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Srinagar: This is for the first time that Kashmiris will be observing, the revered month of fasting in their own homes in the past over a hundred years.

Even though the lockdown is till May 3 and it’s not clear whether there would be any extension or not, but social distancing seems to be becoming a new norm now.

Officials in the administration told news agency KINS that social distancing has to be maintained for the months ahead and the precautions to be prevent the spread of Covid-19 will remain for long.
However, elderly people in Kashmir assert that they have heard from their fathers and grandfathers that since the Cholera pandemic in early 19th century, this is for the first time that people of Kashmir will be offering prayers in the fasting month of Ramadhan in their own homes.

“I have heard from my father that Cholera pandemic had spread in Kashmir during the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh and people then offered special prayers at Hazratbal shrine after pandemic faded away,” said Abdur Razak Dar, a resident of Harwan.

Razak, 80, said that in his entire life, he has never prayed at his home during the fasting month of Ramadhan. “The feeling of praying every prayer at home is irritating. It’s the month of blessing peace, and seeking repentance and we will be locked in our homes and even have to prayer there only,” Razak told KINS.
He said that Allah is definitely annoyed with the people across the globe and with those living in Kashmir too.

For poet Zareef Ahmed Zareef, it’s so unfortunate for the people of Kashmir to pray at homes in the holy and sacred month. “When Cholera hit Kashmir in early 19th century, there were huge charity given away by the people and mass repentance prayers were held. Massive prayers were held at Hazratbal where people showered praises at the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) amid moist eyes. It was the occasion of Milad un Nabi (SAW), the birth anniversary of Prophet (SAW) and Allah heard theprayers and took away the pandemic,” he said. “But I have heard from my father and his father, that even during such tough times, prayers were held in masjids and big gatherings used to take place amid massive Charity drives.”

For Ghulam Qadir Rather, a resident of Pantha Chowk, he has never seen prayers been offered in homes during fasting month of Ramadhan. “I am touching 80’s, but have never seen people being asked to offer prayers at home. When there is a complete ban on gatherings of all kinds and if someone defies it, police acts swiftly, there is no question of going to masjids in fasting month. But for me, this is for the first time in my life that Kashmiri people will be offering prayers and Taraweeh in their homes,” said Rather. (KINS)

The incredulous remarks of the U.S. President prompted sharp criticism from health experts who warned people against injecting or ingesting disinfectants, which are highly toxic.

PTI

President Donald Trump has suggested the possibility of studying injecting disinfectants into coronavirus (COVID-19) patients or bringing UV light “inside” their bodies to kill the deadly virus, drawing immediate flak from American health experts who urged people not to listen to such “dangerous” advice.

Launching a new scientific study conducted by his department, Homeland Security for Science and Technology Under Secretary Bill Bryan on Thursday said the coronavirus dies at a much more rapid pace when exposed to sunlight and humidity.

“The virus dies the quickest in direct sunlight. Isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds,” he told White House reporters in the presence of President Trump at his daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Mr. Bryan’s remarks left Mr. Trump wondering if there was a possibility of injecting the chemical into a person infected with COVID-19 as a deterrent to the virus.

“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute…And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that,” the U.S. President told reporters at the press briefing.

Mr. Trump also raised the possibility of using light to combat the deadly viral infection.

“So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous (force), whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light – and I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that, too. Sounds interesting,” Mr. Trump said to Mr. Bryan.

Mr. Trump’s incredulous remarks prompted sharp criticism from health experts who warned people against injecting or ingesting disinfectants, which are highly toxic.

“My concern is that people will die. People will think this is a good idea…This is not willy-nilly, off-the-cuff, maybe-this-will-work advice. This is dangerous,” Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, told The Washington Post.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who is also a member of the White House coronavirus task force, warned against ingesting any disinfectants to kill the coronavirus.

“I certainly wouldn’t recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant,” Mr. Hahn was quoted as saying by the CNN.

Dara Kass, associate professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Centre, also asked people to refrain from doing such things.

“Please don’t drink bleach or isopropyl alcohol to remove #COVID19 from your saliva,” she tweeted.

“It’s horrific,” Ms. Kass told the Post.

People who consume such chemicals often die. Those who survive usually end up with feeding tubes, a result of their mouth and esophagus being eroded by the cleaning agents, she said.

