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  • Kashmiris stuck in Saudi Arabia appeal for evacuation

    Srinagar: A large number of people from Kashmir are still stuck in Saudi Arabia and other parts. Even some are stranded in parts of India, facing severe hardships due to prevailing lockdown.

    The daughter and grandparents of a Kashmiri engineer, who passed away in Damam, Saudi Arabia recently, due to cardiac arrest are still stuck in Damam and they are making vehement appeals to Government of India to evacuate them at an earliest.

    The young Kashmiri engineer Ali Muhammed Mir who died in Saudi Arabia hails from Brain, Nishat.

    The deceased has left behind a daughter, wife and aged parents.

    The relatives of the family told KNT that the wife of the deceased is stuck in Banglore, where she is perusing her MD.

    However, his daughter Aisha Ali is presently with her grandparents, Muhammad Ramzan and Fatima Bano in Saudi Arabia as they had gone there for performing Umrah.

    “Nothing is being done to bring back theses Kashmiris to their native land. It is all lip service that we are hearing about the return of Kashmiris back to Kashmir from foreign lands,” a visibly frustrated relative of the deceased engineer said.

    “There is nobody in Saudi Arabia who can take care of these old grandparents and little daughter of the deceased engineer. His wife is still stuck in Banglore and can’t do anything,” the relative added.

    They relatives alleged that their pleas to administration went to deaf ears while Government of India is non-serious about the issue.

    “It is our humble request and would be grateful to Government if they could explore the possibility of their early departure from Dammam to Srinagar on humanitarian grounds,” they said.

    Meanwhile, Kashmiri students stuck in Bhatindi Punjab alleged that they are facing lot of problems while despite being assured of evacuation, they are still stuck there. They appealed government to evacuate them at an earliest. (KNT)

  • Video of cops ‘vandalising’ shops in central Kashmir goes viral on social media

    The locals have alleged that the policemen vandalised and ransacked several houses, shops and cars, and also destroyed household goods.

    PTI

    A video purportedly showing policemen damaging shops and houses of people in a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district after a deputy superintendent of police got injured in clashes there last week has gone viral on social media.

    In the little over two-minute video, the policemen are seen vandalising and ransacking the shops and houses of civilians in Nasrullahpora, a village 11 kms away from here, in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

    In the video, which has gone viral on social media, the police personnel are seen taking out goods from several shops and destroying them.

    The alleged incident took place on Friday last week after Deputy Superintendent of Police Fayaz Hussain sustained a head injury during stone-pelting by miscreants in the locality.

    The locals have alleged that the policemen vandalised and ransacked several houses, shops and cars, and also destroyed household goods.

    There was no comment from police over the alleged incident as Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar did not respond to calls and messages on his number.

  • Narbal civilian killing: DC Budgam says ‘FIR registered, investigation started’

    Srinagar: The District Development Commissioner Budgam Wednesday said that FIR has been registered into the civilian killing that took place in Narbal area of Central Kashmir Budgam.

    Tariq Ganai, DC Budgam told news agency KINS that police has registered an FIR into the killing and the investigation into the matter has been started.

    Peer Mehrajudin | File Photo

    It is to mention here that one civilian was killed after paramilitary CRPF forces fired at him near Kawoosa Khalisa village in Narbal area of central Kashmir Budgam on Wednesday.

    Local news agency has said that the man was going in his vehicle and was fired upon by the CRPF which hit him around right shoulder and chest.
    “A civil vehicle fled from 2 nakas in Narbal kawoosa. Upon which CRPF party fired in which one person got injured. (He has been) shifted to hospital,” SSP Budgam Nagpure Amod has said.

    The man identified as Peer Mehrajudin of Makhama Beerwah Budgam was shifted to SHMS hospital Srinagar in critical condition. However, he was declared as brought dead by the doctors who attended upon him at the hospital.

    Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah had said that killing of a Budgam civilian by Central Reserve Police Forces personnel should be “impartially investigated.”

