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Pulwama: A gunfight broke out between militants and security in Brantal Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday evening

An official told News agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that a joint team of Police, army’s 42 RR and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation on specific information about the presence of militants in the area.

He said that as the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them which was retaliated triggering an encounter.

A senior police officer also confirmed the exchange of fire between forces and militants.

As per the sources, two to three militants are believed to be trapped in the area.

Pertinently this is second encounter in a day in South kashmir as two militants were killed in an encounter at Waghama Bijbehara area of Anantnag on Tuesday morning taking the toll of total militants killed in June to 38 in southern Kashmir—(KNO)

Majlis Shora to be called in next 3-4 days, we should be allowed to meet ailing leader: Yasmeen Raja

Srinagar: A day after senior separatist leaders parted ways from All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the Hurriyat leaders on Tuesday said that the veracity of audio and letter issued by Syed Ali Geelani was being ascertained.

On Monday, Syed Ali Geelani who was the Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) announced to part ways from the “Hurriyat Forum” citing the present prevailing situation. In an audio message, Geelani had said: “keeping in view the present situation in Hurriyat Conference, I announce to part ways from the Hurriyat forum. The decision has been conveyed to all the constituents of Hurriyat through official letters.”

However, many of Hurriyat leaders while talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that they have not received any letter so far from Syed Ali Geelani.

Meanwhile, Yasmeen Raja told KNO that the statement was nothing than a shock for them, adding that it seems something is fishy behind the yesterday’s statement. “We are ascertaining the veracity of the letter as well as the audio clip. Nobody is being allowed to meet Geelani Sahab, whose health is falling,” she said.

She further stated that Hurriyat constituents has not taken any decision in this regard so far, but will sit together in next three to four days and will take any decision accordingly.

“Even during the recent meeting held by the Hurriyat, nobody had objections or queries with the senior separatist leader,” she said, adding that she even met him twice at his residence before sometime and everything was alright.

She, however, said that Majlis-e-Shora will be called in next three to four days wherein a decision in this regard will be taken.

Pertinently, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which has nearly 20 constituents at present, was founded on 07 August 2004 while Syed Ali Geelani took over as Chairman of the amalgam on 12 October 2004 –(KNO)

Srinagar: Traders of Sopore Tuesday held a protest demanding they should be allowed to reopen shops as they were unable to feed their families.

Authorities in various parts of Kashmir have allowed shopkeepers to reopen their shops but have been directed to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and guidelines laid by the Ministry of Home Affairs besides District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

However, shops in Sopore continue to remain closed. “There has hardly been any COVID positive case in the last three weeks. Despite that we are not allowed to reopen our shops,” a shopkeeper told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service.

The shopkeeper said the administration was discriminating against the shopkeepers of Sopore.

“If shopkeepers of other areas are allowed to operate why similar rules can’t for shopkeepers of Sopore,” he asked.

The shopkeepers who protested Tuesday were raising slogans against the administration.
“This lockdown has put a shopkeeper like me in deep trouble. It is very difficult for us to feed our families,” another shopkeeper said.

These days he is sitting idle at home. “I debited Rs 1000 from one of relatives that have been exhausted,” he said.

“Nobody is concerned about us. We can’t tell you how we feed our families,” he added.
Authorities have allowed shops to reopen in Srinagar. Shopping malls have been directed to prominently display roster for 50% shops to be opened on alternative days.

The government has stressed that equidistant circles in paint indicating mandatory distance shall be marked outside every shop and establishment. “Every shop or establishment shall be properly sanitized before being made operational. Hand sanitizers and soap etc shall also be compulsorily made available at every establishment,” a government order reads.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, garments, cosmetics, footwear, electronics, jewellers, tailors will remain open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“Similarly, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 am to 5:30 pm, handicrafts, handloom, hardware, building material, furniture, furnishing, automobiles, services stations and barbers will remain open,” the order said.

For the public transport, the order underlined that the three wheelers with two passengers have been allowed. (KINS)

Srinagar: As deaths due to Covid-19 infection crossed 100 mark today in Jammu and Kashmir, the data reveals most of the deceased were declared Covid-19 positive posthumously. This trend has shaken the confidence of people among health professionals as people are wondering why almost every deceased especially in Valley turns Covid-19 positive. These include the young people and even those who sustained injuries in road accidents.

