Junior Digest

Baghdad [Iraq], February 16 ,2021: Rockets struck near the Erbil international airport where US forces are based in northern Iraq on Monday killing one US-led coalition contractor and wounding at least eight other people.
According to the authorities, a US service member and two civilians were among the injured in the 9:30 pm strike in between the Irbil international airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdish-run territory and the base, New York Post reported.
Initial reports indicate at least three rockets struck the area.
Coalition spokesman Col Wayne Marotto said in a statement the attack is under investigation. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, New York Post reported.
However, Marotto did not disclose the nationality of the dead contractor.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned the attack in a statement posted online, calling it a “dangerous escalation.”
“The targeting of Erbil, which inflicted casualties, represents a dangerous escalation and a terrorist act targeting the national efforts to protect the security of the country and the safety of citizens. We have no choice but to firmly strengthen our efforts to root out the forces of terror and the attempts being made by some to plunge the country into chaos,” President Barham Saleh wrote in a tweet.
Rocket attacks have frequently targeted the US presence in Baghdad but slowed down late last year ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, New York Post reported
Moreover, US Former President Donald Trump had blamed the attacks on Iran-backed groups.
Last year, tensions soared between the US and Iran when a US drone attack killed top Iranian General Qassim Soleimani.

Rome, Feb 13,2021: Economist Mario Draghi on Friday formally accepted the role position of Italy’s next prime minister after meeting with the Italian President and will be sworn in on Saturday.

Mr Draghi, the ex-head of the European Central Bank, also named his cabinet after meeting the Italian president which the latter accepted, the BBC reported.

Mr Draghi’s elevation became possible after he managed to secure the support of almost all the main political parties, after initially managing to get the support of the largest group in parliament, the Five Star Movement.

The government faces a confidence vote next week – a formality given its cross-party backing.

It also means he will have a large enough majority to push through his agenda.

Since Italy is still grappling with the pandemic and is also facing its worst economic crisis in decades, the fall of the previous government put the country in chaos amid a row over how to spend EU coronavirus recovery funds.

The country has recorded more than 93,000 COVID related deaths, which is the sixth-highest death toll in the world.

Washington, Feb 13,2021: The US Justice Department has said that it is continuing work for getting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited to the United States.

In an interaction with Sputnik, the department’s spokesperson Nicole Navas said, “I can confirm we are continuing our efforts to seek the extradition of Julian Assange.”

Mr Navas was replying to a query whether the Justice Department would appeal against the recent ruling by a British judge, where the judge ruled against extraditing Assange.

In January, UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against extraditing Assange to the United States.

The judge cited health reasons and the risk of suicide in the US prison system, though he was not released from the Belmarsh high-security prison where he remains in detention.

Assange was initially convicted by the Obama administration for conspiring to hack classified information on a government computer. In 2019, charges were expanded to include espionage, punishable by a total of 175 years in prison. Assange is believed to be responsible for the largest leak of classified information in history on WikiLeaks in 2010.

London [UK], February 13,2021: A clinical study circulated by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) claims strong evidence that prompt preventive blood-thinning drugs may reduce the risk of death in COVID-19 patients.
Patients given preventive blood-thinning drugs (prophylactic anticoagulants) within 24 hours of admission to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to die compared with those who do not receive them, a new study finds.
Patients given preventive blood-thinning drugs (prophylactic anticoagulants) within 24 hours of admission to hospital with covid-19 are less likely to die compared with those who do not receive them.
Clinical trials are now underway to see if prophylactic anticoagulants could be an effective treatment for COVID-19. In the meantime, the researchers say these findings provide strong real-world evidence to support their early use among patients in hospitals with COVID-19.
Some Covid deaths are believed to be due to blood clots developing in major veins and arteries. Anticoagulants prevent blood clots from forming and have antiviral and potent anti-inflammatory properties, so might be particularly effective in patients with COVID-19, but results from previous studies have been inconclusive.
To explore this further, a team of UK and US researchers set out to estimate the effect of prophylactic anticoagulants when given promptly after admission to hospital on the risk of death and severe bleeding among patients with COVID-19.
Their findings are based on data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for 4,297 patients (average age 68 years; 93% men) admitted to hospital with covid-19 between 1 March and 31 July 2020.

