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23 Jun 2020

Ajay Pandita alias Bharti, sarpanch of of Lukbawan village who was shot dead by terrorists in Anantnag on Monday, had spoken about threats to his life last December and had demanded security. 
The mortal remains of sarpanch Ajay Pandita alias Bharti who was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag on Monday, were cremated at Jammu’s Shakti Nagar crematorium on Tuesday.
Pandita (40) was the sarpanch of Lukbawan village in the Larkipora area. He was a member of the Congress party.
“We won’t leave Kashmir but I have a demand that the government should first create a regiment of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley,” said Vijay Pandita, brother of the deceased, who lit the pyre.
“He was helpful to all. He loved his roots and always extended a helping hand to the needy. After becoming sarpanch he had decided to work for the welfare of Muslim villagers”, he added.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Covid-19 transmission
 The US government’s Centre for Disease Control has made official the emerging scientific evidence on Coronavirus transmission.
It says: Very low risk of transmission from surfaces. 
Very low risk from outdoor activities. Very high risk from gatherings in enclosed spaces like offices, religious places, cinema halls or theatres.
These findings that have been emerging for a while need to be applied by people to manage the situation in the best manner possible. Time to reduce panic about surface transmission and time to not be too eager to go back to office. 
Who is expected to catch corona — analysis
What it takes to infect?
To successfully infect you, the virus needs a dose of: ~1000 viral particles (vp)
The typical environmental spread of activities:
Breath: ~20 vp/minute
Speaking: ~200 vp/minute
Cough: ~200 million vp (enough of these may remain in air for hours in a poorly ventilated environment)
Sneeze: ~200 million vp
Formula
Successful infection = Exposure to Virus * Time
Scenarios
* Being in vicinity of someone (with 6 ft distancing): Low risk if limit to less than 45 minutes
* Talking to someone face to face (with mask): Low risk if limit to less than 4 minutes
* Someone passing you walking/jogging/cycling: Low risk
* Well-ventilated spaces, with distancing: Low risk (limit duration)
* Grocery shopping: Medium risk (can reduce to low by limiting time and following hygiene)
* Indoor spaces: High risk
* Public Bathrooms/Common areas: High fomite/surface transfer risk (formites means objects or materials which are likely carry infection such as clothes, utensils and furniture)
* Restaurants: High risk (can reduce to Medium risk by sitting outdoors with distancing and surface touch awareness)
* Workplaces/Schools (even with social distancing): Very high risk, including high fomite transfer risk
* Parties/Weddings: Very high risk
* Business networking/conferences: Very high risk
* Arenas/Concerts/Cinemas: Very high risk
Risk factors
The bottom line factors you can use to calculate your risk are: 
- indoors vs outdoors
- narrow spaces vs large, ventilated spaces 
- high people density vs low density
- longer exposure vs brief exposure
The risks will be higher for former scenarios.

UAE, Maldives foil Pak plan
To target India at United Nations
 Amid reports of Pulwama attack rerun bid foiled, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Maldives have thwarted an attempt by Pakistan to create an informal group of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) envoys at the United Nations on Islamophobia to target India. 
According to a ‘Dawn’ report, both the UAE and Maldives did not support Pakistan’s move, saying that only foreign ministers could form such a group. 
The two countries also told the OIC, in the virtual meeting of the envoys, that singling out India for Islamophobia would not only be factually incorrect, but also detrimental to religious harmony in South Asia and refused to support any action against India, the newspaper reported. 
The foiling of Pak’s OIC plan by Maldives, UAE came on Thursday, when an IED attack bid, similar to the one that killed 40 CRPF personnel at Pulwama in Srinagar last year, was averted after a team of the Police and Army intercepted a car loaded with explosives, which was later destroyed. 
The foiled suicide mission by the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen militants was uncannily similar to the Pulwama attack of February 14, 2019. (UNI)
Courtesy: Times of India, May 29, 2020.