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  • Rahul thanks Centre for heeding his advice on amendment to FDI policy

    Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala took to twitter to give credit to Mr. Gandhi for the government move.

    PTI

    Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday thanked the Union government for “taking note” of his warning and amending the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to check hostile takeovers of distressed Indian companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “I thank the government for taking note of my warning and amending the FDI norms to make it mandatory for government approval in some specific cases,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted.

    Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala took to twitter to give credit to Mr. Gandhi for the government move.

    “Glad that govt. has positively responded to @RahulGandhi’s suggestion of protecting our corporates from hostile takeovers. The amendment in FDI Policy is welcome and will plug creeping acquisition of any Indian entity. Hope that this constructive engagement shall continue,” Mr. Surjewala tweeted.

  • Coronavirus | Nearly 4,300 cases were linked to Tablighi Jamaat event, says Health Ministry

    Health Ministry official said that States which have reported fewer number of COVID-19 infections also had cases with links to the Markaz event.

    PTI

    Of the 14,378 coronavirus (COVID-19) infections reported in the country so far, 4,291 cases in 23 States and Union Territories are linked to the Markaz event held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in March, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

    Addressing a daily media briefing to give updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said most of the Markaz event-related cases have been found in States with high burden of the disease, such as Tamil Nadu (84%), Telengana (79%), Delhi (63%), Uttar Pradesh (59%) and Andhra Pradesh (61%).

    “A total of 4,291 COVID-19 cases or 29.8% of the 14,378 coronavirus infections reported so far are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation,” he said.

    The Health Ministry official also said that States which have reported fewer number of COVID-19 infections also had cases with links to the Markaz event.

    For example, the only coronavirus case reported in Arunachal Pradesh till now is related to the Markaz event. Similarly, 32 of the 35 cases reported in Assam and 10 out of 12 cases from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are linked to the same congregation, he said.

    According to the Union Health Ministry, 991 fresh COVID-19 cases and 43 fatalities have been reported in the country in 24 hours since Friday morning, taking the total number of cases to 14,378 and the death toll to 480.

    Till now, 1,992, that is around 13.85% of the COVID-19 patients, have been cured of the disease, Mr. Agarwal said.

    The mortality rate in COVID-19 cases in India has been around 3.3%, he said, adding 14.4% of the deaths are between 0-45 years, 10.3% between 45- 60 years, 33.1% between 60-75 years and 42.2% fatalities among people aged 75 and above.

    “So, we see that 75.3% deaths have been in among those aged 60 or above and in 83% cases co-morbidities have been found,” Mr. Agarwal said and reiterated that the elderly and people with co-morbid conditions are at high risk.

    The Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry also said that protocol for using rapid antibody test kits have been shared with the States. “Rapid antibody test kits is to be used in hotspots. It can also be used for surveillance and for epidemiological purposes in such areas where COVID-19 cases have not emerged so far. RT-PCR test is the gold standard for frontline test and antibody test cannot replace this test. Utility of rapid antibody test is primarily for assessing prevalence of infection in a particular area,” he said.

  • Soldier slips to death in North Kashmir

    Uri: A soldier died while an army porter was injured after they slipped from a ridge in Bijhama Sector of Uri.

    Sources told KNT that an Army party belonging to 11 Mahar along with porters on way to their destination when a soldier and a porter slipped from the mountainous area in Mayan near forward post in Bijhama Sector of Uri in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

    Sources added that soldier died on spot while porter has been shifted to hospital. Sources identified the deceased soldier as Naik Uttam Singh.

    Meanwhile, people in Nowgam area of Achabal Anantnag found two rusty mortar shells in an orchard. Locals informed police while Bomb Disposal Squad destroyed both the shells. (KNT)

  • Apple produce worth crores set to rot if lockdown continues, say apple growers

    Srinagar: The apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed concern that their produce may get rotten in the cold storage units if there is no relaxation in the continuing lockdown in view of Covid-19 pandemic.

    The apple growers told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that their produce have started to get rotten in the cold storage units as they were unable to sell them due to the present lockdown.

