Junior Digest

Feb 22,2020: South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Friday appointed rebel leader Riek Machar as vice president, after the two men finally agreed to form a long-delayed unity government — a crucial step towards ending six years of war.

A presidential decree included “the appointment of the vice presidents and the dissolution of all institutions at national and state levels,” Information Minister Michael Makuei told AFP.

The decree was read on state television, the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, appointing Machar as the first of five vice-presidents in a bloated cabinet to accommodate various warring parties.

But consensus has only been reached on three of the four others, including current first vice president Taban Deng Gai — a former Machar ally who defected.

James Wani Igga from Kiir’s ruling party, and Rebecca Nyandeng, a former minister and Kiir ally-turned-critic are the other named vice-presidents as part of the long-awaited unity government..

The swearing-in ceremony will take place on Saturday, Makuei said. Kiir had initially said his longtime rival would be sworn-in on Friday, after they had reached the unity deal

Feb 22,2020: An EU summit called to set the bloc’s next seven-year budget ended in impasse late Friday, riven by competing groups among the 27 member states and pressure to fill a funding gap left by Brexit.

Differences were “still too great to reach an agreement,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the end of the two days of talks in Brussels.

No date had yet been set for another summit to try again, but Merkel added that “we are going to have to return to the subject”.

The trillion-euro-plus budget, the multiannual financial framework, is meant to be operational from next year and run to the end of 2027.

But the summit revealed stubborn differences between a handful of wealthy “frugal” states and a larger group wanting more money to meet both big European ambitions and to fill the 75-billion-euro shortfall left by Britain’s exit from the EU last month.

Dera Bugti [Balochistan], Feb 20,2020: At least 16 personnel of the Pakistani Army were killed in an attack by Balochistan Liberation Tigers’ fighters here.
The attack took place on Tuesday when Balochistan Liberation Tigers’ fighters targeted the Pakistani Army post in the Singsila area killing the army personnel, according to news confirmed by Baloch source.
They also seized all weapons and ammunition of the army men and set the army camp on fire.
In a purported video of the incident which has gone viral on social media, the fighters said that two army vehicles were completely destroyed in the ambush. However, there is no confirmation by the Pakistan Army about the attack.

New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 18 ,2020: Noted actor turned politician Tapas Pal passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai in the early hours of Tuesday following a massive cardiac arrest.
He was 61.
Reports reaching the national capital said the actor, who went to Mumbai recently, was admitted at a hospital in Bandra on January 28, 2020, as he was suffering from nerve problem.
The end came at 03.35 hours, the report said.
Family sources said that the condition of late Pal had deteriorated in the hospital on February 1 and he was put on ventilation since then.
The actor was also elected to parliament from the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency in the 2009 parliamentary election on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
Dadar Kirti, Bhalobasa Bhalobasa, Parabatpriya and Saheb were among the major Tollywood films in which Pal acted.
He had also acted in a Bollywood film-Abodh starring with Madhuri Dixit.
A pall of gloom descended on the film fraternity and also in the political circle hearing the demise of Pal.

Washington D.C., Feb 20,2020: Eating a heavy breakfast and a light dinner is the way to a healthy and fit body as the regime may prevent obesity and high blood sugar by burning more calories, suggests a new study.
The human body expends energy when we digest food for the absorption, digestion, transport and storage of nutrients.
This process, known as diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT), is a measure of how well human metabolism is working and can differ depending on mealtime.
“Our results show that a meal is eaten for breakfast, regardless of the number of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner,” said the lead researcher Juliane Richter.
“This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast,” added Richter.
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Endocrine Society.
The researchers conducted a three-day laboratory study of 16 men who consumed a low-calorie breakfast and high-calorie dinner, and vice versa in a second round.
The researchers found identical calorie consumption led to 2.5 times higher DIT in the morning than in the evening after high-calorie and low-calorie meals. The food-induced increase of blood sugar and insulin concentrations was diminished after breakfast compared with dinner.
The results also show eating a low-calorie breakfast increased appetite, specifically for sweets.
“We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases,” said Richter.

