Category: National

Many wondered if the company was inspired by popular Turkish series Ertuğrul

In a video, the delivery person was filmed travelling on a horse to deliver packages as roads were snowed under.

Ertugrul Amazon wale https://t.co/8JlqYostDN

— Ali (@varmullian) January 12, 2021

After heavy snowfall blanketed Kashmir, an Amazon delivery person in Srinagar made waves on social media after using a horse to deliver packages.

https://twitter.com/alif_911/status/1348880645909483522?s=20

In a video, the delivery person was filmed travelling on horseback to deliver packages as roads were snowed under.

The unique delivery came to light after photojournalist Umar Ganie tweeted the video.

Amazon delivery innovation 🐎#Srinagar #Kashmir #snow pic.twitter.com/oeGIBajeQN

— Umar Ganie (@UmarGanie1) January 12, 2021

Amazon India confirmed that the video was authentic and recorded in Srinagar.

In a matter of hours, the video was widely shared on social media platforms with many praising the delivery person. Many tagged Amazon CEO Jezz Bezos and wondered if the company was inspired by popular Turkish series Ertuğrul.

Heavy snowfall led to closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, and suspension of passenger flights last week. While over 12 inches of snow was recorded in north Kashmir’s plains, south Kashmir saw up to 5 feet of snow.

With inputs from The Indian Express

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

Through the day, announcements have continued from Punjab’s village gurdwaras, asking farmers to reach Delhi in maximum numbers with tractor-trollies.

Chandigarh: A large convoy of tractor-trollies left Amritsar for Delhi on Tuesday to participate in the protest parade announced by farmer unions on Republic Day. The farmers have planned to hold a rally parallel to the Republic Day Parade, calling in farmers from across Punjab and Haryana to participate. A village in Punjab’s Sangrur has even decided to fine those who choose to stay out of the rally.

Aiming to stop the rally, the Centre had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, where it said disruption of the Republic Day parade will be an “embarrassment to the nation”.

Contending that it has “done its best” to engage with farmers, the Centre said,  “The farm laws have received wide acceptance throughout the country and, therefore, some farmers and others objecting to the law had put a condition of its repeal, is neither justifiable nor acceptable”.

The court, which earlier said was “extremely disappointed” by the government’s handling of the situation, took action today, putting the contentious farm laws on hold and forming a committee to discuss the issue.

The farmers, however, have not accepted the committee, accusing the government of engineering the formation of a committee “through the Supreme Court”. All members of the committee are in favour of the farm laws, they said.

“We don’t accept this committee. All the members in this committee have  been pro-government. These members have been justifying the laws,” said the farmers’ representatives at Singhu border today.  

Through the day, announcements have continued from Punjab’s village gurdwaras, asking farmers to reach Delhi in maximum numbers with tractor-trollies.

Sangrur’s Bhular Heri village even ordered a 2100-rupee fine on farmers who fail to join the parade.

*Each farmer being asked to send one tractor for Jan 26 parade. Those who can’t send will pay ₹ 2,100, failing which they will face social boycott,” said one of the villagers.

With inputs from NDTV

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

PTI

New Delhi: WhatsApp on Tuesday said its latest policy update does not affect the privacy of messages as the Facebook-owned company sought to address concerns around security of user data on the platform.

In a blogpost, WhatsApp emphasised that it does not share users’ contact lists or data of groups with Facebook for ads purposes, and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read messages or hear calls between users on WhatsApp.

Last week, WhatsApp had informed users of an update in its Terms of Service and privacy policy regarding how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giant’s products.

It also stated that users will have to agree to the new terms and policy by February 8, 2021, in order to continue using WhatsApp’s service.

This kickstarted a spate of conversations and memes on the internet over WhatsApp’s alleged sharing of user information with Facebook, and many users have started shifting to rival platforms like Telegram and Signal.

“We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data,” WhatsApp said.

