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Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap, who was battling Covid-19 for several months, passed away on Friday after his condition worsened over the last few days.
Khabib’s father, 57, doubled as his coach and was also a world-renowned mixed martial arts coach.
However, in the last week of May 2020, he was in a condition of medically induced coma due to complications from pneumonia which led to heart surgery in his homeland of Russia’s Republic of Dagestan.
Khabib cleared the air and said that heart surgery was the result of complications due to COVID-19, as Abdulmanap remained serious thereafter.
On Friday, Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen Republic leader, and friend of the Nurmagomedov family was among the first to reveal that Khabib’s father breathed his last on Friday.
“Sad news has reached me, friends, that Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov has left this world,” Kadyrov said on his Telegram social media page.
He left us leaving behind a good name and having raised a worthy generation.”
Abdulmanap was seen accompanying Khabib for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his win over McGregor, which remains the biggest UFC bout of all time and garnered 2.4 million pay-per-view buys
There has been no confirmation of the news from Khabib’s camp.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 27, 2020
The Delhi government was brought to attention after a swarm of locusts swept through parts of the national capital, mainly Gurugram and Faridabad. Residents of these areas took to social media to share videos of the invading pests.
In April, locusts entered India through Rajasthan after creating havoc in Africa and neighbouring Pakistan. The Locust Warning Organization said India has not seen locust swarms on this scale since 1993. Last month, eight to 10 swarms, measuring around a square kilometer were active in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The insects caused enormous damage to seasonal crops, and devastated farmers already struggling with the impact of COVID-19 nationwide lockdown.
On Friday, the Gurugram district administration had issued a warning about a likely invasion by locusts swarms. The residents were advised to play loud music and beat utensils to repel the insects.
KL Gurjar, deputy director of the Center’s Locust Warning Organization said the locust swarm was flying over Gurgaon and the southern border areas of Delhi. He said the wind direction was not favorable for it to enter the national capital. “It would move towards Faridabad and then enter Uttar Pradesh through Palwal,” Gurjar said.
Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Yadav said they are prepared to deal with the situation. “In terms of crops, there has been no damage in the Gurgaon district so far because these are flying from Rewari and from above; they have not come down in the fields yet.”
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, a swarm of 40 million locusts can eat as much food as 35,000 people. It said heavy rains and cyclones enabled unprecedented breeding and rapid growth of locust populations. And wind patterns have not been of much help as it has been pushing the swarms southwest.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 26, 2020
Chinese goods, following the June 15 violent face-off, are stuck at ports and airports including Chennai and Mumbai and this has drastically impacted the operations of foreign manufacturing companies in India.
100% physical examination of Chinese imports began from Monday midnight. As a consequence, shipments of US tech and telecom companies in India have got stuck. Companies have expressed concerns because delays will have an impact on production with parts of the supply chain dependent on Chinese imports. Experts said this will evenutally lead to scarcity and increased prices.
This prompted the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum to raise the issue with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). A government official said they are looking into the matter. He said there is no intention to cause any hardship to the industry.
Moreover, the industry feels that this is burdensome as they are already facing a downturn amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Forum seeks the restoration of port operations or at a minimum; that the government publish any change in port policy to provide the business community with the visibility they need to function. The group has flagged lack of transparency as no formal order was issued by the government nor any specific reason provided to the firms as to why their consignments are not being cleared.
Sources said the Customs authorities haven’t cited any reasons about the ongoing delays in clearing Chinese shipments. They said it may be due to intelligence alerts as the government has given no formal instruction to Customs to carry out such checks. Chennai Customs zone officials said checks were being carried out on the basis of specific intelligence-based inputs. Importers and industry have no choice but to change their import pattern as there have been calls to reduce the consumption of Chinese goods in the wake of border tensions.
New Delhi: Petrol price in the national capital on Friday crossed Rs 80 per litre mark, for the first time in more than two years, as oil companies continue to raise petrol and diesel prices in line with costs.
Oil companies hiked petrol price by 21 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 80.13 per litre from Rs 79.92 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 80.19 a litre from Rs 80.02.
Rates have been increased across the country but the final retail selling price differs from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
In Mumbai, petrol is priced at Rs 86.91 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.51.
Petrol price has crossed Rs 80-mark for the first time in more than two years, while diesel rate is at an all-time high. Petrol had last crossed Rs 80 mark in September 2018.
While diesel price has been hiked for the 20th straight day, petrol price has been raised on 19 occasions in less than three weeks.
