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  • Article 370 has gone 370 metre down the earth, thode who understand reality, having started leaving Gupkar Gang: Altaf Thakur

    Srinagar: While reacting on the resignation of Sajad Gani lone from PAGD, BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur on Tuesday said the those who have understood the reality that article 370 won’t come back have started leaving Gang one by one.

    He said that Gupkar Gang was a party of opportunists based on lies and those who formed the Gang, sought and got votes with a promise that they will get back Article 370 but they later realized that this was impossible.

    He said that the reality is that article 370 has gone 370 meters down the earth and truth is that dead don’t return.

    He also added that those who have understood this reality, have started leaving the Gang one by none and no more lies now. (PTK)

  • Imran Khan angry over reports that Arnab Goswami knew about Balakot surgical strike

    According to the WhatsApp chat transcript, Goswami texted Dasgupta three days before the Feb. 26, 2019 airstrike, saying “something big will happen” and “On Pakistan the government is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated.”

    By: AP

    Islamabad: Pakistan’s prime minister reacted angrily Monday to media reports of a text exchange between an Indian TV anchor and a former media industry executive that suggests a 2019 Indian airstrike inside Pakistan was designed to boost Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chances for re-election.

    Imran Khan took to Twitter to respond to Indian media reports of an exchange on the WhatsApp messaging service between popular Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, the former head of a TV rating company.

    The purported text exchange three days before the airstrike indicates Goswami had prior knowledge of the attack and that it was designed to drum up support for Modi in his re-election bid in pending parliamentary elections.

    Arnab Goswami, a firebrand anchor who is Indian Republic TV’s co-owner and editor in chief, is known for supporting Modi and his nationalist policies.

    transcript, Goswami texted Dasgupta three days before the February 26, 2019 airstrike, saying “something big will happen” and “On Pakistan the government is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated.”

    Dasgupta tells Goswami the attack on Pakistan would give Modi a “sweeping majority” in the upcoming general election. Months later, Modi surged to a landslide victory in May 2019, propelling his Hindu nationalist party to back-to-back majorities in parliament.

    Transcripts of the purported text exchange seen by The Associated Press were filed by Mumbai police as part of a supplementary charge sheet in a different case relating to manipulation of TV ratings.

    Neither Dasgupta nor Goswami was available for comment Monday. But Goswami’s Republic TV issued a statement alleging the Pakistani government was conspiring against his station.

    The February 2019 airstrike on Pakistan followed a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir that month that killed more than 40 Indian soldiers. India blamed Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility.

    Although Pakistan detained Jaish-e-Mohammed’s leaders, Modi’s government launched a nighttime airstrike on the Pakistani town of Balakot, saying it hit a militant camp. Pakistan said Indian warplanes dropped bombs in a forested area, causing no casualties.

    Pakistan responded by shooting down an Indian warplane in Kashmir and capturing its pilot, who was later released to ease tensions between the neighboring countries.

    Khan alleged in a speech at the U.N. in 2019 that Modi used the airstrike “for domestic electoral gains.”

    On Monday, Khan in a series of tweets urged the world community to “stop India from its reckless, militarist agenda before the Modi govt’s brinkmanship pushes our region into a conflict it cannot control.”

    “The latest revelations from (a) communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi govt & Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in utter disregard for the consequences of destabilizing the entire region,” he said.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan have routinely accused each other of unprovoked attacks along the tense Kashmir frontier in violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement. Kashmir is split between the nuclear-armed rivals, and both claim it in its entirety. They have fought two wars over the region since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

    The text exchange controversy also drew criticism from India’s opposition, which demanded answers from Modi.

    The opposition Congress Party said the text exchange between the two men raised serious questions about India’s national security. “(Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party) govt betrayed our nation by leaking national security information to a so-called journalist,” the party tweeted Monday.

    Shashi Tharoor, a Congress Party lawmaker, said Sunday the “leaking of military secrets to a TV channel for its commercial purposes” required a “serious inquiry” by the Modi government. “We all expect it won’t, given the evidence of its complicity in the betrayals revealed,” Tharoor wrote on Twitter.

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

  • Secret Information To Journalist A ‘Criminal Act’: Rahul Gandhi On Arnab Goswami’s Chats

    New Delhi: Providing official secret information to a journalist is a ‘criminal act’ and both the giver and the receiver will have to go to jail, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday referring to the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami doing the rounds of social media.

    Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said only five people — Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Home Minister, Air Force chief and National Security Advisor — were privy to the information, referring to allegations that the reported chats showed Goswami being privy to the Balakot air strikes beforehand.