Other potentially important factors including age, ethnicity, underlying conditions, medication history, weight, and smoking status were taken into account. The researchers then followed these patients to see who died or experienced a serious bleeding event within 30 days of hospital admission.
A total of 3,627 (84.4%) patients received prophylactic anticoagulation within 24 hours of admission and there were 622 deaths (14.5%) within 30 days.
Death at 30 days was 14.3% among those who received prophylactic anticoagulation compared with 18.7% among those who did not — a relative risk reduction as high as 34% and an absolute risk reduction of 4.4%.
This benefit seemed to be greater among patients not admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) within 24 hours of hospital admission.
Receiving prophylactic anticoagulation was not associated with an increased risk of serious bleeding.
This was a large, well-designed study using electronic health record data and took account of a range of potentially influential factors. Results were also unchanged after further analyses, suggesting that they withstand scrutiny.
However, the researchers acknowledge that due to the observational nature of the study, a degree of uncertainty persists that can only be addressed through randomised trials.
Until further trial evidence is available, they conclude that these findings “provide strong real-world evidence to support guidelines recommending the use of prophylactic anticoagulation as initial treatment for patients with covid-19 on hospital admission.”

Beijing [China], February 10 ,2021:: Following a 12-day visit to China to probe the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan, a team of World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday dismissed the theory of a ‘lab leak’ of the virus.
According to Washington Post, Peter Ben Embarek, the Danish WHO food safety expert leading the international team, said his group will not recommend further investigation into the theory that the virus accidentally leaked from labs conducting coronavirus research.
Embarek told reporters that the judgment was based on “long, frank, open discussions with researchers and management” at institutions including the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
“They’re the best ones to dismiss the claims and provide answers to all the questions,” he said.
“Our initial findings suggest that introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely passway and one that will require more studies and more specific targeted research … The findings suggest that a laboratory incident hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the human population,” the WHO expert added.

Peter Daszak, a British member of the WHO mission in Wuhan who has collaborated with the WIV through his EcoHealth Alliance nonprofit, said on Twitter that the decision to downplay the lab theory was a unanimous judgment among the WHO team’s 17 members, reported Washington Post.
The global health body on Tuesday said that there is no evidence of coronavirus circulation in any animal species in China.
Embarek stated that four hypotheses on how the virus spread but reiterated that the “laboratory incident hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the human population”.
“It has not been possible to pinpoint any animal species as a potential reservoir for this disease, and they indicate that currently and also back in 2019 it does not look like there was the circulation of the virus in any animal species in the country,” he said.
The four key hypotheses are: direct zoonotic spillover; introduction through intermediary host species; food chain, frozen food products, surface transmission; and finally a laboratory-related incident, Sputnik quoted him as saying.
The investigation by the WHO was undertaken after a cluster of patients exhibiting pneumonia-like symptoms emerged in Wuhan in December 2019, a new coronavirus was identified to be causing the disease, which later became known as COVID-19, and triggered the global pandemic that infected over 90 million people and killed more than 1.9 million, reported Sputnik.
After the outbreak, then US President Donald Trump blamed China for the global COVID-19 pandemic by calling the new coronavirus “Chinese Virus”.

Panaji, Feb 11,2021: Professor Sunil Kumar Singh, Director, National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), has said that blue economy programme of the Centre has both economic as well as scientific advantages.

Speaking exclusively to UNI, he said the programme would be of benefit to various sectors which include power, agriculture, meteorology and fisheries, among others.

‘We have done a lot of work on polymetallic nodules. NIO started work on polymetallic nodules in the central Indian Ocean 40 years back. India was the first pioneering country to make investment in this area. This area belongs to the International Seabed Authority. So if you want to work you have to take permission from the International Seabed Authority. After getting permission we surveyed 1,54,000 sqkm in the area and out of that 75,000 sq km was relinquished for future use. In that we have found 100 million tonnes of iron and manganese deposits. We are now ready to exploit that. Lot of exploration has been done. Actually on January 26 this year we completed 40 years of survey. Now this programme has been taken over by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Even this area has cobalt which is not available on land in our country. If we are able to extract cobalt, it would be a big achievement. This is one part of the blue economy programme,’ he said.

