Jammu, Congress Seva Dal President Vijay Sharma Babbi has said that Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress is a historic journey and the way this yatra got support from all over the country, it has proved that India is the country of Gandhi and Nehru and The people of the country are still want to stay living together in mutual brotherhood and communal harmony.
Now that the Yatra is in its final stage, the people of Jammu and Kashmir also have a golden opportunity to participate in this historic Yatra and give a befitting reply to the politics of hatred and division.
Vijay Sharma said that political parties are trying to create controversy over Rahul Gandhi’s t-shirt and shoes, they should come out of petty antics and praise the spirit of Rahul Gandhi who has walked across the country on foot to connect peoples. In the next few days, the yatra is about to enter Jammu and Kashmir, so it is the duty of the people here to walk shoulder to shoulder with Rahul Gandhi and give their support in this journey of uniting the country. Vijay Sharma said that people of all religions have always lived in Jammu and Kashmir with brotherhood, but for the past few years some parties are trying to make people fight in the name of religion and caste. In this difficult situation, it is the duty of the people to participate in the yatra and spread the message of brotherhood and peace.
Country will witness historic conclusion of bharat jodo yatra in J&k: Vijay Sharma
Govt.should take serious steps to prevent terrorist attacks like Rajouri: Goyal
Jammu, Aam Aadmi Party’s Traders Wing Sangathan mantri Raj kumar Goyal has said that taking lessons from the massacre in Dangri area of Rajouri, the administration should take serious steps for protecting people living in hilly districts. He said that the killing of people of the same community at two different places in Rajouri within 15 days proves that there has been a big lapse in security. On the other hand, it has also come to light that the aim of these attacks is to disturb communal harmony and derail law and order. Apart from this, the incident of sighting of terrorists every day in districts like Rajouri Poonch is a matter of serious concern. The security forces should conduct massive search operations in these areas to bring the terrorists to their end. A high-level inquiry should be conducted into the massacre at Dangri in Rajouri and strict action should be taken against those found guilty of lapse in security. Goyal said that the terrorists who were enraged by the bravery of the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir now want to fulfill their objective by targeting innocent people and spoiling the communal harmony, but they will never succeed in their objective. The administration should also make all necessary security arrangements so that incidents like Rajouri do not happen again.
NASA mission spots 2nd Earth-size world within ‘habitable zone’
NASA mission has discovered a second Earth-sized, rocky planet within the habitable zone of its star — the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet’s surface.
Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the astronomers found “TOI 700 e” which is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of.
Astronomers previously discovered three planets in this system, called TOI 700 b, c, and d.
Planet d also orbits in the habitable zone, but the scientists needed an additional year of TESS observations to discover TOI 700 e.
“That makes the TOI 700 system an exciting prospect for additional follow up. Planet e is about 10 per cent smaller than planet d, so the system also shows how additional TESS observations help us find smaller and smaller worlds,” said Emily Gilbert, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who led the work.
TOI 700 is a small, cool M dwarf star located around 100 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado.
In 2020, Gilbert and others announced the discovery of the Earth-size, habitable-zone planet d, which is on a 37-day orbit, along with two other worlds.
The innermost planet, TOI 700 b, is about 90 per cent Earth’s size and orbits the star every 10 days.
TOI 700 c is over 2.5 times bigger than Earth and completes an orbit every 16 days.
“The planets are probably tidally locked, which means they spin only once per orbit such that one side always faces the star, just as one side of the Moon is always turned toward Earth,” the US space agency said in a statement late on Tuesday.
TOI 700 e, which may also be tidally locked, takes 28 days to orbit its star, placing planet e between planets c and d in the so-called optimistic habitable zone.
Scientists define the optimistic habitable zone as the range of distances from a star where liquid surface water could be present at some point in a planet’s history.
This area extends to either side of the conservative habitable zone, the range where researchers hypothesize liquid water could exist over most of the planet’s lifetime. TOI 700 d orbits in this region.
“Finding other systems with Earth-size worlds in this region helps planetary scientists learn more about the history of our own solar system,” said scientists.
Gilbert presented the result on behalf of her team at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, the US.
