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  • COVID-19 Resurgence: Outbound passengers violate Covid-19 SOPs at Srinagar Airport

    People need to take responsibility, follow Covid appropriate behaviour on their own, say Airport officials

    Srinagar: Long queues of outbound passengers were seen on Sunday at the Srinagar Airport, violating Covid-19 SOPs after many early flights were cancelled due to low bookings.

    An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that due to less bookings some early flights were cancelled and now airlines are merging the passengers in other airlines which is taking some time.

    He, however, said that after the announcements and men from the Airport Authority and CISF advised people to follow physical distancing and wearing of face masks, people followed the SOPs instantly.

    “People who are visiting the Airport should take the responsibility on their own given the situation. People need to be responsible as everyone is well aware about the situation,” he said.

    He further said that the crowd at Srinagar Airport is all outbound and people are requested to follow the already announced Covid-19 SOPs and guidelines.

    “The manpower deployed at the airport are also vulnerable to get infected with the virus, it is better people follow the SOPs on their own,” he said.

    Notably pictures of passengers violating Covid-19 SOPs at Srinagar Airport had gone viral, after which the Airport authorities made rigourous appeals to the people to follow Covid-19 SOPs—(KNO)

  • India not a fragile country that a poor teacher can prove detrimental to its security concerns: Altaf Bukhari

    Srinagar: Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Sunday termed the expulsion of a government teacher from the services as an unfortunate and an avoidable decision that has deprived a poor family of its livelihood in highly pressing times.

    In a statement issued To Kashmir News Service (KNS) , Bukhari said that it seems that some elements within the system have misled the Lt. Governor on such a sensitive subject which has fueled the level of insecurity and alienation among the people especially the employees working in the government sector.

    He said that it is ironical that the accused teacher was not provided any opportunity to speak or defend himself against the charges leveled against him. Bukhari said that the order smacks of an autocratic tone thus eliminating all privileges enjoyed by a citizen living in the world’s largest democracy having a free and fair judicial set-up in place.

    Apni Party President said that with this order not only the accused teacher has been barred from his rights to a dignified livelihood but his family including small children has been left to starve in most inhumane manner.

    “Our country is the world’s biggest democracy and such a heedless decision, if not taken, would not have let the heavens fall. India is not a fragile country that a poor and hapless teacher, who has already been acquitted by the law of the land, could prove detrimental to its security concerns. So I would fervently appeal to the Lt. Governor to revisit this decision and get the poor hapless teacher reinstated,” Bukhari pleaded.(KNS) 

  • Al-Qaeda has vowed to “Wage War on all Fronts” Against the US Unless it Retreats from the Entire Muslim World

    Arab News

    Al-Qaeda has vowed to “wage war on all fronts” against the US unless it retreats from the entire Muslim world.

    Speaking just days ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the assassination of the group’s former leader Osama bin Laden, two of its operatives told CNN that it is planning a comeback in Afghanistan as the US withdraws. “The Americans are now defeated,” said Al-Qaeda.

    The militant group, now led by Ayman Zawahiri, has largely been eclipsed by Daesh in recent years in terms of attacks carried out and media exposure.

    The presence of US forces in the Middle East has long been seized upon by militant groups — including Al-Qaeda, Daesh and Hezbollah — as a rallying cry for their causes.

    Earlier in April, US President Joe Biden announced that he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan, effectively ending America’s longest-ever war.

    “Bin Laden is dead and Al-Qaeda is degraded in Afghanistan. And it’s time to end the forever war,” he said.

    As part of the withdrawal, the Taliban and the US have agreed in talks that the group will cut ties with Al-Qaeda.

    While its direct physical presence has declined since the death of Bin Laden on May 2, 2011, Zawahiri has overseen a diversification of its role in global jihadism.

    “Under Zawahiri’s stewardship, Al-Qaeda has become increasingly decentralised, with authority resting primarily in the hands of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate leaders,” according to a recent report from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) think tank.

    The US has placed a $25 million bounty for Zawahiri, who features on its most-wanted-terrorist list.

    With inputs from Arab News

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

  • 70 lakh participated in Kumbh mela amid COVID crisis

    As many as 70 lakh people participated in Haridwar’s Kumbh Mela, the mammoth religious congregation which ended Friday after triggering a scare that it might have acted as a coronavirus “super-spreader”.

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    Held over three months in normal circumstances, the Kumbh Mela this time formally begun as late as April 1 due to concerns over COVID-19.