Even as experts from the medical community came forward to challenge Mr. Trump’s latest remarks, Deborah Birx, one of the top American public health experts, did not respond to the comments about the light therapy or disinfectant injections.

Her lips pressed in a tight line, Ms. Brix, who serves as the response coordinator for the White House’s coronavirus task force, was silently listening to Mr. Trump’s comments from the sidelines, the Post reported.

Srinagar: Scores of people from different parts of Beerwah in Budgam district on Friday said that the BSNL has failed to provide the Broadband services in their areas .

According to Kashmir News Service Correspondent the residents said that the employees of BSNL in the area are not accepting their forms for new broadband connections as they are being told to visit Budgam exchange for the same, which is not possible due to the lockdown.

The resident of these areas said that “Amid lockdiwn, and suspension of high speed internet in the valley it is becoming impossible for them to work from home due non availability of high speed internet. They said our hope is at broadband but unfortunately BSNL authorities delaying the process of installation of new broadband connection in these areas without reason said Aamir a student from Beerwah.

“After broadband service restoration in Kashmir i have tried to apply for new broadband connection for my existing landline number but BSNL Beerwah is not paying any heed to my requests said Faisal Banday a Freelance Journalist of Beerwah.”it is only because of sloppiness of BSNL authorities that i have so far missed various stories since i could not send them on 2G speed he further added.
When KNS contacted official in charge BSNL Budgam Riyaz Ahmad He said there is proper procedure in the installation of new Broadband connection and it is not possible to fulfil this procedure due to lockdown, further they will try best in solving this inconvenience so that public can not suffer.

Srinagar: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Friday reviewed the operational preparedness as well as measures to fight COVID-19 with all the Commanders in Chief through a video conference.

Along with Defence Minister, Chief of Defence Staff and Secretary Department of Military Affairs General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Secretary (Defence Finance) Gargi Kaul participated in the conference.

According to the statement issued to news agency KINS, Defence minister in his address appreciated the role of the Armed Forces for the assistance extended to the local civilian administration and preparatory measures taken to fight COVID-19.

“Rajnath Singh expected the Forces to ensure their operational preparedness, while they are battling COVID-19 and the adversary should not be allowed to exploit the current situation. He also directed the Forces to initiate measures to spend the financial resources, avoiding wastage in view of the economic burden imposed by COVID-19”.

According to the statement stressing on the requirement of jointness of the Armed Forces, Rajnath Singh asked the Commanders in Chief to identify and prioritise tasks that could be accomplished quickly and assist in revival of the economy after the lockdown is lifted.

“During the conference the Commanders in Chief apprised the Defence Minister of various measures put in place by them to prevent virus infection among the Forces and assistance extended to the local civilian administration. “These include issue of Standard Operating Procedures on COVID-19, introduction of appropriate modifications in protocols and drills as per the advisories issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and other agencies and taking care of the Ex-Servicemen and their families residing in their respective command areas”.

The Commanders appreciated recent devolution of emergency financial powers by the Ministry of Defence that has ensured timely procurement of necessary medical supplies, to bolster the health infrastructure of the hospitals.

“The Armed Forces have in a holistic manner taken upon themselves the responsibility of improving the support in dealing with COVID-19, by augmenting additional manpower, by providing them basic training, to deal with the epidemic” the statement reads.

“The Commanders have apprised that isolation and quarantine facilities have been set up for use of the Forces as well as the local civilian administration. They have also expressed readiness to pitch in to maintain essential services locally if requested by the civilian administration”

Officers from the following Commands participated in the video Conference: Northern Command, Udhampur; Eastern Command, Kolkata; Southern Naval Command, Kochi; Western Naval Command, Mumbai; Southern Command, Pune; South-Western Command, Jaipur; Western Air Command, Delhi; Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam; Central Air Command, Allahabad; South-West Air Command, Gandhinagar; Southern Air Command, Trivendrum; Central Command, Lucknow; and Andaman & Nicobars Command, Port Blair.(KINS)

Srinagar: Amid the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown in India, over 250 Kashmiri students stuck in Bhopal city of Madhya Pradesh are demanding immediate evacuation, saying they are gripped in fear and panic.