The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7 now totals to Rs 8.87 for petrol and Rs 10.8 in diesel. Diesel had for the first time become costlier than petrol in Delhi on Wednesday.
However, diesel is costlier than petrol only in the national capital where the state government had raised local sales tax or VAT on the fuel sharply last month. It costs less than petrol in other cities.
On June 7, oil companies restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus during which they adjusted steep excise duty hikes by the government against the fall in benchmark international oil rates.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 25, 2020
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has urged the people to cooperate, to help control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic to avoid another full lockdown. “If you don’t want Bengaluru to be sealed once again, please cooperate and maintain social distancing.” He said the cases are increasing and the state administration is making all efforts.
Yediyurappa has called all-party legislators and ministers from Bengaluru for a meeting to discuss and take stringent measures. The state Revenue Minister R Ashoka ruled out the possibility of another full lockdown in Bengaluru. The deputy CM Ashwath Narayan said another lockdown will trip the city’s economic revival. “The lockdown is a suggestion by many opposition leaders. At present that question doesn’t arise. Revival of economy has just started.” Narayan said livelihood is very essential. “If you go back, I think it becomes very difficult and people will face problems.”
Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu confirmed there is no community transmission in the state. He said more tests were being done and arrangements were being made to test the senior citizens. “Situation is under control.” Sriramulu pointed out that COVID-19 cases will increase as more people are coming to Bengaluru.
COVID-19 cases in Karnataka have crossed the 10,000 mark. As such, the CM directed officials, on Monday, to implement strict lockdown measures in specific clusters which have recorded a high number of infections. The civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has sealed the busy K R Market and Kalasipalya Market for 15 days.
Yediyurappa said there was still hope for Bengaluru as the city, unlike other major cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai, had not yet lost control. He said the state administration will be holding a series of meetings to discuss and undertake more strict measures, all in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 25, 2020
The prevailing health crisis brought about by COVID-19 pandemic has brought about the need for innovative methods of learning and online education portals. Online learning is only possible if every child and household has access to high-speed internet. And in India, not every child and household have access.
Syed Saifullah, a founding partner of Gateway Public School in Vaniyambadi, Tamil Nadu, told The Ancient Times that online learning cannot match classroom education. He said there can never be a balance or even a closer match between the real physically present classrooms and online learning.
Qazi Zahoor Ahmed, the vice-chairman of Holy Faith Presentation School in Srinagar, Kashmir, is also of the same opinion. Zahoor said while online learning is a good platform for students and teachers in this pandemic time. “But it can never be an alternative to regular classroom teaching. A digital device can never replace or match a teacher,” he said.
A professional software engineer and businessman, Saifullah believes no matter how much advanced the education systems become, there is still an upper hand for all the real feelings and emotions shared and skill learned in the classroom community. Zahoor says a teacher understands his students well enough to impart education to them according to their individual interests and ability. “Students engage in various co-curricular and sporting activities during school hours which cannot be achieved in online classes, wherein students sometimes don’t show any seriousness regarded their lessons.” He said only a meagre number of students attend online classes through platforms such as Zoom and WhatsApp etc.. Saifullah is grateful to technology for bridging communication gap between school and parents and teachers. “Thanks to technology and tech geeks for introducing various tools and channels for helping us remain in touch and connected with our students.” The founder partner of Gateway Public School said the pandemic has made people and communities realize the value and importance of schools. “Schools are the only reliable institution for every child irrespective of their age and being.”
Zahoor feels the pandemic has impacted every aspect of live and the worst affected have been the small children who need special attention and care during teaching and learning. “In the initial days of the nationwide lockdown, school students were badly hit as there was no concrete system for online classes. Students were not able to get study material or regular counselling from the teachers. This led to a lot of problems for the students who were devoid of regular classroom interaction.” Zahoor said with the absence of immediate medicine or vaccine for COVID-19 learning and education of children is suffering.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 25, 2020
Following the month-long standoff with China in Ladakh and the June 15 violent face-off in Galwan Valley, Chinese observers have pointed out that India is taking a more aggressive and reckless approach to border disputes with neighbours. They said Beijing is wary of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist and adventurist foreign policy.
India is also having a border dispute with Nepal, which has gone to next level after Nepal released a new map which claims some parts of Indian land as its own. Nepal claims India has encroached on about 60,000 hectares of land in 23 of the 75 bordering districts, with 71 total areas of dispute. Another disputed area is Kalapani. After the Indo-Sino war of 1962, the Indian Army set up a camp inside this Nepalo-claimed territory (Kalapani) to monitor Chinese activities. However, the Indian troops never left and now claim this area as theirs. Nepal has the maps of 1850 and 1856 to mark its territory but this has also been rejected by India. The India-Nepal Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee has been set up to resolve the dispute with a reasonable solution.
