made a laboratory of experiments, he said while adding “Every child knows that no prime minister has been allowed to complete five years in power.”

Stating that people who are responsible for robbing will have to be held accountable, he claimed that “Pakistan economy has been completely destroyed during last two years as the Pakistani rupee has gone even below the Nepalese rupee.” He also accused the “nalayaq government” of taking u-turns.

Dawn further reported Sharif as saying that under the present government the “dictators” are allowed to have full power and on the other hand people who follow the law are being put in jail.

“When a dictator was first brought into the courtroom for violating the Constitution, you saw what happened. Court gave dictators the right to play with the Constitution and acquitted someone who broke the Constitution twice […] Whereas the ones who follow the Constitution are still in jail,” he said.

As per Dawn, former Prime Minister said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), with the connivance of PTI, was carrying out only “selective accountability”.

“It is saddening that the situation has escalated to a state above the state. This parallel government illness is the root-cause of our problems,” he added. (ANI)

Those found violating Covid-19 restrictions by refusing to self isolate could face a fine up to 10,000 British pounds (USD 13,000) under new regulations imposed in the UK in the wake of a surge in new coronavirus infections.

The rules are set to apply from September 28 for anyone in England testing positive for Covid-19 or is notified by public health workers that they have been in contact “with someone infectious”, the Al Jazeera reported.

“People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement on Saturday (local time).

Fines would range from 1,000 pounds for the first offence and would rise to 10,000 pounds for offenders or cases where employers would threaten to sack staff who self isolate rather than going to work, Al Jazeera reported further adding that some “low-income” workers who would incur a loss in earnigs, would recive a support payment of 500 pounds along with benefits such as sick pay, “to which they may be entitled.

“While most people are doing their absolute level best to comply with the rules, I don’t want to see a situation where people don’t feel they are financially able to self-isolate,” Johnson said further.

The United Kingdom is currently experiencing the start of the COVID-19 pandemic’s second wave, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.

“We are now seeing a second wave coming in. We have seen in France, we have seen in Spain … it’s been inevitable that we would see it in this country,” Johnson told reporters.

The prime minister also hinted that the social distancing measures currently in force in the UK could be strengthened to curb the spread of the disease.

“I don’t think anybody wants to go into a second lockdown but clearly, when you look at what is happening, you’ve got to wonder whether we need to go further than the ‘rule of six’ that we brought in on Monday,” Johnson remarked, referring to the current ban on social gatherings of more than six people.

The total UK coronavirus death toll is at over 41,700. On Saturday, the UK reported more than 4,400 new cases – the highest daily total since the start of May, as reported by Sputnik. (ANI)

Among the large group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, consumption of a few cups of coffee a day was associated with longer survival and a lower risk of cancer worsening, as per findings of the latest study.

The study was led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other organisations.

The findings, based on data from a large observational study nested in a clinical trial, are in line with earlier studies showing a connection between regular coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. The study is being published today by JAMA Oncology.

The investigators found that in 1,171 patients treated for metastatic colorectal cancer, those who reported drinking two to three cups of coffee a day were likely to live longer overall, and had a long time before their disease worsened, than those who didn’t drink coffee.

Participants who drank larger amounts of coffee – more than four cups a day – had an even greater benefit in these measures. The benefits held for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.The findings enabled investigators to establish an association, but not a cause-and-effect relationship, between coffee drinking and reduced risk of cancer progression and death among study participants.As a result, the study does not provide sufficient grounds for recommending, at this point, that people with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer start drinking coffee on a daily basis or increase their consumption of the drink, researchers say.

“It’s known that several compounds in coffee have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other properties that may be active against cancer,” said Dana-Farber’s Chen Yuan, ScD, the co-first author of the study with Christopher Mackintosh, MLA, of the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.

“Epidemiological studies have found that higher coffee intake was associated with improved survival in patients with stage 3 colon cancer, but the relationship between coffee consumption and survival in patients with metastatic forms of the disease hasn’t been known,” added Yuan.

The new study drew on data from the Alliance/SWOG 80405 study, a phase III clinical trial comparing the addition of the drugs cetuximab and/or bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated, locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.

As part of the trial, participants reported their dietary intake, including coffee consumption, on a questionnaire at the time of enrollment. Researchers correlated this data with information on the course of cancer after treatment.

They found that participants who drank two to three cups of coffee per day had a reduced hazard for death and for cancer progression compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. Those who consumed more than four cups per day had an even greater benefit.

“Although it is premature to recommend a high intake of coffee as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer, our study suggests that drinking coffee is not harmful and may potentially be beneficial,” said Dana-Farber’s Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, senior author of the study.