    The National Conference leader while taking to his Twitter handle termed the killing as, “Very unfortunate” The circumstances surrounding this shooting need to be impartially investigated & findings made known. My condolences to the family of the deceased,” he wrote. (KINS)

  • Over 17,500 prisoners set to walk free in Maharashtra

    Move comes after COVID-19 outbreak in Arthur Road jail

    In a move to decongest prisons in Maharashtra, especially after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Arthur Road jail, which has infected at least 184 prisoners and 26 officials, a high-powered committee on Monday decided to release 50% of the total 35,239 inmates across prisons in the State.

    3-member committee

    The committee consists of Justice A.A. Sayed of the Bombay High Court, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay Chahande, and Director-General of Prisons S.N. Pandey. Mr. Chahande told The Hindu that prisoners would be released in due course of time. He said those booked under legislations such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID), the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and others were exempted from consideration.

    The order, a copy of which is with The Hindu, does not state the time frame within which the prisoners will be released, nor does it reveal the category of prisoners to be released.

    Overcrowded jails

    The move is contrary to the March 25 decision of the committee to release 11,000 prisoners. Since March 25, more than 5,000 prisoners having minor or moderate charges against them have been released.

    But this was not sufficient as courts were not granting bail to many accused. The virus outbreak at Arthur Road jail had seen unrest growing on its premises. Inmates have been protesting for their release, particularly because the jail, with a capacity to hold just 800 prisoners, was overpopulated with 2,700 prisoners. The jail authorities had also expressed their inability to handle an outbreak as early as March.

    The Superintendent of Arthur Road jail, in a letter to the courts, had categorically stated that it would be impossible to maintain physical distancing in the jail, considering it had 2,700 inmates. Despite the letter, the court has not only refused bail to prisoners having serious ailments, but also refused bail to a person infected with COVID-19.

    Petition rejected

    The committee has rejected a petition filed by advocate S.B. Talekar to release prisoners charged or convicted under the Special Acts.

    “In any event, the prisoners charged/convicted under the Special Acts, including the MPID Act, cannot claim to be released from prison as of right. It is required to be noted that the offences under the MPID Act are against a large number of victims who are mostly poor depositors, and whose interests are required to be safeguarded and recoveries made from properties,” said the committee in its order.

    The committee said, “It is true that so far as MPID Act is concerned, there are no restrictive provisions for grant of bail. However, it would be necessary to look at the facts on case to case basis by a judicial mind before releasing such prisoners, who are generally known to be more resourceful, after considering the likelihood of them absconding and/or tampering with evidence or witnesses and/or blocking the recoveries to be made from the properties and in a given case it would be necessary to secure.”

    The committee, however, clarified that ‘it would always be open to such prisoners to apply for regular bail which would be decided in accordance with law’.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • COVID-19 lockdown: April job losses highest among youth, says data

    There was some improvement last week after a pick-up in agricultural activity and the re-opening of businesses in the rural parts of the country, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

    Job losses during the lockdown have been disproportionately high among younger Indians, with six crore people between the ages of 20 and 39 losing jobs in April, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

    The wider employment situation has shown some improvement in the last week, on the back of a pick-up in agricultural activity and the re-opening of businesses in rural India. The week ended May 10 recorded a jobless rate of 24% in comparison to a record high of 27% the previous week. Urban unemployment stood at almost 28%, while it was 22.3% in rural areas. However, the demographics of job loss are a major cause of concern.

    More than 2.7 crore young people in their 20s lost their jobs last month, along with 3.3 crore people in their 30s, said CMIE managing director and chief executive Mahesh Vyas.

    ‘Long-term repercussions’

    “This has serious long-term repercussions. It is during this age that young India builds its career in the hope of a bright future,” he said. “If the career of this cohort is disrupted or postponed by even a year it will have to compete with the new cohorts joining the labour force after them — arguably, for fewer jobs. Young India will not be able to build the savings it will require later in life.”

    Young aspiring Indians in the age group of 20-24 years accounted for 8.5% of total employed people in the country in 2019-20, but 11% of those lost jobs. Most of these young people have just entered the labour markets, and 3.4 crore of them were working in the last financial year. Only 2.1 crore still had jobs in April.

    Debt delinquency likely

    These job losses could raise debt delinquency and impact household savings, said Mr. Vyas. “While households may well conserve cash during these times, the loss of jobs among the young deprives households of the extra cash that is mostly saved for either buying a house or durables or for retirement,” he added.

