“In view of spike in COVID-19 cases over the past few days, there would be a complete lockdown in the district from August 17 till August 19. Medical emergencies will be exempted,” deputy commissioner Ganderbal Shafqat Iqbal told Greater Kashmir.
With inputs from GKNN
Srinagar: The authorities are restoring 4G internet services in Ganderbal and Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir tonight.
Official sources told GNS that the high speed internet is being restored in Ganderbal district of the central Kashmir at 9 p.m. tonight.
Confirming it, A top Police officer of told GNS that 4G internet will be restored on trial basis and would be reviewed from time to time.(GNS)
Jammu: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kamalkote sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said.
From 10:45 to 11:45 am, ceasefire violation was reported from Lowergrah and Upergrah posts of Kamalkote Sector in Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the officials said.
Pakistani troops fired from small weapons, they said.
Further details were awaited.
While India is celebrating it’s 74th Independence Day on Saturday, for Jammu and Kashmir, this month marks its first year of the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
An image of Srinagar’s nerve centre, Lal Chowk is viral on social media with the Indian national flag flying atop its clock tower.
The caption to one such image uploaded on Twitter reads, “What has changed since #5Aug2019? Lal Chowk #Srinagar which had remained a symbol of #AntiIndia campaign by dynast politicians & #Jihadist forces has now become Crown of Nationalism.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the image is morphed. There was no flag hoisted at Lal Chowk. The viral image is modified and at least 10-years-old, dating back to 2010.
The image was also viral on Facebook.
The archived versions of the image can be seen here, here and here
With a reverse image search, we could trace the viral image back to 2010 and found that it is altered.
We came across a 2010 blogpost by a user ‘Mubasshir Mushtaq’, who identifies himself as a freelance journalist. The same image without a national flag was carried in his article with the tagline “ A deserted Lal Chowk, Srinagar, June 22, 2010”
A comparison of the image carried in this article with the viral image proved that the image was photoshopped to add the national flag.
AFWA also reached out to India Today’s Srinagar photojournalist Tariq Ahmad Lone to understand the ground reality at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk.
Tariq confirmed to us that there was no flag hoisting at Lal Chowk on Independence Day 2020.
“I visited Lal Chowk today morning. There is no flag hoisted atop its clock tower. Complete restrictions are imposed in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley today,” Tariq said.
He also said that the old building that can be seen on the right of the viral image was renovated five years back and doesn’t look anything like in the viral picture anymore.
We did a comparison between the viral image and an image of Lal Chowk from 15 August 2020 shared by our local correspondent. This again clearly shows the viral image is not from recent times.
The image on the left is from August 15, 2020.
AFWA also contacted Arif Wani, the bureau chief of Kashmir’s local English newspaper Greater Kashmir who said since Lal Chowk is a sensitive area and security agencies usually avoid hosting the national flag there.
“Today the flag is hoisted at the Police Control Room, SK Stadium, headquarters of political parties, and CRPF battalion headquarters as part of Independence Day celebrations. Lal Chowk is a sensitive area and usually, security agencies avoid flag hoisting there. Last time it was hoisted as far as I remember is by Murli Manohar Joshi and PM Modi in 1992,” Wani told this correspondent.
We also found a video of today’s curfew hit Lal Chowk on the official Facebook page of Kashmir News Trust. The Video shows deserted streets of Lal Chowk and there is no Tricolour atop its clock tower.
Hence, the viral image purportedly showing the Indian national flag unfurled atop Lal Chowk’s clocktower is photoshopped. The national flag was not hoisted at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on August 15, 2020, or in recent days.
With inputs from India Today
(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his Independence Day address that elections would be held in J&K only after delimitation, evoked mixed reactions from political parties in the Union Territory.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed concern over the conditional resumption of the electoral process. “PM’s speech is a special gift for J&K on I-Day. Democracy must wait till complete Muslim political and administrative disempowerment. Isn’t that what the PM meant in his address to the nation?” former legislator and PDP leader Firdous Tak said.
People’s Democratic Front (PDF) chief Hakeem Yaseen welcomed the statement of Mr. Modi.
“Result-oriented measures for restoration of political and election process were imperative to end socio-political uncertainty and bring peace and normalcy in troubled J&K. The Governor’s rule was no substitute to a civilian government. At present, the administration was running on the whims of bureaucrats without any political directive,” Mr. Yaseen said.