“This study adds to the large body of literature supporting the importance of diet and other modifiable factors in the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer,” Ng said.”Further research is needed to determine if there is indeed a causal connection between coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer, and precisely which compounds within coffee are responsible for this benefit,” Ng added. (ANI)

Dr Kafeel Khan has written to United Nations human rights experts in reference to their letter dated June 26, 2020, urging the Indian government to immediately release human rights defenders.

He stated that the use of stringent national security laws/UAPA against political dissenters, in the absence of any appeal to violence, is something to be condemned in all cases.

He assured his sanctification, devotion, and determination towards serving his countrymen would continue regardless of the obstacles.

“I was tortured mentally as well as physically, denied food and water for many days, and treated inhumanly during my seven months of incarceration in a congested, overcrowded Mathura prison. Fortunately, I got my NSA and all three extensions quashed by the High Court Uttar Pradesh, India which called the whole process illegal. While dropping NSA charges against me, the Chief Justice observed: Dr Kafeel Khan’s speech at AMU, Aligarh, UP, India does not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence. It also nowhere threatens the peace and tranquillity of the city of Aligarh. The address gives a call for national integrity and unity among the citizens. The speech also deprecates any kind of violence,” he stated.

It appears that the District Magistrate Aligarh, UP, India selectively read and mentioned a few phrases from the speech, ignoring its true intent. Our anxiety is to assess as to whether a reasonable man could have concluded as arrived by the District Magistrate, Aligarh? Prima facie, the speech is not such that a reasonable man could have concluded the inference drawn by the District Magistrate, Aligarh,” the letter further read.

“….we are having no hesitation in concluding that neither detention of Dr Kafeel Khan under National Security Act, 1980 nor extensions of the detention are sustainable in the eye of the law,” the letter stated.

“The extension of the period of detention of Dr Kafeel Khan is also declared illegal,” he added.

The letter further stated, I thank you all very much for supporting our cause and standing in solidarity with us in this most tumultuous, roller-coaster phase and would appeal to continue raising our plight as many human rights defenders/social activists/ students are continue to be detained.

Dr Khan was charged under the National Security Act for his alleged inflammatory statements at the Aligarh Muslim University during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Khan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in January from Mumbai after he allegedly made inflammatory statements at the Aligarh Muslim University during a protest against the CAA on December 12, 2019.

He was on February 14, 2020, charged under the National Security Act. (ANI)

Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed the Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, amid protests by Opposition MPs.

The Bills were passed by voice vote in the Upper House. Both of these Bills were passed by the Lower House with a voice vote a couple of days back.

Opposition MPs came in the well of the House and raised slogans against the bills. Soon after passage of these Bills, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 9 am on Monday.

Earlier today, the Bills were moved by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar moved in the Rajya Sabha.

Moving the Bills, the Minister said, “The two Bills are historic and will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. They will be able to freely trade their produce anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these Bills are not related to Minimum Support Price.”

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 permits the electronic trading of farmers’ produce and allows the setting up transaction platforms for facilitating direct online buying and selling of farm products.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 provides for a farming agreement prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce. A guaranteed price to be paid for the purchase of farming produce will be mentioned in such agreements. (ANI)

By Ajit K Dubey

In the last three weeks, the Indian Army has occupied six new major hill features on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the ongoing conflict with the Chinese Army in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

“The Indian Army has occupied six new heights between August 29 and the second week of September. The new hill features being occupied by our troops include the Magar hill, Gurung Hill, Recehen La, Rezang La, Mokhpari and the dominating height over Chinese positions near Finger 4,” top government sources told ANI.

These hill features were lying dormant and the Indian Army had occupied them before the Chinese Army which was eyeing to sit on the dominating heights and now our troops have an edge over the adversary in those areas, they said.

Sources said the foiling of Chinese Army’s attempts in occupying the heights led to the firing of bullets in the air on at least three occasions from the northern bank of Pangong to the southern bank of the lake.

The sources clarified that the Black Top and the Helmet Top hill features are on the Chinese side of the LAC while the heights occupied by the Indian side are on the LAC in Indian territory.

After the occupation of heights by the Indian Army, the Chinese Army has deployed around 3,000 additional troops of its combined arms brigade including its infantry and armoured troops near the Rezang la and Rechen La heights.

The Moldo garrison of the Chinese Army also has been fully activated with additional troops in the last few weeks by the People’s Liberation Army.

After the Chinese aggression, the Indian security forces are working in close coordination and operations are being conducted under close monitoring of the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army chief General Manoj Mukund Narwane.India and China have been engaged in major conflict near the Panging Tso lake and several other friction points from Sub Sector North to the Chushul area of Ladakh.

India also changed the rules of engagement of not using weapons during clashes with the Chinese after the PLA betrayed Indian soldiers in the Galwan valley and 20 Indian soldiers were killed there in June, this year. (ANI)