These Kashmiri students are facing immense hardships, have nothing to eat and are out of pocket.

“We want to go home and request Jammu Kashmir Government to evacuate us from Bhopal. In this we talked to District Development Commissioner Bhopal who in turn informed Government of India, but till date nothing has been done to give us a respite,” said a student Muzaffar Hussain to Kashmir News Trust.

There around 250 Kashmiri students stranded in Bhopal and all are students studying there.

“We don’t know how long will this lock down continue and we are about to suffer a mental breakdown,” the students said. “Who will not get into panic in such a situation and far from home,” he added.

In a series of tweets, former chief minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concern over the Valley locals stuck in different states. He appealed Jammu Kashmir Government to get the stranded students back to Valley.

Most of these stranded students in Bhopal are hailing from Central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

When contacted District Development Commissioner Budgam, Tariq Ahmed Ganai said that they will decide about the matter and will try to bring these students back. “Authorities will think about the matter. There are other Kashmiris who are stuck as well in many parts,” he told KNT.

Srinagar: The Jammu & Kashmir High Court on Friday directed the government to file its response on the petition filed by the renowned journalist and author, Gowhar Geelani seeking quashing of FIR lodged against him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -1967

A bench of High Court headed by Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey directed the government to file its response on the petition before the next date of hearing scheduled on May 20.

The registration of FIRs against Gowhar, freelance photojournalist Masrat Zahra and summoning of The Hindu’s special correspondent Peerzada Ashiq by police has evoked widespread criticism from different quarters. The international bodies of Journalists like Reporters San Frontiers (RSF), Committee for Protection of Journalists(CPJ) and International Federation of Journalists(IFJ) have demanded withdrawal of charges against them

Plea of petitioner

Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, counsel Salih Pirzada submitted that Cyber police station has no jurisdiction to register and investigate offences under the UA(P)A-1967. “Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the ground of jurisdiction of the Cyber Police Station to register and investigate the case outside the scope of Information Technology Act, 2000 has already been the subject matter of the decision by Kerala High Court in case titled Rajesh Vs State of Kerala and the said Court while quashing the FIR has held that the Cyber Police Station has no power to investigate the offence beyond the one arising out of the provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000,” reveals the order, a copy of which is with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

He also submitted that the FIR does not disclose the commission of offence under Sections 505 of IPC and Section 13 of Unlawful Activities (Preventions) Act, 1967.

“The information forming basis for registration of FIR for commission of offence under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, does not meet the requirement of the definitions made in Section 3 of the Act of 1967,” the counsel contended.

Appearing on behalf of the government, additional advocate general BA Dar submitted that after registration of FIR, the government has transferred the case to Police Station Sadder for investigation.

“Learned counsel submits that on registration of the case, the Cyber Police Station, Kashmir Zone, has forwarded the matter to the Supervisory authority of Police and the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, transferred the case to Police Station, Sadder, for investigation in terms of order dated 22.04.2020, therefore, the jurisdiction aspect of the matter is not available to the petitioner to seek quashment of FIR, which otherwise also, cannot be a ground for quashment of FIR,” the order reveals.

The AAG also submitted he could not meet all the grounds raised by the petitioner due to non-availability of the petition. Gowhar is a renowned journalist and author contributing to Deutsche Welle (Germany), The Federal, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other media outlets—(KNO)

Pulwama: People pelted stones on police when they tried to disperse them after they had gathered in a mosque to offer Friday congregational prayers in South Kashmir’s Pulwam district.

Sources told KNT that over 100 people gathered at a mosque in Qasbayar Drabgam area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district to offer Friday congregational prayers. As police received information about the development, they rushed to spot and asked them to disperse. As people came out from the mosque, they pelted stones on police who in retaliation fired a couple of tear-smoke shells.

The clashes created panic in the area.
When contacted, a senior police official told KNT that over 100 people had gathered at a mosque, thus violating the rule of social distancing and prohibitory orders. “They pelted stones and we fired two shells to disperse them,” he said adding that some culprits were arrested from the spot.

Pertinently, last Friday, similar incident occurred at Ganistan Sumbal area of North Kashmir’s Banipora district.

“We request people to abide by the law and help in containment of the spread of Covid-19 outbreak,” the senior official said. (KNT)