A gunfight broke out between militants and the security forces in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday morning.
A joint team of Army’s 55RR, SOG Pulwama and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in Braw Bandina area, reported news agency GNS.
A senior police officer told GNS that the cordon was launched following specific information about the presence of some militants in the area.
He said the hiding militants opened fire on the forces, triggering a gunfight.
As per the sources two to three militants are believed to be trapped in the area, reported GNS.
Withdrawal of the GSP will hamper India’s export growth to the US.
The US has finally withdrawn its preferential treatment to Indian exports under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that covered around 2,000 items valued at $6.3 billion. Granted to India and some other developing countries in 1976, GSP allowed some of their exports to have duty-free access into the US, thus allowing them to export more and develop faster.
President Trump had notified the US Congress on 4 March about his intention to withdraw GSP benefits for India. The 60-day notice ended on 3 Mayand was to be effective from 5 June. The NDA government has tried to play down the whole episode as something not very worrisome, because, according to the Ministry of Commerce, only $190 million worth of exports will be affected. Even then, it is going to cause a serious setback to our exports which have been stagnant for sometime.
With higher duties, Indian exports will become more expensive and will lose their competitiveness vis-à-vis other developing countries’ exports to the US. In many of its exports, India is facing severe competition from countries in Southeast Asia and Africa. It will hamper India’s export growth to the US.
India is not in a position to retaliate immediately and is probably tinkering with the idea of what strategy to take. It could have imposed the proposed tariff hike on 29 items of US imports after it had imposed higher duties on steel and aluminum in 2018. But India is still dithering to do so and the last date for the imposition of duties has been postponed to 16 June. The 29 items of American imports include diverse products including finished metal items, nuts and fruits. Alongside withdrawing the GSP treatment on Indian products, the US has slapped a number of allegations on India of not offering an ‘equitable and reasonable access to American products.
With higher duties, Indian exports will become more expensive and will lose their competitiveness vis-à-vis other developing countries’ exports to the US.
President Donald Trump has been peeved by a number of moves by the Modi government in recent times and he never tires of repeating the case of the US-made Harley Davidson motorcycles on which India hiked duties in the recent past. He asked the Indian government: “Why is it that Indian motorcycles are entering free in the US, when American motorcycles are forced to pay high duties in India?” US medical device industry too has been unhappy about the rise in duties on coronary stents and knee implant components. India imposed price caps on US made medical devices in 2017. This was done by the Modi government to make healthcare more affordable for the people.
The US has been unhappy about the lax protection of intellectual property and patent rights in India and wants stricter enforcement of the IPR. It seeks for an improvement in data localisation norms and better e-commerce rules that do not discriminate in favour of local Indian e-commerce giants. It wants access to Indian markets for US dairy products and a tariff reduction on information and communications technology products. In general, the US has been unhappy about the lack of freer access for American imports to Indian markets and offers it as a justification for withdrawing the 43 years old GSP which has helped India’s exports to the US specially in items like artificial jewellery, engineering goods, building materials, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, leather, etc.
In not taking a belligerent stand, the NDA government and Prime Minister Modi are hoping to improve the economic relations with the US in the future. US is India’s second most important export destination and its total goods exports amount to $58.9 billion. India’s trade surplus of $22.9 billion with the US is something Trump wants to see reduced. It is the same reason why he targeted China and is still not accepting a compromise solution which is going to be disastrous for world trade in the future.
India is hoping that through negotiations, the GSP withdrawal can be reversed like in the case of Chile, but it is unlikely that the US will relent easily. Also, India may be interested in protecting its people from high prices of imported medical devices that make coronary stents unaffordable.
The US has been unhappy about the lack of freer access for American imports to Indian markets and offers it as a justification for withdrawing the 43 years old GSP which has helped India’s exports to the US.
The US has also tweaked the H1B visa rules which are a set back for Indians applying for jobs in the IT industry in America. The rules have become stricter thereby limiting the number of people who may qualify in getting the visa. The US has also become more vigilant about H1B visa holders getting Green Cards.
The US sanctions on Iran has made it difficult for India to import oil from Iran which has been one of India’s main and cheapest sources of oil imports. It has also imposed a ban on the Chinese technology giant Huawei from doing business with its allies. This would make it difficult for India to overcome the ban and to go ahead in inviting Huawei to help in upgrading our technology to 5G, important for the next generation reforms.
