New Delhi, November 3: The voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 while the counting of votes will be done on December 8, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday.
“First phase of Assembly elections in Gujarat to be held on 1st December & second phase on 5th December; counting of votes to be done on 8th December,” he said.
The CEC informed that as many as 3,24,422 people would be first-time voters in the state.
“I am happy to inform that 3,24,422 new voters will vote for the first time this time in the Gujarat Assembly elections. The total number of polling stations is 51,782. At least 50 per cent of the polling stations set up in the state will have webcasting arrangements,” Kumar said.
“For a better voting experience, 1274 polling stations will be managed entirely by women and security staff. Public Works Department will welcome voters at 182 polling stations. For the first time, 33 polling stations will be set up and managed by the youngest polling staff,” he added. (Agencies)
2-phase Gujarat assembly elections to be held on December 1 & 5; results on December 8
New Omicron variants not causing significant rise in hospitalisations: Experts
MUMBAI, Nov 3: The new variants of Omicron, XXB and BQ.1, have not led to any significant rise in coronavirus infections and hospitalisations in Maharashtra, experts have said.
The symptoms caused by these strains of the virus are mild, they noted.
Dr. Anita Mathew, Infectious Disease Specialist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said many of the new patients are asymptomatic.
“Many people have incidental COVID-19. In other words, they are visiting the hospital for other health conditions and test positive for the coronavirus infection,” Dr. Mathew said.
Symptoms such as the loss of smell and taste, observed prominently in earlier infections, have not been noticed in many patients. Many of them report cold and cough, which is why there isn’t a lot of testing or self-isolation, Dr. Mathew added.
Dr. Mathew, however, stressed that vaccination against coronavirus was still important.
“One should be careful so that the risk of infecting others decreases,” Dr. Mathew said.
As per the state health department, 17% more COVID-19 cases were recorded during October 10 to 16 against the preceding week (October 3-9). The rise was noticed mainly in Thane, Raigad and Mumbai, all densely-populated districts.
The department had also cautioned that coronavirus cases could rise during winter and the festive season, citing new variants which have greater immune evasive ability.
Dr. Vasanthapuram Ravi, Virologist, Head, R&D, TATA Medical and Diagnostics (and Chairman of Karnataka Genomic Surveillance Committee) said the new strain of the virus and the disease genotype were no different from Omicron in terms of severity and asymptomatic status.
“It is a hybrid of two Omicron variants, 3.75 and BJ1, due to which it has a novel mutation in the spike proteins which makes it escape the antibodies generated by vaccines. This is why it is causing infections even in vaccinated people,” Dr. Ravi said.
But there is not much to worry due to its lessened severity though testing is still important, Dr. Ravi added.
If a patient tests positive for Omicron, he or she can get treatment for Omicron infection, Dr. Ravi said.
But if the test is negative for Omicron (despite symptoms) then one needs to immediately consult a physician in case there is a presence of a new variant or another virus like flu virus or RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), Dr. Ravi added.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), in a statement, said it was keeping a close watch on the emergence and evolution of XBB and XBB.1 and any new sub-lineages.
But Indian patients infected with Omicron sub-lineage XBB of COVID-19 have mild disease, it went on to add.
Dr. Laxman Jessani, Consultant, Infectious Diseases at Apollo hospitals in Navi Mumbai, said the chances of hospitalisation and ICU admissions are low as the infections are mostly mild.
Dr. Jessani too said that there was no significant rise in cases in the last few weeks.
“High-risk groups and elderly people should avoid going out to prevent getting infected, especially in crowded places,” Dr. Jessani said, adding that wearing a mask is a must. (Agencies)
Dr Masood Tanvir assigned charge of Principal GMC Srinagar
SRINAGAR: Dr Masood Tanvir Bhat Head of the department of Medicine, Government Medical College Srinagar, has been assigned the charge of collage Principal on Thursday.
The arrangement has been made on temporary basis.
It added that he will hold the charge n his own pay and grade with immediate effect till regular appointment to the post is made.
RS Pura road blocked for two and half hours against miserable condition of RS Pura-Jammu road
Fed up with the repeated assurances, the residents led by senior DAP leader and Sarpanch Badrinath Sharma and Kissan leader Ch Mohan staged protest against Govt over miserable condition of RS Pura road and blocked the vehicular movement for couple of hours at Kotli Shah Doula today. After getting information, Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and police contingent rushed to the spot to pacify the protestors, but people remained adamant and continued their protest.The protesters ended protest after assurance from SDM RS Pura along with SDPO and SHO Pura that blacktopping work will be started in couple of days.
