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  • Kashmir reports first two cases of new UK COVID-19 strain

    Male patients from Srinagar undergoing treatment at JLNM hospital’

    Srinagar: After a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, two cases of new UK COVID-19 strain were found in Kashmir on Saturday, officials said here.

    Dr. Bilquees Shah, Nodal officer for COVID-19 at JLNM hospital told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that two male patients from Kashmir have been tested positive for new COVID strain that was first reported in the United Kingdom.

    “The duo male patients are residents of Habak and Soura respectively,” she said, adding that both the patients are travellers.

    Officials said that people whom they contacted with so far will be isolated while the two positive cases have been admitted at JLNM hospital.

    Pertinently, nearly 90 cases of new UK COVID strain have been found across India so far—(KNO)

  • Pakistan PM Imran Khan in Quetta to condole with Hazara community

    Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has arrived in Quetta to meet the Hazara community and get a briefing on the law and order situation in the province after the Machh tragedy, Geo News reported Saturday.

    File Photo

    According to the TV report, PM Imran will meet with the leaders and religious scholars of the Hazara community to share their grief and condole over the last week incident in which 10 miners were killed by the militants in Balochistan’s remote area.

    Representational Picture

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed is with the prime minister on his daylong visit to the provincial capital.

    The concerned authorities will also apprise the prime minister on the progress made in the investigation.

    PM Imran had on Friday said that he will not visit Quetta till the miners are buried. His statement that the prime minister can not be blackmailed invited strong criticism from all the major Opposition parties.

    Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of the victims were offered in the Hazara Town. SAPM Zulfi Bukhari and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and other provincial ministers were also present.

    Sit-ins called off

    Earlier, Shuhda Action Committee announced to end protests across the country after the government accepted their demands.

    Qasim Suri had said that “right after the burial”, PM Imran Khan will leave for Quetta and will be accompanied by Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi who had been spearheading talks in Quetta on behalf of the government had said such incidences of violence must now come to an end. “We are making amends for the last 70 years,” he noted.

    Zaidi said that a written agreement had been reached with the Shuhda Action Committee. “No such written accord has ever been struck before with any other government,” he remarked.

    “The demands put before us were difficult,” said Zaidi, adding that the “officers that must be removed have been decided”.

    The minister said that if governance in Pakistan “had not been so poor, poverty like this would not have existed”.

    “People would not have been massacred like this,” he said, adding: “Foreign elements wish to create sectarian division in Pakistan.”

    Zaidi also announced scholarships on behalf of his ministry for the children of all the victims.

    With the agreement reached, the sit-in by the families of the victims of the massacre, which had been staged for the past six days in freezing cold temperatures, came to an end and the bodies were carried away to be buried.

    What happened in Machh

    Ten colliers were killed and four others were seriously injured on Sunday after armed men attacked them at a coal field in Balochistan’s Bolan district.

    The coal miners, according to police, were taken to nearby mountains where they were shot.

    According to AFP, the 10 miners were kidnapped before dawn on Sunday as they slept near the remote coal mine in the southwestern mountainous Machh area — 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta city, local government official Abid Saleem said.

    Security officials who did not want to be named told AFP the attackers first separated the miners before tying their hands and feet and taking them into the hills to kill them. Most were shot, however, some were beheaded, said officials who did not want to be named.

    Officials on Monday clarified ten people had died in the attack, revising a previous death toll of 11, AFP reported.

    The militant group Daesh claimed the attack, according to SITE Intelligence, which monitors militant activities worldwide.

  • India, a country of Strongest and most vibrant democracy: Modi

    New Delhi: Emphasizing that the whole of India stands together, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the country has the strongest and most vibrant democracy in the world.

    “When India got independence, it was said that the country will break due to its poverty, less education and that democracy is impossible here, but the truth is that India stands together, and has the most strong and vibrant democracy in the whole world,” Modi said while speaking at the 16th ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ convention.

    He also said whenever anyone raised eyebrows at the ability of the country and the countrymen, it has turned out to be wrong.

    Modi asserted that India’s history is a proof that there is no question or doubts about its ability in any circumstances.

    “When India stood in the face of terrorism, the world also got the courage to face the challenge. Today, India is using technology to end corruption. Money worth lakhs and crores are directly being credited to account of beneficiary.”

    “Today, India’s space programme and tax start-up eco-system is a leader in the global sphere. Even during Covid-19, several new unicorns and tech start-ups started from India,” he said.

    The Prime Minister said that even in the times of pandemic, India has shown its ability.