    A huge number of people gathered around Haridwar to take a dip in Ganga. The event was reduced to just one month and scaled down midway due to the raging pandemic.

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    According to reports, about 2,600 devotees tested positive out of the nearly two lakh tests conducted by medical personnel during the mela.

    Three shahi snans took place during the event on April 12, 14 and 27, the last one being reduced to a largely symbolic event.

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    The crowds began petering out after an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the seers to keep their representation in Kumbh symbolic.

  • India Needs Aggressive Lockdown Like Last Year; Night, Weekend Curfew Ineffective: AIIMS Chief

    India needs “aggressive lockdowns” like the one imposed in March last year to contain the ongoing second wave of COVID-19, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria said on Saturday.

    Guleria, according to a report by NDTV, said the country’s health infrastructure is “stretched to the limit” and “aggressive lockdowns” in areas with positivity rates over 10 per cent are needed to contain the wave.

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    India, according to him, had been caught “off guard” by the ferocity with which the virus was spreading.

    Night curfews and weekend lockdowns – such as those enforced by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states – were proving to be ineffectual, he said as per the report.

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    He also said the death of a doctor in Delhi – Dr RK Himthani was one of 12 people who died after Batra Hospital ran out of oxygen – was a personal loss as he had known him since his student days.

    “That (the 12 deaths) drives home the point we need to be aggressive in containing the virus… healthcare infrastructure and workers are stretched to the limit,” Dr Guleria said.

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    “Why is this happening? Because of continuously increasing number of cases… we have to work aggressively to bring this number down. No healthcare system in the world can manage this kind of load. The issue of aggressive containment or lockdown, or whatever, is key,” he stressed.

    Hours earlier Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – whose government is battling positivity rates in excess of 30 per cent – had extended ongoing restrictions by a week.

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    This is the second time Dr Guleria has called for strict lockdowns in high positivity areas.

    The AIIMS chief said the government had been caught off guard, and that a combination of factors were behind the spike in cases – this morning India reported over four lakh new ones in 24 hours.

    “We felt confident because vaccines were coming, and cases were falling… thought Covid won’t be a problem. So, a lot of people ignored Covid behaviour… and did not really factor in infectiousness of the new strains, that it could mutate and spread like wildfire in our population,” he explained.

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    Dr Guleria also pointed out the fallacy in hoping for ‘herd immunity’, saying, “We have this feeling of ‘herd immunity’ without realising that if the virus changes that immunity is not of much use.”

    The flood of new cases every day, he said, meant hospitals had less time to turnaround beds so new patients could be admitted, and doctors had less time to treat every patient.

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    And on the current wave peaking over the next few days and weeks, Dr Guleria said he expected peaks to vary from region to region, pointing to the apparent levelling off in Maharashtra and Delhi.

  • Few weeks’ lockdown in India may break chain of transmission: Top US COVID expert Anthony Fauci

    NEW DELHI: Top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has suggested a lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of the coronavirus as its deadly second wave shows no signs of ebbing.
    Fauci, in an interview, said that another most important thing in the immediate is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, PPEs. He said that looking at the magnitude of the crisis, India should look at putting together a crisis group that would meet and start getting things organised.
    Without naming any government, he said one of the things that should have been recognised that “victory was declared maybe too prematurely”.
    “Well, one of the things you really need to do, to the extent that you can, is shut down temporarily the country, I think is important. If we want to time out and go back to what I said: there is the immediate, the intermediate, and the long range (measures to contain the virus),” said Fauci, who is the chief medical adviser to the Biden administration.
    “I think the most important thing in the immediate is to get oxygen, get supplies, get medication, get PPE, those kinds of things but also, one of the immediate things to do is to essentially call a shutdown of the country,” he added.
    He said that when China had a big explosion of coronavirus cases a year ago, they completely shut down. Fauci said that it is not necessary to shut down for six months, but it can be a temporary one to put an end to the cycle of transmission.
    “So one of the things to be considered is to temporarily shut down. Literally, lock down so that you wind up having less spread. No one likes to lock down the country. Well, that’s a problem when you do it for six months,” he said.
    But just for a few weeks of lockdown could have a significant impact on the dynamics of the outbreak. Some states have imposed a lockdown.
    Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said lockdown should be the “last resort” to deal with the raging pandemic and asked states to convince migrant workers to stay put at their places of work with a guarantee for their lives and livelihood.
    Breaching its all previous records, India on Saturday hit a record daily high with over 4 lakh new infections, while the active cases crossed the 32-lakh mark. The second wave of the coronavirus has been wreaking havoc, infecting lakhs and killing thousands every day for the past few days.
    There have been cases where people have died due to lack of medical facilities, including oxygen. In many cases, families have to arrange oxygen for their patients as they are not able to get admission in hospitals.
    —PTI

  • Covid-19 Spike: Recovery rate in J&K declines from 96% to 82% in one month

    Srinagar: The recovery rate of Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir which once was over 98 percent has now reduced to 82 percent amid a spike in the cases on a daily basis.

