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  • Pakistan High Commission staffers held for spying

    (Eds: With more inputs including Pakistan”s reaction)

    PTI

    New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) India on Sunday declared two officials of the Pakistan High Commission as ”persona non grata” on charges of espionage and ordered them to leave the country within 24 hours, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

    The two officials, Abid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir, were caught by Delhi Police while they were obtaining sensitive documents relating to India”s security installations from an Indian national in exchange of money, official sources said.

    “The government has declared both these officials persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission and asked them to leave the country within 24 four hours,” the MEA said in a statement.

    The sources said the officials were working at the visa section of the Pakistan High Commission and confessed during the interrogation that they worked for Pakistani spy agency ISI.

    In a statement in Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Office condemned India”s action against the two officials, calling the allegations baseless.

    It said the action is “clearly aimed” at shrinking diplomatic space for the working of Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.

    “Pakistan strongly rejects the baseless Indian allegations and deplores the Indian action which is in clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as well as the norms of diplomatic conduct especially in an already vitiated atmosphere,” it said.

    The punitive action against the two officials came in the midst of frayed ties between the two countries over reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.

    Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic ties by expelling the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad following India”s decision to withdraw special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two union territories in August last year.

    The MEA said a strong protest was lodged with the Charge de Affairs of the Pakistan High Commission over the activities of its two officials against India”s national security.

    “Pakistan”s Charge de Affairs was asked to ensure that no member of its diplomatic mission should indulge in activities inimical to India or behave in a manner incompatible with their diplomatic status,” it said.

    The sources said the two officials, working at the visa section of the Pakistan High Commission, were handing over Indian money and an iphone for providing them the documents.

    The officials initially claimed that they were Indian nationals and even produced fake Aadhaar cards, the sources said.

    A similar case had taken place in October 2006.

    – PTI MPB RT

  • Lockdown restrictions extended in JK until June 8

    PTI

    Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday extended the coronavirus lockdown until June 8 and said the Centre’s new guidelines on some relaxations require a fresh assessment of the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory.

    The Union Home Ministry has said ‘Unlock-I’ will be initiated in the country from June 8 under which the nationwide lockdown imposed since March 25 will be relaxed to a greater extent, including opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places, even as strict restrictions will remain in place till June 30 in the worst-hit areas.

    In an order, Chief Secretary and Chairperson, State Executive Committee, B V R Subrahmanyam said the guidelines or instructions issued on May 19 and 24 with regard to lockdown would continue until June 8.

    Referring to the fresh guidelines issued by the Union Home Secretary on Saturday for containment zones (Red zones) till June 30 and reopening certain activities in a phased manner in areas outside containment zones, the order said it requires a fresh assessment.

    Whereas these guidelines require State and UT governments to assess the current spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and based on this assessment, prohibit certain activities outside the containment zones or impose such restriction as deemed necessary, which will require a detailed assessment and consultations on the spread of COVID-19 in J&K, the order said.

    Barring 11 districts, including eight in the Valley, which were categorized as red zones , life started limping back to normal in four districts of Jammu region declared green zones and five other districts spread across the two divisions and named as orange zones on May 20.

  • Security forces bust militant hideout in J-K’s Kulgam

    PTI

    Srinagar: Security forces busted a militant hideout in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district and recovered a number of items including ammunition, police said here.

    On receiving information regarding presence of militants in Akhal-Malwan forest belt of the south Kashmir district, a cordon and search operation was launched by security forces, a police spokesperson said.

    During the search, a hideout was busted in the forest area, he said.

    The spokesperson said a magazine of AK series, 30 rounds of bullets, a gas cylinder with stove, some kitchen utensils, medicines, sleeping bags, rucksack bags and other items were seized from the hideout.

    A case has been registered and investigation initiated to establish the full circumstances pertaining to the hideout, he said.

  • Wajid Khan of music composer duo Sajid-Wajid dies at 42

    PTI

    Mumbai: Singer-composer Wajid Khan of music director duo Sajid-Wajid, popular for their work on superstar Salman Khan’s films such as Wanted , Dabangg and Ek Tha Tiger , died in wee hours of Monday in a city hospital due to complications arising from a kidney infection. He was 42.

    Music composer Salim Merchant, who confirmed the news of Wajid’s death, said the composer was hospitalised few days ago at Surana Hospital, Chembur where his condition deteriorated.

    “He had multiple issues. He had a kidney issue and had a transplant a while ago. But recently he got to know about kidney infection… He was on the ventilator for the last four days, after his situation started getting worse. Kidney infection was the beginning and then he got critical,” Salim told PTI.