Nepal has also protested over India’s building a new road at the Lipulekh Pass (this connects India’s state of Uttarakhand with China’s Tibet region) which didn’t go down well with New Delhi. India said this protest was at someone else’s behest (China). In response, Nepal accused India of changing the status quo unilaterally in the Nepal-China-India tri-junction.
Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s defence ministry, has again put the blame on India for the deadly clash on June 15. And foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged New Delhi to meet China halfway in restoring peace and stability along their disputed frontier. China is also a claimant in the long-standing, violent border dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Anaylsts have attributed the latest face-off to the abrogation of Kashmir’s special status, which ‘forced’ China into the Kashmir dispute. This is because China occupies one-fifth of the original Jammu and Kashmir (Aksai Chin) in the Xinjiang region.
Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 24, 2020
With the number of COVID-19 cases nearly the 5 lakh mark across India, state governments are pulling in Rural/Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) to help deal with the rising infection.
RMPs are individuals who have years of experience working with health professionals but have ‘no medical qualification’. They are known to set up healthcare practices in villages and rural areas in India. This is attributed to lack of medical services in rural areas as qualified doctors prefer towns and city hospitals.
In Andhra Pradesh, medical and health professionals are opposing the state government’s engagement with RMPs and described it as quackery. Srikakulam District Collector J Nivas had a meeting with RMPs on Monday and asked them to assist district health officials to keep track of the patients with COVID-19 symptoms.
Dr N Deepchand, AP Junior Doctors’ Association President, expressed concerns about the engagement. He said RMPs are only qualified to administer injections, perform first aid or supervise intake of medicines. “But on ground, they are often found treating all kinds of diseases and indiscriminately prescribing pills to patients who visit them,” he said. Dr Sanjeev Singh, Telangana state secretary, Indian Medical Association, also expressed similar views. He said RMPs often tend to be quacks. Singh said they have no official recognition from any medical authority or organization.
Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association State Convenor Dr Jayadheer said the government’s move has only burdened onto the doctors. He revealed that government doctors at the Primary Health Center level are in turn being asked to monitor RMPs in their vicinity. Jayadheer said they have to log information on the RMPs and their own patients on the health department’s app. He added that this has been going on for more than a month now.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has revealed loopholes and inadequacies of the public health systems across the country, particularly in terms of human resources. But state governments have to understand that they cannot put the common man’s live at risk.
Report By: Nandika Chand
The Center has ordered Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd, a company owned by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, to stop advertising products claiming to cure COVID-19. Ramdev launched two products, Coronil and Swasari yesterday.
He told the media that Coronil and Swasari were developed based on research and trials on 280 patients across the country. The yoga guru even claimed that the two medicines can cure COVID-19 patients within 14 days.
“We have prepared the first Ayurvedic-clinically controlled, research, evidence and trial-based medicine for COVID-19,” Ramdev said. “We conducted a clinical case study and clinically controlled trial, and found 69% patients recovered in 3 days and 100% patients recovered in 7 days.”
AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik said its a good thing that Baba Ramdev has given a new medicine to the country but as per rule, it has to come to AYUSH ministry first.
The ministry has also asked Patanjali to provide details of the medicines such as its composition, sample size, sites and hospitals where the research study was conducted and also for the Institutional Ethics Committee clearance.
Ramdev’s associate Acharya Balakrishna took to Twitter to say that the communication gap has been filled. He said 100% parameters laid down for controlled trial of the Ayurvedic product have been followed. Balakrishna said the company has followed all the standard parameters of Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trials.
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Tamonash Ghosh, who had tested positive for COVID-19 in May, died at a hospital here on Wednesday, party sources said.
He was 60.
The three-time MLA from the Falta assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district was admitted to a hospital after he tested positive for the disease, they said.
He had several complications related to the heart and the kidney, the sources said.
“Very, very sad. Tamonash Ghosh, 3-time MLA from Falta & party treasurer since 1998 had to leave us today. Been with us for over 35 years, he was dedicated to the cause of the people & party. He contributed much through his social work,” West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee tweeted.
“He has left a void that will be difficult to fill. On behalf of all of us, heartfelt condolences to his wife Jharna, his two daughters, friends and well-wishers,” she added.