In Handwara, a young boy was allegedly attacked with axe, received head injuries, died at SMHS Hospital, but declared Covid-19 positive after the death. The news came as a shock to the family who said that the cause of death may give relief to those responsible for the death of the boy.

Another glaring example is the death of a 24 year old youth from South Kashmir’s Shopian district who suffered injuries in a fatal road accident and died in the hospital but doctors declared him Covid-19 positive.

As reported earlier on 27 June three persons including father-son duo from South Kashmir’s Shopian district were critically injured after their car collided with a Tipper on Srinagar-Jammu highway near Pampore. One among the three died on way to hospital while injured Abrar died today and was declared Covid-19 positive. Family alleged negligence saying no neuro-surgeon was available in the hospital to take care of Abrar. “Doctors closed the chapter and to evade questioning, they declared the young man Covid-19 positive,” said a relative of Abrar to news agency KNT.

The data reveals that most of the deaths occurred in SMHS Hospital. Though patients were non-Covid, when admitted in the hospital, but posthumously tested positive for Coronavirus infection. SMHS Hospital is a non-Covid hospital. “It is irony that non-covid patients are being declared Covid positive after their death in a non-Covid hospital,” said an attendant of a patient.

A medico said that since SMHS Hospital is not a Covid-19 designated hospital like CD, JVC or SKIMS so may be the hospital administration is not taking utmost precautions.

Doctors Association Kashmir President Dr Nisar-ul-Hasan believes that every hospital in Valley is infected. He told Kashmir News Trust that there are great chances of gadgetry, beds, ICU’s are being infected with Covid-19 in every hospital. Chances are, even young men can catch infection when admitted in the hospital and I think same happens with those young people who die of road accidents or any other ailments and turn positive for Covid-19 infection just because hospitals carry this lethal infection.

“Hospitals have become active agents of this infection and we should take utmost precautions,” Dr Nisar said.

A medico on condition of anonymity demanded the constitution of ‘Empowered Death Audit Committee’ who could see the actual cause of death. He said that in many cases, Covid-19 may be one of the factors of the death, while the bigger cause may be something else. “It’s important to form this Committee before issuing Death Certificates,” he said. (KNT)

India Today has learnt that far from de-escalation, a greater mobilisation and concentration of troops have been seen on both sides of the Line of Actual Control in the last 72 hours.

India Today

The precise opposite of disengagement between India and China is happening at the four friction points in eastern Ladakh. With the third round of Corp Commander level talks winding down in Chushul, India Today has learnt that far from de-escalation, a greater mobilisation and concentration of troops have been seen on both sides of the Line of Actual Control in the last 72 hours. And the mobilisation shows no signs of abating.

India Today can confirm that the Indian Army has scaled up its deployments, but will not report on the specifics of this mobilisation owing to the dynamic nature of the situation at all four friction points. The Chinese side has clearly scaled up deployments in depth areas of the Finger complex of Pangong Tso as well as Hot Springs area.

As reported by India Today yesterday, the talks in Chushul today led with and focused in large measure on the situation at Pangong Tso’s Finger 4. India Today was the first to detail just how serious the situation is on the ridgeline at Finger 4, with permanent Chinese positions emerging for the first time in a swathe of disputed territory claimed and earlier patrolled by both sides. While the Chinese Army remains unmoved, both physically on the ground across friction points as well as in talks, it is clear that the PLA leadership has decided to focus its intransigence on Finger 4, showing every intention to move even further west into Indian territory, but held off by bigger Indian deployments in the area.

The three other friction points, Patrol Point 14 in the Galwan Valley (where the violent clash took place on June 15) and Patrol Points 15 & 17A near the Gogra Post in Hot Springs, also came up for discussion. As India Today has reported, the situation at the Galwan Valley and Hot Springs is less precarious currently compared to Pangong Tso, with the proximity and continuing mobilisation around Finger 4 being seen as a continued hostile action.

Three things have emerged quite clearly from today’s talks. One, the process to define the crucial ‘how’ of disengagement has made no clear headway. Two, that while the two sides have defined their own details of disengagement, there are key disagreements that have stalled any clear progress in the talks. And three, the token reduction in troops seen at some sites, including Patrol Point 14, is precisely that — token, in the present scheme of things.