    They said that they were unable to transport their produce from Kashmir valley to other fruit mandis across the country in view of the Covid-19 lockdown.

    Subzar Ahmad a grower from Shopian district told KNO that he has stored around 1000 apple boxes in cold storage unit at Lassipora and he is worried as they have started to get rotten.

    “We usually keep A grade apples in cold storage chains and then transport to it different markets in spring and would earn handsome money but this year the produce has started to get rotten due to the continuous lockdown,” he said.

    He said that they have to pay Rs 25 to 30 per month for each apple box kept in cold storage unit and if they were not able to sell our produce they will incur huge losses.

    Nawaz Ahmad another fruit grower said that somehow he managed to take few trucks outside the valley but they were forced to return back on seeing all mandis closed across India.

    He said that they paid 30 thousands to truck owners as fare and later kept their produce again in the cold storage unit.

    According to official sources 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of apple was stored in cold storage units in valley and among them 80% of produce is still lying in cold storage units.

    As per experts apples that have been stored in cold storage units would fetch around 1000 crore to growers and if apples will get rotten it will incur huge losses.

    Pertinently horticulture sector has already suffered a huge loss due to the clampdown after abrogation of article 370 and untimely snowfall in 1st week of November last year.

    Growers urged the authorities to look into the matter and facilitate them in transporting their produce to different mandis located across the country.

    Pertinently, the horticulture industry is the backbone of the union territory’s economy and the minimal revenue turnover it provides is about be Rs 8,000 crore and more than 33 lakh individuals are involved in the sector at its various stages.

    The horticulture industry has around 1, 44, 825 hectares under apple cultivation in ten district of the valley. Government records reveal the average annual apple production in the valley is 18 lakh metric tons — (KNO)

  • Coronavirus lockdown | Youth dies after allegedly being beaten up by police in Uttar Pradesh

    He stepped out during lockdown period to buy domestic items, says father.

    PTI

    Rizwan Ahmed, 22, a daily wage worker, died in U.P.’s Ambedkar Nagar district on Saturday three days after he was allegedly thrashed by police when he stepped out during the lockdown period.

    In his police complaint, Rizwan’s father Israil said he had stepped out in the Chajjapur locality of Tanda town in Ambedkar Nagar to buy domestic items on April 15 at around 4 p.m. According to a relative, he went to buy biscuits as he was hungry.

    When Rizwan reached the local post-office, he was intercepted by a woman inspector and some constables, said Mr. Israil.

    The police got down from their vehicle and “beat him with lathis,” said Mr. Israil, adding that Rizwan was badly injured.

    An inconsolable Mr. Israil told reporters that when Rizwan had come back home, his body was blue with injury marks.

    Afraid of the police and the lockdown, the family treated Rizwan with ‘desi’ remedy at home. Since his condition did not improve, they shifted him to a hospital in Asopur but doctors there referred him to the district hospital where he died at 2 a.m., said Mr. Israil.

    Avanish Kumar Mishra, Addl. SP, said the allegations against the police were being probed.

    “After the post mortem is done and on the inspection of the CCTV footage, the allegations made by the family will be investigated and action taken,” Mr. Mishra said.

    The post mortem report is yet to be released.

  • COVID-19: Tally mounts to 341 in JK as 13 more tested positive in Valley

    Srinagar: There has been further increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the Valley with government stating that more 13 have been tested positive on Saturday, taking the toll of overall cases across the Union Territory to 341.

    Government spokesman, Rohit Kansal in his tweet informed that 13 more cases have been tested positive in the Valley, saying that with fresh cases detected today, the number of cases in Kashmir has mounted to 287.

    “No new cases from Jammu Division, 13 from Kashmir; Total positive cases now 341 (54 Jammu and 287 Kashmir). Further details in daily media bulletin,” Kansal tweeted—(KNO)

  • 1200 social media accounts under police radar in Kashmir: JKP

    Srinagar: Around 1200 suspected social media accounts operating in Kashmir are under the radar of security agencies.