‘We are at an advanced stage. Now technology is being developed at National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, which will be activated after some time. There is a rule that you have to show that the environment is not getting impacted. NIO is continuously doing the Environment Impact Assessment,’ he said.

Professor Singh said a lot of study was being done to get more information about precious metals available under the sea.

‘There is a mountain kind of structure within the ocean and there are precious metals like gold, platinum etc. We are trying to study that also. One aspect is how the movement is taking place, how the crust is forming, what is the time frame, another is economic issue. These are sources of very important mineral like rare earth minerals. There also a lot of study is taking place and that is also part of the blue economy,’ he said.

The NIO Director said the plan was being afoot to have a floating like structure which could help generate wind, solar and hydro electricity facilitating reduction in emission of carbon into the environment.

‘We are using coal for energy and for that we are creating pollution. But slowly we are moving towards non-conventional energy. Here again the ocean will serve as a huge resource. We are making a big floating structure in the sea where we are putting a hybrid energy system. That will include a solar panel, wind turbine, hydro electric turbine which will be run by waves and tides. We are planning to have a huge floating structure so that we could generate power from solar, wind and tide and wave. This is also at a very advanced stage,’ he said.

Professor Singh said the blue economy programme would not only benefit the fisheries sector but also help in more accurate prediction of monsoon and thereby helping agriculture.

‘If we talk about living resources from the sea , then fisheries comes into mind. So we are trying to understand the distribution of fisheries, particular type of fisheries, why they are available in a particular area. We are also trying to predict where fisheries will be more and where less. We mostly know about fishes available on surface water. But we want to go a bit deeper as huge resources are there. But the problem is cold. So we have to have a processing unit on board so that fish could be processed as soon as they are out of water,’ he said.

The NIO Director said,’The whole Indian economy is based on monsoon which is controlled by the sea condition. That too we are trying to study how sea is impacting monsoon. If you are able to predict monsoon in advance, agriculture can be planned accordingly. So lot of study is being done to find connections between sea and monsoon. Interestingly, the South East monsoon is not dependent on Indian ocean but they are very much dependent on pacific conditions. If Pacific conditions are changing it will impact Indian monsoon. Similarly, recent study has shown there is a connection between Atlantic sea and Indian monsoon. So whole ocean is impacting our monsoon. You cannot study monsoon in isolation unless you study the ocean. It has been found that whenever the Pacific is heating, you will have drought in India and whenever Atlantic is cooling we have drought in India.’

New Delhi, Feb 12,2021: Making a statement on the ground situation in Eastern Ladakh in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday assured the House that the country has not lost anything in the talks and some issues related to the deployment and patrolling in some areas on the Line of Actual Control were still pending and will be given special attention in further talks.

‘I want to assure this House that in these talks, we have not conceded anything. The House should also know that there are still some outstanding issues with regard to deployment and patrolling at some other points along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh,’ the Defence Minister said.

Mr Singh further said that these points will be the focus of further discussions with the Chinese side.

The Defence Minister informed the House that a major breakthrough has been achieved between India and China in eastern Ladakh with both the sides initiating disengagement

of troops from the southern and northern sides of Lake Pangong on a mutual agreement basis.

He said, ‘We have agreed that both sides should achieve complete disengagement at the earliest and abide fully by the bilateral agreements and protocols. By now, the Chinese side is also fully aware of our resolve.

‘India has strongly put across the message to China that it would not allow anyone to take even an inch of its land and that our defence forces have been firmly protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),’ he added.

Elaborating on details of the agreement, he said, ‘I am happy to tell the House that as a result of our stand and continuous dialogue with China on the withdrawal of troops from the north and south sides of Lake Pangong, an agreement has been arrived.

‘According to this agreement, both the sides will remove the troops deployed on the advance fronts in a phased, coordinated and calibrated manner,’ he added.

The Defence Minister said that the next round of talks between the military commanders of the two nations will take place on Friday.

Nzerekore [Guinea], February 15,2021: Guinea on Sunday (local time) has declared an Ebola epidemic after four people died and seven others became ill in the southeastern region of Nzerekore.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, seven people fell ill with diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a burial in Goueke, near the Liberian border.
The infected patients have been kept in isolation in treatment centres, the health ministry said.
“Faced with this situation and in accordance with international health regulations, the Guinean government declares an Ebola epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement.