    “The country is ready with two ‘Made in India’ vaccines. The world is not only waiting for India’s vaccines but are observing how India runs world’s biggest vaccination programme.”

    Be it PPE kits, masks, ventilators, or testing kits, India used to order them from outside. Now, the country has strengthened itself and is not only self-reliant but has even started exporting these items, the Prime Minister lauded.

    “India has done structural reforms from education to enterprise to bring wholesome changes. To promote manufacturing, we have started the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, which has gained a lot of popularity in very less time.”

  • Hazara Community End Protest In Pakistan As PM Imran Khan on the Way to Visit Quetta

    Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed and Army Chief Bajwa is accompanying PM on the Visit

    Protests over the carnage of Shia Hazara mine workers in Pakistan’s Quetta has finally ended as the families declared the burial after two central ministers along with the chief minister of Balochistan again visited the site and assured the Hazara community that PM Imran Khan had accepted their demands.

    The mourning families were notified that PM Imran Khan, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed and Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa were expected to visit Quetta on Saturday according to reports.

    Hazara community in Balochistan’s Quetta had been protesting the brutal killing of 11 of their community members by ISIS on Sunday.

    The protests have further spread to the other cities of the country, including Karachi. The protesters are demanding the dissolution of the provincial government of Balochistan and strong action by Islamabad to find and punish the culprits.

    Khan has appealed to the Hazara community to bury those who were killed in the attack. “I am using this platform to say that if you bury them today, I will go to Quetta to meet the families of the deceased,” he said.

    “This should be clear. All of your demands have been met but you can’t impose a condition which has [no logic]. So first, bury the dead. If you do it today then I guarantee you that I will come to Quetta today,” Khan said.

  • WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, will share all your data with Facebook and its Subsidiaries

    WhatsApp, the messaging platform owned by Facebook, has updated its Privacy Policy. All users received a notice, saying that the service will now be sharing user data with other Facebook companies.

    This comes in stark contrast with what the company initially promised back in 2014 during the acquisition by Facebook when WhatsApp assured its goal is to know “as little as possible”.

    While users were able to opt out until now, starting February 8, they will have only one solution, if they don’t want their data to be owned by the parent company – uninstall the app and stop using the service.

    Screenshot by XDA Developers

    Some of the info WhatsApp is collecting and will be sharing includes location data, IP addresses, phone model, OS, battery level, signal strength, browser, mobile network, ISP, language, time zone, and even IMEI. There’s also the information about how you are messaging, calling, what groups you are attending, the Status, the profile photo, last time the you were online, etc.

    WhatsApp even added a separate section called “Transactions and Payments data” specifying the platform will process additional information even for payments, made through the app. The company claims this is for analytics purposes, although it would provide its unique identifiers to other Facebook Companies.

    The Privacy Policy is rolling out globally, however, users located in the European Union received only one bullet point in their notification. Thanks to tighter privacy legislation better known as GDPR, the WhatsApp users in 27 European countries will not have their data shared with third parties.

    SOURCE:

  • Govt Extends Ban On High-Speed Internet In J&K Till Jan 22

    Srinagar: The government on Friday extended ban on high-speed 3G and 4G internet services in Jammu and Kashmir, barring Ganderbal and Udhampur districts, till January 22.

    The Home Department in an order issued here said that “certain restrictions” have been placed on access to high speed mobile data connectivity to “curb uploading/downloading/circulation of provocative videos and defeat the nefarious designs of the forces within and from across the border to create a narrative by running a disinformation campaign.”

    “The apprehensions of the law enforcement agencies regarding misuse of high speed mobile data services for infiltration and for coordinating (militant) activities gets credence from investigation of ongoing cases and recent incident of interception of (militants) and recoveries of arms/ammunition, with increased activity on the IB/LoC,” reads the order, a copy of which lies with GNS.

    “Now, therefore, on consideration of the overall security scenario and the reports of the law enforcement agencies inter-alia bringing out the necessity for continuation of speed related restrictions on mobile data services to prevent misuse of social media as also taking note of the (militant) activities during the last fortnight, I, Principal Secretary to the Government, Home Department, being satisfied that it is absolutely necessary so to do, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the Security of the State and for maintaining public order, ….hereby order that the directions/restrictions contained in Government Order No. 143(TSTS) of 2020 dated 25.12.2020 shall continue to remain operative till 22nd January, 2021, unless modified earlier.”