It added that WhatsApp accesses only the phone numbers from the address book (after getting user’s permission) to make messaging fast and reliable, and that it doesn’t share contact lists with the other apps Facebook offers.

“We use group membership to deliver messages and to protect our service from spam and abuse. We don’t share this data with Facebook for ads purposes. Again, these private chats are end-to-end encrypted so we can’t see their content,” it noted.

A report by internet security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia had claimed that at least 1,700 private WhatsApp group links were visible on Google through a web search.

WhatsApp noted that users can choose to set their messages to disappear from chats “for additional privacy”.

The messaging giant – which has about 400 million users in India – said it will always be clear within the app when users are communicating with any business that uses its features designed for commercial entities.

WhatsApp explained that some large businesses need to use hosting services to manage their communication, and that it provides them the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send information like purchase receipts.

“But whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it (business) can see what you’re saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook. To make sure you’re informed, we clearly label conversations with businesses that are choosing to use hosting services from Facebook,” WhatsApp added.

WhatsApp said if users choose to interact with ‘Shops’ (Facebook branded commerce feature), their shopping activity can be used to personalise their Shops experience and the ads users see on Facebook and Instagram.

“Features like this are optional and when you use them we will tell you in the app how your data is being shared with Facebook… If you have WhatsApp installed on your phone, you’ll have the option to message that business. Facebook may use the way you interact with these ads to personalise the ads you see on Facebook,” it added.

Interestingly, a number of business leaders including Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam have spoken of moving to rival platforms.

Mahindra said he had installed Signal, while Nigam said he had moved 1,000-plus ‘PhonePe-rs’ to Signal, and recreated all his work groups and moved family groups.

“…WhatsApp is by far and away the best product I’ve ever seen in the social/comm category. I trusted the WA founders. I loved the simplicity of their product. Never imagined switching to another chat app. C’est la vie,” Nigam tweeted.

Sharma also advocated moving to Signal. “They say, market has power. We are the largest market. Here in India WhatsApp/Facebook are abusing their monopoly & taking away millions of users’ privacy for granted. We should move on to @signalapp NOW. It is upto us to become victim or reject such moves,” he said in a tweet.

The COVID-19 pandemic literally affected every single part in the world. It also brought about a huge change in the way we look at lives in general and made us introspect, big time.

Thanks to the pandemic, face masks, shields, swab tests, gloves and social distancing have become the new normal. However, did you know that back in 1997, actor Bobby Deol had given us all an udaharan of how to do the swab test right? 

Oooh yes, he did! In a still from his 1997 movie Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, where he shared screen space opposite Aishwarya Rai, a series of events led to the actor swabbing Aishwarya. And while the scene may have seemed hillarious back then, it sure is the story of our lives now.

Bobby Deol was a pro at Covid testing long before the virus even came into existence. pic.twitter.com/vc3r4rroME

— Sukanya Verma (@SukanyaVerma) January 9, 2021

Watch the Video Below:

The video sees Aishwarya and Bobby’s first meeting turn heated when a mix up of bags causes them to clash. Later on, Bobby makes her sneeze twice for good luck and to achieve the same, he swabs her nose. If only we had even an inclination that that’s what our future will look like. Makes us nostalgic of of time when travelling was hassle-less!

With inputs from Yahoo! News

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).

New Delhi: Emphasizing that the whole of India stands together, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the country has the strongest and most vibrant democracy in the world.

“When India got independence, it was said that the country will break due to its poverty, less education and that democracy is impossible here, but the truth is that India stands together, and has the most strong and vibrant democracy in the whole world,” Modi said while speaking at the 16th ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ convention.

He also said whenever anyone raised eyebrows at the ability of the country and the countrymen, it has turned out to be wrong.

Modi asserted that India’s history is a proof that there is no question or doubts about its ability in any circumstances.

“When India stood in the face of terrorism, the world also got the courage to face the challenge. Today, India is using technology to end corruption. Money worth lakhs and crores are directly being credited to account of beneficiary.”