The US has not abided by WTO rules by withdrawing the GSP privileges of access to Indian exports because it continues to give such an access to other developing countries and India can take this matter to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on grounds of discriminatory treatment. But in all likelihood, India is trying and will succeed in reaching a compromise because Mr. Modi is not interested in entering into a situation of conflict with the most powerful country in the world on matters of trade when more important strategic matters are at stake. India needs close cooperation with the US in many areas especially in fighting terror in the South Asian region in which Modi is currently championing.
This commentary originally appeared in The Tribune.The views expressed above belong to the author(s).
To beat India in their crunch World Cup match, Pakistan must improve their fielding captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said after the team’s loss to Australia.
Pakistan were sloppy on field in the match against Australia as they conceded overthrows and were punished by Aaron Finch, who was dropped by Asif Ali at slip when he was on 33.
Finch went on to score 82 and built a 146-run opening stand with centurion David Warner to allow the champions to post a competitive total of 307.
“When two good teams play each other, the fielding can make a difference and we conceded runs due to lapses in fielding,” Sarfaraz told reporters. “If you want to beat the big teams, we can’t make such mistakes.
“Our fielding is not up to the mark and we will work hard on that before the India match. India are a strong team and if you continue to make the same mistakes then you won’t get an opportunity to win the match.”
Speaking about the loss to Australia, “We made good starts but didn’t build partnerships,” Sarfaraz added.
“The first few wickets were soft dismissals after the batsmen got set […] we lost three wickets in 15 balls and that was the turning point in the match.”
Pakistan play arch-rivals India next at Old Trafford on Sunday in a fixture where tensions always run high.
New Delhi, June 13: Forty-Five HIV positive children abandoned by their families have found a home in the “Shelter Trust” run by Solomon Raj, popularly referred to as “Appa” (father) by them.
Raj claims that good work gives him great satisfaction, especially when these children refer him as ‘Appa”.
In the shelter home, the needy are provided with every facility ranging from education, medical care, training in crafts, arts, dance and working knowledge of computers etc.
Many of them have been enrolled in Class XI and Class XII and seven of them even pursuing their graduation in various streams.
Solomon said that he was inspired to help the HIV positive children as even after 8 years into his marriage he had no child and he wanted to adopt an HIV positive child who is in need.
“When we were planning to adopt a child, we had a biological child and the matter of adopting a child in need was put to rest for some time. However, it always made me feel guilty that I have not adopted an HIV positive child that I always wanted to. Hence, I adopted the first HIV positive child and it continued,” said Solomon.
“Now I am a father to 45 HIV positive children and it gives me great satisfaction when they call me ‘Appa’. There are many financial problems as there are expenses on their health, education etc. These children have health issues and the condition turns serious anytime,” he said.
An HIV positive girl who is in class XI said that she wants to become a doctor and help others.
“I came here in 2016. I want to become a doctor and help other children. HIV positive children are in no way less than normal children,” she said. (Agencies)
Saudi Arabia is soon going to have it’s first ‘halal nightclub’ reports revealed on Wednesday, sparking online jokes and anger from conservatives.
According to a report by Alaraby, Dubai and Beirut nightclub brand White said this week that a new branch would open its doors in the coastal city of Jeddah.
Those in favour of the latest venue, which will only serve non-alcoholic cocktails, tweeted using the Arabic-language hashtag #JeddahDisco.
Opponents of the move expressed their frustration under the rival hashtag meaning: “I don’t accept forbidden acts on Jeddah beach”.
The CEO of the venue said that the club was a high-end cafe and lounge.
“The Saudi market will be great, because the local community goes out a lot. You have people in the country who go out a lot,” Tony Habre was quoted as saying by Arabianbusiness.
The news has divided social media users in the kingdom.
The nightclub opening comes as authorities lead a much-trumpeted drive to modernise the conservative kingdom that has included giving women the right to drive.
The kingdom at the meantime faces criticism over the detention and ongoing trials of several women activists, and an imposed war on Yemen.
It also faced severe backlash in October after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was blamed for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by a hit-squad in the kingdom’s Turkey-based consulate.
