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Author: hamid

  • Reliance Jio announces free 100 minutes calling and messaging services for users till April 17

    In a bid to provide a seamless experience to the customers during the lockdown, Reliance Jio will provide free 100 minutes calling and SMSes till April 17, 2020.

    Reliance Jio announced on Tuesday that it will provide free calling and messaging benefits to its customers amid lockdown in India. In a bid to provide a seamless experience to the customers during the lockdown, Reliance Jio will provide free 100 minutes calling and SMSes till April 17, 2020. The company also announced that the subscribers will continue to receive incoming calls even if they exhaust the validity of their prepaid pack.

    The 100 minutes free calling and free SMSes facility can be availed by all Jio customers from anywhere in India but only till April 17, 2020. Earlier, Jio partnered with many banks to provide a recharge facility to customers using ATMs. The customers previously had options to recharge their phones using phone wallets, UPI and net banking but now Jio has provided just another option to its subscribers. Some JioPhone users are still unable to recharge and need it the most, especially during such important times. Hence, Jio is going the extra mile for its JioPhone users, the company statement read.

    Well, Jio isn’t the only telecom giant providing free benefits to the subscribers during a lockdown. Airtel, BSNL too have provided free plans till April 17 for their users.

    Airtel on Monday announced that it has extended the validity of prepaid plans of over 80 million customers across India till April 17. They also revealed that they will credit Rs 10 in the prepaid accounts primarily the low-income mobile customers. This would make things easier for many low wage workers, who are struggling hard to make ends meet ever since the lockdown was announced

    Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited too had extended support to its customers in their own way. Minister for Electronics & IT, Communications and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that no BSNL SIMs will be discontinued till April 20. As an additional benefit, Rs 10 had been credited in the accounts of poor and needy people so that they can continue to work without having to worry about these things.

    Vodafone too had announced that they would extend the validity of prepaid packs used by low-income customers. The company has also credited the accounts of the feature phone users with Rs 10.

  • Six-week-old baby dies of coronavirus in US

    New York:  A six-week-old baby girl has died of coronavirus in the US state of Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont said on Thursday, stressing that the death is a reminder that “nobody is safe with this virus” as the COVID-19 cases there crossed 3,500.

    A report in the Hartford Courant newspaper quoted officials as saying that the infant arrived at the hospital unresponsive and tested positive for the coronavirus post-mortem.

    Probably the youngest person ever to die of COVID here in Connecticut. That baby was a less than seven weeks old. And it just is a reminder that nobody is safe with this virus, Lamont said.

    Lamont said that the state recorded a tragic milestone with the death of the infant.

    The governor, in a tweet, said that the baby from the Hartford area was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived.

    “Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive. This is absolutely heartbreaking. We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19,” he said.

    “This is a virus that attacks our most fragile without mercy. This also stresses the importance of staying home and limiting exposure to other people. Your life and the lives of others could literally depend on it. Our prayers are with the family at this difficult time,” Lamont said.

    Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said, our hearts break for that family, and our prayers are with the families of all of those who have lost loved ones and all of those affected by this ongoing epidemic.

    Earlier, the youngest Connecticut resident to die of COVID-19 was a 35-year-old man, the report said.

    The state has 3,557 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 85 people have died of the disease.

    About 766 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in the state.

    The news report said that a model prepared by the University of Washington projects that as the coronavirus hits a peak in Connecticut on April 15, hospitals here will fall dramatically short on available beds.

    In Connecticut, it foresees a peak of 41 single-day deaths in mid-April, before the numbers taper off during May and hit zero before the start of June. As many as 1,100 residents could die of the disease.

    According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the number of Americans to have been infected by coronavirus stood at 214,000, and 5,093 had lost their lives from the deadly disease.

  • Photo Gallery | Spanish Influenza

    Spanish Flu: The Spanish flu was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people—about a quarter of the world’s population at the time.

    Photos from Spanish Flu Pandemic:

    https://twitter.com/robbrecht/status/1248508931263078400?s=20

    https://twitter.com/RandVFoundation/status/1247817106982424577?s=20

    https://twitter.com/JARodriguezJr/status/1248366834379829252?s=20

    https://twitter.com/folioUAlberta/status/1247900683472273413?s=20

    https://twitter.com/hum_bolega/status/1245692047689830401?s=20

    No Copyright Infringement Intended

  • Coronavirus cases top 900,000 worldwide: AFP Tally

    Paris: More than 900,000 cases of coronavirus have been officially detected worldwide since the pandemic emerged in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1900 GMT on Wednesday using official sources.

    At least 905,589 infections including 45,719 deaths, have been recorded in 187 countries and territories globally, with 203,608 cases and 4,476 deaths in the United States where the pandemic is spreading rapidly.

    Italy with 110,574 detected cases has the highest number of fatalities with 13,155 deaths. Spain has 102,136 cases including 9,053 deaths and China has 81,554 cases and 3,312 deaths. (AFP)

  • Morning digest: India sees a sharp spike in infections, Wimbledon cancelled for the first time since WWII, and more

    Coronavirus | India sees a sharp spike in infections

    PTI

    India reported three deaths and over 370 new cases on April 1 — the highest-ever single-day increase in its COVID-19 tally.This brought the total confirmed cases to 1,637 and took the death toll to 38. One hundred and thirty two persons have been cured/discharged from hospitals after recovery, the Union Health Ministry said at its daily press briefing, which was the shortest in a month as questions were restricted to a couple of media outlets.