    The music composer duo made their Bollywood debut with Salman’s 1998 movie “Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” and went on to work on actor’s various films including Garv , Tere Naam , Tumko Na Bhool Payenge , Partner and the popular Dabangg franchise.

    Wajid also did playback for Salman in chartbusters like “Mera He Jalwa”, “Fevicol Se” and for Akshay Kumar in “Chinta Ta Chita Chita” from the film “Rowdy Rathore”, among others. He recently co-composed Salman’s songs “Pyaar Karona” and Bhai Bhai , which the actor released on his YouTube channel.

    Wajid along with his brother Sajid served as mentor on singing reality shows “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012” and “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar”.

    The composer duo also scored IPL 4 theme song, “Dhoom Dhoom Dhoom Dhadaka”, which was sung by Wajid.

    Soon after the news of the composer’s demise broke, many from the film fraternity took to Twitter to pay tributes.

    Actor Priyanka Chopra said she will always remember Wajid’s smile.

    The one thing I will always remember is Wajid bhai’s laugh. Always smiling. Gone too soon. My condolences to his family and everyone grieving. Rest in peace my friend. You are in my thoughts and prayers,” she posted on Twitter.

    Actor Parineeti Chopra said Wajid was one of the “nicest” men in the industry.

    “Always singing. All heart. Always positive. You will truly be missed Wajid bhai,” she tweeted.

    Actor Varun Dhawan shared a picture of his filmmaker-father David Dhawan with Wajid and remembered the musician as one of the most positive people in Bollywood.

    “Shocked hearing this news @wajidkhan7 bhai was extremely close to me and my family. He was one of the most positive people to be around. We will miss you Wajid bhai thank you for the music, he wrote.

    Music composer-singer Vishal Dadlani said he was “heartbroken” after hearing the news.

    Both @SajidMusicKhan and @wajidkhan7 have been close & true friends. The kind who might see the light on and show up at our studio in the middle of the night just to meet and talk and share a laugh. Can’t believe Wajid and I will never speak again,” he wrote.

    Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan said he was still unable to come to terms with the news of Wajid’s demise.

    Shocking! Good bye dear brother.. love you… till we meet on the other side! Prayers for your peaceful journey Wajid bhai, he tweeted.

    Singer Javed Ali posted, Feeling Deeply Saddened after hearing shocking news of the sudden demise of Wajid Khan. May his Soul Rest in Peace. My heartfelt condolences to his family. May Allah give strength to the family.

  • Talks with U.S. futile, says new Iran Speaker

    Ghalibaf vows revenge for leader’s killing

    AFP

    Iran’s new Parliament Speaker said on Sunday that any negotiations with Washington would be “futile” as he denounced the death of a black American that has led to violent protests across the U.S. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force, was elected Speaker on Thursday of a chamber dominated by ultra-conservatives following February elections.

    The newly formed Parliament “considers negotiations with and appeasement of America, as the axis of global arrogance, to be futile and harmful,” he said in his first major speech to the chamber. Mr. Ghalibaf also vowed revenge for the U.S. drone attack in January that killed Qasem Soleimani. “Our strategy in confronting the terrorist America is to finish the revenge for martyr Soleimani’s blood,” he told lawmakers, pledging “the total expulsion of America’s terrorist army from the region”.

    Ghalibaf has also slammed the US over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis which has led to widespread protests across the country.

    Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets from New York to Seattle demanding tougher, first-degree murder charges and more arrests over the death of Floyd, who stopped breathing after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

    Decades-old tensions between Tehran and Washington have soared in the past year, with the sworn arch enemies twice appearing to come to the brink of a direct confrontation.

    The tensions have been rising since 2018, when President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear accord and began reimposing crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy.

    That was followed by the US drone strike near Baghdad airport in January that killed Soleimani, a hugely popular figure in the Islamic republic.

    Days later, Iran fired a barrage of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq in retaliation, but Trump opted against taking any military action in response.

    Ghalibaf called for ties to be improved with neighbours and with “great powers who were friends with us in hard times and share significant strategic relations”, without naming them.

    The 58-year-old Ghalibaf is a three-time presidential candidate who lost out to the incumbent Hassan Rouhani at the last election in 2017.

    The newly elected speaker had also served as Tehran mayor and the Islamic republic’s police chief before taking up his latest post.

    In a tweet on Saturday, he slammed what he called the United States’ “unjust political, judicial, and economic structure”.

    This had been “pumping war, coups, poverty, indiscrimination, torture, fratricide and moral corruption to the world, and racism, hunger, humiliation, and ‘choking by knee’ in its own country for hundreds of years”, Ghalibaf said.

