Abrogation of Article 370

Abrogation of Article 370 damaged India-China relationship

When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it.

And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

Indian analysts have been comparing the military build-up on the India-China border in eastern Ladakh to the Doklam standoff in 2017.

This was only to be expected since the leitmotif was once again road construction in disputed border regions.

In Doklam, India feared that the Chinese road would give it military access to heights from where it could threaten the Siliguri Corridor, India's tenuous link with its north-eastern regions.

In Ladakh, Indian analysts estimate Chinese military has positioned itself to challenge road construction by India that could threaten Aksai Chin and NH 219, the tenuous Xinjiang-Tibet highway.

More info: https://www.rediff.com/news/column/abrogation-of-article-370-damaged-india-china-ties/20200704.htm

COVID-19: Tests for 'miracle cure' herb Artemisia annua begin

Scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam are among a group of researchers from Germany and Denmark collaborating with the US company ArtemiLife to explore whether the Artemisia plant can be used against the novel coronavirus.

"It is one of the first studies in which scientists are investigating the function of these plant substances in connection with COVID-19," the head of the study, Peter Seeberger, told DW.

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The cell study will use test extracts from the Artemisia annua plant, also known as sweet wormwood, as well as derivatives isolated from the plant such as artemisinin.

An Artemisia compound has long been used as treatment for malaria.

It's not the first malaria treatment to gain attention in the search for a treatment against COVID-19 – the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has also been hyped in recent months,

despite little data supporting its effectiveness against coronavirus infection. 

Algerian researchers had tested the effectiveness of malaria drugs against SARS-CoV-2 in April. Their study proved that artemisinin was more effective than hydroxychloroquine. Some scientists had considered the drug as a possible ingredient against COVID-19, but later discovered that it increases the mortality rate.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam are now focusing on the question of whether extracts from Artemisia can actually be used to combat the novel coronavirus.

Clarity around Artemisa needed

Artemisia has also been trialed "quite successfully" against diseases other than malaria, says Seeberger. Studies found the Artemisia extract was effective in inhibiting the first SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that surfaced in Asia in 2002, causing a respiratory illness.

Read more: COVID-19: Africa's health workers at risk

The scientists expect results by the end of May at the latest. If Artemisia is found to be effective in these trials, further tests including clinical studies on humans, would still need to take place.

"But even if the hopes for a drug based on the active ingredient against COVID-19 end in a disappointment, it would be a gain," says Seeberger, "above all, it would bring clarity."

'Miracle cure' without evidence

At the end of April, Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina touted a potion containing an Artemisia extract and other herbs as a "miracle cure" for the coronavirus.

Since then, media in Africa have plugged the drink's potential, and several African countries have placed orders for the herbal tonic, sold under the name COVID Organics.

https://www.dw.com/en/covid-19-tests-for-miracle-cure-herb-artemisia-begin/a-53442366

CSIR-IHBT Efforts to enhance cultivation of Heeng and Saffron

New Delhi: Saffron and Heeng (asafoetida) are the most valuable spices of the world and widely used in Indian cuisine since time immemorial. In India, the annual demand for Saffron spice is 100 tons per year but its average production is about 6-7 tons per year. Hence a large amount of Saffron is being imported. Similarly, there is no production of heeng in India and currently about 1200 tons of raw heeng worth Rs 600 crore is being imported from Afghanistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan.

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Ferula c. Heeng Seeds from Kashmir

To increase the production of these two spices in India, the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) and the Department of Agriculture, Government of Himachal Pradesh, have forged strategic and implementation partnership based on their mutual strengths. This partnership is expected to provide immense benefits to Himachal Pradesh by way of increased farm income, livelihood promotion, and rural development. To facilitate this development, a number of steps will be undertaken such as transfer of innovations by means of capacity building, skill development, and other extension activities of prospective farmers and officers of the Department of Agriculture.

