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  • Donald Trump announces visa sanctions on countries refusing to accept their citizens

    Order comes in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

    PTI

    U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the relevant departments of his administration to impose visa sanctions against countries that do not accept their citizens who are currently in the U.S., if the U.S. seeks to repatriate them to their home countries. The order is motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as per a memorandum issued released by the White House on Friday night (Washington DC time).

    “Countries that deny or unreasonably delay the acceptance of their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents from the United States during the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 create unacceptable public health risks for Americans. The United States must be able to effectuate the repatriation of foreign nationals who violate the laws of the United States,” the order says.

    As it is worded, the scope of the order is unclear. While the clause above says it is motivated by the U.S. wanting to repatriate foreigners violating U.S. , there is another clause that says the sanctions process could be initiated if a foreign country delays accepting its nationals and such an action hampers the U.S.’s response to the ongoing pandemic.

    The Secretary of Homeland Security shall inform the Secretary of State, “… if any government of a foreign country denies or unreasonably delays the acceptance of aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents of that country after being asked to accept those aliens, and if such denial or delay is impeding operations of the Department of Homeland Security necessary to respond to the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2.”

    Within seven days of receiving such a notice from Homeland Security, the Secretary of State is required to initiate a plan to impose visa sanctions. Sanctions shall end when the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies that the host countries are accepting their nationals.

    The memorandum expires on December 31 this year unless extended.

  • COVID-19 halts J&K’s ‘Darbar Move’, first time in 144 years

    The annual shifting of capital from Jammu to Srinagar won’t happen this year due to the pandemic

    PTI

    First time in 144 years, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to halt the annual shifting of capital, called ‘Darbar Move’, from Jammu to Srinagar due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, as 23 fresh positive cases pushed the total in the Union Territory to 207.

    “In view of the extraordinary circumstances due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Civil Secretariat at Jammu shall continue to remain functional and the ‘Darbar Move’ employees shall work on ‘as is where is’ basis. It will allow Kashmir-based staff to work from Srinagar and Jammu-based staff shall work from Jammu,” said an order issued by the General Administration Department in Jammu.

    Introduced by Dogra monarch Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872, the Darbar Move would see shifting of the Civil Secretariat in summers from Jammu to Srinagar and in winters from Srinagar to Jammu. In January 1987, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had asked the then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to stop the practice. However, the Darbar Move was continued to allow it to act as a bridge between two diverse cultures of the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu region.

    However, the COVID-19 has halted this practice and the shifting of the capital may not take place in May this year. “Employees of the Kashmir Division, who are required to move to Srinagar on account of Darbar Move on April 25-26 will be provided transport facility,” said the order. However, no Jammu-based employees will travel to Kashmir this summer.

    Meanwhile, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has been directed to carry out extensive sanitation and fumigation drives in the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar, where the offices will open after six month break on May 4.

    23 test positive

    The administration’s decision to halt the Darbar Move comes as COVID-19 cases showed an upward trend. J&K on Friday crossed the 200 mark, with 23 more samples testing positive.

    “The total positive cases in J&K is 207, as 23 more cases were reported. Jammu has 39 and Kashmir 168 such cases,” said government spokesperson Rohit Kansal.

    Among the fresh cases are seven non-local members of the Tabligi Jamaat, who were in touch with a Chattabal man who has already tested positive for COVID-19.

    Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, said detection of eight more positive cases in Srinagar should not panic locals. “This is a classic tracing success story,” he said.

  • Video | Where Is Your Power Now?

    At this moment in time in these very difficult time, you and I, we should only be focusing on one thing and that is returning to Allah, begging Allah for our shortcomings, begging Allah for his mercy, begging Allah to forgive us for our sins and purify us, so that we can become just like the day our mothers gave birth to us; free and pure from sin.

    Lecturer: Shaykh Ahmad Ali

    Watch Video:

  • Lifting virus lockdowns too quickly could spark ‘deadly resurgence’: WHO

    A hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organisation warned on Friday.

    WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was working with countries on ways in which lockdowns could be gradually eased, but said doing so too quickly could be dangerous.

    “I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone,” he told a virtual press conference in Geneva.

    “At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly.

    “WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.”

    The global death toll is rapidly approaching 100,000.

    More than 1.6 million infections have been recorded globally, according to an AFP tally, since the virus first emerged in China in December.

    Tedros welcomed signs that the spread of the virus was slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe — namely Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

    But he also warned of an “alarming acceleration” of the virus in some countries, highlighting Africa, where he said the virus was beginning to spread to rural areas.

    “We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries” on the continent, he said. “We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities.” Tedros also sent his best wishes to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been moved out of intensive care as he battles the coronavirus.

  • COVID-19 | Export sector may see 15 million jobs go, NPAs rise: FIEO

    About 15 million people face job losses in India’s exports’ sector following cancellation of over half of the orders and a gloomy forecast for global trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic, exporters’ body FIEO said.

    PTI

    Seeking immediate announcement of a relief package for exports, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said fine balancing is required between life and livelihood, as opting for only one can be disastrous for the country.

    He said that exporters were left with “very” few orders and if factories were not allowed to work with a minimum workforce, many of them will suffer “irreparable losses” which will bring them to the brink of closure as they were saddled with fixed costs that, in any case, had to be absorbed by them.

