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Srinagar: Kashmir Valley on Saturday reported four more deaths including three from Srinagar and one from Ganderbal districts on Saturday. In all nine covid-19 patients have died in Jammu and Kashmir today, taking the fatality count due to the deadly virus in J&K to 169.

The fresh deaths include 45-year-old and 65-year-old men from Kanipora and Habba Kadal areas of Srinagar respectively. The others include women, both aged 56, from Nunar Ganderbal and Shalimar Srinagar.

Medical superintendent SKIMS Dr Farooq Jan told GNS that the woman from Shalimar was admitted on July 10 and had bilateral Community acquired pneumonia and T1RF. “She was in ward 2A and died at 12:30 p.m. “Her test came positive for covid-19 later,” he said.

Regarding Shalimar woman, Professor Farooq said that she died at 05:10 p.m. with cause of death being cardiopulmonary arrest. “She was admitted on July 6 and was known case of B/L CAP with HTN with DM.”

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old man from Srinagar’s Habba Kadal area died at CD hospital here. “The patient was diabetic, hypertensive and had bilateral pneumonia,” Dr Salim Tal, Medical Superintendent CD hospital told GNS.

The 45-year-old man from Kanipora Srinagar died at SMHS hospital. “He had bilateral pneumonia,” Dr Nazir Choudhary, Medical Superintendent SMHS hospital, told GNS.

Earlier, a 73-year-old man from Pattan area of Baramulla district died SKIMS, two days after he was admitted. The septuagenarian was suffering “COPD with pancytopenia with B/L lung infiltrates”, Professor Farooq told GNS.

Prior to him, a 55-year-old man from Bari Brahmana died at Government Medical College Jammu.

Medical Superintendent of GMC Jammu, Dr. Dara Singh told GNS that the quinquagenarian had comorbidities like “CA bladder and diabetes.” He was admitted on June 29 and died today, he added.

Previously, three persons including a 45-year-old man from Kupwara district died here due to the virus.

A resident of Trehgam, the quadragenarian succumbed at CD hospital, one of the exclusive facilities for the management of the covid-19 patients here.

“He was having hypertension, diabetes and bilateral pneumonia. The patient was on ventilator,” Dr Salim Tak told GNS. “He was shifted from SMHS hospital on July 4 and died this morning,” Dr Tak added.

A 25-year-old woman, resident of Hakura Anantnag, died at SMHS hospital while another fatality, a 77-year-old man from Hyerpora, was reported at SKIMS Soura here.

“The woman was having high blood pressure. Later a caesarean section was done in emergency (at LD hospital on June 27) and a male baby was born who is safe,” Dr Choudhary said. “The woman (admitted to the hospital on July 3) had intracranial hemorrhage due to high blood pressure and she was put on ventilator and died last night,” he added.

A 77-year-old man from Hyderpora Srinagar died At SKIMS Soura and according Professor Farooq Jan, the septuagenarian was “a case of Carcinoma Urinary Bladder and was admitted with Bilateral Pneumonia With ARDS.”

“He was very sick and was on ventilator (Under Double Pressor Support) in IDB Block,” Professor Jan said, adding, “He expired at 7.45 a.m., today.”
With these deaths, 153 people in Kashmir and 16 in Jammu division have died so far due to the virus.

Srinagar district with 43 deaths has the highest fatalities followed by Baramulla (32), Kulgam (18), Shopian (16), Anantnag (14), Budgam (11), Jammu (10), Kupwara (9), Pulwama (5), Bandipora (3), two each in Doda and GAnderbal while one death each has been reported from Poonch, Udhampur, Rajouri and Kathua. (GNS)

PTI

Jammu: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing that continued overnight along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

Firing on the border outpost in Kotha area started around 10.30 pm on Friday, drawing effective retaliation by the Border Security Force guarding the IB, they said.

The officials said the exchange of fire between the two sides continued till 4.15 am but there was no report of any casualty or damage on the Indian side.

However, it caused panic among the border residents who were forced to spend the night in underground bunkers, the officials said.

Srinagar: A top Army officer Saturday said that 250-300 militants are waiting at launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) to infiltrate into Kashmir.

As per KINS Correspondent addressing a press conference at Baramulla GOC Maj Gen Virendra Vats, GOC 19 division said “Militants are trying hard to infiltrate into Kashmir from across the LoC. There are 250-300 militants waiting at launch pads. They are trying hard as they have four months left to infiltrate before the winter begins. But our Army is ready to tackle them,”.