“Today, India’s space programme and tax start-up eco-system is a leader in the global sphere. Even during Covid-19, several new unicorns and tech start-ups started from India,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that even in the times of pandemic, India has shown its ability.

“The country is ready with two ‘Made in India’ vaccines. The world is not only waiting for India’s vaccines but are observing how India runs world’s biggest vaccination programme.”

Be it PPE kits, masks, ventilators, or testing kits, India used to order them from outside. Now, the country has strengthened itself and is not only self-reliant but has even started exporting these items, the Prime Minister lauded.

“India has done structural reforms from education to enterprise to bring wholesome changes. To promote manufacturing, we have started the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, which has gained a lot of popularity in very less time.”

Srinagar: With 8,927 hours of blacked out or restricted internet access, India topped the list of 21 countries that curbed the citizens’ web access in 2020.

According to the Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns report released by Top10VPN, India accounted for nearly three-quarters of the $4 billion lost worldwide to internet curbs as the country recorded a loss of $2.8 billion.

The report said there were 1,655 hours of internet blackouts and 7,272 hours of throttled bandwidth which cost India $2,779.3 million.

“As in previous years, India continued to restrict internet access more than any other country – over 75 times in 2020,” read the report. “The majority of these short blackouts were highly-targeted, affecting groups of villages or individual city districts and so were not included in this report, which focuses on larger region-wide shutdowns.”

“The true economic cost is therefore likely to be even higher than the $2.8BN we have calculated,” it added. (PTK)

China for its “unilateral and provocative” actions in order to change the status quo by force on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Defence Ministry has said in an annual report that the Chinese forces got the response in a “firm” and “non-escalatory way”.

The report asserted that Indian forces are ready to challenge any “misadventure” by Chinese Army, adding that New Delhi and Beijing are also holding dialogue to resolve the border issue peacefully.

Referring to the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, the Defence Ministry said the Chinese side also suffered “significant casualties”.

“Unilateral and provocative actions by the Chinese to change the status quo by force, in more than one area on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), were responded to in a firm and non-escalatory way, ensuring the sanctity of our claims in Eastern Ladakh,” it said.

“Indian Army has maintained all protocols and agreements between the two countries while the PLA escalated the situation by utilisation of unorthodox weapons and amassing a large number of troops,” it added. (PTK)

The United States may impose several restrictions on India for buying billions of dollars worth of S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) , the independent research wing of the US Congress In its report submitted to the Congress, it has said that India is particularly keen on ‘technology sharing and co-production initiatives.

However, the US demands that India bring more changes in its defense policy and bring more foreign direct investment in the defense sector.

The report prepared for Congress members reported that ‘India is buying a billion-dollar Russia-built S-400 air defense system that could lead to sanctions on India under the US anti-enemy sanctions law’.

However, the CRS report is not considered an official report nor does it reflect the views of members of the US Congress.

They are made independent experts so that law makers can be made aware of the decisions.

In October 2018, India signed a $ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five S-400 air defense missile systems. However, before this the Trump administration had warned that if this deal happens then India should be ready for the US sanctions.

In 2019, India made the first payment of $ 800 million for the missile system.

The S-400 is considered to be Russia’s most modern ground-to-air long-range missile defense system. (PTK)

These viruses are found in wild aquatic birds and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species too.

The mysterious deaths of thousands of birds, across species, in several parts of India have prompted concerns about bird flu.

Samples of migratory birds that were found dead in Himachal Pradesh’s Pong Dam Lake have tested positive for bird flu, which is also known as avian influenza, making HP the fifth state to report suspected cases of the respiratory disease caused by the avian influenza (flu) Type A viruses.

Representational Picture | iStock Images

Other states that have confirmed bird flu cases include Haryana, Rajasthan, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

In Rajasthan, more than 170 new deaths of birds were reported on Monday, taking the total toll to over 400. However, officials say bird flu has so far been confirmed only in the state’s Jhalawar district.