In the absence of any clear take-aways to build on for the next round of talks, it is near certain that any disengagement may only happen by default when winter sets in, and manning positions at those frontiers become impossible to sustain for both sides. In the three months before winter takes over, the two sides will likely continue to talk, though no dramatic de-escalation is expected. For now, top sources say, the level of mobilisation by both sides, especially in the last four days, has emphasised trust deficit and also increased the ‘point of no return’ factor in deployments.

The Indian government’s decision to ban 59 Chinese mobile apps just hours before Tuesday’s military talks at Chushul added a new hard dimension to India’s position, one that cannot be fully disentangled from the larger confrontation.

With boot heels, wheels and tank tracks dug in, it is likely that troops from both sides may only begin to disengage when the surface of the Pangong Tso is frozen over.

PTI

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir prisons department is planning to conduct Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) across all jails in the union territory to help the inmates overcome issues related to attitude and behaviour before their release, its chief said on Tuesday.

Director General of Police, Prisons, V K Singh said the decision to go for mass CBT-I was taken after the successful conduct of the maiden initiative by the department in collaboration with the University of Jammu and Government College for Women, Parade at district jail Amphalla here.

“The department is planning to conduct the CBT-I in other jails of the Union Territory. Training of the trainers from amongst the staff is being planned at Jammu and Srinagar and is expected to be held next month, Singh told reporters here.

Singh, who was flanked by Head of Psychology department, University of Jammu, Arti Bakshi and Assistant professor, clinical psychologist, Government College for Women, Parade, Piyali Arora who conducted the CBT-I at the jail over the past three months, said the therapy would help the inmates in other jails to undergo correctional process in the attitude and behaviour and hopefully (they) will be able to integrate better in the society on release .

Sharing their experience with the inmates, the academicians said analysis of sleep related data collected from 569 inmates suggested that 61 of them had sleep difficulties as they slept for three hours or less on an average.

The target group of 61 inmates including six women was selected on the basis of baseline data identifying those who figured high on the insomnia severity index, they said.

They said the intervention comprised evaluation of sleep problems, sleep log monitoring, exercises for improved sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques, addressing dysfunctional belief related to sleep assessing treatment compliance and review of the participants’ progress.

The data also revealed that only 11 per cent had sleep difficulty before being incarcerated which increased to 74 per cent on admission in prison which shows scope for CBT-I at start, Bakshi said.

CBT-I was conducted with these 61 inmates and feedback analysis revealed that there has been a significant improvement in quality of sleep or sleeping duration of these inmates as 66 per cent had benefited over a period of three months, he added.

Appreciating the resource persons for their professional commitment and dedication, the DG prisons said the core of prison administration is correctional service which seeks to reform the inmates and enables them to reintegrate as healthy adults within the community on release.

Accordingly, a need was felt to address sleep problems for better reformation of inmates which led to the planning and implementation of this intervention, he said.

Arora said sleep problems effect the health of inmates adversely and long term sleep problems among inmates may lead to memory issues, poor concentration, weak immune system, susceptibility to diabetes, depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, which in turn create an extra burden on the system and pose serious challenges in correction.

District Jail Superintendent Mirza Saleem Ahmad Beig said the intervention was facilitated within the jail premises with strict observance of the guidelines for social distancing, use of face masks and regular hand washing in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raj Kumar, a Delhi resident who is under imprisonment in the jail for the last six months, thanked the prison authorities for the intervention and said he had benefited by the initiative.

PTI

New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a programme to provide free ration for over 80 crore people, mostly poor, by five more months till November end

In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister said over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the programme’s extension, and if the last three months expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore

The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19

Modi noted that July marks the beginning of the festive season when people’s needs as well as expenditure increase

“Keeping all these things in mind, it has been decided to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana up to Diwali and Chhath Puja till the November end,” Modi said on the eve of the start of ‘Unlock-2’ for a graded exit from the national lockdown that was imposed on March 25. ‘Unlock-1’ ends on Tuesday

The prime minister said in his 16-minute address that the central government is also working on the “one nation, one ration card” initiative which, he added, will benefit people living outside their home for employment and other needs the most. This is Modi’s sixth address to the nation after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic

Underscoring the enormity of the free ration scheme, Modi said it covers two and half times the population of the United States, 12 times the population of the United Kingdom and double the population of the European Union

Each member of a family covered under the scheme will get five kilogram wheat or rice, and every family will get one kilogram whole gram per month as well