    Noting that 12 crore jobs had been lost because of the lockdown, Mr. Vyas said the window of the benefit of doubt in favour of a lockdown was closing. “Claims that the pandemic can be devastating is countered by the fact that the lockdown is already devastating,” he said, adding that the government’s dithering over a fiscal package meant that unlike in the United States where the state provided assistance to the jobless, Indians could not afford to remain unemployed.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • No violation of air space at Pangong Tso lake: IAF

    No ongoing face-off or build up of armed troops: Army

    Helicopters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) came close to the border during the face-off with the Indian Army near Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh last week, but there was no air space violation on either side, Indian Air Force (IAF) sources said on Tuesday.

    Separately, Army spokesperson Col. Aman Anand said there was no ongoing face-off at the Pangong Tso lake or any “build up of armed troops in the area.”

    “There was no border violation on either side. IAF SU-30MKI fighters were airborne in Ladakh on routine flying and were not scrambled in response to the helicopters,” IAF sources said.

    Locally resolved

    Stating that incidents of face-off and aggressive behaviour occur on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Col. Anand said patrols disengage after local level interaction and dialogue.

    “Temporary and short duration face-offs occur as boundary is not resolved. Troops resolve such incidents mutually as per established protocols,” he said in response to reports of an ongoing stand-off at the site.

    There were two incidents of face-off between Indian and Chinese troops last week which resulted in injuries to several soldiers on both sides. The first incident occurred on May 5 near Pangong Tso in Eastern Ladakh while the second face-off occurred on May 9 at Naku La in Sikkim.

    Army sources stated that the face-off at Pangong Tso occurred on the intervening night of May 5 as patrol teams came across each other and was resolved by the morning of May 6. Pangong Tso has seen such several incidents in the past including in 2017 and in 2019.

    Aircraft restricted

    As per existing agreements between India and China, operation of fighter aircraft and armed helicopters is restricted to a distance from the LAC. According to the ‘Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC in India-China Border Area’ of 1996, “combat aircraft (to include fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, military trainer, armed helicopter and other armed aircraft) shall not fly within 10 km of the LAC.”

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Israeli police arrest over 300 at mass gathering at shrine

    Jews observed the holiday of Lag B’Omer, on which ultra-Orthodox Jews customarily gather at the tomb of a prominent rabbi in antiquity on Mount Meron

    AP

    Israeli police arrested over 300 people Tuesday as officers attempted to control crowds that had assembled at a religious site in northern Israel in violation of coronavirus restrictions.

    Police said that despite regulations against large assemblies at Mount Meron and police checkpoints on roads near the site, hundreds of religious Jews turned up and some “threw stones and other objects a police officers at the scene.”

    Jews observed the holiday of Lag B’Omer, on which ultra-Orthodox Jews customarily gather at the tomb of a prominent rabbi in antiquity on Mount Meron. Celebrations are typically marked with enormous crowds, dancing and the lighting of bonfires.

    Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis marked the holiday in Jerusalem with large assemblies despite bans on public gatherings of more than 20 people due to the pandemic.

    Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said earlier this week that around 70% of the country’s more than 16,500 confirmed cases were ultra-Orthodox, who make up around 12% of Israel’s population.

    Israel started easing restrictions on movement and gathering earlier this month. Israel has reported 260 deaths from COVID-19. More than half of those infected in Israel have recovered.

  • Twitter makes it official to let employees work from home ‘forever’

    The new option is for those employees who do not need to be physically present in office for certain roles that cannot be done from homes

    IANS

    Twitter has made it official to let its employees work from home forever if they chose to and they will be paid like a normal working day.

    The new option is for those employees who do not need to be physically present in office for certain roles that cannot be done from homes.

    But for the rest of its 5,000-strong workforce, the option is now open.

    Twitter was one of the first companies to go to a work from home model in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen,” the micro-blogging platform said in a statement late on Tuesday.

    “If not, our offices will be their warm and welcoming selves, with some additional precautions, when we feel it’s safe to return,” it added.

    “With very few exceptions, offices won’t open before September. When we do decide to open offices, it also won’t be a snap back to the way it was before. It will be careful, intentional, office by office and gradual,” informed Twitter.

