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Africa tests 200,000 positive cases after Burundi’s President death is suspected due to COVID-19

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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The outgoing president of Burundi has died of a sudden illness, suspected by many to be Covid-19. The cause of Pierre Nkurunziza’s death was described as a heart attack in a government statement. The 55-year-old was due to stand down in August following elections last month. It was unclear exactly when he died.

Burundi did not follow suit with other African nations in imposing a lockdown and even expelled a WHO expert team who had been working there for coronavirus research. The nation of 11 million people has reported 83 cases of Covid-19 and officials have cited divine protection for Burundi’s ostensibly low infection rate and urged citizens to go about their daily lives without fear.

The cause of Nkurunziza’s death is tied to COVID-19 infections, although the official press release said that he died of a cardiac arrest.

Following this, the UN Health Agency released statistics saying that there have been over 200,000 positive across its 54 countries. According to the WHO’s embassy in Africa, the continent has tested 201,457 positive cases.

NASA astronaut becomes the first person to have visited both Space and Ocean’s end

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Kathy Sullivan, a former NASA astronaut has become the first person in the world to have visited Challenger Deep, the deepest point on earth as well as the space. This is a feat that has been achieved by no one so far.

On Sunday, she ventured into the Challenger Deep, which is at a depth of 35,853 feet in the Western Pacific Ocean, as part of the Ring of Fire expedition by the bespoke adventure company EYOS. They had called three ‘mission specialists’ months prior to the expedition to venture into the Mariana Trench, where the Challenger Deep lies. Leading up to the dives, the three explorers underwent full briefs on the mission, schedule and research initiatives.

Sullivan is the first of three explorers to finish the roughly 10-hour mission, with two more to follow this week. While talking about it, she said, “I know (Challenger Deep) as a bathymetric feature on a chart, a tectonic feature, and a seismic feature … but that’s all data-based understanding. To see it in person — it makes all the difference in the world.”

Much like outer space and distant galaxies, the ocean is still relatively unknown to humans — like the last frontier.

A Peruvian driver restores faith in humanity by delivering ashes of coronavirus victims

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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A 65 year old Peruvian driver named Hector Orellanqui has become the Messiah for the families of coronavirus victims who had died. Armed with a white overcoat and mask, he carries out the painful duty of delivering the ashes of those dead from COVID-19. Since their families can no longer carry out their traditional funeral services, this gesture has been hugely welcomed.

“I feel a pain inside, but I can’t break down while I’m giving the urns to the families. I have to give them support,” Orellanqui, the grey-haired man with two children.

Between April and May, Hector has delivered close to 200 urns containing the cremated ashes of the victims. He works at the Piedrangel crematorium, which has cremated over 3,500 people who have died from COVID-19. Before March 19 when the first fatality from COVID-19 was registered in Peru, the Piedrangel crematorium had 35 workers. Now there are 120 who work in three shifts, 24 hours a day, to meet the demand that continues to rise.

Peru stands eighth in the world with a death toll of 5,700 and a record number of 200,000 cases.

 

Parle’s market share goes up due to Parle G sales amidst lockdown

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Parle Products has had record sales of its Parle G biscuits since the start of lockdown in the months of April and May. A senior company official had reported saying that it was the most preferred biscuit for mass consumption amongst their various products.

Its market share has risen by 5 % after it became a major component for those who had been stocking up supplies during the lockdown.

The reason for those biscuits having gained a stronger foothold in this period is also due to its presence in the relief packages prepared by the government as well as the NGOs for those affected by the pandemic. It is being preferred because of its high-value proposition and economic viability since it costs only ₹2.

While talking about this, Parle Products’ Senior Category head Mayank Shah said, ““The growth was phenomenal and as a result Parle was able to increase its market share by 4.5 to 5% during the lockdown. This is one of the highest in the recent (time). At least in last 30 to 40 years, we have not seen this kind of growth”. He added that in his 20 years of working with the biscuits major he hasn’t witnessed a performance like this.

Shah also said that Parle-G is a comfort food for most Indians and not a biscuit, adding, “during time of uncertainty, it has been consumed a lot.”

The company had also announced to donate three crore packs of Parle-G biscuits when the coronavirus pandemic intensified in India.

TN govt orders total ban of plastic bags used for storing junk food

By
The Commune
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Single use plastics used for packaging junk foods like chips, biscuits, etc., have been banned by Tamil Nadu Government. As per the latest order, food processing companies that use plastic for packaging eatables/snacks cannot sell their products using single use plastics. However, the process of implementing the notification is yet to be worked out.

This follows the banning of 14 types of plastics from January 1, 2019 that included plastic cups, plates, water packets, plastics bags, flags, etc.

Manufacturers of plastics appealed the decision of the government in the High Court which upheld the government’s ban on the items and also called for banning other plastic items that were excluded.

The exception of plastic use given till now by the government for packaging sector has been a hindrance for the government’s goal of achieving the goal of “Plastic-free Tamil Nadu “.

