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  • Kashmir cops ‘questioning’ students enrolled in Pakistan colleges

    Police in Kashmir have denied the allegations, which come after Imran Khan govt in Pakistan announced 1,600 scholarships for Kashmiri students.

    Srinagar: Several Kashmiri students enrolled in Pakistani institutions have alleged that they have been summoned by police over the past month.

    Speaking to ThePrint, the students said they were asked multiple questions — where they studied, how they got admission, etc — when they visited the police stations. Parents claim the questioning has left students “frightened”.

    Two senior superintendents of police (SSPs), however, sought to deny the allegations, while a third told ThePrint they wouldn’t be able to respond unless presented with a specific name.

    However, off the record, sources in Kashmir police admitted students were being summoned as part of a “verification process”, although it was not made clear why or at whose directions it was being conducted.

    They said there “were concerns that the students may willfully or through coercion indulge in activities considered anti-national”.

    The students’ allegations came a day after the Medical Council of India (MCI), the country’s apex regulator for medical education, said those who pursue degrees from colleges in Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PaK) will not be allowed to practice in India.

    “… Accordingly, any medical institution in Pakistan Administered Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (PaJKL) requires permission /recognition under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. Such permission has not been granted to any medical college in PaJKL,” the MCI notice said in a notice.

    The notice followed an announcement by the Imran Khan government in Pakistan that it would offer 1,600 scholarships to Kashmiri students, a development that has reportedly raised concerns among India’s security agencies.

    ‘Gotten worse’

    Over the past few decades, Kashmiri students have travelled to various countries to pursue higher education, especially medical degrees. Pakistan, government officials say, has emerged as a popular choice because it offers Kashmiri students many scholarships. 

    According to official sources, there are around 700 Kashmiri students enrolled in universities across Pakistan, most of whom pursue MBBS degrees. Many students studying abroad would currently be back in Kashmir as a result of restrictions imposed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Local students say studying in Pakistan has never been “an easy affair” — claiming phone interrogations are a routine matter — but claim the situation has “worsened since last year”.

    Most of the students who spoke to ThePrint were aged between 19 and 23 years. They said they had been summoned to local police stations multiple times, with some claiming they were “questioned in detail” over phone interviews. 

    “Previously, too, police used to call us or our families on mobile phones whenever we returned to Kashmir. The questioning would be routine,” said a resident of Budgam. “It was inconvenient but we would not feel threatened. Since last year, and especially the past two months, the questioning has worsened. We were never summoned to the police station.” 

    A student from Baramulla said he took his father along when he was summoned. “I know of another female student who was asked to come to the station along with a family member. We were questioned about where we study and how we got admitted,” the student added. “I just told police that I am pursuing a career in medicine and that’s all. I don’t want to get into the politics part of this.”

    A Srinagar resident, who has a child enrolled in a Pakistan university, said the summons had left them worried “about both the safety and the future of their children”. “Imagine boys and girls as young as 19 and 20 being questioned by police. We are afraid for their safety and future. Our children are frightened too,” said the parent.

    ThePrint reached the SSPs of all the three areas where people have made these allegations.

    Budgam SSP Amod Nagpure said he would only be able to comment if “you give me a specific case under my jurisdiction”.

    Baramulla SSP Abdul Qayoom denied police in the district had questioned students.

    Their Srinagar counterpart, Haseeb Mughal, said even his office had not issued any orders to question students. If some official is calling students at the “police station level”, Mughal said, the matter should be brought to his notice “as no such direction has been issued in Srinagar at least”.

    Official sources, however, said the “informal interviews are part of a verification process”.

    “There were concerns about the credentials of the foreign universities the students are studying at and how they got admitted. There is also concern that the students may willfully or through coercion indulge in activities considered anti-national,” said a source. “So, the exercise is just to ensure that proper discipline is maintained among students pursuing education abroad.”

    In 2017, the MCI had refused to allow the first batch of Kashmiri students passing out of newly established medical colleges in PaK to appear for the Indian medical certification test.