Speaking on how the epidemic began, Dr Yuma Taido, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told Al Jazeera, “We are preparing to manage the outbreak. We cannot explain yet how this epidemic came about. The response teams are heading to the epicentre of the outbreak from today.”
Meanwhile, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, said, “WHO is supporting the authorities to set up testing, contact-tracing and treatment structures and to bring the overall response to full speed”.
“Initial investigations found that a nurse from the local health facility died on January 28, 2021. Following her burial, six people who attended the funeral reported Ebola-like symptoms and two of them have died, while the other four have been hospitalized,” the WHO said in a Sunday statement.
“Very concerned by reports of 4 suspected Ebola deaths in Guinea. WHO is ramping up readiness and response efforts to this potential resurgence of #Ebola in West Africa, a region which suffered so much from Ebola in 2014,” the WHO regional director said on Twitter.
According to Sputnik’s report, the WHO has already started supporting Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo authorities that have been on high alert amid reports of emerging new Ebola cases.

Feb 08, 2021: Former US Secretary of State, George Shultz who significantly shaped foreign policy in the late 20th Century, has died at the age of 100. He passed away on Saturday at his home in California. He served three former Presidents – Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan – in various roles

His efforts as America’s top diplomat from 1982 to 1989 under the former President Ronald Reagan helped lead to the conclusion of the four decade long Cold War that began after World War Two.

The Hoover Institution, where Mr Schultz worked as a distinguished fellow, said the statesman had been instrumental in changing the direction of history by using the tools of diplomacy to bring the Cold War to an end.

Shultz was a Republican, but more pragmatic than ideological. He worked on various federal task forces at the request of former Presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He was an informal but influential adviser on foreign policy to Former US President George W Bush.

Geneva, Feb 13,2021: The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted the Myanmar resolution and demanded that the military junta release the country’s democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders and to refrain from using violence upon people who have been protesting against the military coup.

The 47-member Geneva forum adopted a resolution brought by Britain and the European Union (EU) unanimously without a vote. However, Russia and China later said that they had “disassociated” themselves from the consensus.

Not surprisingly Myanmar’s envoy said just before the vote that the resolution was “not acceptable”.

The resolution was adopted after the UN human rights investigator for Myanmar urged the UN Security Council to consider imposing punitive sanctions, arms embargoes and travel bans against the country and the military leaders and their family members in response to the coup. They also demanded that the junta allow UN monitors to visit the country and get a first hand idea about the ground situation in the country, the BBC reported.

The United States after imposing its own set of sanctions against Myanmar urged other UN member states to follow suit.

Feb 09, 2021:Massive search and rescue operation is underway to save trapped workers from the Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli district of Uttrakhand.

The state government has officially confirmed that 197 workers remain missing in the flash flood since Sunday. The rescue team has so far recovered 26 bodies and was successful in evacuating 12 persons trapped in a tunnel.

A major rescue operation is underway involving the ITBP, Army, SSB, State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force – are working round the clock to find trapped workers.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has arrived in Chamoli to assess the rescue operation. He held the meeting with a senior officer last night there.

A flash flood in river Rishiganga created havoc near Reni village in district Chamoli. The Rishiganga and Tapovan power projects were badly affected by the disaster.

Providing a new theory on the flash flood, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (a constituent unit of Indian Space Research Organisation) claims that the flash flood took place after a landslide triggered a snow avalanche. The institute rejects the earlier theory of the disaster taking place due to glacier burst.

Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh has said that officials of the NTPC, THDC, and SJVNL will study about the disaster on images provided by the ISRO. After returning from the disaster-hit areas, Mr Singh said that financial assistance is being provided to the dependents of the deceased by the State Government as well as Centre.

New Delhi, Feb 9,2021: The outgoing Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said that he counts himself among those fortunate ones who did not go to Pakistan and felt proud of being a Hindustani Muslim.