    ‘Information was with 4-5 people. In such missions, information is not given to the pilot, it was with the Air Chief, Prime Minister, Home Minister, Defence Minister and NSA. Out of these five people, one has given information to this person. This is a criminal act. We will have to find out who did it, and both (the giver and the receiver) will have to go to jail,’ he said.

    ‘This process should start, but this process will not start because the prime minister may have given the information,’ he alleged.

    Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said, ‘The law will take its own course, but I have an observation. This was top-secret information, this was not provided to anybody else.’ ‘Giving official secret information to a journalist is a criminal act, both on the part of the person who accepted it and on the part of the person who gave it,’ he said.

    These people call themselves patriots, but there is nothing patriotic about putting the Air Force at risk, the Congress leader said.

    He said there is nothing patriotic about taking political advantage over the strikes.

    ‘If Mr Arnab Goswami knows, if it is on his WhatsApp, I assume the Pakistanis also know it. It is not a very big jump. It is a criminal act and that investigation should begin,’ Gandhi said.

    Referring to the contents of the purported chats, Gandhi said the distressing thing is that after the 2019 Pulwama attack, the journalist said that ‘this is good for us’.

    ‘This is a reflection of the mind of the prime minister that it is good that 40 of our people have been killed and we will win the elections,’ he alleged.

    On February 26, 2019, India had launched airstrikes on what was said to be JeM’s training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot. (PTI)

  • Morphed ‘obscene videos’ a new worry for WhatsApp users in valley

    Srinagar: After suffering the worst blackout due to updated privacy policy, the social media platform Morphed ‘obscene videos’ a new worry for WhatsApp users in valley WhatsApp is worrying the youth in the Valley after several morphed videos are surfacing on the application with questionable content from unknown users.

    The aggrieved youth in Kashmir claim that they received morphed questionable content on Watsapp video call depicting them in a compromising a position with an unknown girl.

    Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), several affected WhatsApp users said that they have received an obscene video from unknown numbers who are demanding money from them, and in case of failing they threatened to upload the video on social media and make it viral.

    Amir Ahmad (name changed), from North Kashmir, told KNO that a few days back one of his native friends rang up and verified from him of having shared any video or engaged in an absence scene with any girl.

    “I clearly said no, and was very much confident since there was nothing as such but just at the moment I was shell shocked to know he has received an obscene video from an unknown Facebook messenger user who threatened to make it viral,” he said.

    “Everything around me froze for a moment since I couldn’t differentiate between my real face and the morphed obscene video,” he said. “The user then started to intimidate and threaten me. He repeatedly demanded money and warned to make it viral in case I fail to pay.”

    Several more affected youth in south Kashmir requesting anonymity, are afraid that viral videos can land them in a trouble.

    “We received WhatsApp calls from unknown numbers and the moment we picked up the call, it got disconnected. Immediately after the drop call, the user sent a video of me with a girl in a compromising position,” they said.

    One of the aggrieved users from the border district of Kupwara said that he approached a police post to file a complained about the matter, where he was told already two such complaints have been received.

    “I was directed to visit the cyber police station in Srinagar with a complaint,” he said.

    The users said that the unknown calls have left them shell shocked, causing them mental stress.

    “There is always a social threat to such content. It can leave an individual in a worrying situation. We have sisters back home,” they said.

    The aggrieved users have demanded cyber police Kashmir to investigate the matter at the earliest—(KNO)

  • Covid-19 | People with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ Blood Groups are at a Higher Risk: Report

    Srinagar: A Nationwide survey conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in it nearly 40 institutes revealed that the vegetarians and smokers are at a lesser risk of contracting Covid-19 due to low seropositivity, as per media reports.

    The survey also found that those with blood group ‘O’ may be less susceptible to the infection, while people with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ blood groups were at a higher risk.

    In order to assess the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2,the CSIR took samples of 10,427 adult individuals working in its laboratories or institutions and their family members on the basis of voluntary participation.

    The CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi study recorded that of the 10,427 individuals, 1,058 (10.14 percent) had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

    In July last year, the Ministry of Health and Union reported that smokers were more prone to corona virus as smoking increasing chances of virus transmission from hand to mouth. They even cautioned about consuming tobacco as it may increase the risk of respiratory infections.

    However, the new study suggested that the smokers are less vulnerable to the harmful corona virus despite being a respiratory disease. It also suggested that smoking may be protective against it.

    Follow up on 346 seropositive individuals among the samples after three months revealed ‘stable’ to ‘higher’ antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2, but declining plasma activity for neutralizing the virus, Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist at IGIB and one of the co-authors of the paper said.