    The IGP, Kashmir and Jammu shall communicate these directions to the service providers forthwith and ensure their implementation in letter and spirit, the order adds. (GNS)

  • ‘SHAME’: Tourists seen clearing roads as Admin caught napping in Sgr

    Srinagar: Much to the embarrassment of administration, the tourists who had visited Kashmir on New Year eve were seen clearing the roads after heavy snowfall in Dalgate locality of Srinagar.

    A number of tourists as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) were seen clearing the roads by shovels and other equipment in Koni Khan locality of Dalgate.

    The tourists said the failure of administration in clearing the snow has compelled them to come out and clear the roads on their own. “Our vehicles were stuck in heavy snowfall and nobody bothered to take care of tourists present here and thus left us to lurch at large,” one of the tourists said.

    Manju Agarwal, a domestic tourist said that her family especially children are facing immense hardships as they are finding it tough to come out to have meals outside amid the accumulation of snow on the roads.

    “We have been in Kashmir for the last eight days. In the starting four days, we enjoyed a lot but after that we faced a lot of hardships as nobody bothered to even clear the snow from our roads here from the hotel. Besides, we are not getting even water supply as well,” she said accompanied by her family members.

    “The administration besides failing to clear snowfall, has not come up with any guidelines for the tourists and also didn’t check the tickets being sold in black amid closure of the road,” she said.

    She said they approached the tourist police as well, but they also failed to pay any heed to their sufferings.

    Moreover, the tourists hailed the hoteliers and houseboat owners for opening their respective hotels and houseboats for the stranded tourists and said that people here are quite helpful, but the administration has left them disappointed—(KNO)

  • 63.93% decrease in militancy related incidents in 2020: MHA

    29.11% decrease in special forces fatalities

    Jammu: The Home Union Home Ministry (MHA) in its annual review report termed the recently concluded District Development Council (DDC) elections as the landmark decisions and said the militancy incidents have decreased by 63.93 per cent if compared with 2019 figures.

    Also, there is a decrease in fatalities of special forces personnel by 29.11 per cent.

    In the annual review report, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the Home Ministry said that “The number of militant incidents in 2020 (up to 15 November) decreased by 63.93 per cent as compared to the corresponding period in 2019.”

    “There was also a decrease in fatalities of special forces personnel by 29.11 per cent and a decrease in casualties of civilians by 14.28 per cent in 2020 (up to 15th Nov) as compared to the corresponding period in 2019”, the report reads.

    The MHA report said that one-time financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakh per family provided to 36,384 displaced families from PoJK and Chhamb under Prime Minister Development package.

    It said that a one-time financial assistance at the rate of Rs.5.5 Lakh per family for the 5,764 families of West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) in Jammu & Kashmir state is also be provided at par with displaced persons of PoJK and Chhamb.

    The report said that GoI has taken further steps towards Integration of the new UTs with the Union.

    “Adaptation of central laws and state laws in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh. Orders were notified for adaptation of 48 central laws and 167 state laws in respect of UT of J&K. Orders relating to adaptation of 44 central laws and 148 state laws in UT of Ladakh were also notified.” the annual review report said.

    The report said that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) order, 2020 was notified on 31.03.2020.

    “It removes difficulties with regard to section 75 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 for administering oath to new judges appointed to the common High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh”, it said.

    “A bench of central administrative tribunal was established at Jammu on 08.06.2020”, it said.

    “The Jammu and Kashmir official languages Act, 2020 was notified on 27.09.2020. The Act came into force w.e.f. 29.09.2020. Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Hindi, and English have now become official languages of UT of J&K.”

    Date wise orders issued by MHA

    6 March: CISF takes over the security of Jammu Airport Security of Srinagar Airport was handed over to the CISF on 26th February, the report said

    4 April: MHA issued an order to make domiciles of J&K eligible for all government posts in the UT.

    14 October: Union Cabinet approved a Special Package worth Rs 520 crore in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh for a period of five years till FY 2023-24 and ensure funding of DeendayalAntyodayaYojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh on a demand-driven basis without linking allocation with poverty ratio during this extended period.

    21 October: Cabinet approved the extension of the Market Intervention Scheme for procurement of apples in J&K for the year 2020-21 on the same terms and condition as was done last season i.e. 2019-20.

    26 September: Delegation of Ladakhi veteran leaders met Union Home Minister, Amit Shah in New Delhi.”Union Home Minister assured the delegation that the Government of India was committed to empowering the LAHDC of Leh and Kargil and would safeguard interests of the people of the UT of Ladakh. Following the assurances, the delegation agreed to withdraw its call for the boycott of the ensuing LAHDC, Leh elections,” the report said.