Recollecting his memories, he said during his college days in Jammu and Kashmir, both August 14 and August 15 used to be celebrated. The majority used to celebrate August 14 but they always celebrated the Independence day on August 15. “When I read about the conditions in Pakistan, I feel proud that we are Hindustani Muslims. We are seeing that Muslim countries are fighting amongst each other, there are no Hindus there or Christians”, he said. He also said that he used get 100 per cent of Kashmiri Pandit votes while contesting University elections.

“I got a chance to be here in the Parliament because of late Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi and Indiraji used to say, ‘be in touch with Atalji’, not with BJP, he said.

Sharing his experience as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he said that when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Leader of Opposition, he was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and his party did not have a majority. But those were the easiest five years for running the House. “I learned from Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji how to be an efficient leader of opposition”, Mr Azad said.

Recounting the period of cyclone in Odisha in 1999, he said that he cried when he saw the bodies scattered all over after the storm and informed Prime Minister Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

His voice choked up while speaking about the terrorist attack on Gujarati tourists in Jammu and Kashmir during his tenure as the Chief Minister. “I did not know what to tell the children of those tourists killed by militants in Kashmir. My wish is to see an end to terrorism in this country.” he said wiping his tears and hoped that the situation of Kashmir will improve soon.

Thanking Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the outgoing leader said, “You never felt that it was a personal attack on you when I performed my role as Leader of Opposition and gave long speeches”. I will be always thankful for your affection and guidance.

Addressing the PM, he said, ‘During your speeches in the House, I had interrupted in between and commented while performing the role of LoP but you never took it otherwise or personally .You have always differentiated between the personal relation and the party’s responsibility’.

He also expressed his gratitude to all Members who spoke about him and his role as the LoP and specially mentioned about the Deputy Chairman Harivansh with whom he use to share his seat in the first row of the opposition benches. He also thanked the Upper House Secretary General and the Secretariat office.

“Two people would necessarily wish me for Eid, Diwali or birthday- the Congress president and the PM,” Mr Azad recalled and signed off with a couplet “Nahi Yaad Aayegi To Barson Nahi Aayegi, Lekin Jab Yaad Aaoge To Bahut Aaoge.”( You may not be remembered for years but when remembered, You will be remembered a lot).

One of the retiring members Nazir Ahmed Laway of PDP said, “This House needs to do something for Jammu and Kashmir. We have lost a lot…We had only one sector, tourism, which has been destroyed. There will be no representation of Jammu and Kashmir after we leave, therefore, it was responsibility of all of you to raise the issues of the Jammu and Kashmir”.

The other retiring lawmaker Mir Mohammad Fayaz said that he started his career with municipal committee elections. “I never thought I would be in the Rajya Sabha.”

“We work for this country. We have taken the flag of the country to villages. It hurts us when we are called anti-national by the media and others,” Mr. Fayaz said.

He also appealed to the Home Minister to restored the statehood and the special status of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP Member Shamsher Singh Manhas, who was also retiring from the Rajya Sabha, said that the situation was very serious in Jammu and Kashmir and Jammu and Ladakh used to be ignored.

“I come from Kashmir, the mukat mani (crown jewel) of the country, and have worked for this ‘mukut mani’ and will work for it in the future too,” he said.

Washington [US], February 16,2021: US Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday (local time) announced plans to create a “9/11-type commission” to investigate the Capitol riot that took place on January 6.
“To protect our security, our security, our security, our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to ‘investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex,'” Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats.
According to a report by CNN, the commission will be established by a statute, passed by both chambers and signed into law by the President. The members of the commission will not be elected leaders but those outside the government.

On January 6, a group of then US President Donald Trump’s loyalists stormed the US Capitol building, clashing with the police, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda.
The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. The outgoing President has since been blocked on all major social networks at least until after he is out of office.
Five people — four protesters and a police officer — were killed in the riots. The last time the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814.
The deadly attack prompted the House Democrats to move to impeach Trump. The Senate trial that ended this weekend acquitted Trump.

New Delhi, Feb 11,2021: Indian Space Research Organization ISRO is designing space education and space technology as an extracurricular activity for schools.

This is to utilise the Atal Tinkering Labs,which will have the endorsement of the Ministry of Education.

Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha that ISRO has adopted Atal Tinkering Labs across the country in the field of space education and technology.

In a written reply to the House, he said the whole programme is divided into two phases.