    However, both the normal antibody as well as the neutralising antibody were much above the required threshold, he said.

    repeat sampling of 35 individuals, at six months, revealed declining antibody levels while the neutralising antibody remained stable compared to three months.

    “Our finding that smokers are less likely to be seropositive is the first report from the general population and part of growing evidence that despite COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective,” the study said.

    The study found that higher seropositivity was found for those using public transport and with occupational responsibilities such as security, housekeeping personnel, non-smokers, and non-vegetarians.”

    “Use of private transport, lower-exposure occupations, smoking, vegetarianism, and ‘A’ or ‘O’ blood groups appeared to be protective, using seropositivity as a surrogate for infection,” the paper added. (PTK)

  • J-K Weather Update: Another spell of snowfall from Jan 23

    Srinagar: Amid freezing night temperature across Kashmir, the weatherman predicted fresh snowfall across Jammu and Kashmir in between January 23-24, saying that there is a forecast of cold days and warm nights in coming days.

    According to the Director Meteorological department (MeT), Sonum Lotus said that there is a possibility of light to moderate snowfall across J&K for two days from Jan 23.

    He said that plains as well as the higher reaches of J&K would likely receive snowfall on January 23 and 24. Lotus further said that the intensity of the upcoming two-day wet spell will be weaker than the previous wet spell across J&K and Ladakh.

    About dip in the night temperature, Lotus said that as per the forecast, there will be cold days and warm nights in the coming days as the minimum temperature is set to go up and maximum temperature would go down. (PTK)

  • Sajad Lone led PC pulls out of PAGD, says ‘breach of trust’ between partners

    Srinagar: In a significant development, Sajad Lone led People’s Conference on Tuesday parted ways with the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) citing “breach of trust” between partners.

    A tie-up of six parties, the PAGD was formed in October last year with the objective of reinstating the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, which was abrogated by the Narendra Modi government on August 5, 2019. The alliance swept the DDC elections by winning 110 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats.

    Lone was the official spokesperson of the Gupkar Alliance.

    In a letter, Lone wrote to President PAGD, Dr Farooq Abdullah, he said there was a “breach of trust” between partners so he was no longer part of it.

    “This alliance needed sacrifice. Every party had to sacrifice on the ground in terms of giving space to fellow allies. No party is willing to cede space, no party is willing to sacrifice. We fought against each other in Kashmir province not against the perpetrators of August 5. And those who perpetrated August 5 and their minions are now vocally gleeful,” he said in the letter, a copy of which lies with news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

    Lone said it was difficult for them to stay on and pretend as if nothing has happened.
    “There has been a breach of trust between partners which we believe is beyond remedy. The majoritarian view in our party is that we should pull out of the alliance in an amicable manner rather than waiting for things to get messier. And I am confirming that we will no longer be a part of the PAGD alliance,” the letter reads.

    He however said he would continue the objectives of the PAGD.

    “We will continue to adhere to the objectives that we set out when this alliance was made. And the PAGD leadership should be assured that we will extend support on all issues which fall within the ambit of stated objectives. We have issued clear instructions to all party leaders not to issue any statements against PAGD alliance or its leaders,” Lone said. (KINS)

  • Besides heart attack, suicide rate on rise in J&K

    In two weeks nearly 15 suicide cases in Jammu: Report

    Jammu: Besides the alarming rise in heart attacks among the young people, the suicide tendency across Jammu and Kashmir is showing a surge with over a dozen cases were reported in Jammu division in 12 days in the ensuing year.

    Reports said that in the past two weeks nearly 15 suicide cases have come up in the Jammu division only while the Kashmir valley also witnessed a surge in cases.

    Experts said that every year over 75 lakh people across the globe commit studies with India’s share at 17 per cent.

    Mental health experts in Jammu and Kashmir told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that suicide cases have increased in both Kashmir and Jammu division as compared to past figures.

    Valley’s renowned mental health expert Dr Arshid told KNO that media has a very important role to play and motivate people to approach the medical experts for treatments rather than portraying the scary stories forcing people to take extreme steps which that become a tool for many others.

    “We know of hundreds of people who come for treatment after developing suicide tendencies but after the treatment, most of them live happily. Anybody having such thoughts such should seek help immediately since it’s a momentary thing,” Dr Arshid said.

    Sharing his experience of a 15-year-old patient, Dr Arshid said the patient was suffering from serious depression but after the treatment is living a normal happy life.

    “Life is very precious don’t waste it, seek treatment, ” he said.