    About the District Development Council (DDC) Elections in UT of Jammu & Kashmir MHA said that “The Government of India amended the Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 on 16.10.2020 to set up District Development Councils (DDCs) in each district of Jammu & Kashmir. In a landmark decision for the first time, West Pakistan’s refugees were entitled to exercise their franchise.”

    “The creation of this was the last and final step in establishing a fully functional Panchayati Raj System in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir as mandated under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, 1992,” the report reads.

    For the first time in history, DDC elections were held in the UT of J&K. The elections were held in eight phases from the last week of November to the third week of December.

    “2,178 candidates contested for 280 constituencies. Out of a total of 58,34,458 eligible electors, 30,00,185 cast their votes accounting for a net turnout of 51.42 per cent,” the report said, while stating that it reflects the commitment of the Prime Minister of India to strengthen grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir—(KNO)

  • Ready to go to Quetta immediately if Hazara protestors bury their dead: PM Imran Khan

    Making the Burial Conditional on his Visit is Inappropriate

    Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he is ready to go to Quetta immediately if the protesting Hazara community buries their dead.

    Speaking at a launch ceremony of Special Technology Zones Authority in Islamabad, the premier said making the burial conditional on his visit is inappropriate.

    The prime minister said he wanted to start by clearing his position on the matter. “All the demands put forth by the protesters have been accepted; therefore, making the burial [of the dead] conditional on the prime minister’s visit is not appropriate,” he said. “This is akin to blackmailing the prime minister.”

    PM Imran Khan said when he learned about the killing of 11 coal miners in Machh, he first sent Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed to Quetta then two federal ministers [Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari and Ali Zaidi] to assure the Hazara community that the government stood behind them.

    “I assured them that they would be compensated and looked after as the affected families have lost their breadwinners.”

    PM Imran Khan said the federal government has accepted all demands put forth by the Hazara protestors but they are adamant that they would not bury the dead until the prime minister visits Quetta.

    “Nowhere in the world can you blackmail a prime minister like this. Because then [it opens the door for] every crook to stage a sit-in and demand corruption cases against them be withdrawn. This is very important.”

    “The Hazara community has faced the most cruelty,” said the prime minister. “They have been persecuted in ways no other [community] has been persecuted. I have visited them and seen their fear.”

    “India is trying its best to create chaos [in Pakistan],” he continued. “I had already told the cabinet that Shia ulema may be targeted in a bid to spread unrest. A Sunni alim was murdered in Karachi — we put out that fire with great difficulty.”

    “I have told them that if they bury the victims today, I will go to Quetta today. However, their demand to bury their relatives only if I visit them is not appropriate and not acceptable,” he said. “I want to make it clear that we have accepted all the demands but this is not appropriate that you put forth a condition that does not make sense.”

  • Ban on entry of poultry into J&K: Kashmir to face 70% deficiency of chicken

    Srinagar Jan 8: With banning entry of poultry into Jammu and Kashmir following the outbreak of bird flu, Kashmir is likely to face deficiency of 70 percent chicken as the region would be dependent on 3000 local farms.
    In wake of the bird flu scare spreading like wildfire across the country, many state governments have banned chicken consumption in their states. The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the entry of poultry into the union territory following the outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
    The ban was announced on Thursday and cane into effect from Friday.
    An order issued by Navin K. Choudhary, principal secretary, agriculture and animal husbandry department, said, “In the wake of spread of bird flu in neighbouring states of J&K as a measure of abundant precaution and in view of the declaration of whole J&K as controlled area for bird flu disease, government of UT of J&K imposes complete ban on import of live birds, including poultry and unprocessed poultry meat for any purpose into the union territory of J&K with immediate effect till 14-01-2021.”
    Authorities have already said that so far there was no reported incident of bird death due to bird flu in the union territory.
    An official told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that there are 3000 poultry farms in Kashmir on which people would be dependent for their consumption during the ban on imports.
    “Over 400 lakh birds are imported in Kashmir annually. While over 150 lakh birds are reared locally. With ban on imports, there would be around 70 percent shortage of chicken in the valley as people would be dependent on local production,” the official said.
    Kashmir is considered highest meat and chicken consuming region in the country.
    Meanwhile, there are reports of scores of crows dying in Rajouri district. The authorities said they have collected samples to ascertain whether these deaths are related to bird flu or not.
    Another red herring in this regard is that J&K plays host to thousands of migratory birds each winter and the spread of bird flu is primarily attributed to these migratory birds.
    The wildlife department has, however, asserted that so far there were no reports of bird flu in nearly half a dozen bird sanctuaries in the union territory. (KINS)