Speaking on the occasion, DAP leader said the strategic RS Pura road especially from Panchayat Kotli Shah Doula to RS Pura has turned into a nightmare for commuters. The road, which we blacktopped years ago, is now full of potholes, making them potential death traps for motorists particularly during the rainy season. Sarpanch Badrinath Sharma was addressing protesters during huge protest against delaying blacktopping of road despite consistently bringing condition of road before the concerned authorities resulting in death of two youth yesterday in an accident at Kotli Shah Doula and several injuries to two wheelers for the last six months. Speaking to media persons, Badrinath Sharma said that despite claims by government to carry road repairs on priority, the roads and building department has done nothing to maintain them.“Nothing has changed in our area. Despite being a border area, the successive governments have neglected us. The condition of the basic infrastructure exposes all claims,” said Sharma.He alleged that their requests to concerned authorities had fallen on deaf ears. He said no steps have been taken in the last eight years to improve the basic infrastructure in the RS Pura sector.The roads are in a poor condition as not even simple repairs were carried out, Sharma said.“Despite series of protests, concerned departments have not paid any attention to our grievances. Now, residents are living with the hardships. You can see the condition of the Jammu-RS Pura road to understand how dangerous is to travel on it,” said Sharma.“We are facing lot of inconvenience in commuting to and fro with the damaged roads, which are really in a shabby condition. The roads are also not worth for old people to commute.Sharma informed that the aforesaid road is in worst condition for the past three years and the issue also stands taken up with the concerned officers of the department, but nothing has been done till date, which forced them to come on road and block the road. School going children and senior citizens are suffering a lot, but Govt seems least bothered towards the problems being faced by the people”, he added.Sarpanch appealed to the Lt Governor to intervene into the matter and get the construction work of the aforesaid road done on priority basis, so as to provide succor to the residents.
Bharat Jodo Yatra: Ex-Navy chief Admiral Ramdas joins Rahul Gandhi
HYDERABAD, Nov 3: Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Telangana on Thursday.
The Yatra resumed from Patancheru on the city outskirts Thursday morning and it will halt at Sivampet in Sangareddy district for the night, Congress sources said.
“Admiral Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff, who at 89 continues to be an indefatigable campaigner for public causes, along with his wife Lalita Ramdas, herself the daughter of Admiral Katari, 1st Indian Chief of Naval Staff, walked with @RahulGandhi on Day 57 of #BharatJodoYatra,” AICC General Secretary, in-charge, Communications, Jairam Ramesh, tweeted.
Congress president in Telangana and MP A Revanth Reddy, Lok Sabha member N Uttam Kumar Reddy and other party leaders walked with Gandhi in the morning session, the sources said.
The Yatra will take a break on Friday, they said.
The mega foot march of Gandhi entered the state on October 23 and the Telangana leg would conclude on November 7, the sources said.
The Yatra began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. (AGENCIES)
Education Ministry releases report on Performance Grading Index for States, UTs
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education today released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States/UTs for 2020-21, a unique index for evidence-based comprehensive analysis of school education system across State/UTs.
“The Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds. DoSE&L devised PGI for States/UTs to provide insights and data-driven mechanisms on the performance and achievements of on the success of school education across all States/UTs. The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policymaking and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all. So far, DoSE&L has released the PGI report for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. The present report is for the year 2020-21,” read an official statement. The PGI structure comprises 1000 points across 70 indicators grouped into 2 categories viz., Outcomes, Governance Management (GM). These categories are further divided into 5 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure and Facilities (IF), Equity (E) and Governance Process (GP).
As was done in the previous years, PGI 2020-21 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz., the highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points.
The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for a score below 551. The ultimate aim of PGI is to propel States and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes covering all dimensions.
The PGI is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level, informed the Ministry.
“A total of 7 States and UTs, Viz., Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level II (score 901-950) in 2020-21 as compared to none in 2017-18 and 4 in 2019-20. Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to the highest achieved level of any state so far,” the statement added.
The newly formed UT viz., Ladakh has made significant improvement in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21 or improved its score by 299 points in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20 resulting into the highest ever improvement in a single year.
“PGI Scores and grades achieved by States/UTs in 2020-21 bear testimony to the efficacy of the PGI system. The indicator-wise PGI score shows the areas where a state needs to improve. The PGI will reflect the relative performance of all the States/UTs in a uniform scale which encourages them to perform better and to adopt best practice followed by performers,” added the statement.
Police Rescues 3 Tourists Stuck in Affarwat Gulmarg
SRINAGAR, Nov 3: Jammu and Kashmir Police rescued three tourists who had lost their way in Affarwat mountainous area of Gulmarg last night, officials said on Thursday.
Quoting a police officer, that Gulmarg police swung into action after receiving information last night that some tourists were stuck at Affarwat as they lost their way back to Gondola.
“Upon this, a police party was deputed and the tourists who were identified as Raju, Ananya and Bhardwaj, all residents of Hyderabad, were rescued,” he said.