    Pakistan subsequently transferred other students who could be affected to mainland colleges, or handed out alternative affiliations to medical colleges in PaK. This means, most Kashmiri students studying in Pakistan may not be affected by the latest MCI notice.

    With inputs from ThePrint

    (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

  • Israel and UAE announce normalisation of relations with US help

    Under the deal, Israel will suspend applying sovereignty to areas of the West Bank that it had been discussing annexing.

    Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a “historic” deal that is expected to lead to “full normalisation of relations” between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that United States President Donald Trump helped broker.

    Representational Picture

    Under the agreement, Israel on Thursday agreed to suspend applying sovereignty to Palestinian areas of the occupied West Bank that it had been discussing annexing.

    The deal was the product of lengthy discussions between Israel, the UAE and the US that accelerated recently, White House officials told the Reuters news agency.

    A joint statement was tweeted out Thursday by Trump, that spelled out some the issues that had been agreed.

    The agreement came after a phone call on Thursday between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

    The UAE becomes only the third Arab nation to have active ties with Israel and the first Gulf Arab state to do so. 

    “This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region,” the statement said.

    USA-UAE-Israel announcement

    The joint statement lays out some of the issues agreed between the UAE and Israel in the normalisation deal

    Trump hailed the agreement as a first step, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.

    “Now that the ice has been broken, I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates,” he said.

    But the move was slammed by senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi on Twitter. 

    “Israel got rewarded for not declaring openly what it’s been doing to Palestine illegally & persistently since the beginning of the occupation,” senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi wrote on Twitter. She also said the UAE has come forward with its “secret dealings/normalization with Israel”.

    Delegations from Israel and the UAE will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications and other “areas of mutual benefit,” the statement said.

    It said the the UAE “will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation” for coronavirus treatment and to develop a vaccine.

    The deal will lead the way for the US, UAE and Israel to “launch a Strategic Agenda for the Middle East to expand diplomatic, trade and security cooperation,” the joint statement said, citing that the three countries have a similar outlook on the threats and opportunities in the region.

    SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

  • There is no vaccine for climate change: UNEP Head Inger Andersen

    Bathinda: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen has said there is no vaccine for climate change. We must embed sustainability into Covid-19 recovery. She was speaking at a webinar organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) on Thursday.
    Ms Andersen also stated that the economy cannot be revived at the cost of the environment.

    “We all know we have to change, but now with Covid-19 and the rise in poverty, we have no more time. Once ecosystems collapse, there is no coming back.” she said.

    CEEW is policy research institution, which uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain – and change – the use, reuse, and misuse of resources.

    The discussion on shifting sustainability from the margin to the mainstream was the first in a series of sessions being organised by CEEW as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations. The session also included Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, Godrej & Boyce and Chairperson, CEEW; Bahar Dutt, Environment Journalist and Associate Professor, Shiv Nadar University; Miniya Chatterji, CEO, Sustain Labs Paris and Founding Director, Anant Fellowship for Climate Action; Archana Soreng, Member, UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change; and Kanika Chawla, Director, CEEW Centre for Energy Finance.

    She said, “As we move towards the delayed COP26 UN Conference on Climate Change, we are calling for all countries, including India, to take earnest efforts to make real the promise of Paris and to also stretch their commitments in the new Nationally Determined Contributions. Humanity’s best bet is to minimise the risks and impacts of crises such as Covid-19 by putting sustainability at the heart of Covid-19 recovery.”

    She further added, “We have seen sustainability move closer to economic decision making and while we have made many promises, legislatures and commitments, action is missing. We are facing a triple planetary crisis — the loss of nature, climate change and pollution, which has led to millions of premature deaths, disability and diseases amongst the poor, who are often those living closest to sources of dirty air, power plants, waste dumps and so on.”

    Jamshyd N Godrej said, “CEEW has been contributing deep analytical insights that have aimed towards plotting low-carbon pathways to inform India’s mid-century strategy, driving low-carbon industrialisation through its pioneering work on green hydrogen, creating a democratic demand for clean air, assessing climate risks, and championing the energy transition”.