Gandhinagar , Feb 18,2020: The population of birds in India is seeing a sharp decline and in some cases is catastrophic, State of India’s Bird 2020, a report released on Monday at Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (COP13 CMS), has revealed.
The report stated, “The assessment of nearly 867 Indian species has revealed that the population of our birds are in overall decline, in some cases catastrophically so. Many more species show a downward trend than do an upward trend.”
“Since 2000, a strong declination of 22 per cent and a decline of 52 per cent of 261 species have been registered. However, there is a visible increasing trend of 5 per cent,” the report added.
The report jointly released by 10 organisations stated that overall migratory species (both long-distance and within-subcontinent) show steeper declines than residents. The average steep decline of long-distance migrants is driven by species like Forest Wagtail, Pacific Golden Plover and Common Greenshank.
The report says even globally the birds’ population continues to decline. The rare species are increasingly threatened with extinction, while many common species are experiencing steady population decline.
However, the report showed an overall increase in the percentage of House Sparrow, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Asian Koel, Common Tailorbird along with 120 more species in stable condition population-wise.
“Within India, the main approach to conservation is legal protection. This is extended to species through the Wild Life (Protection) Act (1972 and further amendments), and to habitats through the Protected Area network,” suggested the report.
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals commenced on Monday. India will chair the presidency of COP13 for three years.

New Delhi, Feb 18,20202: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram.
Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.
The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide.
Overall, Instagram’s official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.
In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.
Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing MS Dhoni.
Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

Iran votes Friday in key elections which conservatives are expected to dominate, capitalising on public anger against moderate President Hassan Rouhani over a ravaged economy, corruption and multiple crises.

The 11th parliamentary election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution comes after steeply escalating tensions between Iran and the United States and the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner that sparked anti-government protests in Tehran.

Experts predict a low turnout with rising voter apathy that they say will serve the conservatives at the expense of Rouhani, who was re-elected in 2017 promising more freedoms and the benefits of engagement with the West.

Iran has been hit by an economic slump and high inflation following harsh US sanctions after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018.

Nearly 58 million people are eligible to vote.

Around half of the 16,033 hopefuls will contest the 290 seats up for grabs across 31 provinces after the Guardian Council election watchdog barred thousands of would-be candidates, mostly moderates and reformists.

On Thursday, Washington upped the ante slapping sanctions on five Iranian officials in charge of vetting candidates, including Ahmad Jannati, a powerful cleric.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to flock to the polls, reiterating the mantra that it was a “religious duty”.

Rouhani echoed him, saying that taking part would give Iran “strength and unity”.
“We are under severe sanctions and pressure by the global arrogance, and we have to break these sanctions and improve people’s lives,” he said, referring to the United States.

On the eve of the elections, state media aired a short clip showing votes transforming into torpedoes hitting enemy navy ships closing in on Iran.

Hessameddin Ashena, Rouhani’s main adviser, warned on Twitter that abstention “increases (among other things) the possibility of a military aggression”.

Turnout in Iran’s past 10 elections averaged 60.5 percent, according to the interior ministry.

The Guardian Council said it expected at least 50 percent of registered voters to cast ballots in Friday’s election.

Many voters, however, have voiced disinterest.

“We voted for Mr Rouhani with a dream, and then we didn’t achieve anything. So, in my opinion, people are not hopeful any more,” said Mohammed, who spoke from his carpet shop and only gave one name.

KABUL,Feb 19,2020: Afghanistan on Tuesday declared incumbent Ashraf Ghani winner of a disputed presidential election, but his main rival rejected the result and vowed to form his own government, threatening new turmoil as the United State strives to seal a U.S. troop withdrawal deal with Taliban militants.
Polls were held on Sept. 28 to select a president for the fourth time since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. But the process was marred by allegations of rigging, technical problems with biometric devices used for voting, attacks and other irregularities..

Ghani won 50.64% of the vote, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said on Tuesday. Abdullah Abdullah, Ghani’s former deputy and main rival, was named runner-up with 39.52%.