In Kerala, culling of birds such as ducks and hens is being done within 1 km radius of affected areas in the districts of Kottayam and Alappuzha.

Meanwhile, in Himachal’s Kangra district, where some 2,300 migratory birds, mostly bar-headed geese, were found dead in Pong Dam lake, authorities have suspended tourism; and sale and purchase of poultry, meat and meat products has been banned in some areas of the district.

The problem is not limited to India.

China banned poultry imports from Ireland last month due to detection of the H5N8 bird flu. China has reported an outbreak of H5N8 in swans in Shanxi province.

Japan and Korea have also seen outbreaks, caused due to two separate HPAI viruses, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. The strains circulating in Asia and Europe both originated in wild birds, researchers say.

What is bird flu?

Avian influenza is a disease caused by infection with avian flu Type A viruses. These viruses are found naturally in wild aquatic birds around the world and can infect domestic poultry as well as other bird and animal species. Though they don’t normally infect humans, avian flu viruses amongst humans have been reported.

Bird flu viruses are divided into low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) A viruses and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A viruses based on their molecular characteristics and potency. While poultry infection caused by LPAI causes mild or no disease, HPAI leads to severe disease and high mortality. Both the viruses can spread very quickly among poultry.

While Avian influenza A viruses have been found in more than 100 species of wild birds worldwide, chickens, turkeys, ducks and other domesticated birds can get infected through contact with infected wild birds or other infected poultry, as well as surface contamination.  

Bird flu in humans

Infected birds shed virus in their saliva, faeces and mucous. Human infections, though not common, happen when a sufficient quantity of bird flu virus enters a person’s nose, eyes or mouth, or through inhalation.According to the existing scientific information, human to human spread of bird flu is very rare. However, experts caution that a mutated strain of bird flu can prove to be easily transmittable. That’s why careful monitoring and handling of any infection in humans is crucial.

Given the havoc caused by COVID-19, the danger that one of the variants of the bird flu can trigger a pandemic can no longer be ignored.

With inputs from TNN

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinigar: With the objective to gear up for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine across the country, the dry run will be conducted by all the States and UT governments from Saturday.

According to Union Health Ministry, the objective of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to “assess operational feasibility in the use of COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) application in field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation”. This is also expected to give confidence to programme managers at various levels, it said.

The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites. Some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support. Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital.

In Delhi, the drive will be conducted at three locations – the Daryaganj primary health centre, the government-run Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, and the private Venkateshwara hospital.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness at session sites across the country for COVID-19 vaccination trial run on Saturday and said just like preparations during elections, each member of medical teams should be trained responsibly.

The minister urged every official to ensure that the vaccination sites and officials in-charge abide by the detailed checklist and Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) for vaccination that has been prepared by the Union Health Ministry.

Referring to Pulse Polio drive in Delhi in 1994, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that as the exercise of vaccination is integrally based on interaction and involvement of people, relevant stakeholders, NGOs and Civil Society Organization (CSOs) need to be mobilised.

During the dry run, for each of the three-session sites, the concerned Medical Officer In-charge will identify 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers). The States/UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of these beneficiaries is uploaded in Co-WIN. These beneficiaries will also be available at the session site for the dry run. The States and UTs shall prepare the facilities and users to be created on CoWIN application including uploading the data of Health Care Worker (HCW) beneficiaries.

As the vaccine administrators will play an important role in the vaccination process, training of trainers and those who shall administer the vaccine has been taken up across various States, the Health Ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Around 96,000 vaccinators have been trained for this purpose. 2,360 participants have been trained in National Training of Trainers and over 57,000 participants trained in District level training in 719 districts. States are augmenting the State helpline 104 (which shall be used in addition to 1075) for any vaccine/software related query. Orientation and capacity building of the Call Centre executives has taken place in the States/UTs. States were also encouraged to use the FAQs issued by the Health Ministry proactively to address any such query,” it said. (PTK)