    Archana Soreng said, “For shifting Sustainability from the Margin to the Mainstream, it is important to promote the process of dialogue between the two stakeholders – those at the ‘Margins’ and those in the ‘Mainstream’, enable dissemination of knowledge and experience, and develop a common strategy that would perpetuate sustainability.”

    Miniya Chatterji said, “up to 18 million children in India are homeless. They need shelter, food and care so that they can become champions for the environment. Empty stomachs cannot save the planet. We need to incentivise social good and environmental sustainability for the private sector.” (TOI)

  • Golf for rich, lockdown for poor: Kashmir Inc slams government for ‘punishing’ people

    Srinagar: Kashmir Inc. has slammed the government for punishing people by imposing indefinite lockdown while opening golf courses for the rich and mighty.

    Lashing out at the government for misplaced priorities, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said the authorities are spending money on buying concertina wires rather than medical equipment to deal with a pandemic.

    “Despite full cooperation extended by the general public and the business community, the administration appeared to be running around in circles and seem oblivious to the fact that the business community of Kashmir is in the 13th month of a disruption,” said a spokesman of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

    He said on the other side the Royals have been enjoying their golf rounds without any break whereas the

    shopkeepers are put behind bars for seeking to feed their families out of frustration.

    Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC), which was closed till May, has been opened in June, he said.

    “This coincided with the government’s announcement of shifting of Durbar to Srinagar. It has been ensured that the RSGC remains open. Even when District Magistrate declared curfew in Srinagar on August 4 and 5 and the majority of 17 lakh people were caged, the RSGC was open and jam-packed. The jurisdiction of the district magistrate ends at the gates of RSGC,” he said.

    Hitting out at the government, the spokesman said DDMA funds have been spent on the purchase of barriers despite Kashmir having the highest inventory of barbed wires.

    “Prices of critical medical equipment including Oxygen concentrators have skyrocketed without any system of checks and balances in place. Butchers are hauled up for selling meat at meagerly higher prices but no attention is being paid to regulate the prices of essential and critical medical equipment.

    Shopkeepers, pushed against the wall by the financial stress and in pursuit of bringing food to the family are being forced to operate like smugglers and reports of excessive harassment by various enforcement agencies are pouring in,” he said.

    Citing an example of Mumbai, the KCCI spokesman said despite 5.35 lakh cases with a daily average of 1,700 cases the financial capital has now entered in Unlock 3.0 phase. Elaborating, he said Mumbai has a population of more than 2 crores living in an area of 603 sq km as compared to Srinagar’s population of around 17 lakh in an area of 294 sq km.

    “A six times higher population density of 33,168 persons per sq km as compared to 5,782 persons per sq km in Srinagar. On August 3, the BMC has allowed all shops – essential and non-essential – to open all day except in containment zones. There are currently around 700 containment zones in Mumbai but unlike in Srinagar, they mostly consist of individual buildings and chawls/slums. Here, the administration cannot stop tweeting and identify individual houses. They simply barricade entire neighborhoods, if not the entire districts,” he said.

    Lambasting district administrations, he said confusing amendments have been made to the comprehensive guidelines issued by the worthy chairman of the State Disaster

    Management Authority

    “A majority of the public has no idea of what the guidelines are. Banks were open throughout but no care was taken to monitor their functioning resulting in reports of largest COVID clusters”, he said.

    KCCI said they are not against opening Golf Course but it seems the government’s concern is to keep senior functionaries and powerful elite physically and mentally fit.

    “Had their salaries and privileges been stopped for 13 months, we doubt that they would be hitting their shots as beautifully. But at closer inspection, we realize that it is not Golf which is the issue, it is saying one thing and doing the opposite. It is about speaking empowerment and acting to disempower,” he said.

    KCCI, the spokesman noted, has never shied away from appreciating decisions and policies of the government wherever it merited. The business community has a responsibility not to mince words while observing any departure in expectations from the Government.

