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  • Freedom of Press hasnt been curtailed: IGP Kashmir

    April 23: Police today in a statement said that with reference to a claim by certain groups that freedom of press is being curtailed, IGP Kashmir said that before making such broad generalisations people should ascertain the facts.

    Making the facts clear IGP Kashmir said that only one journalist has been questioned about a journalistic work as only one FIR of instigating people for violence has been registered over an encounter in Shopian at PS Anantnag.

    Remaining 2 persons have not been booked for any journalistic work of their’s but because of the reason that they have posted explicitly seditious, incendiary and incriminating texts on social media, challenging sovereignty and integrity of India and attempting to instigate people for violence.

    One of them in the recent days has also met IGP Kashmir along with 3-4 members of Kashmir Press Club Srinagar and accepted the mistake claiming ignorance of the relevant law and assured not to repeat the same in future. IGP assured that an impartial investigation will take place.

    Regarding the other person who has additionally been booked there are written complaints as he has exposed life of some peaceful and law abiding citizens to grave risk by posting incriminating and provocative adjectives against them on social media platforms like FB and Twitter. The content of these specific complaints discloses a criminal act and law will take its course and the written complaints against this individual will be investigated as mandated by law.

    IGP also reiterated that J&K Police has always maintained highest regard for freedom of press. Media persons and other relevant organisations are expected to issue statements only after ascertaining the facts.

  • With 8-month pay pending, private school teachers struggling in Valley

    Srinagar: The exploitation of private school teachers is continuing unabated in Kashmir valley as most of the schools have not paid salaries to the teaching staff since August 2019.

    With COVID-19 positive cases emerging every day all over the Valley, the resumption of normal life appears bleak in the near future. And, teacher community employed in private schools has been badly affected.

    “It was the month of March when we were expecting the salaries to be released but now, given the coronavirus pandemic, we have no hope either. Our struggle has gotten worse, to say the least,” Manzoor Dar, a private school teacher from Shopian told KNT.

    He added, “As we are observing that the administration is taking various steps to combat the epidemic crises of coronavirus like relief work, advance salary to employees etc but a high percentage of population working as private teachers on meagre salaries are facing difficult conditions. We are without salaries from last more than seven months.”

    Except a few reputed schools, the private educational institutions have largely been evading the release of salaries to the teachers.

    “We have been without salaries from the last eight months. In fact, we have not been paid from August 2019,” QayoomWani, a private school teacher working in Newa Pulwama, said.

    As a mark of protest, many teachers have refused the directive of their school heads to teach online as the Valley witnesses a strict lockdown, imposed to check the spread of Coronavirus. “We can’t teach without salaries. How can the school heads even ask us after not releasing our salaries for months without end?” asks Shabnum Jan from Prichoo Pulwama, another private school teacher.

    It is an open secret that the teachers are underpaid and when the payment of their meager salaries is delayed, it aggravates problems further for them.

    “Complaints are pouring in that some private schools pay meager salaries for few months to their teachers. Violate minimum wages. DSEK/private school associations and parents need to look into this for quality education,” Dr.Asgar Hassan Samoon, Principal Secretary to Government, School Education Department had tweeted earlier this month. But there seems to been no follow-up action on this.

    When contacted, G. N. Var, president of Private Schools’ Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) did not answer the repeated calls from this reporter.

    Given the fact that PSAJK condemned the government’s lack of action in restoring the 4G network in the Valley and said educational institutes can’t wait endlessly for the situation to normalize, it is equally important to end the unending wait for teachers to receive their salaries. Without the pending salaries, it is really difficult for teachers to work from home and deliver online lectures.

    (KNT)

  • 20 more test positive, J&K’s Covid-19 Tally jumps to 427

    Srinagar: Twenty people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the number of the covid-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir to 427.

    Officials sources told GNS that among them 18 were confirmed at SKIMS laboratory while one each at CD hospital and Jammu—pertaining to case from Ramban.

    Among the samples which returned positive in Valley include nine from Shopian, four from Kupwara, three from Baramulla, two from Bandipora and one Budgam district, they added. (GNS)

  • Govt lacks vision to manage to situation after May 03: Sonia Gandhi

    Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday warned that the extension of lockdown in the present nature would be more devastating and that the Union government appears to not have a clear idea on how manage the situation once the scheduled lockdown ends on 3 May.

    Gandhi’s comments came in the opening remarks at the apex meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) on 23 April. The meeting also saw chief ministers of Congress ruled states highlighting the need for more testing and for an immediate financial package from the Union government to deal with the crisis. This was the second virtual meeting of party’s top decision making body in the last one month, since the national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus was announced.

    “The lockdown continues and all sections of our society continue to face acute hardship and distress—particularly our kisans and khet mazdoors, migrant labour, construction workers and workers in the unorganized sector. Trade, commerce and industry have come to a virtual halt and crores of livelihoods have been destroyed,” Gandhi said in her opening remarks to CWC on Thursday.

    “The central government does not appear to have a clear idea on how the situation will be managed after 3 May. A lockdown of the present nature after that date would be even more devastating,” she added.