    Dr Rakesh Bamal, a well known mental health expert who is also a Physiatrist at Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu said that suicide is the second-largest cause of death among people across the globe and it’s believed that it will surpass and become first in the next 10 years (2030) across the globe.

    He said that the suicide cases among students are showing a surge as there is an increase in stress level in them.

    “There are many reasons behind suicide including mental health, depression, disorder even those who are indulged in drugs have a high suicide tendency rate besides physical illness in an individual,” he said. “Many factors also include social reasons as well as financial loss, love affair, exam failure, and others.”

    Suggesting people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, Bamal said that people must take good care of mental health as the post-Covid scenario may have been a reason for more suicide cases.

    “All such things can be eliminated by a healthy lifestyle with high nutrition and timely required actions by consuming sufficient food well on time,” he said.

    “People just need to do physical and mental exercises regularly and be more social and fulfil hobbies on a priority basis,” he said. “It’s not wrong to share about your mental health and depression with someone. It is rather a good step to seek help well on time”, he said.

    “We need to interact with the person getting socially isolated and not to believe the old societal myths. Some are undergoing all such symptoms and people around them fail to understand even when the affected ones make attempts to express,” Bamal said.

    Bamal said that family members need to be vigilant and try to understand the change in their members.

    “People need to do relaxation activities and when required they must approach the medical professionals for the consultation immediately without any delay,” he said—(KNO)

  • Covid-19 vaccination: No report of side effects, allergies in J&K

    Vaccine only way to end pandemic: Experts

    Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir has not reported any side-effects or allergies among the health workers who were vaccinated on Saturday, officials said on Monday.

    Top health officials from Jammu and Kashmir divisions said that the vaccination process is going on and no person after taking vaccination has been hospitalised and suffered from any allergy or any other side effect.

    State immunisation officer Dr Qazi Haroon told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that health workers in thousands have taken vaccines but so far no case of allergic reactions and other things have been reported so far.

    Meanwhile, experts said that people shouldn’t hesitate in taking vaccination as it is the biggest weapon to beat Covid-19 pandemic.

    Flu expert and President of Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Dr Nisar ul Hassan while talking with KNO said that anybody who is reluctant to take a vaccine must be booked.

    “These people can turn out to be spreaders. They aren’t a threat to himself only but also for the people with whom they come in contact with,” he said.

    “If we take medicine even for headache, it can have side effects in some people but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take the vaccine, Hassan said, adding that, Covid vaccines have around 90 per cent efficacy and it is the only way to end the pandemic.

    “This is unfortunate if somebody is talking against a vaccine. Vaccination since ages has eradicated infections from the earth as a result of which our earth is suitable for living,” he said, adding that vaccines have saved generations and Covid-19 vaccine is the biggest gift in the year 2021.

    Hassan said scientists creating a vaccine in less than a year is a big achievement and it doesn’t belong to any political party or a person and people should take it happily to live a normal life.

    It is pertinent to mention that J&K last week received around 1.46 lakh Covishield vaccines. The vaccination process was started on Saturday last—(KNO)

  • Bird Flu: Samples sent test negative, no case reported yet in J&K: Officials

    ‘People can use poultry products by taking precautions’

    Srinagar: No case of Bird flu has been reported as of now in Jammu and Kashmir as the samples that were sent outside J&K for testing have tested negative, officials said on Monday.

    Anil Arti Wildlife warden Jammu told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the samples that were sent for testing from Jammu have tested negative and we have no case of bird flu here.

    He said samples which have tested negative include the samples which were taken in Udhampur after 153 birds had mysteriously appeared there.

    He said that we are keenly monitoring the situation but as of now no positive case has been reported in J&K.

    Joint director poultry and nodal officer for bird flu in Kashmir division Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Shah told KNO that the samples which were taken at three places including Dal Lake, farm of the department and Pulwama have been tested negative.

    He said later few samples were taken also and their result is yet to come, however, so far no case of bird flu has been reported in J&K.

    He said that people can use cooked poultry products easily and there is no need to worry.

    It is pertinent to mention here that authorities in J&K also sounded high alert after bird flu cases were reported from nine states of India and said that measures are put in place to tackle the situation in case of bird flu.

    Besides sounding alert, monitoring committees led by district chief animal husbandry officers have been constituted to keep vigil.

    Moreover, doctors in J&K also cautioned people not to eat raw poultry parts or raw eggs, however, cooked poultry is safe to use.

    They also advised that people associated with slaughtering, De-feathering and eviscerating of birds must take precaution to avoid any contraction of the virus—(KNO)