In the first phase the programme has been adopted in 45 schools across the country and in the second phase it would adopt the rest 55.

Atal Tinkering Lab refers to space where school children can experiment with, learn, develop and conceptualise different scientific ideas. It facilitates projects similar to DIY (do it yourself) projects.

Thakurnagar, Feb 12,2021: Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Amit Shah on Thursday reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented as soon as the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive ends.

“As soon as vaccination drive will conclude and we become Corona-free, the work of providing citizenship will be undertaken,” he said.

Addressing a rally here, which is a stronghold of Matua community, Mr Shah said, “CAA is Parliament’s law, how can you stop it? Also, you will not be in a position to stop it.”

He said, after the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, its implementation had to be kept in abeyance.

“In 2018, we promised to ensure justice to my Matua brothers and sisters that we will bring citizenship act. We fulfilled our promise in 2019 after Matua’s brothers and sisters fully supported us. Today, I would like to assure you that we will implement CAA once the COVID-19 vaccination process gets over,” he said.

“Mamata didi said we made a false promise. She started opposing the CAA and saying she will never allow it. The BJP always fulfils the promises it makes. We have brought this law and refugees will get citizenship.

Mr Shah said, “Mamata di is saying that she will not allow us to implement CAA. But I would like to ask her how she can stop an act from being implemented which was passed in the parliament. Also, in April she will not be on CM’s chair and we will ensure this as we are certainly going to win the upcoming State polls.”

Guwahati, Feb 14,2021: Stating that Congress won’t allow Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to be implemented in Assam, Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that the issue of illegal immigration could be solved through dialogue.

“Illegal immigration is an issue, but people of Assam has that capacity to solve the problem themselves through dialogue,” said Mr Gandhi who sounded Congress poll bugle in Assam from Sivsagar district today.

Sporting `No CAA’ slogan on Assamese Gamocha, Mr Gandhi said “ If Assam loses something, it will be loss for the nation. At any cost we won’t allow CAA to be implemented here.”

The Congress MP said that there is no force in the world who can break Assam.

“ `Hum do, Hamare Do’ is running Assam. Anyone who will try to touch Assam accord and spread hatred will not be spared by Congress party and people of Assam,” Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Rahul alleged that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is being remote controlled from Delhi and Nagpur.

He said that Congress is party of small businessman and workers.

“When we will come to power we will end the hatred and will take care of all communities,” he said.

New Delhi, Feb 10,2021: India has signed Memoranda of Understanding with 25 countries across the world for cooperation in the field of traditional medicine.

The Narendra Modi government has over the past few years made efforts to promote the traditional system of medicine and get it recognised worldwide as part of the country’s soft power.

With such a mandate to promote AYUSH in the international practice of medicines, the Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) ministry has also inked 23 MoUs to undertake collaborative research in AYUSH systems of medicine.

Another 13 MoUs have been signed for setting up of AYUSH academic chairs with various foreign institutes and universities.

The Minister of State, AYUSH, Kiren Rijiju gave this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The ministry under its Fellowship Scheme extends financial support to the eligible foreign nationals for undertaking UG, PG and Ph.D courses in various premier AYUSH Institutes in India.

The Fellowship Scheme aims at achieving recognition and acceptance of India’s traditional medicine systems abroad.

To support recognition of AYUSH systems at international level, Ministry of AYUSH undertakes various activities under Central Sector Scheme for promotion of International Cooperation, (IC Scheme).

AYUSH experts are deputed to foreign countries to participate in international meetings, conferences, training programmes, seminars and on special assignment of the Government of India for promotion and propagation of AYUSH Systems including Ayurveda.

Financial assistance is also provided for presentation of AYUSH related scientific research papers in international conferences, workshops, seminar etc.

Incentives are provided to AYUSH drug manufacturers/ entrepreneurs/ AYUSH institutions, AYUSH drug and Hospitals etc. for participating in International exhibitions/ conferences/workshops/ seminars/ road shows/ trade fairs, etc. for generating awareness amongst the participating public about the AYUSH systems of medicine, and registration of AYUSH products with regulatory authorities of the foreign countries USFDA/EMEA/UK-MHRA/ NHPD (Canada)/ TGA etc.