Highlighting his government’s pro-poor measures during the lockdown, he said it had announced Rs 1.75 lakh crore package for the poor earlier, with Rs 31,000 crore transferred to 20 crore poor families under direct benefit transfer and Rs 18,000 crore given to nine crore farmers

The Union government, he added, is also spending Rs 50,000 crore for providing employment to people in rural India

With economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic hitting employment across the country and millions of migrant labourers having returned to their native states, the extension of the free ration scheme is expected to provide succour to the poor

It is also expected to help the ruling BJP-led NDA in the poll-bound Bihar, which is home to a huge number of migrants and beneficiaries of the scheme

Modi also credited farmers and honest taxpayers for the government’s success in providing free ration to the needy and poor

While farmers produced enough grains, contribution from honest taxpayers has helped the poor coping with such a big crisis successfully, he said

“On behalf of all the poor of the country, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all the taxpayers and farmers, and also salute them. In the coming days, we will further strengthen our efforts and continuously work to empower the poor, downtrodden and deprived sections of society. While taking all the precautions, we will further expand the economic activities,” Modi said

The nation’s top priority during the lockdown was to ensure that no one remains hungry, and the Central government, state governments and civil society, all did their best, he added

The prime minister said his government will continue to work ceaselessly for ‘aatamnirbhar Bharat’

“We all will be vocal for Local. With this pledge and commitment, the 130 crore people of this country will have to work together and move forward together.”

Speaking on the coronavirus situation, he said India is comparatively in a better position compared to many countries of the world, as timely imposition of lockdown and other decisions have saved lakhs of lives

But, he also expressed concern that since ‘Unlock-1’ began there is an increasing “negligence” in personal and social behaviour

“Earlier, we were very careful with respect to wearing of masks, social distancing and washing of hands for 20 seconds. But today, when we need to be more careful, increasing negligence is a cause of worry,” he said.

Srinagar: As deaths due to Covid-19 infection crossed 100 mark today in Jammu and Kashmir, the data reveals most of the deceased were declared Covid-19 positive posthumously. This trend has shaken the confidence of people among health professionals as people are wondering why almost every deceased especially in Valley turns Covid-19 positive. These include the young people and even those who sustained injuries in road accidents.

In Handwara, a young boy was allegedly attacked with axe, received head injuries, died at SMHS Hospital, but declared Covid-19 positive after the death. The news came as a shock to the family who said that the cause of death may give relief to those responsible for the death of the boy.

Another glaring example is the death of a 24 year old youth from South Kashmir’s Shopian district who suffered injuries in a fatal road accident and died in the hospital but doctors declared him Covid-19 positive.

As reported earlier on 27 June three persons including father-son duo from South Kashmir’s Shopian district were critically injured after their car collided with a Tipper on Srinagar-Jammu highway near Pampore. One among the three died on way to hospital while injured Abrar died today and was declared Covid-19 positive. Family alleged negligence saying no neuro-surgeon was available in the hospital to take care of Abrar. “Doctors closed the chapter and to evade questioning, they declared the young man Covid-19 positive,” said a relative of Abrar to news agency KNT.

The data reveals that most of the deaths occurred in SMHS Hospital. Though patients were non-Covid, when admitted in the hospital, but posthumously tested positive for Coronavirus infection. SMHS Hospital is a non-Covid hospital. “It is irony that non-covid patients are being declared Covid positive after their death in a non-Covid hospital,” said an attendant of a patient.

A medico said that since SMHS Hospital is not a Covid-19 designated hospital like CD, JVC or SKIMS so may be the hospital administration is not taking utmost precautions.

Doctors Association Kashmir President Dr Nisar-ul-Hasan believes that every hospital in Valley is infected. He told Kashmir News Trust that there are great chances of gadgetry, beds, ICU’s are being infected with Covid-19 in every hospital. Chances are, even young men can catch infection when admitted in the hospital and I think same happens with those young people who die of road accidents or any other ailments and turn positive for Covid-19 infection just because hospitals carry this lethal infection.

“Hospitals have become active agents of this infection and we should take utmost precautions,” Dr Nisar said.

A medico on condition of anonymity demanded the constitution of ‘Empowered Death Audit Committee’ who could see the actual cause of death. He said that in many cases, Covid-19 may be one of the factors of the death, while the bigger cause may be something else. “It’s important to form this Committee before issuing Death Certificates,” he said. (KNT)