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Srinagar: Kashmir Valley reported nine more deaths due to covid-19, taking the fatality count due to the virus in J&K to 231.

Among the deaths, sources said Srinagar reported four deaths including a 58-year-old from Hyderpora, Pulwama two, one of them a 65-year-old man from Parigam area, besides one each from Shopian, Bandipora and Budgam—55-year-old from Soibug.

Among the deaths, a senior doctor at SKIMS Soura told GNS that a 65-year-old resident from Pulwama and a 55-year-old man from Budgam died at the tertiary care hospital since overnight.

The sexagenarian from Parigam area of south Kashmir district was admitted on July 14 and passed away late last night “due to cardiopulmonary arrest,” the doctor said.

Suffering from bilateral pneumonia among other ailments, the elderly had tested positive for the virus and shifted to isolation facility of the hospital where he died, the doctor said.

Meanwhile, a quinquagenarian man from Soibugh Budgam died at the hospital and his covid-19 test returned positive later, the doctor added.

Meanwhile, a 58-year-old man from Alnoor colony Hyderpora here, who was admitted on July 8 with bilateral pneumonia and severe ARDS, died at SKIMS Bemina here, a senior doctor at the hospital told GNS.

“He was also a case of Hypothyroidism. The patient was first kept in HDU and later shifted to ICU on July 9,” the doctor said, adding, “The patient was intubated and develop sudden cardiac pulmonary arrest and at 12 a.m., he was declared dead.” The others died during the couse of the day, they added.

With these deaths, 213 people in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu have died so far due to the covid-19.

Srinagar district with 59 deaths has the highest fatalities followed by Baramulla (48), Kulgam (23), Shopian (18), Anantnag (17), Budgam (17), Kupwara (13), Jammu (11), Pulwama (10), Ganderbal (4), Bandipora (3) and Doda (2) while one death each has been reported from Poonch, Udhampur, Rajouri, and Kathua. (GNS)

Srinagar: On one evening, when Sajad Ahmad Khan was passing through the lanes of Bemina to return home, he saw relatives of a lady who died of COVID-19 were reluctant to go closer to the coffin.

He ran to his departmental store and took eight Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and gave them to these people who later carried the coffin and buried the lady in the graveyard.

That day he also made up his mind to arrange decent burials for those who die of COVID-19.
He posted on his Facebook page, ‘Athwaas’ that he can be contacted if any family wants burial of any COVID victim.

“Since then I am receiving calls from people for burial of those who died due to COVID. We have 20 people in our team who have been divided into five groups with four persons each. After burying a dead body, one group goes into quarantine for 14 days,” he told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

So far, they have arranged almost 20 burials of COVID victims in Srinagar.

“All most everywhere, people are raising objections and do not want COVID victims to be buried in their graveyard. This stigma has to end. We should help each other in this crisis like we did during floods,” Khan, the ex-banker said.

Khan, 37, provides all the equipment to his team (volunteers) like personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, sanitisers and other things.

Before that he also provided PPE to various doctors who were fighting the COVID in hospitals.

“There are people who don’t know how to bury a dead body. We have kept everything available like PPEs, rope and other things which are needed,” he said.

Some people also offer them money but they don’t take anything from bereaved families.

“We do it voluntarily to help people amid crises. The stigma attached to COVID positive patients should end. They are among us. Anyone can catch this infection then why dishonor these dead bodies,” he asked. He has two children, mother and wife in his family.

Before starting grocery shop, he was working in a bank then started his own travel agency.

“Since childhood I wanted to do something for society. My father expired during my studies. I used to earn and spend on my education,” he said, who did his masters in Mass Communication from Bangalore University.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported over 12,000 positive cases. The virus claimed over 224 lives-206 deaths in Kashmir 18 in Jammu- respectively till July 16.

The World Health Organisation has also issued guidelines for managing bodies of those who die of COVID-19 saying, “cadavers do not transmit disease”.

The Indian Health Ministry guidelines state that “there is unlikely to be an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling body”. (KINS)

Says Jail Superintendent Anantnag after 86 tested COVID19 positive

Srinagar: Superintendent of Jail Anantnag Sayroz Ahmad Friday said that round the clock medical care has been put in place for the jail inmate and all COVID19 positive cases are asymptomatic.