Abdullah Abdullah nevertheless said he and his allies had won the election and would form the government.

“The result they (IEC) announced today was a result of election robbery, a coup against democracy, a betrayal of the will of the people, and we consider it illegal,” he told a news conference following the announcement.

There was no immediate statement from the United States recognising Ghani as the election victor.

In Washington, a senior U.S. diplomat said that U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, who has led talks with the Taliban on a U.S. troop withdrawal agreement, had “fortuitously” arrived in Kabul and was speaking with Afghan political leaders.

Molly Phee, who is Khalilzad’s deputy, told an event at the U.S. Institute of Peace think tank that the Ghani-Abdullah dispute “likely … could add to the many challenges that Afghanistan faces, including the challenges associated with the peace process.”

The IEC announced preliminary results in December in which Ghani, a former World Bank official, won re-election by a slim margin. Abdullah Abdullah dismissed the result as fraudulent and called for a full review. Ghani rejected the allegations.

The result echoes 2014, when both Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah alleged massive fraud by the other side, forcing the United States to broker an awkward power-sharing arrangement that made Ghani president and Abdullah Abdullah his chief executive.

The relationship has since been marred by distrust and a jostling for power in Kabul.

A potential political crisis looms as the United States and the Taliban near an agreement in Doha, which officials on both sides say could be announced by the end of February if an initial seven-day reduction in violence (RIV) is successfully observed. The RIV also would cover Afghan forces.

Afghanistan’s acting interior minister said the RIV would be enforced within five days.

A U.S. troop reduction agreement would pave the way for talks between the political leadership and the Taliban on a settlement to decades of war. The militants have so far refused to talk to the government, which they have dismissed as a U.S. puppet.

The Taliban also rejected the result announced on Tuesday and termed Ghani’s re-election to be against the peace process.

Ghani is seeking to appoint a team to negotiate with the Taliban. That effort has been mired in political wrangling and the dispute with Abdullah could add further complications.

Feb 18,2020: World Health Organization(WHO) has warned against blanket measures over the novel coronavirus outbreak, pointing out the epidemic outside of China is only affecting a tiny proportion of the population.

WHO also said that COVID-19 is less deadly than other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

WHO officials rejected the suggestion that all cruises should be halted to avoid risking a new nest of infection like the one on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess off Japan.

The outbreak has battered manufacturing and tourism across the region and led to multiple travel restrictions including for flights and cruises.

Feb 19,2020: The world is failing to protect children from the health dangers posed by climate change and poor diet, a landmark UN report said Wednesday, warning that every child is under “immediate threat”.

According to more than 40 of the world’s pre-eminent child and adolescent health experts, not one country on Earth is adequately protecting the next generation from the impacts of carbon emissions, the destruction of nature and high-calorie and processed foods.

They said that excessive carbon emissions, produced overwhelmingly by wealthier nations, “threaten the future of all children” and will burden them with additional health dangers, from deadly heatwaves to the increased spread of tropical diseases.

The report, commissioned by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, also highlights the threat children face from harmful marketing of fat- and sugar-laden foods, alcohol and tobacco.

“The big message is that no single country is protecting children’s health today and for their future,” said Anthony Costello, professor of International Child Health and Director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London.

“When you look at the damage being done to children’s lungs by air pollution, we’ve got a very limited time to sort this out,” he told AFP.

“We have the solutions, what we don’t have is the political leadership and will to make it happen.”

The report, published in The Lancet medical journal, ranks the performance of 180 countries when it comes to child survival, education and nutrition rates.

Under these criteria, less-developed nations such as Central African Republic and Chad perform particularly poorly compared to rich countries such as Norway and the Netherlands.

However the rankings are largely reversed when the impacts of air pollution from per capita carbon emissions were assessed.

“The world’s decision makers are failing today’s children and youth: failing to protect their health, failing to protect their rights, and failing to protect their planet,” said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

– 11-fold obesity surge –

Around 250 million under-fives in low- and middle-income countries risk being stunted due to malnutrition and other impacts of poverty, the authors said.

