Sheikh Salim who saved Amarnath pilgrims gets 2nd highest award

Agencies
January 24, 2018

New Delhi, Jan 24: Gujarati bus driver Sheikh Salim Gafur, who defied terrorists' bullets and saved 52 Amarnath pilgrims, has been awarded the 'Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak', the second highest honour given to civilians for gallantry.

This was announced by the Home Ministry ahead of the Republic Day today.

Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak is the highest honour given to civilians for gallantry.

Gafur has been selected for the honour as he displayed some rare grit and bravery and continued to drive the bus of the Amarnath pilgrims, which came under attack by the militants on July 10, 2017, in Jammu and Kashmir, a home ministry official said.

Seven Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 14 others injured when terrorists opened fire on the bus Gafur was driving near Batengoo in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir while around 52 other bus passengers escaped unharmed due to the presence of mind and bravery of the driver.

Besides, the award, Gafur will also be honoured with Rs one lakh cash at a special function later.

A total of 107 police gallantry medals have been given this year to police personnel with the maximum for Jammu and Kashmir Police (38 medals), followed by CRPF (35 awards), Chhattisgarh (10), Maharashtra (7), Telangana (6) among others. These also include 5 IPS officers.

The data shows that the maximum gallantry awards were given to the security personnel involved in counter-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police medals for gallantry have been given to 35 personnel serving in Naxal affected areas and three in the Northeastern region.

As many as seven police officers were awarded police medal for gallantry posthumously. Among them six were from Chattishgarh Police who laid down their lives in anti-Naxal operations at Chintagufa in Sukma district.

CRPF ASI Nand Kishore Prasad has been decorated with police gallantry medal for showing exemplary courage in counter-operation against terrorist who attacked bus carrying BSF personnel on June 3, 2016.

A total of 785 police medals were announced for 2018 of which 616 were for Police Medals for Distinguished Service.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Ayodhya, Jul 18: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya either on August 3 or 5, both auspicious dates, said a spokesperson.

PM Modi had announced the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust on February 5.

Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, the spokesperson of Ram Mandir Trust president Nritya Gopal Das said, "We have suggested two auspicious dates -- August 3 and 5 -- for the prime minister's visit based on calculations of movements of stars and planets."

After a protracted legal tussle, the Supreme Court had on November 9 last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple by a Trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Kochi, May 10: A total of 698 people who were evacuated from Maldives on INS Jalashwa, arrived here on Sunday around 9.30am (India time), said the Cochin Port officials. This operation is part of Indian Navy's 'Operation Samudra Setu'.

Another 121 from Lakshadweep also arrived at Mattanchery, near here. on MV Arabian Sea - a passenger/cargo ship sailing under the Indian Flag.

Samudrika Cruise Terminal has been opened up for handling the expatriates and Port has taken up necessary refurbishments consistent with the medical protocols.

The Cochin Port Trust officials said the first group of 698 persons evacuated from Maldives comprises 595 males and 103 females. Of this, 14 are children below 10 years and 19 pregnant women.

Among the 698 passengers, 440 are from Kerala, 156 from Tamil Nadu and the rest are from various states in the country.

Ernakulam district collector S. Suhas said all those from Tamil Nadu will be sent to their state in the bus.

The ship is berthed at BTP Jetty and the disembarkation procedures are being carried out at Samudrika Cruise Terminal. It will take around three hours for all the passengers to be cleared.

According to the protocols, all the Keralaites will be sent for 14 days institutional quarantine at their respective home districts.

Those who are having exemption from institutional quarantine have to be at home isolation.

Among the 121 who arrived on MV Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep include students and those Keralaites who work in the island.

The protocol for these 121 passengers is that since they have been checked there, all these people can go to their homes and be in isolation for 14 days.

The general guideline is if any one shows any symptoms of Covid-19, all such people will be directly sent to Covid hospitals, here.

The distance between Male and Kochi is 493 nautical miles and it began its voyage to Kochi on Friday evening.

INS Jalashwa is an Indian naval ship attached to the Eastern Naval Command. It was acquired from the United States and was commissioned in 2007.

INS Jalashwa has the capacity to accommodate 1000 troops, and comes equipped with extensive medical facilities, including four operation theatres, and a 12-bed ward facility.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

New York, Aug 3: The number of coronavirus cases confirmed all over the world has surpassed 18 million, while the global COVID-19 death toll stands at over 687,000 according to data from the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

As of 06:00 Moscow time on Monday (03:00 GMT), there are 18,017,556 confirmed coronavirus cases in the world. The global death toll from COVID-19 stands at 687,930. The number of recovered individuals stands at 10,649,108.

The United States remains the country with the largest number of cases (4,665,932) and the highest COVID-19 death toll (154,841), according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University.

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