“Introduction of these crops will reduce the import. CSIR-IHBT will provide technical know-how to the farmers, impart training to state agriculture department officers and farmers, and set up corm and seed production centres of Saffron and heeng, respectively, in the state,” said Dr Sanjay Kumar, Director, IHBT.

At present, about 2825 hectares of land is under cultivation of Saffron in Jammu and Kashmir. IHBT has developed the production technology for Saffron and introduced its cultivation in non-traditional areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Institute has also developed tissue-culture protocol for the production of disease-free corms.

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The Palampur-located Institute has introduced six accessions of heeng from Iran through the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi, and standardized its production protocols under Indian conditions. Heeng is a perennial plant and it produces oleo-gum resin from the roots after five years of plantation. It can be grown in unutilized sloppy land of cold desert region.

“Besides providing technical support for the achievement of physical targets of the project, we will also undertake technical supervision of Saffron production areas. Exposure visits of farmers will also be done. A total of 750 acres of land will be covered under these crops in the state in the next five years, said Dr. Kumar.

Dr. R. K. Koundal, Director of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Himachal Pradesh, said that this project will enhance the livelihood of the farmers and will benefit the state and country. “This programme will improve the farmer well-being of the farmers by providing better income prospects and the state will be benefited by cultivation of these high-value crops” he said.

A state-of-the-art tissue-culture lab will be established for large-scale production of quality planting material of these crops. (Sources:  https://indiaeducationdiary.in

Riyaz Naikoo Buried In Sonamarg Ganderal Alongwith 3 Militants

Pic: Sheikh Abdul Aziz(Baba-e-Askariyat)-1991

Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar ( IPS) confirmed to GNS the killing of Naikoo and his associate in the gunfight.

Srinagar: Operational Chief Commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Riyaz Naikoo and his associate were killed in a gunfight a joint team of police, army and CRPF at Beighpora area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said on Wednesday.

Official said said that a joint team of Police, army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF had launched a search operation in Beighpora area, Naikoo’s hometown, late last night. As they zeroed in on particular house, they said, the militants opened fire which was retaliated, triggering off an encounter in which two militants including Naikoo and his aide Adil were killed.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar ( IPS) confirmed to GNS the killing of Naikoo and his associate in the gunfight.  The other slain militant was identified by a police officer as Adil Ahmad Bhat of Panjaran Villag.

“The operation was launched last evening and contact was established with hiding (militants) in the morning today,” a police spokesman said in a statement issued here.

The 35-year-old Naikoo had joined militant ranks in 2012. Naikoo, a former mathematics teacher at a private school, was one of the close aides of the popular Hizb commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani who was killed in Bumdoora village in Kokernag area of South Kashmir on 8 July 2016.

Naikoo who as per security establishment was working under code name Mohammad Bin Qasim become the operational chief commander of the Hizb after successor of Burhan Wani, Mohammad Yasin Itoo alias Mehmood Ghaznavi, was killed along with two of his associates in an 18-hour-long gunfight with joint team of police, army and CRPF at Awnira, Zainapora village in south Kashmir’s Shopian district in August 2017. Naikoo, who figured in the list of 12 most militants issued by the army in 2017 as also in the hit-list of 17 top militants issued by intelligence agencies in 2018, carried Rs 12 lakh on head being A++ category militant.

In 2018, Naikoo-led Hizb militants kidnapped 11 family members of policemen prompting the police to release his father Asadullah Naikoo from their custody. The police had picked Asadullah from his Awantipora home in south Kashmir, a day after militants had killed four policemen in Shopian. Later, in an audio message, Riyaz had warned the police of dangerous consequences if the relatives of militants were not released.

Meanwhile, sources said that Naikoo and Adil besides two other militants– Adil Manzoor Wani

Of Padgam Pora and Rafiq Ahmad Dar of Kerinibal Samboora—killed in a gunfight at Sharshali Khrew Pulwama were buried in presence of magistrate at Sonamarg Ganderbal.

More info: https://kashmirnews.in