At the same time, the number of obese children worldwide has surged 11-fold since 1975 to stand at 124 million.

Children in some countries see as many as 30,000 adverts on television in a single year. And despite industry self-regulation, one study showed that children in Australia were exposed 51 million times to alcohol adverts in just one year of televised sport.

“Industry regulation has failed,” said Costello.

“And the reality could be much worse still: we have few figures about the huge expansion of social media advertising and algorithms aimed at our children.”

The authors called on governments to radically reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris climate goals and to tighten regulation of harmful marketing.

Current emissions pledges put Earth on course to warm more than 3C by 2100, which “would lead to devastating health consequences for children”, from rising sea levels and heatwaves to disease and malnutrition.

The death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak surged to 2,000 on Wednesday, as Chinese and international health officials warned against excessive measures to contain the epidemic.

More than 74,000 people have now been infected by the virus in China, with hundreds more cases in some 25 countries.

The situation remains serious at the epicentre, with the director of a hospital in the central city of Wuhan becoming the seventh medical worker to succumb to the COVID-19 illness.

But Chinese officials released a study showing most patients have mild cases of the infection, and World Health Organization officials said the mortality rate was relatively low.
The outbreak is threatening to put a dent in the global economy, with China paralysed by vast quarantine measures and major firms such as iPhone maker Apple and mining giant BHP warning it could damage bottom lines.

Several countries have banned travellers from China and major airlines have suspended flights — something that Beijing’s ambassador to the EU warned was fuelling panic and threatening attempts to resume business.

Russia on Tuesday said no Chinese citizens would be allowed to enter its territory from February 20.

The epidemic has triggered panic-buying in Singapore and Hong Kong, concerns about cruise-ship travel and the postponement of trade fairs, sports competitions and cultural events in China and abroad.
Authorities have placed about 56 million people in hard-hit central Hubei and its capital Wuhan under an unprecedented lockdown.

The city was carrying out “very good public health practice” with door-to-door surveillance, said Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergencies programme.

Other cities far from the epicentre have restricted the movement of residents, with a 14-day self-quarantine for people returning to Beijing.

President Xi Jinping, in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said China’s measures were achieving “visible progress”, according to state media.

– ‘Less deadly’ than SARS –

The official death toll in China hit 2,000 after another 132 people died in Hubei, where the virus emerged in December.
Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, became its latest victim, sparking an outpouring of grief online.

Earlier this month, the death of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang — who had been punished by authorities for sounding the alarm about the virus in late December — triggered anger and calls on social media for political reform.

Feb 19,2020:Relieved passengers began leaving a coronavirus-wracked cruise ship in Japan on Wednesday after testing negative for the disease that has now claimed more than 2,000 lives in China.

The Diamond Princess has proved a fertile breeding ground for the virus with at least 542 positive cases, and Japan has faced mounting criticism for its quarantine arrangements as the passengers disperse.

“I’m relieved… I want to take a good rest,” a 77-year-old Japanese passenger, who declined to give his name. He said he would be boarding Japan’s famously crowded railway system to go home.

Yellow-dotted city buses, plus a dozen or so taxis, were lined up to whisk the passengers into the wider world, many of them dragging their luggage behind them.

Some of the passengers waved as they left to those still on board the ship, some of whom could be seen waving back from balconies.

The ship is the biggest cluster outside China, where new figures showed the death toll surging beyond 2,000 with more than 74,000 infected. Hundreds more cases have been reported in two dozen countries.

South Korea reported 15 new confirmed cases — increasing its total by nearly 50 percent — including a cluster of at least 11 centred on the southern city of Daegu.

For the 500 passengers allowed to disembark after testing negative, a difficult 14-day quarantine period has come to an end after their dream cruise turned into a nightmare of fear and crushing boredom confined in many cases to small windowless cabins.

“NEGATIVE! Me, son, husband, mom and dad! Thank you Lord for protecting us… So emotional now,” tweeted passenger Yardley Wong, who has been cooped up with her six-year-old son.