Hashtag #JeddahDisco is trending as people are tweeting their reactions on the move
SRINAGAR — Unprecedented fresh snowfall occurred on Wednesday in Baltal and Sonamarg hill stations while heavy rains over the past 24 hours inundated low lying areas in the Valley.
Fresh, unprecedented snowfall occurred in the month of June in Baltal and Sonamarg areas of north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Wednesday.
Reports of fresh snowfall have also come from the Zojila Pass and Drass town of Kargil district.
Authorities are constantly monitoring the situation and have kept all staff connected with flood and emergency duties on high alert.
Reports from Baramulla district said some portion of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road has been submerged at Hanjiwaira.
Many apple orchards in low lying areas have been inundated by flash floods in Baramulla and Bandipora districts.
Flash floods have also hit Sukhnag Nallah in Badgam district.
Weather office has forecast improvement in weather conditions from later in the day.
“Weather will start improving from today evening. We are expecting sunny weather from tomorrow in the Valley. Minimum temperature was 10.5 degrees Celsius in Srinagar, 6.6 in Pahalgam and 5.0 in Gulmarg today.
“Leh town of Ladakh division recorded 8.0 as the minimum temperature today”, officials of the MET department said.
Srinagar, June 12: Reacting to the verdict on rape and murder case of a Kuthua minor girl, chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani Wednesday said that the beastly act of kidnapping, drug intoxication, gang-rape and murder, qualifies for the maximum punishment.
This inhuman act has shattered every live soul where under a well knit conspiracy to harass and throw this poor and helpless community out of their own locality, he said as per a statement issued to KNO.
He said all these murderers, their mastermind, their collaborators and their helpers, all should have met the same fate as that innocent minor girl, but here the laws are selective and punishments are decided on the mood and whim of population.
He said on one hand people are hanged on political grounds to satisfy the collective conscious and on other hand those responsible for innocent and gruesome killings in broad-day-light are given lighter punishment. He said that lawmakers too are elected on their criminal records and when such mindset is free for legislation, the outcome cannot be expected other hand what we these days witness. Giving benefit of doubt to the son of the mastermind is shameful as he too should have made to undergo similar pain and agony that innocent minor girl was subjected to.
He said that parents of that poor girl could have expected a capital punishment from those repeatedly sloganing “Beti Bachaw”, but unfortunately here killers of a particular faith are not only garlanded and encouraged, but voted to higher and decisive positions and if this trend is accepted, it would create a safe haven for murders, thieves, and criminals – then rhetoric of “Bethi Bachaw” may fetch electoral dividends to pave the way for power corridors, but it will definitely shake the fundamentals of the social fabric to the extent that whole society will crumble. Does the justice givers wait for such a dooms Day??(KNO)
Official claims on flood prevention plan fall flat; Faulty dredging, weak river embankments, continue to pose threat; Dredging plan shelved in March 2018
Srinagar, June 12: Just two-days of incessant rain in Kashmir is enough to trigger floods; courtesy unplanned dredging of river Jehlum, weak river embankments and ill-preparation of the government to deal with the rising waters. No lessons have been learnt from the deadly deluge of September 2014 that left over 100 people dead and property worth billions damaged.
Ever since the deadly deluge of 2014 wreaked havoc across the State, especially in the Kashmir region, nothing concrete was done on ground to prevent damage of such a huge volume. The PDP-BJP government made tall claims about dredging of river and raising the height of river embankments, but just two days of incessant rains from June 10 to 12 punctured the balloon as Kashmir was once again on the brink of floods.
Water level in river Jhelum at the crucial point Sangam in southern Kashmir went five feet above the normal and within few hours the position was threatening at Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar as well. A few hours of more rain could have resulted in the 2014 horror again, a group of locals told KNO as they were keenly watching rising water levels of roaring Jehlum at Ram Munshibagh.
A senior official in the Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control department told KNO that it’s true that what is discussed in the meetings is not done on the ground. “We lag behind in preventive measures. We can’t prevent floods but can take measures to restrict the damage it causes. In today’s modern era, what we have as a contingency plan is sand bags to plug the breaches in river embankments,” he said.
Just the two days of rains resulted in many major breaches in Vaishow Nallah in South Kashmir that is the main tributary to river Jhelum.