He appealed to families of jail inmates not to panic and said that safety guidelines and COVID19 protocol is being followed in letter and spirit.

“All jail inmates, both whether tested positive or negative for virus, are stable. They are under the supervision of a special team of doctors. All COVID19 safety guidelines are being followed in letter and spirit,” Ahmad told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

As many as 49 prisoners have tested positive for COVID19 in district jail Anantnag. With this, the number of infected inmates has jumped to 86 in the jail where 192 detainees are presently lodged.
In his appeal to the families of jail inmates “not to panic”, Ahmad said that no jail inmate tested positive was symptomatic.

“Each case that was tested positive in jail is asymptomatic. They all are stable and under the medical supervision of a team of doctors,” he said.

He informed that first patient (jail inmate) who tested positive has recovered and discharged from hospital.

“He is now back in the jail and protocol is being followed,” he said.

The Jail Superintendent said that the local civic body also carries sterilization and fumigation of jail every day for its disinfection.

As many as 217 detainees have been released since April 1 to April 20, this year, from different jails in J&K to decongest the prisons in view of deadly coronavirus.

At least 110 prisoners, including 58 persons who were detained under stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), have been released till April 30, this year, to decongest Srinagar Central Jail in the wake of COVID19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court has asked states and Union Territories to consider release of convicted prisoners with up to seven years of sentences and under-trials, in order to decongest prisons. (KINS)

These moves in Kashmir will add more tensions to already strained ties between India and China. According to experts, “Exploiting India’s vulnerabilities is an essential element of China’s “contain India” policy.”

EurAsian Times

Tensions between India and China have not even cooled down and experts have already warned that Kashmir could emerge as the next big flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. And this time, India and China would be joined by the third claimant to Kashmir – Pakistan.

India has vehemently objected to the construction of multibillion-dollar Diamer Bhasha multipurpose dam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. As earlier reported by EurAsian Times, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam is a 4,500-megawatt project with a presumed value of $15 billion and would be one of the biggest dams in the world once completed.

The Water and Power Development Authority recently announced that the contract of the development of the Diamer-Bhasha dam had been awarded to a joint venture between Power China and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on a 70-to-30 ratio.

India and Pakistan have been claiming Kashmir as a part of their own since the partition in 1947. India has denounced the project calling it a violation of its territorial sovereignty. China rejected India’s concerns calling them misplaced and asserting that the economic partnership between China and Pakistan are directed at enhancing development and the welfare of people.

“These moves will bring one more tension point to an India-China relationship that is already more strained now than it has been for several decades,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director at the Asia program of the Washington, D.C.-based Wilson Center.

Kugelman was referring to the violent clash that broke out at the ‘unrecognized’ Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Aksai Chin, a flashpoint that saw China’s aggression in 1962. He sees the growing Chinese investments in Pakistan-administered Kashmir a big blow to India.

China has invested about $29 billion in Pakistan, including direct investment, soft loans and grants, which has been or is building power plants, roads, rails, the new deep-sea port of Gwadar and an adjoining international airport in Balochistan province.

Border and Road Initiative (BRI) launched the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) programme in 2015 intending to connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

The program was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping. After completion of key projects in the first phase, “the second phase will focus on the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), strengthening trade and cultural ties through joint ventures and exchange of delegations,” said Yao Jing, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan.

“Exploiting India’s vulnerabilities is an essential element of China’s “contain India” policy,” said Mohan Malik, a professor of strategic studies at the National Defense College, UAE.

Even though the dam isn’t a part of the CPEC project, such Chinese investments in Pakistan have worried critics in Pakistan and outside as well who have expressed concerns and scepticism in the wake of the financial crisis looming over the country. The US has also been critical of the bilateral agreement between Pakistan and China.

Analysts believe that this could be a part of China’s debt-trap strategy against India through its ally, Pakistan. China is able to gain influence across the world and grab considerable power in India’s neighbouring countries, by dispensing billions of dollars in the form of concessional loans to developing countries and then asking for geopolitical support in exchange for debt relief.

The latest example is the Island nation neighbouring India. Sri Lanka had relied heavily on China to construct $1.5 billion port in Hambantota in the country’s south. After the port was operating at a loss and couldn’t generate enough revenue to repay the loan to Beijing, the port was leased to China for 99 years in return for $1.1 billion which eased its position.

