Category: Union Territory

They had participated in a religious event together with a person from Sgr who tested positive yesterday, Toll 8 in Kashmir

Srinagar, March 25 (KNO): A day after three persons including a religious preacher of Tableegi Jamaat was tested positive for Covid-19, the J&K government on Wednesday said that four more persons have been tested positive and all of them are from Bandipora district.

In his tweet, J&K Government’s spokesman Rohit Kansal said that four more persons, all from Bandipora, tested positive today. “Preliminary findings suggest that they were in close contact of Srinagar patient who tested positive yesterday.

All five reported to have participated together in a religious event,” Kansal tweet.

With the four more fresh cases, the total positive cases in Kashmir, as per wire service — Kashmir News Observer (KNO) has reached to eight

— (KNO)

Srinagar, Mar 25, KNT: Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister who was released after eight months on March 24, has finally started offering his own experience about how the people should manage their lives in the quarantine.

He has written a series of tweets and these getting viral on social media.

In the first tweet, he said the response to his earlier tweet has encouraged him to share “a bit of my own experience”.

“It will probably sound rather self-evident but it really helped me over the months of solitary detention,” he wrote.

Omar wants people to establish a routine and try to stick to it, while in quarantine. “In all the months I was in HNSJ (Hari Niwas Sub-Jail) I stuck to a routine as though it were carved in stone. The routine gave me a sense of purpose & stopped me feeling aimless or lost,” the tweets read.

“I woke up & went to bed around the same time EVERY DAY. No lazy Sunday morning lie-ins for me. Get up & get ready. Having nowhere to go is no reason to spend all day in your nightsuit. I lived in track pants but I never slept in them or sat around in my PJs,” he wrote in another tweet.

“Fix your meal times & stick to them. I ate my meals on my own. Put it down to the habit of boarding school & my need for structure For me it was breakfast at 8:30, lunch at 2 & dinner at 7:30 with a mug of coffee at 12 (after the doctor had checked my BP) & evening tea at 6,” was the routine of Omar in the sub-jail for all these months.
Omar said the exercise is the only thing that is very important.

He wrote in his tweet: “Exercise, exercise, exercise. I can’t emphasise this point enough. I was fortunate to have space & access to the grounds in HNSJ to get outside but even when the weather didn’t permit I exercised indoors – walking in the corridor, up & down the stairs or just endless burpees.”

For the exercise, he had some help available with him. He wrote: “I used a couple of apps which were really helpful because I had workouts downloaded on them earlier. Nike Training Club & Fitbod (both on iOS & probably Android as well) were great for workouts of varying intensity & equipment levels.”

Islamic Republic alleges French medical charity MSF staff would serve as ‘spies’ if deployed on the ground in Iran.

ALJAZEERA

Iran ruled out “foreign” help on the ground to deal with the coronavirus pandemic after an offer from a France-based medical charity, as the country’s death toll from the contagion neared 2,000.

“Due to Iran’s national mobilisation against the virus and the full use of the medical capacity of the armed forces, it is not necessary for now for hospital beds to be set up by foreign forces, and their presence is ruled out,” Alireza Vahabzadeh, adviser to Iran’s health minister, said on Tuesday.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday it planned to send a nine-member team and equipment to set up a 50-bed hospital, stirring opposition from ultra-conservative circles in the Islamic Republic who alleged MSF staff would serve as “spies”.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour earlier said a record 1,762 new cases were confirmed in Iran over the past 24 hours with 24,811 people infected.

He announced 122 new deaths from the virus, raising the official toll to 1,934 in one of the world’s worst-hit countries.

MSF said on Tuesday it did not understand a decision by Iranian authorities to cancel a mission it had prearranged to set up a facility to fight coronavirus in Isfahan.

“We are surprised to learn that the deployment of our treatment unity is cancelled,” Michel-Olivier Lacharite, who is in charge of Medecins Sans Frontieres crisis response team, said in a statement.

He said the group had been given prior approval and were ready to set up the 50-bed unit at the end of the week. He said they were still ready to deploy on Iran or elsewhere on the region.

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

Srinagar: As it has been announced by the government that the two month rations will be provided to BPL people in wake of covid-19, Aash Kashmir based NGO has started to do its bit in this cause.
Aash chairpersons Qurat ul-ainn Masoodi said that our NGO will work side by side with the administration in providing basic necessities to people belonging from BPL so that they will stay at home and save themselves and others from this deadly virus.
In this context Ms Masoodi said that in khan sahib budgam Aash is coming forward and has decided to buy the ration for BPL community and participate in this noble cause. This process has already been started, as Aash is crediting the money in the bank accounts of people coming from BPL section. Apart from khan sahib budgam Aash is trying to cover other areas so that no one is left without help.
Thus is not the first time Aash is coming forward for volunteering in such causes. Previously Aash has also worked in floods of 2014, to provide people with much needed help. Moreover Aash has been arranging mass marriage of girls coming from the weaker sections of society and is already taking care of 50 orphan children in the above mentioned area.

6 passengers including 4 Nepali labourers quarantined

Qazigund, Mar 25, KNT: At least 1772 passengers including non-local labourers have been screened at Lower Munda in Qazigund area among which six with Coronavirus symptoms were quarantined.
Official sources told KNT that among those who were quarantined at Emergency Hospital at Qazigund include 4 Nepal labourers and two Kashmiris.