A paper about the newly discovered planet was accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
CBI searches 50 locations in connection with FCI corruption case, DGM arrested
New Delhi, Jan 11: The CBI on Wednesday launched a crackdown on alleged corruption in the Food Corporation of India, conducting searches at 50 locations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi after arresting a DGM-ranked officer, officials said.
The role of officials from technical assistants to executive directors in the FCI are under the agency’s scanner, they said.
The searches were started after the arrest of a deputy general manager (DGM) in the FCI while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000, they said.
They said the operation is spread across multiple cities in Punjab, Haryana and two locations in Delhi.
The sources said the agency has started the operation against an “unholy nexus of corruption” in the FCI involving a chain of officers, rice mill owners, grain merchants etc., engaged in the procurement, storage and distribution of food grains, they said.
The CBI was developing intelligence for the last six months following many complaints received by it, they said.
The role of state government employees will also be under the scanner, they said. (Agencies)
Aam Aadmi Party is the only political alternative in country : Baaghi
In a statement Aam Aadmi Party leader & Social Activist Gurmeet Singh Baaghi said that Aam Aadmi Party is the only political alternative in the country and the people of the country are looking to AAP with great hope. People across the world are praising the Kejriwal-model of governance. AAP government of Delhi & Punjab under the Leadership of Arvind Kejriwal has worked in the availability of power, water, transport, education, and others. Not only the people of India are talking about the Delhi model but people across the world are talking about the Delhi model of tackling coronavirus spread. People of India are looking at AAP with hope because AAP is the only alternative in front of people. AAP is the only political party which has fresh blood and an invigorating force, the courage to fight and work, honesty, and enthusiasm.
Baaghi said that the people of the country are fed up with old parties and want an honest government, which only AAP can provide. The Aam Aadmi Party is committed to continuing to work for the people’s. The visible improvements in Delhi and Punjab are proof that the AAP model works. Aam Aadmi Party has concentrated on delivery of public goods and government services, efficiently and without corruption. Aam Aadmi Party stayed away from divisive politics and focused on, the politics of working for the people. This time people of the country will have a real choice, a choice of voting for a new corruption free party that has an amazing track record of delivering more public good in ten years than other parties have done in the past 75 years. Aam Aadmi Party knows how to fulfill the common man’s needs and save the country. All the Political parties are only making fake promises to the people of the country. They spoke about employment and development before elections but nobody talked about it after winning elections. How do people of the country cast their vote to them again and again. Aam Aadmi Party doesn’t play the politics of caste and religion. AAP wants every citizen of the country to grow equally. AAP stands with the rights of every citizen of the country & wants everyone to be happy. Aam Aadmi Party will remove the corruption from the system. Aam Aadmi Party is the only party that respects the people’s dreams and commits to turn them into reality with sheer hardwork & commitment.
One child or youth died every 4.4 seconds in 2021: UN report
United Nations, Jan 11: More than 5.0 million children under age 5, including 2.3 million newborns, along with 2.1 million children and youth aged 5 to 24 years — 43 per cent of whom are adolescents — died in 2021, according to a report released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
“Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath,” Vidhya Ganesh, the Unicef’s director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child.”
The report show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000.
The global under-5 mortality rate fell by half since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36 per cent, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35 per cent.
This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.
However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality.
Unless swift action is taken to improve health services, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth, warn the agencies.
Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show.
Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29 per cent of global live births, the region accounted for 56 per cent of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and Southern Asia for 26 per cent of the total.
Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world — 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and Northern America.
Mothers in these two regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77 per cent of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa.
The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is seven times more likely than in Europe and North America, the reports show.
Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the very first month of life.
For those youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.
Similarly, more than 40 per cent of stillbirths occur during labour, most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth.
For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria pose the biggest threat, according to the reports.
While Covid-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality, with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults, the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival.
In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come.
In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.
Tata’s assembly unit for iPhones will present India as manufacturing hub
Last year, it was also reported that, not just phones manufacturing, but In order to maintain a healthy supply chain in the face of disruptions from Covid, Apple is apparently looking to move some iPad manufacture to India at the same time that it wants to move more iPhone production away from China to India.