    “The story of Kashmir Golf Club (KGC) which has now become the poor country cousin of the RSGC gives the real picture. Spread over 500 kanals of prime land in the heart of the city, the government’s bank under its Corporate Social Responsibility invested Rs 40 Crores for up-gradation of the KGC. The 500 permanent members of the Club stand sidelined with no say in its functioning,” he said.

    He said the democratic system of elections which was in vogue for 70 years along with the members stands bulldozed after the government took over. The last elections were held in 2013.

    “Then, in July 2019 with the usual good-for-public narrative, the KGC was declared to be a `people’s Golf Course’ with 100 rupee access to all especially youth and school children. KGC is still closed for public,” he said.

    The spokesman said no tangible support has been provided to the business community who continue to struggle not for revival or growth but their very survival.

    “Unemployment is at an all-time high with job losses running into lakhs. On the contrary, inconsiderate policies have pushed the business community to the wall,” he said. (KNT)

  • Remove encroachments on wetlands within 45 days: Div Com to DCs

    Asks them to prevent dumping on wetlands, chairs meeting

    Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole Thursday chaired a meeting of concerned officers on conservation of Hokarsar, Wular and Kreentcho-Chandhara wetlands.

    During the meeting, the Div Com reviewed the progress made viz a viz to demarcation, land transfer, installation of boundary walls, pillars, removal of encroachments,  and non- dumping of solid waste.

    The concerned DCs were directed to ensure removal of all encroachments within 45 days period and prevent people from using wetlands for agricultural activities.

    He instructed concerned to take stringent action including register FIRs against the offenders indulging in repeated illegal activities.

    The Div Com directed concerned to constitute committees and activate field staff teams for close monitoring of wetlands.

    He said that only organic farming on over 500 kanals of private land of Kreentcho wetland is allowed so that farming does not pose any threat to the wetland and is in consonance with the wetland rules.

    Emphasizing on the timely completion of installation of boundary pillars, Div Com said that the step would prevent illegal encroachments on wetlands.

    The Div Com directed concerned to ensure immediate removal of already dumped waste from Hokarsar and other wetlands and emphasized that only alternate and shifted dumping sites are in use for dumping purposes.

    The Div Com said that he would chair a meeting of all concerned next month to take detailed review on action taken report and measures taken by all concerned for conservation of wetlands.

    He also directed concerned to expedite beautification work on wetlands and called for massive awareness generation on importance  on wetland preservation.

    Meanwhile, all DCs were given directions to start work on creation of new water bodies under MGNREGA funds and submit all formats as required along with the action taken reports in this regard.

    DCs from Budgam, Bandipora, Pulwama, Regional Wildlife Warden and various other concerned officers attended the meeting in person or  through the video Conferencing—(KNO)

  • ‘A smoking gun’: Infectious coronavirus retrieved from hospital air

    Infection of cells by floating virus could be key to understanding community transmission

    Covid-19: Doctors in Johannesburg how how to play an intubox over a patient to help curb the spread of viral droplets during intubation. Photograph: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty
    Covid-19: Doctors in Johannesburg how how to play an intubox over a patient to help curb the spread of viral droplets during intubation. Photograph: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty

    Sceptics of the notion that coronavirus spreads through the air, including many expert advisers to the World Health Organisation, have held out for one missing piece of evidence: proof that floating respiratory droplets called aerosols contain live virus and not just fragments of genetic material.

    Now a team of virologists and aerosol scientists has produced exactly that: confirmation of infectious virus in the air.

    “This is what people have been clamouring for,” Linsey Marr says, an expert in airborne spread of viruses who is not involved in the work. “It’s unambiguous evidence that there is infectious virus in aerosols.”

    A research team at the University of Florida succeeded in isolating live virus from aerosols collected up to 5m from patients hospitalised with Covid-19 – farther than the 2m recommended in social-distancing guidelines.

    The findings, posted online last week, have not yet been vetted by peer review but have already caused a stir among scientists. “If this isn’t a smoking gun, then I don’t know what is,” Marr tweeted last week.

    But some experts say it is still not clear that the amount of virus recovered is sufficient to cause infection.