    Gandhi went on to say that since lockdown was imposed, she wrote several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi based on suggestions by stakeholders including chief ministers from Congress ruled states. “Unfortunately, they have been acted upon only partially and in a miserly way. The compassion, large-heartedness and alacrity that should be forthcoming from the Central Government is conspicuous by its absence,” she said.

    While Gandhi had criticized the Union government in the past saying that the rollout of the national lockdown was poorly implemented, the Congress party has now positioned itself as extending “constructive support” to the Centre, a point she reiterated in the meeting.

    Among other issues which she raised on in the meeting included, lack of testing, poor testing kits, low resource support to state governments and need for direct cash support to the needy.

    Pertinently PM Modi is scheduled to hold a meeting with all chief ministers of states and governors of It’s on 27 April to review the situation (PTK)

  • Coronavirus: Phase-1 human trial of Oxford University vaccine to begin today

    It will focus on safety and tolerability in 500 healthy volunteers

    PTI

    The Oxford University will on April 23 begin a Phase-1 clinical trial of its vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). “The vaccine from the Oxford project will be trialled in people from this Thursday,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said during a daily press conference on April 22.

    The vaccine will be tested on 500 healthy volunteers aged between 15 and 55 years in the Thames Valley region and will focus on safety and tolerability. It will also assess the effectiveness of the vaccine to stimulate an immune response against the virus.

    According to The New York Times, the researchers plan to carry out mid-stage efficacy trials of the vaccine. “They then plan to expand the trial group to older age groups later, and hope to run a final phase trial with around 5,000 volunteers in the late summer,” the report said.

    The vaccine is a recombinant viral vector vaccine that uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vector (ChAdOx1) that carries the genetic sequence of the coronavirus surface ‘spike’ protein inside the ChAdOx1 construct. Vaccination with the spike protein is expected to stimulate an immune response, thus protecting against virus infection.

    The vaccine will comprise only one dose and does not use a replicating virus, so it cannot cause an infection in the vaccinated individual. Adenoviral vectors are a very well-studied vaccine type, having been used safely in many people, including HIV vaccine trials.

    The Oxford University project — led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, Prof Andrew Pollard, Prof Teresa Lambe, Dr Sandy Douglas and Prof Adrian Hill — started working on a vaccine in early January shortly after China shared the genetic sequence of the virus. The team had earlier developed a vaccine for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has shown promise in early clinical trials. The MERS vaccine could generate an immune response for at least a year after vaccination.

    British scientists are already manufacturing a million doses of the vaccine and these will be available by September, even before trials prove whether the vaccine is safe and effective.

  • Coronavirus lockdown | India’s GDP growth between -0.9% and 1.5%: CII

    PTI

    The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Thursday said it expects India’s economy to grow at a much slower pace, ranging from a contraction of 0.9% to a growth of 1.5%, in the current financial year, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent nationwide lockdown.

    “Given the extent of the damage to the economy from the disruption to business, the GDP growth in FY21 will likely be the lowest in many decades,” Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General at CII said.

    – Yuthika Bhargava

  • IUST Creates RUHDAAR, A Low-Cost Frugal Ventilator: University Website

    IUST Website

    Awantipora: Amid COVID outbreak and presuming the shortage of ventilators, the engineers and innovators at Design Innovation
    Centre (DIC) of Islamic University of Science and Technology have created a prototype of a low-cost ventilator which is running successfully in the laboratory.

    The prototype named ‘Ruhdaar’ is
    expected to be handed over to the medical experts in the SKIMS for evaluation purposes which will immediately begin once the innovators are satisfied with its functioning in the laboratory.

    The raw materials for the said frugal ventilator are easily available within J&K and India.

    Team members headed by Coordinator DIC, Dr. Shahkar Nehvi, Dr. Majid Hamid Koul, ex faculty IUST who recently joined the NIT, Mr. Peerzada Shoaib, Asstt. Prof. IUST, Two IUST Alumini Mr. Asif Shah and Mr. Zulquarnain, Mr. Jawad, Design Fellow IUST, Dr. Saad Parvaiz from NIT Srinagar, Dr. Shabir Hassan from Harward University as overseas mentor and Mr. Ab. Rahim from Rahim Greens contributed towards the designing of the said prototype.

    The prototype ventilator is too cheap in comparison to what is available in the market. While the prototype, is working successfully in the laboratory, it eventually will be assessed by the medical experts who will have to use it. Once the prototype is approved by medical experts, there is the possibility of manufacturing it for commercial use.

    Meanwhile Vice Chancellor IUST, Prof. Mushtaq A. Siddiqi has congratulated the entire team for this huge achievement. I am thrilled because our team members has achieved it in a very short span of time, It is our own design and its components are mostly local, Prof. Siddiqi expressed. He said that the University will go for patenting and handover the technology to a start-up or couple of start-ups, so that the ventilator is produced on the large scale. Prof. Siddiqi himself an eminent immunologist further added that the prototype is fine and alright, but it depends on the medical fraternity to accept it or suggest certain modifications.