In an effort to move up to 30% of its manufacturing outside of China, Apple intends to move iPad production to India.
The IT giant is accelerating its production plans in Vietnam and India in response to the upheaval in China over the zero-Covid policy, which has seriously interrupted its supply chain and caused a significant shortage of new products.
India About ‘Brotherhood’ And ‘Unity’, That’s Why Bharat Jodo Yatra Is Successful: Rahul Gandhi
FATEHGARH SAHIB (Punjab), Jan 11: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the BJP of spreading fear and hatred in the country, even as he asserted that India stood for “brotherhood, unity and respect” and that is why his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was “successful”.
Gandhi was addressing people at Sirhind here before beginning Punjab leg of the Yatra.
“An atmosphere of hatred has been spread in the country. The BJP and RSS people are dividing the country, putting one religion against the other, one caste against the other, one language against the other… And they have spoiled the atmosphere of the country,” he alleged.
Therefore, we thought that the country needs to show another path, which is of love, unity and brotherhood, this is why we started this Yatra, he said.
The Congress leader said the Yatra has received an overwhelming public response and it got better as it crossed from one state to the other.
“There is a reason for this — the hatred, fear and violence being spread by the BJP people, it is not the country’s way and not its history. This country is of brotherhood, unity and respect. And this is why, this Yatra is successful,” he said.
During the yatra, Gandhi said he learnt a lot as he spoke to farmers, small shopkeepers, labourers and unemployed youth.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Haryana Congress chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, among others, accompanied Gandhi in the Yatra.
The Gandhi scion earlier paid obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib before the start of the Punjab leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
He sported a turban and wore a half-sleeved T-shirt to the place of worship. (Agencies)
NC asks Amit Shah to convene all-party meet to ‘bail out’ J&K from uncertainty
Jammu: The National Conference has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to convene an all-party meeting to “bail out” the people of Jammu and Kashmir from the prevailing situation of uncertainty and fear psychosis following targeted killings by militants.
It alleged that the Lieutenant Governor administration has “miserably failed” to handle the present situation in the Union Territory.
Rattan Lal Gupta, provincial president (Jammu), National Conference, asked the home minister to convene an all-party meeting to bail out the people of J-K from the prevailing situation of uncertainty and fear psychosis on account of frequent terrorists activities, especially against the minority community both in Kashmir and Jammu provinces.
Gupta, along with senior party leaders, visited Dhangri village in Rajouri on Monday to offer condolences to the bereaved family members of the victims of the terror attacks. Seven people were killed by terrorists in the village last week.
Gupta expressed concern over the Lt Governor’s “hesitant approach” in calling an all-party meeting despite several requests by different political parties, including the NC, over the burning issues which the people are confronting with in J-K after the targeted killings, a party statement said.
He said the “dillydallying stance” of the Lt Governor has proved deleterious for the UT as many precious lives have been lost to terror strikes. It is the reason the NC has now decided to approach the Union home minister to come out with a concrete plan after consulting all political entities through a meaningful meeting to be conducted as soon as possible, he added.
Gupta also requested the home minister to personally visit Dhangri to meet the affected families and also to assess the ground realities.
“Issues which the people are finding it difficult to confront these days in J-K include selective killings, uncontrollable inflation, unemployment, recruitment scams, unprecedented price hike of LPG, unavailability of civic amenities, relocation of employees working in Valley, rampant corruption and others,” the NC leader said.(PTI)
Mercury rises as Kashmir braces for season’s major snowfall
As Kashmir valley braces for season’s first major snowfall, the minimum temperature recorded an increase with mercury settling above sub-zero level at most places barring Gulmarg and Pahalgam on Wednesday.
A meteorological department official here told that higher reaches also received fresh snowfall with Gulmarg receiving 6 cms of it in the 24 hours till 0830 hours today, .
He said Srinagar, Pahalgam and Kupwara received light rainfall of 0.3mm, 1.1mm and 3.6mm respectively during the time.
Meanwhile, he said, Srinagar recorded a low of 3.5°C against last night’s 1.8°C.
Today’s minimum temperature was 5.6°C above normal for the summer capital, he said.