BJP UT general secretary Ashok Koul said his party was also for “polls to take place in J&K”. “Delimitation exercise is already on and when that will end, the Assembly polls will be held.”
On restoration of statehood, he said, “The Centre is committed to restore the state status but for that all guns should fall silent.”
With inputs from The Hindu
(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Indian companies have sought technical details on the trials of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for possible production in India, an Indian Embassy source in Moscow said.
Separately, in an interview to Russian state media Sputnik, Indian Envoy in Moscow D.B. Venkatesh Varma said, “I had a productive discussion with CEO of RDIF, Mr. Kirill Dmitriev, and we are hopeful of positive outcome.”
Last Tuesday, Russia became the first country to officially register a coronavirus vaccine and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that one of his daughters had also been inoculated.
“Indian companies are in touch with RDIF regarding vaccines and have asked for technical details about Phase I and Phase II trials of the vaccine and also for production of vaccines in India for third country exports and production of vaccines for use in India after regulatory clearances,” an Indian Embassy source in Moscow said.
Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on Independence Day earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there are three COVID vaccines under development within the country and India will start mass production of vaccines once scientists give the go ahead. Indian biotech companies have also tied up with leading global vaccine makers for mass producing the vaccine.
“We hope that a vaccine will come up not only in Russia, but in India too, and that too will provide an opportunity for collaboration,” Mr. Varma told RBC TV in Russia ahead of Independence Day. There is already collaboration between Indian and Russian pharmaceutical companies Mr. Varma noted adding that are watching very closely the advances that Russia has been making in the production of vaccine and “there is a large scope for cooperation between Russia and India.”
India, a leader in the pharma sector, and supplier of low cost vaccines to the whole world, has the capacities to quickly scale up production of any vaccine for quick availability on a large scale at affordable prices to fight the pandemic.
As Russia saw a huge surge in COVID-19 cases, India had supplied more than 90 tonnes of medical supplies to Russia including hydroxychloroquinone.
With inputs from The Hindu
Srinagar: Militants on Saturday shot dead a civilian in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The ultras shot and critically injured Azaad Ahmad Dar at his residence in Dadoora-Kangan area of Pulwama district around 9.40 pm, a police official said.
He said 42-year-old Dar was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to injuries.
It was not immediately known why Dar was targeted by the militants.
ANI
Religious places and places of worship within the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will re-open from August 16, 2020, the J&K government informed
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday announced the Lieutenant Governor’s gold medal for honesty, integrity and meritorious public service for the year 2020.
The officers who have been awarded for the medal include Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Mohit Gera, Anti Corruption Bureau director Anand Jain, Finance Department special secretary Shamim Ahmad Wani, Geology and Mining director Vikas Sharma, Reasi Deputy Commissioner Indu Kanwal Chib, Director Sheep Husbandry, Kashmir, Abdul Salam Mir, and Director Horticulture, Jammu, Ram Savak.
M Y Itoo, director-general Budget, Finance Department; Rajeshwar Singh, senior superintendent of police; Dr Shashi Sudhan Sharma, HoD Department of Micro Biology, GMC, Jammu and Dr Anjum Farhana, HoD Department of Microbiology, GMC, Srinagar are the other nominees.
The award carries a Gold Medal, Rs 51,000 cash, a citation and a certificate, an official spokesperson said.
Srinagar: The University of Kashmir (KU) Saturday said it will conduct the Postgraduate (PG) entrance examination offline in the first week of September.
Top officials at the varsity said they are planning to conduct the entrance test in three headquarters.
The official informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that “In order to maintain the prescriber guidelines of the government, we are planning to hold the entrance test at headquarters of North campus, South campus and main campus of Srinagar.”
He further said, “The exams will be conducted via offline mode.”
Meanwhile, a notification with regard to conduct of PG entrance test was issued by Directorate of Admissions and Competitive Examinations.
“It is notified for information of all candidates who have submitted online applications form and have deposited the requisite entrance test fee within the stipulated date and time for admission to various PG courses, 3-year LLB and 5-year BA LLB courses for session 2020, KU is going to conduct the entrance test of these courses tentatively from the first week of September 2020.”
KU further directed the aspirants to prepare themselves for the upcoming entrance examination and access the official website of KU for further updates.
“The syllabus is already available on the KU official website under the admissions window. Furthermore, the schedule of entrance test will be issued separately,” reads the notification—(KNO)