    Kashmir has become a breeding ground for rumor mongering, fake news and orders amid COVID-19.
    For the last few weeks, Cyber Police Kashmir has registered at least nine cases for uploading fake news, orders, and pictures.

    “Misuse of social media has become a challenging task for the security agencies in Kashmir. “We have identified 1200 Facebook pages, Twitter and Instragram which are under our radar. Some may be operating from across the border. We are monitoring what kind of stuff they are sharing and will act accordingly,” one of the top officials here in the Cyber police told news agency KINS.

    He said Cyber Police was also monitoring all the profiles and the content being shared by the users. “Some posts are to destabilize the social fabric and create law and order in the valley. We are closely monitoring the social media and take appropriate action accordingly,” he said.

    SP Cyber police Tahir Ashraf also confirmed to KINS that suspected social media accounts were under radar. “Yes around 1000 to 1200 social media accounts are under radar,” he said.

    However Tahir said that they were making people aware how to secure their social media accounts and what kind of stuff they should share.

    “We also found there are certain users who misuse social media. They are quite young of their age and well in their studies. There is nothing against them in police records. We have contacted their parents and counsel them so they don’t misuse social media. We have already counseled over 25 youth so far,” he said.

    He further told that there is a minimum punishment of three years for social media misuse. “There would be 15 years punishment and even life imprisonment for those who are glorifying militancy,” he said.

    He appealed people they should abide the ethics and rule. “In today’s time, we are relying on social media. It is very important we should make its proper use. People should refrain from disseminating fake information which deteriorates mental health,” he added.

    There are lots of reports about misusing of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram besides other by the miscreants who are using fake and anonymous names.

    Recently, a fake news was uploaded on face book wherein a morphed picture of Lalchowk Gantaghar Srinagar has been shown with a flag of Pakistan administered Kashmir. Immediately the FIR was registered, accused were identified and arrested under the provisions of law.

    During the recently monitoring and patrolling of Social Media platforms viz. Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Whatsapp and linkedin, there has been instances where some of the users were found posting fake news, fake documents, incriminating / hateful posts.(KINS)

  • Three CRPF troopers killed, two injured in Sopore militant attack

    Srinagar: Three CRPF troopers were killed and two others suffered injuries in a militant attack in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday.

    Reports reaching GNS said that suspected militants opened fire on a joint party of CRPF and Police at Noorbagh near Ahad Bab’s crossing. “In the incident, five paramilitary troopers sustained injuries,” they said.

    The injured were evacuated to nearby SDH hospital were two CRPF men were declared brought dead on arrival and another succumbed later.

    Director General of Police (DGP) J&K, Dilbagh Singh (IPS) told GNS that three CRPF jawans were killed and two others including the driver injured in the militant attack.

    The DGP said that militants attacked a CRPF vehicle on duty at Sopore town.

    Soon after the incident, government forces launched searches in the area to nab the assailants. (GNS)

  • Two CRPF troopers killed, one critical and another injured in Sopore militant attack

    Srinagar: Two CRPF troopers were killed and another suffered injuries in a militant attack in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday.

    Reports reaching GNS said that suspected militants opened fire on a joint party of CRPF and Police at Noorbagh near Ahad Bab’s crossing. “In the incident, three paramilitary troopers sustained injuries,” they said.
    The injured were evacuated to nearby SDH hospital were two CRPF men were declared brought dead on arrival.

    Director General of Police (DGP) J&K, Dilbagh Singh (IPS) told GNS that two CRPF jawans were killed and a driver injured in the militant attack.

    The DGP said that militants attacked a CRPF vehicle on duty at Sopore town.

    Soon after the incident, government forces launched searches in the area to nab the assailants. (GNS)

    Further details awaited.

  • 8 fresh positive for COVID-19 in Kashmir Division, tally rises to 341 in J&K

    Srinagar, April 18: Eight persons tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday in Kashmir Division, taking the number of COVID-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir to 341.

    Among the fresh cases, five are from Bandipora and one from Beerwah Budgam while two samples received from GMC Anantnag returned positive. (GNS)