According to the residents of Galander, Pampore, whenever there is a flood like situation, at least three to four major breaches take place at the same points that became the major reason for floods in 2014. “This reflects the callous approach of the government. Nothing concrete was done even after passage of four years,” Abdul Gaffar Rather, a resident of Pampore told KNO.
Another resident, Abdul Jabbar Khan, of Pampore told KNO all the former ministers, legislators, and officials have been lying to the people of Kashmir and keeping them in dark over preventive measures taken by the previous PDP-BJP regime. “The condition of river embankments right from Bijbehara to Pampore to Ram Munshibag is worst. Yes, some patchwork has been done but at majority of the places, river embankments are so fragile that they can give in any time,” he said.
Sources in the PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control department told KNO that over 200 meetings were held since September 2014 floods, but nothing concrete was done on ground. “There is a huge gap between planning and execution,” he said. The two-day rain spell in June this year has not only thrown the tall claims of the successive regimes about flood prevention plans to the wind, but made it clear that Kashmir has become more vulnerable to floods of late.
As per official figures, the Reach Dredging Limited, the company assigned the contract for Rs 46 Crore for dredging of river Jehlum, has only dredged out 13.88 lakh cubic meters in Kashmir against the target of 16.15 lakh cubic meters. “Operations of dredging were closed on 31 March 2018 in Kashmir,” an official told KNO, wishing not to be quoted by name.
In Srinagar, the official said, the company has dredged out 6.48 lakh cubic meters silt from river Jhelum against target of 7 lakh cubic meters during past three years. In Baramulla, the firm has dredged out 7.4 lakh cubic meters against the target of 9.15 lac cubic meters. The authorities have not so far penalized the firm for failing to meet the targets. Rs 35 crore have been released in its favour against the total contract of Rs 46 crore.(KNO)
Militant slain beleived to be foreigner; says Police
Srinagar, June 12 : The death toll of CRPF personnel in militant attack at Anantnag mounted to five as two more bodies of paramilitary men were found near the site of attack on Wednesday late evening.
A police officer said that the bodies of the two CRPF personnel were retrieved near the site of the attack at KP road near the Oxford school after sanitizing the area.
Earlier, three CRPF troopers including an ASI Neeru Sharma were killed and three others besides Station House Officer (SHO) Irshad Ahmad of Police Station Sadder were injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer told GNS that the body of the slain militant has also been retrieved from the site.
He said that it is believed that the slain militant was a foreigner.
He said that the search operation is still underway in the area.
The officer identified the slain CRPF personnel as ASi Neeru Sharma, Constable Santinder Kumar, Constable M K Kushwa, ASI Ramesh Kumar, Constable Mahesh Kumar. (GNS)
Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has spilled the beans on how Mohammad Amir confessed to spot fixing.
According to Razzaq Amir had confessed to spot-fixing only after then ODI skipper Shahid Afridi slapped the fast bowler.
“He (Afridi) told me to leave the room but after a while, I heard the sound of a slap and then Aamir told the whole truth,” Razzaq was quoted as saying by PTI.
The maverick cricketer also blamed the then PCB set-up for bringing a bad name to Pakistan cricket.
“I thought instead of going to the ICC to prove its efficiency, the PCB should have instead directly taken the three players to the task despite their denials and sent them back home on some pretext. They should have banned them for a year or so. In the end, by not doing this, the PCB spoilt the image of Pakistan cricket worldwide.”
Razzaq, 39, also claimed that Butt was deliberately getting out and playing dot balls much before the scandal broke out in England.
“I shared my concerns with Afridi but he said it is just my Waham(misconception) and nothing is wrong. But when I was batting with Salman Butt during a match of the World T20 in West Indies, I was convinced he was letting down the team.”
Razzaq recalled he told Butt to take a single and give him the strike but he did not pay heed to his advise.
“I was surprised when he refused this strategy. When I realised what he was up to (something) I told him strictly to give me the strike. Yet every over he deliberately played two or three balls and then gave me strike. I got upset and felt the pressure and got out.”
Butt, Aamir, and Mohammad Asif were the three players eventually banned for a minimum of five years in early 2011 by the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal after they were first suspended in September 2010.