Itanagar, Feb 21,2020: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday categorically said that Article 371, which grants special provisions to North-East states, will not be removed.
Speaking at the 34th Statehood day celebrations at IG Park here, Shah pointed out that after the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir a lot of rumour-mongering happened that Article 371 would also be removed.
“On this statehood day of Arunachal, I want to assure the people that Article 371 would not be removed from the NE. Such rumours are only a ploy to drive a wedge between the NE and rest of the country. We would not let such mischievous things succeed ever”, the Union Minister said.
Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of connecting NE, especially Arunachal Pradesh, with the country, Shah said that Government of India is committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights, culture, heritage and traditions of all the 27 tribes and over 120 sub-tribes of the state.
“India’s culture and heritage are incomplete and handicapped without the culture of different tribes of this region,” the Home Minister said.
Citing Government’s efforts to bring a lasting solution to the lingering problems of the NE, the Home Minister said, ” Before the Modi Government came to power, NE was identified with insurgency, extremism, separatism, blockades, corruption, ethnical tensions, drugs and arms trafficking. The region is now famous in the whole world for its infrastructure development, connectivity, a boost to sports, Act East policy and organic farming.
“Before 2014, NE was integrated only on geographical and administrative terms with the rest of India. It was only after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister that the region developed an emotional connect with the rest of India and there is no difference between the two now,” Shah said.
Shah further said that the Prime Minister is focussed on finding lasting solutions to the problems of the NE, including interstate issues, inter tribe issues, border disputes, extremism and insurgency.
“Northeast would become ‘samasya mukt’ (free of all problems) by 2024. There would be no dispute, only a golden future for a developed NE. Arunachal, which is the ‘Land of the rising sun, ‘ would become the harbinger of growth for the entire region”, he said.
Shah also inaugurated a bouquet of projects and schemes for the state on the occasion, including the launch of Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy 2020; laying of the foundation stone for Police Headquarters at Itanagar; construction of new apartments for MLAs and residential complexes for senior government officers in Chimpu, worth over Rs140 crores.
Expressing confidence that the launch of Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment policy 2020 will boost economic growth in the state, Shah said that with this fast-paced growth Arunachal will play an important role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024.
Among dignitaries gracing the occasion included Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra, Union MoS (I/C) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh; MoS (I/C) for Youth and Sports Affairs, Kiren Rijiju; CM Pema Khandu; and chairman, NEC and Finance Minister, Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
On this day in 1987, Arunachal Pradesh attained Statehood.

Feb20,2020: HANAU, Germany: Eight people were killed on Wednesday in two shooting incidents in a German city near Frankfurt and special forces were chasing the gunmen who fled in a car, police said.

Heavily armed police sealed off two streets in the city of Hanau where ambulances had rushed. A police helicopter hovered over the city, east of the financial hub Frankfurt.

The motive for the shootings is still unclear. Local media said gunmen had opened fire at two shisha bars in Hanau.

The gunmen fled the scene of the first incident in a dark-coloured car. Police have set up a hotline for members of the public with information that could lead to the perpetrators.

Libya’s unity government announced late Tuesday it would halt its participation in UN talks aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country where a fragile truce has been repeatedly violated.

The pull-out came after a barrage of rocket fire hit a port in the capital Tripoli — the target of a months-long operation by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to oust the Government of National Accord (GNA).

“We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor (Haftar) and his violations” of the truce, the GNA said in a press release.

“Without a lasting ceasefire… negotiations make no sense. There can be no peace under the bombing,” it added.

The port strikes were the latest violation of a tenuous truce that came into effect in January, brokered by Haftar-backer Russia and Turkey, which supports the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

“It is clear the objective of the systematic bombardments of the residential areas, the airport and the port, in addition to the total blockage of the oil installations, is to provoke crises for the citizens in all the aspects of their life”, the GNA statement said.

It added that Haftar’s forces were “trying in vain” to destabilise the state, having failed to seize power.

UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame launched the second round of talks on Tuesday in the latest international effort to end fighting between the warring sides, with five senior officers from the GNA and five appointed by Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) taking part.