    Lockdown’s impact can be gauged only after two weeks, say experts

    The impact of the lockdown could be gauged only after two weeks, government as well as independent experts suggest. On the evening of March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide 21-day lockdown to arrest “community transmission” of the coronavirus. Between March 24 and April 1, the number of COVID-19 positive cases has more than doubled — from 606 on March 25 to 1,637 on April 1. This, however, was slower — about half the rate of growth from the week before when only 151 cases were confirmed on March 18.

  • The hand of another Indian suspected in Kabul attack

    For the first time, NIA files case for terror attack outside India

    Vijaita Singh

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case on Wednesday to probe the terror attack at a gurdwara in Kabul last week, in which 27 Sikh worshippers, including an Indian, was killed.

    Muhammed Muhsin, a 29-year-old man from Kerala’s Kasaragod, is suspected to be one of the three attackers.

    A senior official said there were indications that more than one Indian could have been involved in the attack. Also a suspect is Sajid Kuthirummal, a shopkeeper from Kasaragod, part of the group of 21 men and women that left India in 2016 to join the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan.

    While Muhsin was not part of the group, he last spoke to his mother nine months ago. He moved to Dubai in 2018, and the family did not inform the police that he was missing.

    This is the first instance of the NIA registering a case for a terror attack committed outside India. The NIA Act was amended last year to empower the agency to investigate terror attacks committed outside India, “affecting Indian citizens or affecting the interest of India”.

    The NIA registered the case under various Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Indian Penal Code and Section 6(8) of the NIA Act.

    About 150 persons were present in the gurdwara when the attack took place. An Indian citizen, identified as Tian Singh, was also killed. “Proscribed terrorist organisation, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province claimed the responsibility for this terror attack,” the NIA said. “As per the preliminary investigation, one Muhsin from Trikaripur in Kasaragod, and others who had joined the ISKP, are suspected to have been involved in the terrorist attack,” it said.

    The officials had earlier claimed that though Muhsin had never been on the radar, the security agencies noticed his father’s mobile phone number in a WhatsApp group created by Rashid Abdullah alias Abu Isa, who led the group of 21 men and women from Kerala that had left India in 2016 to join the ISKP. Also from Kasaragod, Rashid Abdullah is said to have been killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan by the U.S. led security forces.

    A senior official said they suspected that some members of the group were part of the conspiracy to attack the Kabul gurdwara. In the past, the family members in Kerala of most of the men from the group received messages about their death in drone strikes or other operations. “There are four-five persons from the group whose whereabouts are not known. There are indications that one of them, Sajid Kuthirummal, is involved in the attack,” said the official.

    Ten women from the Kerala group had surrendered to the Afghan authorities in November-December last year. A team of Indian security agencies interrogated the women at a Kabul prison in December last year.

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

  • Govt constitutes committee to examine seniority issue of JK Administrative service

    Srinagar,  Mar 01: The government today constituted committee to examine the seniority issue of the members of the jammu and Kashmir administrative service. The government order in possession of KINS reads:” in supersession of government order no 304-JK(GAD) of 2020, sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of a committee to examine in detail the seniority issue,  of the members of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative service, appointed to the time scale of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service w. e. f 01.01.2004 to 01.12.2008, and work out the possible options for finalizing the seniority list on a normative basis.  The order further reads that the committee shall submit it’s report with one month.(KINS)

  • Covid-19: Valley’s first positive case recovered, discharged from SKIMS

    Srinagar, Apr 01: A woman from Khanyar area of Srinagar, who became the first case of Covid-19 in Kashmir, has recovered with doctors saying that the lady has been tested negative in multiple tests. She has also been discharged from SKIMS on Wednesday.

    “The Srinagar woman, who became the first coronavirus case in Kashmir on March 18 tested negative multiple times at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar and was discharged on Wednesday”, said doctors at SKIMS.

    The 67-year-old woman had returned to her home on March 16th after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia. Nodal Officer for Coronavirus at SKIMS, Dr. G H Yatoo told wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that the multiple samples of the woman sent to the viral Diagnostic and Research Lab have tested negative.

    He confirmed that she has been discharged from hospital today after treatment of 14 days at SKIMS. Notably, 62 persons have so far tested positive for COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir while two persons have so far died due to the novel disease (KNO)

  • Video | When you help someone, please don’t share it

    If you help someone who in need, Please don’t publicize it. Allah will eventually help you…

    Watch Video:

    Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

  • Duo travel on bi-cycle for one week from HP to reach home in Poonch

    Rajouri, Apr 01 (KNO): Amid prevailing lockdown, two persons from Poonch on Wednesday reached home after peddling their bicycles for seven days from Himachal Pradesh.

    According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the duo has been kept at quarantine facility.

    The details available revealed that two persons hailing from Chikhri Ban village of Poonch’s Mandi Tehsil identified as 27-year-old Shabir Ahmed, son of Fateh Mohammad and 31-year-old Mohammad Farooq, son of Mohammad Din were working as laborers in Kangra area of Himachal Pardesh where they got stuck due to prevailing lockdown.

    On Wednesday evening, a team of police from Poonch Police Station intercepted the duo travelling on their bicycles somewhere at Kalai bridge and during investigation it was found that the duo were working in Himachal Pardesh and were on way to their native village.

    “The duo left Kangra HP about a week ago on their bicycles and kept moving from last seven days and finally reached home district but were intercepted a few kilometers before their home village,” sources said.

    Deputy Commissioner (DC) Poonch, Rahul Yadav while confirming the incident to KNO,said that the two men were on way to Chikri Ban village in Mandi but were intercepted and later shifted to a quarantine facility.

    “It has come to fore that duo peddled their bicycles to reach Poonch from HP,” he confirmed –(KNO)