    The research was exacting. Aerosols are minute by definition, measuring only up to 5 micrometres across; evaporation can make them even smaller. Attempts to capture these delicate droplets usually damage the virus they contain.

    “It’s very hard to sample biological material from the air and have it be viable,” Shelly Miller says, an environmental engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies air quality and airborne diseases. “We have to be clever about sampling biological material so that it is more similar to how you might inhale it.”

    In the new study, researchers devised a sampler that uses pure water vapour to enlarge the aerosols enough that they can be collected easily from the air. Rather than leave these aerosols sitting, the equipment immediately transfers them into a liquid rich with salts, sugar and protein, which preserves the pathogen.

    “I’m impressed,” Robyn Schofield says, an atmospheric chemist at Melbourne University, in Australia, who measures aerosols over the ocean. “It’s a very clever measurement technique.”

    As editor of the journal Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Schofield is familiar with the options available but says she has not seen any that could match the new one.

    The researchers had previously used this method to sample air from hospital rooms. But in those attempts, other floating respiratory viruses grew faster, making it difficult to isolate the coronavirus.

    This time, the team collected air samples from a room in a ward dedicated to Covid-19 patients at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. Neither patient in the room was subject to medical procedures known to generate aerosols, which the WHO and others have contended are the primary source of airborne virus in a hospital setting.

    The team used two samplers, one just over 2m from the patients and the other about 5m from them. The scientists were able to collect virus at both distances and then to show that the virus they had plucked from the air could infect cells in a lab dish. The genome sequence of the isolated virus was identical to that from a swab of a newly admitted symptomatic patient in the room.

    The room had six air changes per hour and was fitted with efficient filters, ultraviolet irradiation and other safety measures to inactivate the virus before the air was reintroduced into the room.

    That may explain why the researchers found only 74 virus particles per litre of air, John Lednicky says, the team’s lead virologist at the University of Florida. Indoor spaces without good ventilation – such as schools – might accumulate much more airborne virus, he says.

    But other experts say it is difficult to extrapolate from the findings to estimate an individual’s infection risk.

    “I’m just not sure that these numbers are high enough to cause an infection in somebody,” Angela Rasmussen says, a virologist at Columbia University in New York. “The only conclusion I can take from this paper is you can culture viable virus out of the air,” she says. “But that’s not a small thing.”

    Several experts note that the distance at which the team found the virus is much farther than the 2m recommended for physical distancing.

    “We know that, indoors, those distance rules don’t matter any more,” Schofield says. It takes about five minutes for small aerosols to traverse the room even in still air, she adds.

    The findings should also push people to heed precautions for airborne transmission like improved ventilation, Seema Lakdawala says, a respiratory virus expert at the University of Pittsburgh. “We all know that this virus can transmit by all these modes, but we’re only focusing on a small subset,” Lakdawala says.

    She and other experts note one strange aspect of the new study. The team reports finding just as much viral RNA as they did infectious virus, but other methods generally found about 100 times more genetic matter.

    “When you do nasal swabs or clinical samples, there is a lot more RNA than infectious virus,” Lakdawala says.

    Lednicky has received emails and phone calls from researchers worldwide asking about that finding. He says he will check his numbers again to be sure.

    But ultimately, he adds, the exact figures may not matter. “We can grow the virus from air – I think that should be the important take-home lesson,” he says. – New York Times

    With inputs from The Irish Times

  • BJP will not let Pakistan to convert Kashmir into graveyard: Ravinder Raina

    Says killings of Panchs, Sarpanchs condemnable

    Srinagar: BJP J&K President Ravinder Raina on Thursday alleged that Pakistan is trying to convert Kashmir into “graveyard” and is scared from BJP as emerging political force in Valley. Terming the recent spree of killings of BJP Panchs and Sarpanchs “condemnable”, he said Pakistan has got frustrated to further its agenda on the soil of Kashmir.

