Category: Union Territory

Users will receive incoming calls says Jio; Airtel and Vodafone extends benefit to about 120 mn low income customers till the end of the lockdown

PTI

Three private operators — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — on Friday announced extension of validity of packs for certain users. While Jio said that its users will receive incoming calls, Airtel and Vodafone extended the benefit to about 120 million low income customers till the end of the lockdown on May 3.

“This will not only benefit low-income users but also benefit everyone who is unable to do a recharge during these challenging times,” Reliance Jio said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel, which had earlier announced an extension of validity along with additional ₹10 talktime for about 80 million customers representing all under-privileged customers on its Network, on Friday said many of these users have been able to recharge through several channels activated by Airtel.

“However, close to 30 million such customers have still not been able to recharge their pre-paid mobile accounts. Keeping in mind their connectivity needs, Airtel is extending the validity of these accounts till May 3, 2020. All these customers will now be able to receive incoming calls on their Airtel mobile numbers even after the validity of their plan is exhausted,” it said.

‘Connectivity at troubled times’

Likewise, Vodafone Idea in a statement said that to ensure that “low income, prepaid customers using feature phones” remain connected amidst these troubled times, it is extending incoming services for these users till May 3, 2020.

“This free of cost extension of incoming service validity will enable millions of feature phone users of both Vodafone and Idea to continue to receive incoming calls, even if the validity of their plan expires earlier,” it explained.

Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said, In order to ensure that consumers stay connected during this extended lock down, we are extending the incoming service validity of 90 mn consumers till May 3rd. This would effectively mean that these consumers can use their phones for receiving incoming calls unhindered.”

Srinagar: Dismissing the allegations of the poor not having food, the UT Government declared on Friday that “no one is sleeping hungry in J&K”.

Farooq Khan, Adviser to the L-G, said, “There is not even a single person in J&K going to bed without food.” He was responding to the charges that many people across J&K were not having foodgrains to survive, and many were suffering from hunger.

These charges have been levelled by slum-dwellers and unorganised sector workers. They alleged that they were not in a position to survive as they were not having ration to feed their families. These charges are more audible in the suburban and rural areas where the NGOs have not been able to reach so far.

The government claimed that it had given two months’ advance ration to the ration card holders and also taken care of the construction workers and others who did not figure in the government records.

‘Need to see how virus behaves after lockdown’

Srinagar: Doctor Pervez Koul, head of Pulmonary and internal medicine at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, on Friday said that battle against the Covid-19 is going to be a long haul and it is to be seen how Coronavirus behaves after lockdown.

“So far Kashmir has been able to contain the deadly novel Coronavirus and lockdown has played a great role to prevent the spread of the disease, but real situation would be clear once the lockdown is over,”Dr Koul told news agency KINS.

Koul said that wearing mask is very important at this juncture. “There is a unanimous consensus that everybody should wear a mask. A person will be benefited for sure, if he or she wears a mask,” he said.

He said that a commoner should not get perturbed or be forced to buy masks worth RS 20 every day.

“Anybody can wear a mask and re-use it after washing it properly with soap or a detergent and then air-dry the same. If a person has five masks, after five days, he or she can re-use them after proper wash,” he said.

“Health experts, doctors and even para-medics too have been given five N-95 masks and directions for use are same which is to re-use the one after every five days after washing it properly.”

Asked about in which stage of Covid-19 Kashmir had entered at present, Dr Koul, who is an expert in pulmonary medicine, Rheumatology, and infectious diseases, said that so far Kashmir has been able to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“And that’s because of the lockdown. It’s a country wide lockdown and so far we have been able to contain the spread of the virus. But once the lockdown would end, we will get the real picture of the virus. We will have to closely watch the dynamics of the virus as to which way it will go once the lockdown is over,” Dr Koul said.
To a query, if things would be normal after May 3, he said that the fight against Covid-19 is not so easy. “May God prove me wrong, but we are preparing for a long haul. It is not going to end tomorrow,” he said.

On whether there is any evidence of community transmission in Kashmir, Dr Koul said that there have been some cases who don’t have travel history or have either forgotten whether they had got in touch with some contacts of Covid- positive cases. “This signifies there is a community transmission, but it is not that gory yet. As I stated, we need to see which way virus would behave after lockdown, we would also be able to judge whether there is a community transmission,” he said.

He, however, said that the health care officials were more vulnerable to getting exposed to the virus. “I have seen many doctors have died after catching the virus across the globe. Even in United States, there is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). They are getting it from wherever it is possible and yet there is a shortage. In Kashmir, we too have limited PPEs, but there is a global shortage and we can’t complain about it,” he said. (KINS)

Authorities flummoxed how he managed to reach Srinagar from red zone of Jammu

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police has registered First Information report (FIR) against Kashmir Valley’s top businessman Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya for defying prohibitory orders imposed by the government to prevent spread of deadly coronavirus.

Highly placed sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that J&K police has registered FIR against Chaya for defying restrictions imposed in Bathindi which has been declared as red zone by the authorities.

