Mufti takes oath as CM of PDP-BJP coalition govt in Jammu and Kashmir

March 1, 2015

Jammu, Mar 1: People's Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed took oath as the chief minister of a PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jammu's General Zorawar Singh Auditorium.

Sayeed takes oathThe two-month-long negotiations over formation of a coalition government culminated with the swearing-in ceremony as the 79-year-old Sayeed took oath along with 12 members each from the PDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While Mufti would be chief minister for the entire six-year tenure, BJP's Nirmal Singh will be the deputy chief minister. The two parties are also going to share the post of the assembly speaker and legislative council chairperson.

A multi-tier security has been put in place for the swearing-in ceremony at General Zorawar Singh Auditorium of Jammu University. The venue has been made out of bounds for the public and sanitation operation with metal detectors and sniffer dogs have been launched.

A team of the Special Protection Group had reached Jammu well in advance for the function. Over 200 to 300 municipal workers have been deputed to clean various areas of the city, particularly areas in and around Jammu University.

The coalition agenda - the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) - will be unveiled after the swearing-in ceremony at a joint press conference.

Talks between the two parties had centered on areas where they ideologically disagreed: Article 370, which accords J-K a special status, and the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that gives overriding powers to security forces.

Sayeed was keen on an alliance with the BJP after last year's assembly elections threw up a hung verdict. He made his intentions known by rejecting outright the unconditional offers of support from the Congress and the National Conference (NC).

Sayeed's close aides say he had a bitter past experience with the Congress and an alliance with the NC was out of question.

The former J-K chief minister who has the distinction of being the first and till now the only Muslim home minister of the country wanted an alliance with the BJP given that the saffron party had swept the Jammu region, winning 25 seats while majority of his party's 28 seats came from the Kashmir Valley.

Perhaps he wanted to respect that mandate. That is the reason why Sayeed has been repeatedly stating that the alliance with the BJP was to win hearts and minds of the people of the state.

"The PM has a vision and I have a dream of making J-K an island of peace," Sayeed said after a meeting with PM Modi on Friday in New Delhi.

The PDP-BJP coalition came after a fractured verdict in the assembly polls held last year. While PDP was the largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member House, the BJP had won 25. The NC bagged 15 and Congress 12. The Sajjad Lone-led People's Conference won 2 seats.

The firming of a power sharing alliance between two diametrically opposite ideologies - Sayeed called the alliance as coming together of North Pole and South Pole - was a tough task for leaders of both the parties.

It would be equally challenging for them to keep it going for a full six-year term.

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News Network
April 26,2020

New Delhi, Apr 26: The total count of coronavirus cases in the country surged to 26,917 on Sunday.

The total COVID-19 cases in the country are inclusive of 5,913 cured and discharged patients, one migrated, and 826 deaths. At present, there are 20,177 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) wrote to the Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, seeking assistance regarding accommodation facilities for resident doctors advised for home quarantine.

In a letter to the Health Minister, the association stated that recently there have been reports of resident doctors from various hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19. As a consequence, their primary contacts who are mostly their colleagues and resident doctors, have been advised to be on home quarantine, the association added.

On the other hand, Maharashtra continues to have the largest number of COVID-19 positive cases at 7,628 . 1,076 persons have been cured in the state while 323 persons have died.

Fresh cases have been reported several states including West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The total number of cases in Indore has risen to 1,176, including 57 deaths.

While 133 deaths have been reported from Gujarat where the total number of cases spiked up to 3,071.

Kerala has seen a recovery rate of around 74 per cent as 338 out of the total 457 COVID-19 positive patients recovered in the state with only 4 fatalities.

Delhi has seen 2,625 COVID-19 positive cases and 54 deaths due to the pandemic.

Here's a quick read on the COVID-19 related updates:

1. A five-member Central team visited Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) office here on Sunday, to review the law and order situation in the state and oversee how the state police are ensuring the implementation of the lockdown.

2. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh and AIIMS Delhi and Bhopal will study the effectiveness of Mycobacterium w in critical COVID-19 patients.

3. Chandigarh-based Post- Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) said that it has assessed the safety of mycobacterial w (Mw), an immunomodulator for leprosy, in four hospitalised patients of COVID-19, and has found no short-term adverse effect.

4. As many as 2,189 cases were lodged and 10,062 people have been arrested so far, for the breach of lockdown norms in Uttarakhand.

5. The Delhi High Court has directed that COVID-19 related tests should be made available to the general public at the lowest cost possible as the country is going through an unprecedented medical crisis affecting public order.

6. Bihar government has ordered two automatic RNA extraction machines, said the Principal Secretary of Health, Sanjay Kumar today.

7. Medical services at Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital in the Jahangirpuri area have been closed and the hospital is being sanitised after 44 staff members including doctors were tested positive for COVID-19, Delhi Health Department said.

8. In order to support the frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19, Samsung and Google will be offering free phone repairs to health care workers and first responders.

9. Bhopal Division of Indian Railways has converted 74 railways coaches into isolation wards, said Sunil Dhingra, Senior Section Engineer of Bhopal Division.

10. Indian High Commission here on Sunday said two Air India and one Blue Dart flights will send about 78 tonnes of cargo to India as part of the 1 million PPE kits being sourced from Singapore-based company.

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Agencies
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: After an hour-long standoff between the security forces and the students on Monday, the police resorted to a lathi-charge on the protesters near Holy Family hospital which is within walking distance of Jamia Millia Islamia.

A scuffle ensued when police confronted the protesters who tried to push forward towards Parliament. The lathi-charge was made to push back the protesters.

In the melee that ensued, many from both sides fainted.

Some security forces personnel resorted to the lathi-charge while others pushed back the protesters when they threw water pouches at the security forces and abused them.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Kolkata, Mar 9: A diabetic man died in the isolation ward of a hospital in West Bengal's Murshidabad on Sunday, a day after he was admitted there with suspected symptoms of coronavirus following his return from Saudi Arabia.

According to doctors, he was admitted to the hospital with fever, cough and cold.

Though test results of his blood and swab samples for novel coronavirus were awaited, it can be said that he died probably of diabetes, Director of Health Services Ajay Chakraborty told PTI.

"The man was highly diabetic and was on insulin. He returned home from Saudi Arabia and had no money to take insulin for the last three to four days.

"He was also suffering from fever, cough and cold. He was admitted to the isolation ward of the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital yesterday and died today," the health services director said.

"We are waiting for the results of medical tests. The possibility of his death due to novel coronavirus infection is remote," he said.

However, precautions will be taken during the last rites of the victim according to the directives set by the central and state governments for patients who die of the virus, another senior official said.

"Family members will not be allowed to touch the body since the man had been suffering from cough and breathlessness. Those performing his last rites will be given protective gear, masks and gloves. Though test results are yet to be known, we do not want to take any chance," he said.

Meanwhile, the state health department has issued a directive to all private medical facilities to create a system for assessing all patients at admission allowing early recognition of possible COVID-19 infection and immediate isolation of patients with suspected novel coronavirus infection in an area separate from other patients.

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