    Talking to a presser in Jammu, BJP J&K President said that the attacks carried out by militants on BJP Panchs and Sarpanchs in past couple of weeks are highly “condemnable”. Terming the killings “condemnable” and “heart-wrenching”, he said the strikes clearly depict the frustration of Pakistan who doesn’t want Kashmir a peaceful territory.

    The way BJP workers are being killed selectively by Pakistan’s brutal militants is a clear depiction that the neighboring country is afraid of BJP from its growing image in Valley.
    “Pakistan has got frustrated and it is why BJP Panchs and Sarpanchs were killed unabatedly during dark in Bandipora, Kulgam and Budgam”, Raina said and adding Pakistan is trying to convert Kashmir into graveyard, it is why innocents are being killed.

    He added Pakistan spilled enough blood of innocents in Valley but BJP will not tolerate it further. “Innocents were killed mercilessly by Pakistan, school going girls were kidnapped and killed, educated youth persuaded to militancy in order to fuel violence in Valley”, BJP leader said.

    Asserting that BJP has emerged a powerful political force in Valley, Raina said the party is spreading fast in every walk of life. “BJP is spreading fast at grass root level. Every walk of life is getting associated with it including intellectuals of the society who supports BJP wholeheartedly”, he said.

    Raina added that the growing image of BJP in Valley panics Pakistan, militants and their sympathizers and it is why our workers are being targeted in a well thought out conspiracy. He said BJP will not allow Pakistan to get succeed in its nefarious designs on the cost of Kashmiris.

    “Pakistan can’t stop BJP from spreading in Valley”, he claimed. He said J&K is an “integral part” of India and people of the territory are Indians by heart. “More than 95 percent people in J&K are Indians by heart and are patriotic”, he asserted.

    He said people of J&K unfurled tri-color in every house on August 5 and celebrated the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 with great zeal and enthusiasm and added the same passion will be displayed on August 15 when tri-color will be hoisted in every house and Panchayat Ghar. (KNS) 

  • Militant hideouts unearthed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama

    A case has been registered at police station in Awantipora in this regard, says official.

    PTI

    Security forces have unearthed two militant hideouts in the forest area of Awantipora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, recovering a cache of arms and ammunition, police said on Thursday.

    Acting on a tip off about presence of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants in Badroo forests of Awantipora, security forces launched a search operation on Wednesday night, a police official said.

    “During search in the early morning hours (of Thursday), two hideouts of LeT outfit were busted and destroyed,” the official said.

    He said incriminating material and huge cache of explosive material and ammunition have been recovered from hideouts which include over 1,900 rounds of AK ammunition, two hand grenades and an UBGL thrower with four grenades.

    The other explosives recovered include ammonium nitrate-like substance, five gelatin sticks, one crude pipe bomb and three code sheets.

    A case has been registered at police station in Awantipora in this regard, he added.

  • NEET cannot be held online for candidates abroad, SC told

    NTC says MCI had made it very clear that NEET was mandatorily held in paper-book format for all candidates

    The NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) for undergraduate medical courses cannot be held online for candidates abroad, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has told the Supreme Court.

    The specialised body, which conducts examinations for higher educational courses, said the Medical Council of India (MCI) had made it very clear that NEET was mandatorily held in the paper-book format for all candidates. It is a policy decision of the NTA. The conduct of these exams was purely within the MCI’s domain.

    An NTA affidavit said, “There is nothing to show the MCI has taken the decision illegally or arbitrarily”.

    The NTA was responding to an order of the apex court to respond to a petition filed by the parents of over 4,000 NEET candidates in the Middle East for a direction to either allocate exam centres in these foreign countries or postpone the exams.

    “The examination cannot be conducted abroad as the NEET (UG) has to be held in a single shift at the same time on the same day to maintain uniformity… Question paper and other exam materials have to be transported from the NTA Headquarters to a large number of exam centres in various cities securely”, the affidavit said.

    The NEET cannot be compared with Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted for engineering and technical courses. The preparation was more rigorous and there were far fewer seats for the former than in the latter, the NTA said.

    ‘JEE has centres abroad’

    It was responding to the parents’ argument that the JEE had centres in foreign countries as well. The JEE is both an online and offline mode examination.