A first round of the talks ended with no result earlier this month but Salame said there was “more hope” this time, mainly because of the approval of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “lasting ceasefire”.

– EU to launch naval mission –

Libya has been in turmoil since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival armed factions still vying for power.

In the latest outbreak of fighting, Haftar launched his offensive on Tripoli last April but after rapid advances his forces stalled on the edges of the capital.
The fighting has left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced some 140,000 according to the United Nations.

Further talks were planned to start in Geneva on February 26 on finding a political solution.

World leaders had agreed at a Berlin summit last month to end all meddling in the conflict and stop the flow of weapons, but little has changed on the ground since then.

EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to launch a naval mission to enforce an arms embargo, which the UN said was being violated by air, land and sea.

The naval operation will be authorised to intervene to stop weapons shipments into the North African state.

States including Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt support Haftar, while the UN-recognised government led by Fayez al-Sarraj is backed by Turkey and Qatar.

Feb 20, 2020:Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) will be set up by the first week of April this year. The CCPA to be set up under Consumer Protection Act 2019, will address issues related to consumer rights, unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and impose penalties for selling spurious and adulterated products.

Briefing reporters in New Delhi after interaction with industry bodies on the roles and functions of CCPA, Mr Paswan said, an investigative wing will be formed under the aegis of the authority and it will carry out inquiries in matters related to unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements. He also said the rules related to Consumer Protection Act will be finalized within one and half months.

The Minister asserted that protecting the interest of consumers is paramount for the government. During the meeting with industry bodies, Mr. Paswan also stressed on the need to regulate e-commerce and direct selling as there is no regulatory body for these sectors right now.

Feb 20,2020: China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

The death toll rose in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East.

In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organization official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

“After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan — where the virus is believed to have emerged in December — are still “severely affected” by the epidemic, Wang said.

“But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news,” he said.
More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan — the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.
The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.

Lucknow, Feb 20,2020: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday demanded the Centre to form a trust for building a mosque in Ayodhya similar to the trust to oversee the construction of Ram temple.
Speaking at an event here, Pawar said: “You can form a trust for a temple then why can’t you set up a trust for the mosque. The country belongs to everyone”.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had in November ruled unanimously in favour of Ram Lalla.
It said the entire disputed land spread over 2.7-acre will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of Ram temple at the site.
The court had asked the government to give 5-acre land to Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya.
On February 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of ‘Shri Ram Janambhoomi Tirath Kshetra’, which would oversee the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, nearly three months after the Supreme Court ruling in the decades-old case.

Feb 20, 2020: In a significant development, all the members of Financial Action Tasks Force (FATF) except Turkey are learnt to have sent a stern message to Pakistan to complete its commitments on action against terror financing before June this year. Even Pakistan’s all weather friend China and Saudi Arabia have joined hands with India, US and European countries in this move.

Ahead of the FATF plenary session in June, a sub group tasked to review Pakistan’s case has recommended that Islamabad should continue to be in a grey list for its failure to check terror funding. It has stopped short of recommending the country for the black list.

Bhubaneswar(Odisha), Feb 19,2020: As many as 246 elephants were killed in Odisha in the last three years, said Bikram Keshari Arukh, Forest and Environment Minister, while speaking in the State Assembly on Tuesday.
In a written reply to a question by BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling in the State Assembly, Arukh said: “Between 2016-17 and 2018-19, a total of 246 elephants had died due to accidents, electrocution, natural and other causes.”
As per 2017 elephant Census, Odisha has 1976 mammoths, including 330 at Simlipal forest division, Dhenkanal (169), Satakosia (147) and Athagarh (115).
He informed that the State government has taken several steps to protect elephants.
“The State government has taken several steps for elephant protection including setting up of jumbo reserves at Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Mahanadi to conserve their prime habitats and the government has also launched various management interventions,” Arukh said.
“Besides, the State government is taking steps to restore 14 elephant corridors, plant saplings for the consumption of elephants, construction of water bodies and the steps are also being taken to prevent elephants from train accidents and electrocution,” he said.