There is a provision of financial support up to Rs.1.00 crore for strengthening of Health Centre(s)/ Institution(s) in the foreign host country.

With the consistent efforts of the Ministry, many countries have recognised AYUSH systems of medicine, Rijiju said.

Ayurveda is recognised in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, UAE, Colombia, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Africa, Cuba, Tanzania.

Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Serbia and Slovenia are the five countries of European Union, where Ayurvedic treatment is regulated.

Unani system is recognised in Bangladesh and Siddha system is recognised in Sri Lanka.

New Delhi, Feb 11,2021: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that a major breakthrough has been achieved between India and China in eastern Ladakh with both the sides initiating disengagement of troops from the southern and northern sides of Lake Pangong on a mutual agreement basis.

Making a statement on the ground situation in Eastern Ladakh in the House, he said that India has strongly put across the message to China that it would not allow anyone to take even an inch of its land and that our defence forces have been firmly protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Mr Singh further said, “Our strategy and stand for dialogue is based on the guidelines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that we will not let anyone else take even one inch of our land. It’s the result of our determination that that we have reached a position of agreement”.

Elaborating on details of the agreement, he said, “I am happy to tell the House that as a result of our stand and continuous dialogue with China on the withdrawal of troops from the north and south sides of Lake Pangong, an agreement has been arrived.”

According to this agreement, both the sides will remove the troops deployed on the advance fronts in a phased, coordinated and calibrated manner.

He also said that he wants to assure the House that the country has not lost anything in this process and some issues related to deployment and patrolling in some areas on the Line of Actual Control are still pending and will be given special attention in further talks.

The Defence Minister said that the next round of talks between the military commanders of the two nations will take place again on Friday.

During his statement, he also mentioned how China amassed troops in Eastern Ladakh in April 2020 and transgressed and were given a befitting reply by Indian forces. Our 20 soldiers laid down their lives in protecting the sovereignty of the country and how both sides established military and diplomatic contacts, keeping with our efforts to restore peace and tranquility.

Washington, Feb 11,2021: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order to impose sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders who carried out a coup last week and overthrew the democratically elected government.

These sanctions are intended to target the country’s military leaders, their family members and all businesses that linked to them, the BBC reported.

Steps are also being taken to block access by the military to $1bn (£720m) of government funds held in the US.

Mr Biden said his administration would identify a first round of targets of the sanctions this week, although some Myanmar military leaders have already been blacklisted over atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.

These sanctions come as a woman protester who was shot in the head during the protests against the coup is fighting for her life at a hospital in the capital Nay Pyi Taw.

Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing was hurt on Tuesday when police tried to disperse protesters using water cannon, rubber bullets and live rounds.

The wound was consistent with one from live ammunition, rights groups say.

Tens of thousands have turned out in street protests against last week’s coup, which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in the South East Asian country despite the military imposing a ban on large gatherings and a night curfew.

There have been reports of other serious injuries as police have increased their use of force, but no deaths so far.

New Delhi, Feb 11,02.2021: Yoga and Pranayam, the two traditional forms of disciplines being practised in India since time immemorial to keep one’s body and mind healthy, have got backing from none other Harvard University, which counts these as some of the best natural methods to keep depression at bay.

According to Associate Consultant, Mental Health and Behavioural Science, Artemis Dr Askshay Kumar, ‘Yoga, Pranayam, meditation and physical activities, besides relaxing the mind and the body, are great methods to beat depression.

‘Studies at Harvard University have documented that when we exercise, serotonin, a mood regulator is produced, this helps as depression is associated with low levels of serotonin.

‘Even medication works on increasing serotonin -yog and physical exercise is a natural method of producing serotonin in the body. A Harward study has quantified 15 minutes of exercise three times a week is enough to produce optimum levels of serotonin in the body.

‘Besides serotonin, BDNF and Oxytocin levels are also regulated and cortisol hormone also decreases through these activities, so there is scientific basis why doctors recommend Yoga and Pranayam for those suffering with psychological ailments.”

Dr Akshay was speaking at a recently-organised webinar ‘Depression management and Treatment’, organised by ASSOCHAM.

He listed some physical symptoms that can be considered red flags, as far as depression is concerned.