“An FIR number 109 has been registered under section 188 Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of Epidemics Diseases Act against Chaya for defying restrictions,” the sources disclosed, adding that Chaya managed to reach his Zakura residence after violating the prohibitory orders.

According to sources, after the matter came into knowledge of Jammu police, they alerted higher-ups in J&K police as well as civil administration and police in Kashmir.

Sources disclosed that police and government are flummoxed over how he managed to reach Srinagar despite lockdown being imposed in J&K as part of the nationwide shutdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to control spread of the COVID-19.

“ As intimated by Station House Officer Police Station Trikuta Nagar vide his signal dated 17.4.2020 that one person namely Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya who was staying at Farooq Abdullah enclave Bathindi Jammu has deliberately left for Srinagar along with other persons from red zone Srinagar,” reads a document in possession of KNO.

The Jammu Police has requested authorities in Kashmir Valley to send a team of medical doctors to his residence for immediate screening –(KNO)

SHOPIAN, April 17 : Five more persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir on Friday, taking the total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 333.

An official told ANH that five more persons from Heerpora area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district have been tested positive for CoronaVirus having contact history with COVID19 patients, earlier in the day 52 year old lady and two youths had tested positive for deadly novel #coronavirus.

With the surge in the new cases, the total tally of infected persons in the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from novel CoronaVirus reached 333, morethan 30 patients have been discharged after recovering from deadly infection.

It is pertinent to mention that 05 people have died from CoronaVirus, On 17th April( Today) an elderly man from Sopore died at GMC Bemina Srinagar, On 8th April, a 61 year old lady from Udhampur died at GMC Jammu. On 7 April, a 54 year old man from Bandipora died at SMHS Srinagar.

On 29 March, a 50 year old man from form Tangmarg area died at CD hospital. On 25th March, a 65 year old Tableegi preacher from Hyderpora died at CD hospital.(ANH)

Amid lockdown, many arrested for violating Govt orders

Srinagar: Amid lockdown, the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory continued to witness closure of all the Masjids and shrines on third consecutive Friday in wake of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak.

No large congregation was witnessed at any Masjid or shrine across Jammu and Kashmir with all the religious places remaining locked for fourth straight week, witnesses told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

All the religious places across the Union Territory including Dargah Hazratbal and historic Jamia Masjid in Old City area of Nowhatta remained locked throughout the day.

The religious places remained closed amid the continuous lockdown across the Union Territory for the 25th straight day today with police and paramilitary troopers remaining deployed on the roads here.

The roads as per the witnesses were sealed by the forces by erecting concertina wires, which halted the vehicular as well as pedestrians’ movement throughout the day.

Besides, officials said that those who violated the government’s prohibitory orders issued under section 144 CrPC were booked by the police throughout the day.

In north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, 16 persons were arrested for violating the government orders. “Before being arrested, a minor stone pelting incident also took place in Ganistan area of Bandipora following which a mild force was used to disperse them,” police officials said.

They said after the incident, 16 persons were arrested for violating the government orders, adding that nine shops were also sealed in the distrct for violating the government orders.

In South Kashmir, Kulgam police has arrested 14 violators and seized two vehicles for defying prohibitory orders.

In Police Station Qazigund, two persons were arrested who were found defying prohibitory orders and seized two vehicles bearing registration number JK03H-6131 and JK01F-5370, police said, adding that a case under FIR number 93/2020 under section 188,269 IPC has been registered .

In Police Station Kulgam, at least five violators were arrested and a case under FIR number 65/2020 under section 188,269 IPC has been registered.

In Police Station Qaimoh, seven violators were arrested and a case under FIR number 17/2020 under section 188,269 IPC has been registered – (KNO)

Srinagar: In view of the prevailing health situation because of outbreak of COVID-19, the District Magistrate Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary has ordered extension of restrictions enforced under order issued on March 25 in the district till May 03.

Issuing an order under Section 144 of CrPC the DM has ordered that there shall be complete restrictions on public movement and operation of business and other establishments in the district all through this extended period.

The order states that in view of the situation in the district with various areas notified as COVID-19 containment or red zones which add up to large part of the district it is imperative that the ongoing restrictions remain enforced until required.

It states that the order is in line with the revised lockdown guidelines in the MHA Government of India order issued on April 15 which excludes areas notified as COVID-19 containment zones from exemptions that it allows after April 20.

It states that the order is also as per instructions of the J&K State Executive Committee (SEC) which has issued a detailed SOP to follow in the COVID-19 red zones.

The order states that as in the past the essential services will be allowed to move with movement passes being issued to them based as per requirement. It instructs heads of departments to ensure no misuse use of passes issued to their staff for the purpose of delivering services.

It states that while healthcare officers and frontline workers associated with COVID-19 containment efforts in the district have been provided passes their movement as and when required will be allowed on production of valid IDs along with duty slips issued to them by their concerned HODs.

The order states that all movement passes issued from the office of the District Magistrate from March 20 will continue to remain valid till May 3.

Violations of instructions as given in this order will attract strict proceedings and action under Section 188 of IPC and Section 51 of NDMA