The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum peddles fake news about SC youth’s death, UP police asks cyber cell to take action

By
The Commune
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Arfa Khanum, a journalist with the online news portal The Wire was caught sharing unverified news that alleged that a Dalit youth was killed for praying in a temple. In her tweet she said “Dalit boy killed for praying in a temple. There’s no community in the world that’s more persecuted and oppressed than the Dalit community in India. When will this tyranny end? #DalitLivesMatter”

However, the official account of Amroha poice responded saying that the reason for the unfortunate incident was an internal fight over a sum of ₹ 5,000 and ruled out any caste based violence.

Vipin Tada, Superintendent of Police of Amroha police station, also clarified that the dispute was over ₹5,000 and that of a Dalit praying in a temple.

Even leading news portals like Hindustan Times, Indian Today and Telegraph had already shared the fake news before the clarification came.

The police officer said that the victim had a deal a group for managing mango fields and honeybee breeding. Dispute arose over the distribution of money leading to the groups fighting. The youth who ran away was then killed. Three men have been arrested and further investigations are on.

For the first time in history, no leader will be attending UN General Assembly meeting in September

By
The Commune
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The UN Assembly held in the month of September every year will not include the world leaders this time, President of UN General Assembly announced.

This is the first time in the last 75 years of its history that the UN Assembly annual gathering will not have the presence of world leaders in it. This year General Assembly was to see a large number of leaders at UN headquarters to celebrate the founding of the United Nations in 1945.

However, Tijani Muhammad-Bande said in his communication in the news conference that the announcement will soon be done about the 193 state heads giving their speeches on the world issues in the General Debate of the assembly.

He also clarified ahead that the world leaders will not able to join the assembly in New York as they don’t travel individually but in groups of delegations. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had recommended last month that the General Assembly that takes place from the last 74 years and was supposed to celebrate its 75th Anniversary this year, needs to be scaled back due to the coronavirus crisis.

Adding on, Muhammad-Bande said that the 75th year of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations will not be celebrated as a single day event but will be celebrated yearlong starting from June 26.

Health Minister presents India’s fight against COVID19

By
The Commune
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Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan chairing the 16th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) in Delhi said that India has contained COVID-19 much better till now but also cautioned against any lethargy, even if it is doing better than the world.

He highlighted that India has 958 dedicated COVID hospitals with 1.67 isolation beds, more than 21000 ICU beds and, more than 73000 oxygen supported beds. There are 2313 dedicated COVID Health Centres and 7525 COVID Care Centres. COVID beds with ventilators are 21494 with another 60484 ventilators in the pipeline.

553 government and 231 private laboratories have been approved for testing by ICMR. So far, more than 49 lakh total tests have been conducted across the country. The recovery rate of infected peoples stands at 48.47%. As of 10th June, 135,205 people have been cured and discharged. The active cases remain at 133,632.

A comparative status of India at this stage of easing lockdown with other countries in the world was also presented to the members of GoM. The status of the work given to 11 empowered groups was also presented to GoM.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan repeated that it is not time to relax citing that the situation is under control. He also appealed to install the Aarogya Setu app in the protection against COVID-19.

Fire breaks out in Assam oil well blowout

By
The Commune
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A massive fire broke out at Baghjan oil well in Assam, in the Tinsukia district. The well has been leaking since the last 2 weeks and experts from Singapore were called on to check the exact reason for the blowout as it became uncontrollable.

The oil well had a blowout from May 27 as it was unable to handle the pressure on its control systems. The leakage was so severe that it sprayed a fountain of crude oil all along in the air. After a continuous leakage, a sudden and unexpected fire broke out on the afternoon of June 9. The specific cause of the fire is still not known.

No casualties have been reported and around 1610 families living near the burst out were rescued safely. Currently, NDRF is actively working to bring the situation under control. Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal spoke to the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and is personally monitoring the situation.

The fire blast was reported to be so massive that it was seen from a distance of 2 kilometers. Local people took images and videos of the incidence and shared it on social media.

Swayamsevaks conduct funeral of COVID patients

By
The Commune
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COVID-19 has surely become a very dreadful consequence for humans all over the world. It is turning out to be one of the worst ways to die as only a limited number of people are allowed to pay last respects due to social distancing norms and sometimes the dead have to deal with apathy even after their death with instances of denial of proper burial/cremation getting reported.

Amidst this, a group of RSS workers in Nashik have been performing the last rites of those who died of COVID19. The city has seen 8 COVID deaths so far. The RSS workers performed the last rites for 5 of them out of which 1 was a Muslim.

RSS Sah Shahar Karyavah Mangesh Khadilkar, Mandar Olatikar, Dhanraj Deshpande, Advaiy Deshpande, Swapnil Joshi and Jayesh Kshemkalyani have been offering their yeoman service with the help of the district administration.

Quoting Mr. Khadilkar, the Organiser reported “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we were involved in various service works. We notice that people were hesitant in taking the bodies fearing that they would also catch Corona. In some cases, there were procedural hurdles also. This was a very sorry scene and we decided to take the onus on ourselves. According, a letter was given to District Civil Surgeon Dr. Nilesh Jejurkar who readily accepted the proposal. Since last eight to 10 days, the administration conveys us whenever such a case arises. We do not have any time frame for this service. As long as people are afraid of Corona and do not come forward to perform the last rites, we will keep doing our duty.”

Post the procedures, the Swayamsevaks have to quarantine themselves for 24 hours and are allowed to mix with their families only after medical examination.

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TheCommune
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