    The parents, represented by advocates Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap, had asked the court to step in and spare their children from being forced to travel to India to take their exams amid the pandemic.

    The petition said the MCI and the NTA should, in the alternative, not conduct the exams in the shadow of the pandemic. In that case, the authorities should wait till COVID-19 blows over.

    “Students are helpless to write the examination as international travel is banned to and from India. Assuming that they have seats in Vande Bharat Mission flights, the students will be exposed to COVID-19 risks as also they would have to undergo quarantine on their arrival in India”, the parents said.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Suicidal tendencies continue in CRPF ranks: Officer shoots himself in Sgr, critical

    Srinagar: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer was critically injured this on Wednesday morning after he shot himself with his service rifle in Shergari area of Srinagar, officials said.

    They said a CRPF inspector identified as M Damodar from 141 battalion, who was posted at Shergadi area of Srinagar fired at himself with his service rifle. “He was found in a pool of blood by his colleagues who rushed him to the hospital where his condition is stated as critical,” the official said.

    CRPF spokesman in Srinagar, Pankaj Singh said that CRPF inspector M Damodar shot at himself and was injured. “He is being treated. Investigations have been ordered to find out what prompted him to take extreme steps,” Singh told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

    Pertinently, since the outbreak of COVID-19, there is a spurt in the suicidal tendencies among the CRPF men posted in Kashmir due to many reasons, and one of the major reasons that forces them to shoot themselves is that they haven’t been able to avail leave since over five months now.

    According to CRPF officials, preliminary inquiry into the previous incident has found that “highest level of depression caused by the deadly pandemic is forcing the troopers to take extreme step.”

    Today’s incident comes just after a fortnight of previous incident that took place on July 26 when a CRPF man posted in Srinagar shot himself dead.

    A senior CRPF official said that there were many reasons why CRPF men were taking extreme steps and one of them is mental stress caused by the COVID-19 which has not allowed them to avail leave to meet their families. “COVID-19 has caused a huge level of depression among CRPF ranks as they are following social distancing norms within their units strictly.

    Secondly, they are not able to avail leave and meet their family members since March this year due to the pandemic,” he said, wishing not to be named. “So there is an increased level of pressure which has led to the depression among CRPF men deployed in the Valley.”

    Earlier, on July 19, a CRPF personnel committed suicide by shooting himself dead with his service riffle at his unit in Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar.

    He was posted with the 29 battalion F-Coy at Pathan Chowk area of Srinagar and was identified as Biswajit Dutta. He had died on the spot. An inquiry was ordered to find out the reason that led him to take this extreme step.

    Pantha Chowk incident had come just three days after a CRPF man posted at a hotel in Dalgate area of Srinagar accidentally shot himself with his service riffle. He was critically injured and is battling for life at Army’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar.

    On July 6, two Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) men were killed in a fratricidal incident in a court complex in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The duo had resorted to an argument before shooting themselves dead with their services riffles.

    Earlier on May 12, two CRPF personnel committed suicide by shooting themselves with their service rifles in two separate incidents at south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

    On the same day, a CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector, Bengali Babu, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at his 49th battalion camp in Srinagar. Furthermore, on March 21, a CRPF man posted outside Civil Secretariat Srinagar, had committed suicide by shooting himself with his service riffle.

    The rise in suicide cases among CRPF men has, however been directly linked with the prevailing pandemic as it is evident by the suicide notes left by a couple of CRPF men who took extreme step. A suicide note of one of the CRPF men who shot himself dead read: “I am afraid, I may be Corona positive…. Better to die.

    A senior CRPF official said that every incident is followed by an internal inquiry but one of the main reasons why “boys are taking extreme step” is that they are not able to go on leave and meet their families. “Back home, their families are worried too, which increases mental pressure for the boys on duty in Kashmir, which is a challenging place. Even though regular counseling sessions are being given to the CRPF men in the morning and evening, still the level of pressure on their minds remains due to coronavirus outbreak,” he said—(KNO)