A police official said that not a single person will be allowed to enter into Valley. He said that Banihal Tunnel has been closed and people are being advised to stay where they are, and don’t travel on Srinagar Jammu Highway.

Meanwhile, Government is looking for those who are concealing travel history. Police have received inputs from various sources that dozens of people mostly returning from abroad have gone into hiding without any screening.

Police sources said that last week several people returned from Saudi Arabia and without screening are staying at home. Sources added that a three couples, all the residents of Arampora Qamarwari after returning from Saudi Arabia went straight to home and have not been quarantined or screened.

Similarly, sources said that a man from Hamdaniya Colony Sector 6 Bemina has arrived from Thailand and without screening is staying at home.

Similarly, a lady from Guzarbal Qamarwari who along with her sister arrived from Saudi Arabia, without any screening is staying at home. This sibling returned to Valley on March 18.

Sources told KNT that a man from Bazar Mohalla, Gund Hasi Bhat Srinagar returned from Dubai yesterday and without undergoing any medical check-up is staying at home.

Locals from Kralpora Sultan Mohalla in Chadoora informed that a man after staying in various States of India has also returned home without any screening.

“The number of people who are staying at home and concealing travel history is very large. We are trying to identify them and they will be quarantined,” said an official to KNT.

Business Standard

Coronavirus LIVE updates: Even as India’s 1.3 billion citizens go into a 21-day lockdown, the country’s total number of cases rose to 562 on Wednesday, with Tamil Nadu reporting the death of a 54-year-old coronavirus patient. On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to stall the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed 9 lives in India. The restrictions came into force at midnight and will be in force for 21 days. The new measures follow a sharp increase in cases in recent days. India, which has a population of 1.3 billion, joins a growing list of countries that have imposed similar measures.

“To save India, to save its every citizen, you, your family… every street, every neighbourhood is being put under lockdown,” Modi said in a televised speech.

Modi warned that if India does not “handle these 21 days well, then our country… will go backwards by 21 years”.

“This is a curfew,” he said. “We will have to pay the economic cost of this but it is for your safety.”

He appealed for people not to panic and assured the essential services will carry on as usual – but crowds quickly mobbed stores in the Delhi and other cities.

Covid-19 has affected 421,413 people globally and 18,810 people have died from it across the world.

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

Srinagar, March 25: Grand Mufti Of Jammu And Kashmir
Mufti Nasir-Ul-Islam today asked the people to strictly adhere to health advisory of government and offer obligatory prayers with the association of two to three young people only.

He in his message to people of J&K said, ” As events are unfolding extremely grim and difficult situation expected, handful of ventilators, inefficient testing facilities & over burdened medical staff are the biggest concern in Jammu and kashmir. Keeping in view of this I request Imams, Muazins to offer obligatory prayers with association of two to three young people living in the neighbourhood of mosque . while as other people should pray at home and adhere strictly to health advisory.”
He added, “I request you to pray hand folded seeking mercy of Allah & strength to our doctors & medical staff to serve humanity.pl fallow all safety measures under present circumstances. I request all ulamas khateebs and Imams to implement it in letter and sprit.” (KNS)

Jahangeer Ganaie

Srinagar, March 24 (KNO): In wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, the students from  Kashmir stranded in Bangladesh and Pakistan demanded immediate evacuation.

According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the colleges and universities in Bangladesh and Pakistan have been shut and all the students have been asked to go home and they want to return home too due to fear and apprehension, the students said.

A student stuck in Bangladesh  told KNO over phone that their tickets from kolkata to Delhi were also confirmed but still authorities are not allowing them to move ahead.

Around a group of 70 Kashmiri students are stuck here from last 12 hours at Benapole border and there is nothing to drink or eat, but nobody cares.

“We cannot go back now to Bangladesh as we have already reached the Kolkata border,” he said.

Students stranded in Bangladesh and Pakistan have appealed to External Affairs Minister to intervene so that they can go home. They have also urged Jammu and Kashmir administration to intervene into the matter and ensure their safe return.

Meanwhile, officials in Jammu and Kashmir stated that all the borders have been sealed in view of Coronavirus outbreak and it is very difficult to help those stranded at the moment—(KNO)

The order comes just a day before the hearing in the apex court.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday welcomed the decision of releasing former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from the “unconstitutional detention” and said “it is time restore the rights of people of the Jammu and Kashmir too.”

“So happy to learn that Omar Abdullah’s unconstitutional and undemocratic detention has been revoked at last. Its about time the union government restores democratic and constitutional rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

Her remarks came after the Jammu and Kashmir government revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) of former chief minister and ended his detention on Tuesday more than seven months after he and two other former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained ahead of the revocation of Article 370 on August 5 2019.

“Government issues orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah,” Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.

The order comes just a day before the hearing in the apex court.

Omar Abdullah was among the 50 odd politicians who were kept under ‘preventive detention’ after the revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (UTs) on August 5, 2019.

He and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with PSA on February 7 after being detained under preventive detention since August 5, 2019.

The PSA was slapped on former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on September 16, 2019, after 42 days of preventive detention.

A few days before the Article 370 move by the Centre, Farooq Abdullah had presided over a meeting of all parties in Kashmir in which Omar also participated and had adopted a declaration – Gupkar declaration – that they will not accept any tinkering with Article 370.