J&K PDP LEADER’S GUARD KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACK

SRINAGAR: Terrorists opened fire at the residence of a PDP leader in the Natipora area of the city on Monday, killing his personal security officer.

Parvaiz Bhat, the terroristturned-PDP leader, escaped the attack unhurt. Bhat said militants dressed in ‘pheran’ -- traditional Kashmiri cloak worn during winter -- and armed with AK rifles came to his residence.

As soon as the terrorists pulled out their weapons, the PSO opened fire, he said. The constable was injured in the firing by the terrorists.

The injured cop was taken to the nearby Bone and Joint Hospital for treatment, a police official said. He said the policeman succumbed to injuries.

Bhat claimed that it was third attack on his life since he joined mainstream politics. He was earlier a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.

“The government has downgraded my security. I don’t know what would have been the fate of my family if the alert PSO had not opened fire,” Bhat told reporters at his residence.

He claimed that his security detail was reduced last year and he now had only two PSOs compared to five earlier.

NEW DELHI: India has recorded one of the lowest daily cases and daily deaths due to Covid-19 per million population in the past seven days, shows government data.

“India reported one of the lowest cases per million population in the world (158) in the last 7 days; much lower than many other countries of the Western Hemisphere,” said Union health ministry in a statement.

New cases reported per million population in the world in the past seven days were 553. France reported 1,252 cases, Russia had 1,330, Brazil reported 1,387, United Kingdom with 1,753, Italy had 1,934, and USA reported 4,310 Covid-19 cases per million population during the same period.

When compared globally, India recorded one of the lowest new case fatalities per million population in the past seven days (2), according to the government data.

The world reported ten new deaths due to Covid-19 per million population during the past seven days. With 75 deaths, Italy has reported maximum Covid-19 deaths, followed by USA (49 deaths), France and UK with deaths each, 26 deaths in Russia, and 23 deaths reported from Brazil.

Steadily following the trend set over the past few weeks, India’s active caseload currently has fallen to 3.62% of the total cases. India has reported more daily recoveries than the daily new cases on Sunday.

“The trend of more daily recoveries than the daily cases has led to a continuous contraction of India’s active caseload which presently stands at 356,546. While 30,254 persons were found to be Covid positive in the country in the past 24 hours (on Sunday), 33,136 new recoveries were registered during the same period. This has led to a net decline of 3,273 cases from the total active caseload…,” said health ministry statement.

STEADILY FOLLOWING THE TREND SET OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, INDIA’S ACTIVE CASELOAD HAS FALLEN TO 3.62% OF THE TOTAL CASES