    “With cancellation of over 50% of the orders and a gloomy forecast for the future, we expect 15 million job losses in exports and rising NPAs (non-performing assets) amongst exporting units, hitting the economy very badly,” he said.

    “We are losing markets to China. All orders are going to China as they have resumed work. It will be very late if we don’t start our factories now,” he said.

  • Ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles carrying farm produces: Agriculture Minister

    PTI

    Minister for Agriculture B.C. Patil has directed the Shivamogga district administration to take steps for hassle-free movement of vehicles carrying agriculture produces during the lockdown.

    He was speaking at a meeting here on Friday to discuss the problems faced by farmers due to the lockdown.

    He said that both the Union and State governments have permitted the movement of vehicles carrying agriculture produces. Farmers carrying their produces to market should not be unnecessarily harassed at check-posts. He also said that outlets selling agriculture inputs, including fertilizer, pesticide, pipes, and workshops that repair tractors and farm machinery should be allowed to function.

    The officials from the Department of Agriculture told the meeting that harvesting paddy crop cultivated on 12,000 hectares of land and maize on 7,000 hectares in the district as summer crop would commence in the third week of April.

    Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K.S. Eshwarappa and Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra attended the meeting.

  • Gunfight breaks out in J&K’s Kulgam district

    Security forces launch a cordon and search operation in the Damhal Hanjipora area

    PTI

    An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, April 11, 2020, police said.

    Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Damhal Hanjipora area of the south Kashmir district during the night after receiving specific information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

    He said as the forces were conducting the searches in the area, militants fired upon them. The security forces retaliated, ensuing an encounter.

    The gunfight is going on and further details are awaited, the official said.

  • Atif Aslam’s recitation of the azaan has won the internet

    Pakistani singer Atif Aslam recently took to social media to share the azaan he offered. It is the most beautiful thing you will find on the internet today.

    The call to prayer has been delivered beautifully by the singer who has previously recited hamds and naats such as Taj dar-e-haram and Wohi Khuda Hai.

    “Azaan recitation by Atif Aslam. A call for help,” the singer simply wrote in an Instagram post. Undoubtedly, the azaan is a form of therapy that we need as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the world

  • Kids cannot download textbooks as internet is slow, says senior J&K bureaucrat

    Srinagar: A senor bureaucrat in J&K government on Friday tweeted that kids cannot download textbooks as speed of internet is slow

    As per wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), taking to twitter, Asgar Hassan Samoon, one of the senior most bureaucrats in J&K government, wrote that kids cannot download textbooks as speed of internet is slow.

    “ Kids have no i-pads/ no acess to desktops. Can’t download textbooks as internet is slow; Rs 2030.87 lac released for Ist-8th class;DSEJ Rs 1105.44 lac &DSEK Rs. 925.43 lac;kmr div/distributed books; remaining Jammu districts-dsej/ceos/zeos to expedite work in 2 wks,” Samoon tweeted.

    Samoon is Principal Secretary of School Education Department. In an order issued on April 03 on imposing restrictions on 4G, J&K’s Home department stated that internet restrictions don’t pose any hindrance to access educational online states.

    The high-speed internet services remain suspended in J&K from August 5 when the Centre abrogated J&K’s special status provided under Article 370.

    The 2G internet facility on mobile phones was restored on January 25 after remaining suspended for early five months. Last month, National Conference President and MP from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat Farooq Abdullah  wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate restoration of high-speed 4G internet services in J&K in the wake of outbreak of COVID-19—(KNO)

  • Punjab thief coughs in court, judge sends him to doc; tests Covid-19 +ve

    The station house officer (SHO) of the local Focal Point police station was among those quarantined after the vehicle thief, Saurav Sehgal, 25, was caught and produced in a court on April 5.

    Singh Deogan | HT

    Seventeen policemen were placed under quarantine in Ludhiana on Thursday, two days after a thief they arrested tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

    The station house officer (SHO) of the local Focal Point police station was among those quarantined after the vehicle thief, Saurav Sehgal, 25, was caught and produced in a court on April 5. He was put in jail for a day at the Jeevan Nagar police post.

    Two local residents who had helped the police in arresting Sehgal and 11 of the thief’s family members were also quarantined in the city’s Ganesh Nagar locality.

    On April 6, the duty magistrate found Sehgal had a fever and cough and asked the police to put both the accused through a medical examination before sending them to judicial custody.

    The duty magistrate and court staff have now been asked to go into self-isolation as a preventive measure.

    SEARCH ON FOR ACCOMPLICE

    The police are searching for Sehgal’s accomplice, Navjot Singh, 25, of Jhabewal village, who was also involved in snatchings, and escaped from the civil hospital when they were taken for the medical examination.

    Assistant sub inspector Gurmeet Singh said Sehgal was unwell but Navjot looked fit. “The thief was sent to the isolation ward but the moment I opened Navjot’s handcuffs, he pushed me and fled,” the ASI said.

    A case was registered against him under Section 224 of the Indian Penal Code.

    CONTACT TRACING

    Ten police personnel, including three ASIs, two head constables, two constables and two home guards of Jeevan Nagar police post, had come in contact with Sehgal on April 5 and 6.

    The thieves were brought to the Focal Point police station for clicking a picture to be released with the press note. It was here that they came in contact with inspector Mohammad Jamil and a head constable.

    The accused were taken to court and the civil hospital by three police personnel, including two ASIs and a home guard. Two constables, including a policewoman, came in contact with the accused while recording their fingerprints.