He said Pakistan was resorting to ceasefire violations to divert the attention of the Indian army posted at LoC. “This won’t affect us,” he added.

Pertinently, In early hours of Saturday morning, the army claimed to have killed militants in Naugam Sector of north Kashmir who was trying to infiltrate into this side.(KINS)

PTI

Jammu: The All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) Friday requested the Centre to order a comprehensive security audit of Panchayat members in all vulnerable areas.

The killing of political workers and elected Panchayat members is a matter of concern for all. Family members of our Sarpanches and Panches are living under constant fear in such a hostile atmosphere. We appeal to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to direct the UT administration for early conduct of a security audit so that all Panchayat members in vulnerable areas are provided adequate security, Anil Sharma, UT president of AJKPC told a press conference.

The AJKPC leader, who was on a week-long visit to different Panchayats and Blocks in Kashmir Valley, said every Panchayat member wants to contribute more for the development of his village and Panchayat, but their movement and activities are confined due to security reasons.

Blasting the Pakistani Army, the ISI and their nurtured terrorists’ organization, Sharma said they are unable to face the brave armed forces of India, so they target innocent civilians and PRI members.

PTI

Srinagar: The election for the Mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) will be held on July 14, officials said on Friday.

The secretary of the SMC on Thursday issued a notice for a meeting of the general council of the corporation for electing the new mayor, they said.

Junaid Azim Mattu was removed as the Mayor of the SMC after a no confidence motion against him was passed by the corporation last month.

Controversial businessman Sheikh Imran, who has changed his loyalties several times since getting elected as the corporator, was seen as the key man behind the removal of Mattu from the post.

It is believed that Imran himself is vying for the Mayor’s post.

Interestingly, he was removed as deputy mayor of the corporation in December last year.

India Today

The viral claim says that police caught these Kashmiri girls from Kulgam area of Jammu and Kashmir for running a sex racket.

An image of a few men and women with their faces covered, along with police personnel has gone viral with the claim that police have caught these Kashmiri girls from Kulgam area of Jammu and Kashmir for running a sex racket.

Several Facebook users have posted this image claiming it to be from Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the viral claim to be misleading. The incident is over four years old and it took place not in Kulgam, but in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. In December 2015, Dehradun police arrested eight people, including six women, for running a sex racket.

Multiple Facebook users have posted the same content, which can be seen here.

With the help of reverse image search, we found that this viral image has been used repeatedly over the years since 2015 in various online articles and websites.

We found a news report published on the news website “The Tribune” in December 2015.

According to the news report, the Clement Town police of Dehradun arrested eight persons, including six women, for their alleged role in running a sex racket. The photo was taken by the Tribune news service.

It was revealed during investigation that the sex racket was being run on a rented accommodation of a retired Army officer.

Earlier in 2018, there were news reports regarding a sex racket in Kulgam involving local Kashmiri girls and high-profile people.

But the viral picture showing men and women in covered faces is not from Kulgam but from Dehradun. The picture was taken in 2015.

Complaints against over 50 Pvt schools registered at DSEK: Officials

Srinagar: In a brazen violation of government norm, some private schools in Kashmir Valley are ‘compelling’ the parents to pay the pending tuition, transport and other miscellaneous charges.

The parents of those wards studying in various private schools alleged that the school management has threatened them of blocking their access to appear for the online examinations if they did not pay the pending tuition and other charges.

One of the parents told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that despite government orders, the private schools are charging tuition, transport as well as other miscellaneous fees.

“My three kids are studying at one of the leading private schools of Srinagar and in the name of tuition fee, the school is minting a hefty amount by charging tuition as well as miscellaneous fee,” he said, adding that the school is also demanding the transport fee of past one year.

“The school management is now demanding us to pay the transport fee from August-2019 when all schools were closed following the abrogation of Article-370,” he told KNO.

The parents also said that despite government directives not to charge any fee for the closed months of August and September last year, “the school management have refused to hand over the results of our wards till we pay the whole amount.”

Meanwhile, the official at Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) said, “Complaints against the management of more than fifty schools of charging transport and other miscellaneous charges have been registered. We will take strict action against the violators.

Another parent said that the school management has charged the fifty percent of transport fee besides the tuition charges.

“Since March-2020, the school is charging fifty percent of transport fee besides the tuition fee, however, there are clear directions from the government not to charge any fee apart from the tuition fee,” he said.

In May, the government directed recognized unaided private schools to charge only tuition fee on monthly basis instead quarterly basis for the COVID-19 lockdown period.

The government also ordered the private schools not to hike fee during the academic year 2020-21.