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed)

  • Coronavirus | Foreign attendees at Tablighi Jamaat congregation under ED lens

    Financial transactions of over 2,000 Tablighi participants being probed

    PTI

    The Enforcement Directorate is probing the financial transactions related to over 2,000 foreign nationals who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin here this March. The agency had earlier registered a money laundering case based on an FIR lodged by the Delhi police.

    The foreigners had come from more than 40 countries. Most of them were from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia. They face allegations of violating visa rules and the Foreigners Act provisions, besides visiting restricted areas during the lockdown without permission.

    The government has blacklisted about 1,000 such foreign nationals, while the police have issued look-out circulars against close to 1,900.

    “We are pursuing all the aspects of money-laundering allegations, including financial transactions pertaining to those who came from abroad. Statements of those named in the case and the others involved will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” said an ED official.

    e-visa loopholes

    Another government official raised questions over the manner in which e-tourist visas were granted to so many foreigners who participated in the congregation.

    There is no system of verification of e-visa applications, which directly go to the server and are processed automatically. The applicants have to provide correct information about only three things: name, date of birth and place of birth, which are already mentioned in their passports, said the official.

    “This exposes the failure in devising a due-diligence process in issuing e-visas. There are specific missionaries visa rules for Tablighi works. All such applications have to be referred to the Union Home Ministry along with the relevant details of applicants,” said the official.

    The official said: “However, in this case, the foreign nationals in question applied for, and got, e-tourist visas. We suspect that they were specifically told to apply under this category.”

    The trend was detected only after the agencies concerned found that the foreigners who attended the congregation had come on e-tourist visas. “Earlier, in February, it happened in the case of United Kingdom parliamentarian Debbie Abrahams, whose visa was revoked,” the official said.

    Explaining the process followed in various categories, the official said for transit and medical visas, applications of Pakistani nationals and those of Pakistani origin have to be referred to the Home Ministry. No tourist visa is granted to Pakistani passport holder, while applications from those of Pakistani origin are also referred.

    Prior reference to the Home Ministry is also made in case the employment visa applications by the nationals of Afghanistan, China and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin, and business visa applications by the nationals of Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan and those of Pakistani origin.

    According to government records, more than 25 lakh e-visas were issued in 2018 — an almost five-fold increase from 5.29 lakh in 2015.

    (This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed)

  • Indore Girl Infects Her Three Boyfriends With COVID-19

    Agencies

    The government authorities have been looking at the positive cases of COVID-19 so that they can stop the virus from spreading further. What’s even more shocking is that the secondary contact persons who came n contact with the infected persons were also infected with the fatal virus.

    In one such incident, a lady who hails from Lusadiya of Indore tested positive. The authorities who have been providing treatment for her traced out the details who came in contact with her.

    As a result, her family members and her boy friend’s family were also sent to the isolation ward. The authorities have also found out that the lady has three more boyfriends and the family members of the boyfriends were also sent to isolation wards.

    What’s even more shocking is that one out of the four boyfriends has two other girlfriends. The authorities were trying to trace out the details of them and those who might come in contact with them.

    Let’s hope that the chain of contacts stops here and no further transmission took place. The problem arises is that no one knows the chain of contacts who come in contact with the secondary contact persons.

  • Maruti not to resume production despite permission from the authorities

    Earlier, the Haryana government issued a permission certificate to the company saying the “authorised strength” of the company during the lockdown period would be 4,696 persons and 50 vehicles

    PTI

    Exactly a month after the Maruti Suzuki India Limited shut down its production and office operations across Haryana, the company’s Manesar plant was on April 22 granted the permission to resume operations in a single shift with restricted number of staff and vehicles. But the company’s chairman R.C. Bhargava ruled out actual production unless the vendors and the retail outlets were open.

    Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bhargava said it was good that the government granted permission and would help them prepare for the future, but there “is no way we can start production”. He said that it was not known as to how long it might take for the production to start as the situation changed every day.

    “Cars cannot be produced until all components are produced on a steady and regular basis. And this means thousands of vendors have to start production. It is not likely to happen today because many of them are in red zones or containment zones. We cannot get the complete set of components. The retail outlets have not been opened yet. There is no permission. So you cannot produce unless you can sell,” said Mr. Bhargava.

    He said the permission from the government was only one part of the problem, and the company could not start producing cars only because it had the permission to do so.

    Earlier, the Haryana government issued a permission certificate to the company saying the “authorised strength” of the company during the lockdown period would be 4,696 persons and 50 vehicles. However, the certificate also said the application was recommended for permission to operate for 600 employees.

    Additional Chief Secretary V.S. Kundu, said the company could resume operations after they put in place all measures for social distancing and safe management of the workers.

    However, the Maruti Suzuki’s decision to not to start production would be a big blow to the plans of several Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, mostly vendors of the company, to resume operations.

    Manesar Industries Welfare Association vice-president Manmohan Gaind said in case the Maruti Suzuki and the Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Limited didn’t start production the other factories down the chain would have no reason to resume production because they are dedicated suppliers to them. He said it would defeat the whole idea of starting things in a small way that the Union government wanted.

    Mr. Gaind demanded that the local administration grant generous permission to open the ecosystem so that all industries, except those in containment zone or those not allowed under the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, can resume their operations.