Defence Minister: No power can touch even an inch of India’s land

Days after Prime Minister’s visit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh too visited Ladakh in the backdrop of the tense face-off with China over the border issue.

Addressing the Army and ITBP jawans at a forward post in Lukung, Defence Minister revealed that there was an attempt to hurt India’s self-respect  and vowed to deliver a “befitting reply” to those aimed to do so.

The defence minister visited the post located on the banks of the Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh and said “Whatever progress has been made in the talks, there should be a resolution of the matter. But to what extent it will be resolved, I cannot guarantee. However, I would like to assure that no power in the world can touch even one inch of India’s land, nobody can occupy it,”

Indian and China  have been embroiled in a tense face-off since May 5th over the contentious border issue in  eastern Ladakh. These tensions further escalated in June after the Galwan Valley where 20 Indian Soldiers were killed in the bloody face-off.

Kerala CM: Community transmission of Covid in state

With cases of coronavirus rising exponentially, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said community transmission has been reported  Thiruvananthapuram’s Poonthura and Pulluvila areas.

This admission comes on a day when the state has recorded 791 new cases taking state’s tally to  11,066.  

The chief minister said,  “The source of infection of as many as 42 people is not yet known. We will have to impose lockdown in coastal areas from tomorrow. In Pulluvila in Karimkulampanchayat of the 97 people tested, 57 were found positive while in Poonthura 26 have tested positive out of the50 samples tested in Ayushhospital.  In Puthuvila and Poonthura areas, community spread of the infection has taken place.”

Kerala which was once considered as a model state now has as many as 1.78 lakh people are under observation, while 6,124 patients are in various hospitals.

ECB: Archer’s breach of bio-secure protocol could cost us millions

England cricketer Jofra Archer is all set to face disciplinary proceedings for breaching the COVID-19 protocol that could have been a “disaster” and cost the England Cricket Board “tens of millions of pounds”. 

Archer who was earlier dropped from the second Test against the West Indies for breaking the team’s bio-secure protocol and will now undergo two COVID-19 tests during a five-day isolation period.

ECB didn’t specify the breach but reports said that the Jofra Archer had visited his home in Brighton after the first Test. 

The ECB had put up a lot of effort to convince the West Indies and Pakistan to tour the country amid the pandemic. 

After the three-Test series against the West Indies, England will play a Test and T20I series against Pakistan. Ireland and Australia are also scheduled to visit England this season.

ECB official said “In normal circumstances, the act of going home between matches is normal, but a lot of work and money has gone into setting up this bio-secure environment and there is a lot at stake. Jofra has demonstrated how sorry he is, but it is clearly disappointing for the whole group.”