Principal Secretary to government for School Education Department, Asgar Samoon in a circular said, “Only tuition fees shall be charged from students on monthly basis instead quarterly basis for the lockdown period.”

Earlier in June, the government said that the private schools in Kashmir valley were violating the orders of Government Fee Fixation Committee (GFFC) by charging tuition fee as well as miscellaneous fee in the name of tuition fee.

The government had also warned the private schools of strict action in terms of relevant provisions of law in case of any violation found against the school management.

The order issued by the government in this regard stated that the administrative department has issued instructions to private schools in view of COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir with the directions that the last date of deposit school fees is extended up to April-30 without any late fees and no school shall either charge any fee for the online Lecturers or assignments or shall link the result of the child on the basis of home assignment.

DSEK Joint Director, Aabid Hussain said, “We have appointed the deputy Chief Education Officers (CEOs) and nodal officers and the complainants can register their grievances online or offline before them.”

He said that the parents can also register their complaints at DSEK headquarters. “Whosoever comes with a complaint here, we take cognizance and act accordingly,” Hussain said—(KNO)

Srinagar: The Union Government Friadaysaid that the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients has reached 62.42 per cent.

During the last 24 hours, a total of over 19 thousand COVID-19 patients cured, taking the cumulative figure of recovered cases to more than four lakh 95 thousand. There are over two lakh 76 thousand active cases and all are under medical supervision.

Union Health Ministry said the improvement in recovery rate is the result of aggressive testing that ensures early detection of patients. During the last 24 hours, over two lakh 83 thousand samples were tested. The cumulative number of samples tested is over one crore ten lakh. The testing lab network in the country is further strengthened with 835 labs in the government sector and 334 private labs.

The Ministry said, India has adequate hospital infrastructure which helps in timely triaging and clinical management of cases. Due to ramping up of hospital infrastructure in the country, there are one thousand 216 dedicated COVID Hospitals, two thousand 703 dedicated COVID Health Care Centres and around ten thousand COVID Care Centres with isolation beds, oxygen support and ICU facilities.

There are 18 States and Union Territories with a recovery rate of more than the national average. At India level, the fatality rate has been recorded at 2.72 per cent, which is lower than the fatality rates observed in many other countries in the world.

The focus of COVID-19 management has been to keep the fatalities low. The Ministry said, States and UTs have taken many steps in this regard like mapping of the communities to focus on the high risk group like aged and co-morbid people.(KINS)

Srinagar: Amid surge in coronavirus cases, government is mulling to designate more hospitals for COVID-19 patients in Kashmir.

At least three hospitals, JVC Bemina, CD Hospital, JLNM Hospital have been converted into COVID hospitals. Besides, several wards at SKIMS Soura and SMHS Hospital have also been designated for COVID-19 patients.

An official told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that the administration has put concerned authorities on alert that there may be need for more hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
“Various hospitals in districts including Super Specialty Hospital in Srinagar are under consideration to be designated for COVID-19 patients. But no final decision has been taken yet,” the official said.

Principal Government Medical College Srinagar Dr Samia Rashid said many hospitals were short to accommodate COVID-patients.

“No more beds for COVID patients are available at CD Hospital. Government is yet to take any decision to designate any other hospital for COVID patients,” she added.

There has been a sudden rise in the coronavirus cases for the last few weeks and hospitals are not able to accommodate all these patients.
Taking note, Principal GMC Srinagar has also designated several wards at SMHS Hospital for COVID-19 patients.

The Valley including Srinagar has witnessed a surge in cases and deaths after business and trade activities were allowed.

The Government on Thursday informed out of 9501 positive cases, 3652 are active positive, 5695 have recovered and 154 have died; 14 in Jammu division and 140 in Kashmir division.

The government in its advisory says the best way to protect themselves from COVID-19 is by maintaining physical distance of at least 2 metre from others, frequently cleaning hands with an alcohol based hand sanitizer or washing them with soap and water and following good respiratory etiquette and hygiene.

As a measure for social distancing in public places and workplaces wearing a face cover is compulsory.

It says early detection of COVID-19 can prevent the spread of disease so we need to be responsible for the well-being of ourselves and everyone around us. “Not disclosing symptoms could put the life of individuals and their families at risk. In case of symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing report early. Do not fear, call COVID-19 helpline numbers and seek medical advice.”

Advisory has further exhorted upon the people not to step out of home, unless absolutely necessary. “If you have to move out for unavoidable reasons, ensure that you wear a mask and practice social distancing, personal hygiene and frequent hand washing with soap and water.”(KINS)