    The company said that there will be no business travel before September, with very few exceptions, and no in-person company events for the rest of 2020.

    “We will assess 2021 events later this year,” it said.

    With this move, Twitter has upped the ante after Facebook, Alphabet (Google) and others have asked their employees to work from home till year-end.

    Google and Facebook have also decided to allow most of their workforces to stay home and work through the end of this year.

    Facebook will open most of its office from July 6.

    Google employees will be able to walk into their offices starting July, but majority of those whose roles allow them to work from home could do so until the end of the year.

    Google’s original plan was to keep work from home policy until June 1.

    E-commerce major Amazon India has also allowed its employees to work from home till October.

  • Civilian killed in CRPF firing at Narbal, Budgam

    Police says he evaded signals at two check points

    Budgam: A civilian was shot dead by paramilitary CRPF men at Kawoosa, Narbal in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district today when he allegedly jumped at two check points.

    Police said that a civilian travelling in a vehicle jumped from two naka points in Kawoosa, Narbal after which CRPF men fired at him in which he got injured. “He was shifted to SMHS hospital in a critical condition, where he was declared brought dead,” Budgam police said in a statement.

    CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Pankaj Singh confirmed to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the incident stating that the man jumped two nakas after which CRPF men opened fire at the person. “We are ascertaining further details,” he said.

    Talking to KNO Medical Superintendent of SMHS hospital Dr Nazir Choudhary said that a civilian with multiple bullet injuries on his chest and right shoulder was brought dead to the hospital.

    Peer Mehrajudin | File Photo

    The slain has been identified as Peer Mehrajudin, a resident of Beerwah, Budgam district. Meanwhile, tension gripped Narbal as people took to streets to protest the incident, as per eye-witnesses—(KNO)

  • Wuhan to test all residents for coronavirus in 10 days after new cases emerge

    Hong Kong: Millions of people in Wuhan will be tested for the novel coronavirus within the coming days, after a new cluster of cases emerged despite a strict 76-day lockdown that was intended to eliminate the virus from the central Chinese city.

    Over the weekend, six new cases were reported in the city, the first in 35 consecutive days. None of the new cases were imported from overseas, sparking concern that the infection could still be spreading in the city where the virus is thought to have first emerged.

    In response to the outbreak, authorities in Wuhan will conduct city-wide nucleic acid testing over a period of 10 days, according to an emergency notice issued by local authorities and circulated by state run media outlet The Paper.

    Nucleic acid tests work by detecting the virus’ genetic code, and can be more effective at detecting the infection, particularly in the early stages, than tests which examine a body’s immune response, though the latter are easier to conduct.

    The ambitious screening drive, described in the report as a “ten-day battle,” could see up to 11 million people tested — more than the entire population of Greece.

    Wuhan was the first city in the world to enter into lockdown and great effort has been expended in an attempt to eliminate the virus.

    The city has been gradually returning to normal after that 76-day enforced lockdown lifted on April 8, with residents finally permitted to go outside, though many businesses remain closed.

    Despite the ongoing economic pain and trauma, however, Wuhan had been held up as a poster child of China’s effective response to the pandemic, emerging “like a phoenix,” in the words of one state-backed newspaper.

    The reemergence of the virus has already had ramifications for the local government. State media reported Monday that Zhang Yuxin, chief official of Changqing, the area where the new cases had been detected, was removed from his post “for failures in epidemic prevention and control work.”

    While no new cases of the virus were reported in Wuhan as of Tuesday, any major increase in numbers as a result of the new testing will raise serious questions over the accuracy and transparency of the city’s previous figures. Officials are already facing accusations of covering up the severity of the virus in the earliest stages of the pandemic, and confusion over China’s national figures has been created by several shifts in diagnostic and reporting procedures.

    Nor is Wuhan the only part of the country where new cases have been detected. The city of Shulan, in Jilin province in the country’s far northeast, was put under “wartime control mode” Sunday, after 11 people were confirmed to be infected with the virus.

    Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, previously thought to be largely on top of the virus, has also faced a setback this week, with a cluster of new cases detected in Seoul. The country’s president, Moon Jae-in, said Sunday that the fight against coronavirus is “not over until it’s over.”

    By James Griffiths, CNN