    As per the data available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the recovery rate in J&K has declined from 96.54 percent to 82.59 percent in the month of April alone.

    The recovery rate in Kashmir division is 82.08 percent while the recovery rate of Jammu division is 83.38 percent.

    In Kashmir Division, the recovery rate of Srinagar is 79.55 percent, Baramulla has 80.02 percent, Budgam 85.68 percent, Pulwama 85.49 percent, Kupwara 85.29 percent, Anantnag 79.81 percent, Bandipora 91.45 percent, Ganderbal 90.18 percent, Kulgam 71.80 percent and Shopian 87.48 percent.

    In Jammu division, the recovery rate of Jammu district is 80.74 percent, Udhampur has 89.29, Rajouri 80.35 percent, Doda 91.11 percent, Kuthua 87.18 percent, Samba 78.74 percent, Kishtwar 95.06 percent, Poonch 87.41 percent, Ramban 87.31 percent and Reasi 78.83 percent.

    J&K is witnessing a steep surge in positive cases while deaths are also increasing with each passing day.

    Notably, the active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are around 30,000 while as in first wave the highest active positive cases in J&K were around 22,000—(KNO)

  • COVID-19 Resurgence: Group of volunteers start #SOSJK campaign to help people in need

    Jammu: At the time Jammu and Kashmir is facing the second wave of COVID-19, a group of people in Jammu and Kashmir has started “SOS JK”—to reach people through social media in the valley for any medical help.

    A group is managed by about 10 people with more than 200 volunteers including journalists, artists, social activists, doctors, lawyers, politicians and others.

    The group has got wide support from the politicians including former chief minister Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and various other officials from the government.

    While sharing a link, Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattoo tweeted, “If you are a COVID Fighter, If you have defeated Corona, come forward & help others to win their battles against this Virus with your life saving #Plasma. Together we can!

    “Every Plasma donor is a Life Saver” Fill up the link below & be a saviour.#SOSJK.(sic).”

    Talking exclusively to KNO, Khushboo Mattoo said, “We are trying to create a one-stop-shop for all verified information and databases regarding COVID crises like hospital beds, ambulances, plasma or even medicines.”

    “We are reaching out to people through social media who are stuck at home because their whole family is positive, so they can’t go out for food. We are also going to undertake a major drive for masks and sanitizer distribution among people,” she said.

    Meanwhile, various verified social media accounts trend the hashtag #SOSJK and volunteers of the group try to reach out to people who require plasma or other COVID related help.

    “We are staring at a complete collapse of our health system. We have seen the horrifying visuals of people dying on roads, while waiting for a hospital bed, in Delhi. But the silver lining in J&K is that we still have a precious week or so, left. That is why we at #SOSJK decided to get together & prepare for it before the Tsunami hits us. We collect verified data on Oxygen, Plasma and Bed availability & put it across to those desperately looking for it. We are a help desk for Covid patients & their families,” Ifra Jan said.

    She also said, “You however will not need us if you wear a mask, meet people only in open/well ventilated spaces. But we need your support irrespectively. Please donate plasma if you’re a recovered Corona patient & send to us verified information on Oxygen availability in your area. Together, we shall overcome. We can be reached on twitter by using the hashtag #SOSJK.”

    One of the core member of #SOSJK Mohit Bhan said, “We have formed an apolitical group of volunteers preparing a database. Anyone from J&K looking for Oxygen cylinders, Hospital beds, Ambulances, Plasma etc, or are aware of chemists , distributors selling Oxygen and meds or plasma donors, please tag message or call us at +918800002158.”

    J&K records 2,283 deaths so far while more than 176,083 cases have been recorded till Friday in which 28,359 are active—(KNO)

  • Covid Bomb ‘explodes’ in J&K: 47 dead, 3832 new positive cases

    Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Union territory on Saturday witnessed 47 deaths due to Covid pandemic while as 3,832 fresh positive cases were also reported, taking the number of total active cases in the UT to 28359.