The tourists said that police’s swift response saved them. “We had gone towards Gondola on foot and completely lost our way. We called SHO Gulmarg and a police team reached in no time and rescued us,” one of tourists said while being flanked by two others.
“Without the police help we would not have been able to return safely and we thank police wholeheartedly,” he added. (AGENCIES)
MeT predicts dry weather for next 24 hours; widespread rain, snow from Nov 5 to 7
JAMMU, Nov 3: The weather office on Thursday predicted mainly dry weather for the next 24 hours followed by widespread light to moderate rains and snowfall from November 5 to 7 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Quoting an official of Meteorological Department (MeT) , that the weather is expected to be mainly dry for next 24 hours although it might be partly cloudy at most of the places.
From November 5-7, he said, the weather is expected to be generally cloudy. “Fairly widespread light to moderate rains, snowfall (over higher reaches) and thunder is very likely to occur at most places of J&K,” he said. However he reiterated that there is no forecast of “heavy snowfall”.
He also said that snowfall and low temperature may lead to temporary but occasional disruption of surface transportation, mainly over Zojila, Sinthantop, Mugal road etc. during the period.
Meanwhile,Srinagar recorded a low of 5.6°C against 5.0°C on the previous night. The temperature was 3.1°C above normal for the summer capital during this time of the year, he said.
Qazigund recorded a low of 3.4°C against 3.0°C on the previous night. The temperature was 0.9°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
In Pahalgam, the mercury settled at 1.5°C against 0.2°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C above normal for the south Kashmir resort, he said.
Kokernag recorded a low of 5.0°C against 3.8°C on the previous night and it was 1.2°C above normal for the place.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 0.0°C against minus 1.0°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at 5.1°C against 6.4°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 3.2°C above normal for the north Kashmir place.
Jammu recorded a low of 14.6°C against 15.3°C on the previous night. It was 0.8°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. Banihal recorded a low of 9.0°C (above normal by 4.4°C), Batote 9.0°C (4.4°C above normal), Katra 14.5°C (above normal by 1.9°C) and Bhadarwah 5.2°C (above normal by 0.8°C). (AGENCIES)
Over 64K animals infected with LSD in J&K
Jammu, November 3
The Jammu and Kashmir government has stated that 64,479 animals have been affected with Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in the UT till date.
Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department, held a meeting to review measures being put in place towards containment of the spread of the lumpy skin disease. He was informed by officials that the number of LSD infected animals had crossed the 64,000 mark till November 1.
The officials concerned highlighted district-wise status of the disease besides elaborating on controlling measures being taken up, like vaccination, use of medicines, procurement of vaccines, sample collection for testing through a PowerPoint presentation.
While taking district-wise details of the disease, Dullo directed the officials to follow the proper protocol of treatment as per the government’s recommendation besides accelerating the animal vaccination process so that further spread of the disease is prevented speedily.
Demonstrations in Kargil, Leh over statehood issue
Jammu, November 3
Members of the Buddhist and the Muslim communities, which were at loggerheads over the issue of a monastery a few months ago, put up a united show to demand statehood for the Union Territory on Wednesday. Massive protests were organised in both Leh and Kargil districts, led by the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Leh Apex Body (LAB), respectively. A large number of residents came out on roads braving the chill.
The demand for the safeguard under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was first raised in 2020 and later the groups added the demands of complete statehood, addition of a Lok Sabha seat and a Rajya Sabha seat in the UT and speeding up of the recruitment process. At present, Ladakh, which has no Assembly, has only one Lok Sabha seat.
Sajjad Kargili, a member of the KDA, told The Tribune that the protests were held after a long gap due to a few reasons. “The visit of Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama kept everyone busy in July and August. Besides, a dispute over a piece of land for a Buddhist monastery in Muslim-dominated Kargil caused mistrust among the communities. Now, all differences have been sorted out and both the communities are fighting together for their rights,” he said.
He said that in the coming days, more protests would be held against the Central Government demanding the genuine rights of the people of the region. Interestingly, the KDA and the LAB have also formed a core committee and decided to roll out a calendar for the upcoming protests. A meeting of both the associations was held on October 26 in which the future course of action for the agitation was decided.
“All the villages in Ladakh will be reached out by both associations and people will be asked to support us,” said Sajjad. Local residents in Ladakh are of the opinion that before the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs, Ladakh had a safeguard in form of Article 35-A under which no outsider could purchase land in the region. Residents now fear that people from outside the UT will purchase land that can affect their culture.
There have been many meetings of members of the KDA and the LAB with officials of the Central Government and ministers regarding the issue in the past that could reach no conclusion.
Jigmat Paljor, a member of the LAB, said the BJP that was earlier supporting the agitation made an exit long ago. “Desperation among people of Ladakh is increasing. The today’s protests were a prelude to the agitation that will continue in 2023 if our demands are not met,” he added.