This allowed China to control over a key port positioned at the doorstep of its regional rival India and a strategic foothold along a key commercial and military waterway.

China has followed a similar approach in several African countries as well. “Beijing’s debt diplomacy has caused both economic and political sovereignty problems that are now threatening some African countries,” said Muhammed Tandogan, who holds a PhD in International Relations at Istanbul Medeniyet University.

Alice Wells, who recently retired as the Trump administration’s senior diplomat for South and Central Asia, had been publicly warning that Chinese investments under the CPEC could become a debt trap for Pakistan in the long run, indicating relatively high costs and alleged lack of transparency in contracts, among other concerns.

“Hopefully, not at the cost of Pakistan’s sovereignty, environment, the sustainability of debt or corruption. This is a good time to renegotiate BRI terms that, in hindsight, were disadvantageous or one-sided,” Wells had tweeted.

Amid already strained India-China relations, it is only a matter of time that China’s expansionist strategy in Kashmir is more visible and India will have no option but to challenge Chinese belligerence just like they did in Doklam, North Sikkim or Ladakh.

With inputs from The EurAsian Times

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar: Authorities at Kashmir University have closed one of the gates after Dean Academic Affairs was tested positive for Covid-19 infection.

Deputy Registrar Administration has issued an order asking Dean College Development Council (DCDC), Ghulam Mohiuddin Dar (Sangami) to take the charge of Dean Academic Affairs at Kashmir University till (infected official) resumes his duties.

Medical Officer, Health Centre Kashmir University Dr Suriya told news agency KNT that contacts of infected official have been identified and their samples will be taken. She said that Administrative Block and other buildings of University have been fumigated and everything in under control.

She added that Sir Syed Gate of the University has been closed and not many activities are going in the Varsity in wake of the Covid threat.

Sources, said that infected official has attended various meetings in the Varsity in recent days and those meetings were attended by scores of teaching and non-teaching employees. (KNT)

‘J&K Colleges should stop admissions to courses not recognized by Indian Pharmacy Council’

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Friday urged the union government to safeguard the careers of over 20,000 medical assistants of J&K by bringing them within the ambit of Central Pharmacy Act.

In a statement issued to KNS, Bukhari said that the medical assistants of Jammu and Kashmir also fulfill the eligibility criteria for availing a pharmacy license or applying for any government job exclusively meant for diploma or degree holders in pharmacy.

“Around 20,000 medical assistants in J&K are well trained in pharmacy who were eligible for pharmacy licenses under JK Pharmacy Act prior to August 4, 2019 but have now unfortunately been excluded by the pharmacy council of India. This is a sheer discrimination with this bright and promising lot of professionals,” Bukhari questioned.

He said that there seems to be no rationale behind exclusion of medical assistants from Central Pharmacy law which was made applicable to Jammu and Kashmir after October 2019. “Discrimination with medical assistants who have completed their three years courses (including one year of training) duly recognized under JK Pharmacy Act is unjustifiable and the issue needs to be addressed on a priority basis,” Bukhari advocated.

He said that by widening the ambit of Central Pharmacy Act and making it genuinely inclusive shall dispel the notion of unfairness and injustice felt by the J&K youth. “The candidates from J&K had opted for medical assistant courses conscientiously to make careers in pharmacy after completion of their courses successfully. However, the replacement of the JK Pharmacy Act with Central Pharmacy law has shattered their dreams of earning a dignified livelihood,” Bukhari opined.

The JKAP president said by restricting the issuance of pharmacy licenses to aspirants having B. Pharma and D. Pharma has jeopardized careers of thousands of medical assistants who have studied the same subject with the same syllabus in government recognized institutes across J&K.

Bukhari expressed serious concern over the reports that despite being ineligible for pharmacy licenses and government jobs as per the central pharmacy act, the government colleges in J&K are granting admissions to the students for medical assistant courses. “Even some students are presently pursuing medical assistant courses in various colleges. The government of J&K should come clear on this issue and stop the admissions to such courses which are recognized under central pharmacy law,” he demanded.