    The 47 deaths includes a retired doctor, who was tested positive a few days ago. 

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    With 47 more deaths, the death toll in the UT has reached to 2,330 and the active cases continue to increase and the recovery rate decreases with each passing day. 3,832 fresh positive cases reported on Saturday pushed the tally of positive cases to 179,915. Today figure of mortality and fresh positive cases is highest ever since the outbreak of pandemic in J&K last year.

    Of the exact number of 179,915 cases, 109,160 are from Kashmir and 70,755 from Jammu division. Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that among 3,832 new cases, 2,601 belong to Kashmir division while as 1,231 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir division have reached to 109,160 including 88,578 recoveries and 1,411 deaths while as total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 70,755 including 58,664 recoveries and 919 deaths.

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    The officials said that the total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 39,343 including 19,171from Kashmir division and 11,172 from Jammu division.

    With 1,801 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 147,242 which is 81.84 percent of the total cases.

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    “Cases tested positive in J&K include 1,084 from Srinagar, 309 from Baramulla, 291 from Budgam, 70 from Pulwama, 122 from Kupwara, 286 from Anantnag, 77 from Bandipora, 94 from Ganderbal, 221 from Kulgam and 47;from Shopian in Kashmir division while as 1,231 from Jammu division include 504 from Jammu, 141 from Udhampur, 96 from Rajouri, 42 from Doda, 120 from Kathua, 137 from Samba, 15 from Kishtwar, 64 from Poonch, 60 from Ramban and 52 from Reasi,” officials disclosed.

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    Out of 47 deaths reported today, 13 died in GMC Jammu, 03 in GMC Rajouri, 02 in GMC Kathua, 01 in AKG Kathua, 04 in ASCOMS, 01 in CD Hosp Jmu, 01 in CHC Bhaderwah, 01 in PGI Chandigarh, 01 in DH Udhampur, 01 in CHC Ramnagar, 05 in Home (Brought Dead), 02 in JLNM Sgr, 05 in SKIMS Soura, 05 in SMHS, 01 in CHC Sopore, 01 in GMC Anantnag.

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    As per officials figures, 43,522 positive cases including 546 deaths and 35,104 recoveries are from Srinagar, 13,268 including 199 deaths and 10,585 recoveries are from Baramulla, 10,912 including 9,171 recoveries and 132 deaths are from Budgam, 7,233 including 6,159 recoveries and 101 deaths are from Pulwama, 7,189 including 102 deaths and 6,078 recoveries are from Kupwara, 7,285 including 5,627 recoveries and 111 deaths are from Anantnag, 5,531 cases including 5,015 and 64 deaths are from Bandipora, 5,536 including 4,960 recoveries and 50 deaths are from Ganderbal, 4,577 including 3,177 recoveries and 64 deaths are from Kulgam and 3,107 including 2,702:recoveries and 42 deaths are from Shopian.

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    In Jammu division, 35,123 including 28,426 recoveries and 496 deaths are from Jammu district, 6,193 including 5,433 recoveries and 67 deaths are from Udhampur, 4,973 including 3,926 recoveries and 66 deaths are from Rajouri, 3,846 including 3,474 recoveries and 67 deaths are from Doda, 4,652 including 3,986 recoveries and 65 deaths are from Kathua, 3,778 including 2,867 recoveries and 54 deaths are from Samba, 2,974 including 2,813 recoveries and 22 deaths are from Kishtwar, 3,020 including 2,587 recoveries and 37 deaths are from Poonch, 2,686 including 2,293 recoveries and 26 deaths are from Ramban and 3,510 including 2,859 recoveries and 19 deaths are from Reasi.

    As per the daily information bulletin 1,814,821 persons in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation while 95,997 persons have been kept under home quarantine besides that 30,343 persons are in isolation.

    According to the bulletin, 1,565,155 persons have completed surveillance period and 120,996 persons are under home surveillance besides that so far results of 7,312,926 samples are available. Out of 7,312,926 the number of samples tested negative stands at 7,133,011 while as 179,915 have tested positive, among them 30,343 persons are active, 147,242 persons have recovered and 2,330 persons have died—(KNO)

  • Lockdown in 4 Districts is being extended till Thursday: DIPR-J&K

    The Corona Curfew ending at 7 am on Monday, 3 May 2021 stands extended till 7 am on Thursday, 6 May 2021 in the 4 districts of Srinagar, Baramulla, Budgam and Jammu.