Bukhari said the new pharmacy law made applicable to J&K has made the future of thousands of qualified youth bleak. “The government of India should go for a one-time relaxation for those medical assistants who have completed their training prior to August 4, 2019 and chalk out a policy for their absorption in the government sector,” Bukhari said, while demanding necessary amendments to the CPA so as to facilitate inclusion of medical assistant of J&K.

He also urged the union health ministry to consider medical assistants eligible for issuance of pharmacy licenses and ensure lateral entry for those medical assistants who want to pursue their higher studies in pharmacy.

Srinagar: Three JeM militants were killed in a encounter in Nagnad Chimmer area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar told GNS, that three militants were killed in the gunfight, also two army soldiers were injured. However the identity of militants is yet to be ascertained, the IGP added.

Pertinently, 133 militants have been killed so far in the valley this year equaling the number of militants killed last year before 04 August.

Earlier, according to the reports reaching GNS, a joint team of Police, Army’s 09 RR and of CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Nagnad Chimmer.

As the joint team encircled the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the joint team, triggering off an encounter. (GNS)

Srinagar: A top Jash-e-Mohammad militant commander known to be an IED expert was reportedly among three militants killed in the gunfight with a joint team of police, army and CRPF in Kulgam district on wee hours on Friday, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said.

The top police officer also said that the militant commander had escaped previously from three to four encounters, leaving behind a MO4 American rifle in one instance.

While three militants were killed, as many army soldiers were injured in the gunfight at Nagnad Chimmer area of the Kulgam district, the DGP told GNS.

“The operation was launched in the wee hours this morning on a credible input by Kulgam Police along with local Army (9 RR) and CRPF units,” he said.

He said that three army soldiers injured during the encounter were evacuated to army hospital.

“The killed (militants) are from Jaish-e-Mohammed and reportedly include a top (militant) commander known to be an IED expert. (He) was responsible for a large number of attacks including many IED attempts against security forces in the recent past,” he said, adding, “He was reportedly able to escape from 3/4 encounters, leaving behind an MO 4 American rifle in one case.”

Earlier when the joint team encircled the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the joint team, triggering off an encounter. (GNS)

Srinagar: Supreme Court of India on Thursday permitted Attorney General for India to file reply affidavit within a week’s time to a contempt petition regarding 4G services in Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, R. Subhash Reddy and B.R. Gavai passed the order Attorney General K.K. Venugopal undertook to file reply affidavit to the contempt petition within a week’s time.

“He is permitted to do so. List the matters after one week,” the apex court said, according to an order, a copy of which lies with GNS.

Earlier the Court was convened through Video Conferencing. Senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner—Foundation for Media Professionals, while Attorney General for India appearing for the centre and Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appeared for Jammu & Kashmir.

The top court was informed by the governments that a special committee has been set up as per the court’s directive on the issue of restoration of 4G internet services in J&K.

The Attorney General K K Venugopal stated that the incidents of militancy were on the rise there and submitted that no contempt was made out against the authorities as they have complied with the directions passed on May 11. The apex court had ordered setting up of a special committee headed by the Union Home Secretary to consider pleas for restoration of 4G internet services in J&K which continue to remain affected since August 5. The top court had observed that national security and human rights need to be balanced in view of the fact that the J&K has been “plagued with militancy”.

The apex court was hearing a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the Union Home Secretary and JK’s Chief Secretary for their alleged “wilful disobedience” in complying with the court’s May 11 order.

On July 9, the J&K authorities extended the ban on high-speed internet services in J&K till July 29.

As per the order by Home department, the restrictions on access to internet services have been put in place to “curb misuse of data for uploading, downloading, circulation of provocative content on the social media and prevent or reduce rumor mongering and fake news, counter attempts of recruiting gullible youth into the militants’ ranks”.

The 2G internet services are also put in place to curtail the use of encrypted messaging and VOIP services for infiltration and coordinating militant activities, and “defeat the nefarious designs from across the border to propagate (militancy).”

“The security agencies have been successful in eliminating a large number of (militants) while ensuring that the public order is maintained primarily because the data services have not been allowed to be misused by the anti-social elements, OGWs to mobilize crowds,” the order said, adding, “Besides, these restrictions have not adversely impacted the efforts of the Government towards COVID control, education and business activities.” (GNS)