    “What can one call it if not the Great Satan?” he added, using Iran’s term for its arch enemy.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif echoed his remarks on Twitter.

    “Some don’t think “BlackLivesMatter. To those of us who do: it is long overdue for the entire world to wage war against racism. Time for a #WorldAgainstRacism,” he said.

    The post was accompanied by an image of a 2018 statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which the text was changed to be critical of the United States instead of Iran.

    The altered text read: “The U.S. government is squandering its citizens’ resources.

    “The people of America are tired of the racism, corruption, injustice, and incompetence from their leaders. The world hears their voice.”

    Pompeo responded to Zarif by tweeting that “you hang homosexuals, stone women and exterminate Jews”, without elaborating further.

  • Dist admin Srinagar announces relaxations in COVID-19 restrictions for businesses

    Srinagar: The district administration Srinagar on Sunday announced relaxations in prevailing COVID-19 lockdown for business activities in the district valid till June 8 or as may be revised by concerned authorities.
    Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary tweeted this evening that the administration has allowed e-Commerce and courier services to operate in the district besides allowing ITES companies to operate with 33 percent staff.
    The administration has also allowed industry with specific permissions for units. However it shall be mandatory for the allowed businesses to follow protocols of safety, hygiene and social distancing.

    The businesses will also have to do testing of key staff in the prioritized service sector.

    Handloom & Handicrafts sector has also been allowed to operate with a permissible limit of 5 workers for home workshops. Handloom and handicraft centres and units shall be allowed to operate as per proposal of departments.

    The businesses have also been asked to provide Masks to the workers.
    Agriculture, Horticulture and allied farm activities have also been permitted to operate.

    Choudhary said that 30 percent essential grocery stores, vegetable and fruit shops shall be allowed to operate as per the pre-devised roster by market associations in consultation with zonal committees from 11 am till 5 pm except Red/Containment Zones.

    Rural development and panchayat works will be carried out as per the standard operating procedure, he said.

    He also asked to maintain proper hygiene at the grocery stores.

    Choudhary said that machine repair workshops and will be allowed to operate with maximum 5 workers permissible limit.

    Diagnostic labs will also be allowed to reopen with permitted staff strength, he said.

    As for wedding ceremonies, the DC said only around 30 members will be allowed to assemble, but the mandatory precautions on social distancing will have to be followed and only after a proper permission from the district administration in this regard.

  • IF condemns malicious campaign against Zaira Wasim

    Zaira’s social media posts are read out of context to give it a different color : Muhammad Aamir president of IF

    Srinagar: Condemning the malicious campaign against Zaira Wasim by Hindutva trolls on social media, Islamic Fraternity has said the girl is being targeted for being a Kashmiri and telling the truth.

    President IF, Muhammad Aamir said that Zaira’s social media posts are read out of context to give it a different color with an intention to make her vulnerable to online attacks by troll army.

    “We stand with our sister, Zaira Wasim. She shared a Quranic verse which we all Muslims believe in. Attacking her for sharing the verse is also attack on Islam which we all should denounce and respond accordingly,” Aamir said.

    The backdrop of her being attacked seems her decision to quit her earlier profession. She chose truth over falsehood and these trolls felt pained about this decision.

    “She (Zaira) has become an inspiration for many youngsters, particularly those who succumb to worldly pleasures and deviant from the path of Allah. Zaira’s decision made them believe that worldly gains at the expense of Islam are no achievements,” he said.

    “In these tough times, we stand with our sister and want her to continue the charity work and the contribution that she has been making towards the Islam,” Muhammad Aamir said.

  • Pakistan Minister Shehryar Afridi tests positive for Coronavirus

    Islamabad: Pakistan’s Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) and Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, he announced on Twitter.

    “I have tested positive of COVID-19 & have isolated myself at home as per advice by medics,” Dawn news quoted the Minister as saying in the tweet on Saturday.

    His announcement comes weeks after Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had tested positive for the virus. Both officials have since recovered.

    Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, who himself went into isolation after being infected with the virus in March and subsequently recovered, tweeted a “get well soon” message to Afridi.

    So far 68,554 people across Pakistan have been infected with the virus that has killed 1,447 in the country.

  • COVID-19 setback to business could be serious: Infosys

    Financials may be hit due to negative impact on economies of U.S., U.K., EU

    The COVID-19 pandemic has its footprints all over Infosys’s annual report of fiscal 2020 that was released on Saturday.

    The economic slowdown or other factors affecting the economic health of the U.S., the U.K., the EU and Australia are expected to cast a gloom on the financials of the Indian IT services giant.

    Infosys, on account of its revenues being concentrated in a few geographies, expects to see a serious impact. “In fiscal 2020, 61.5%, 24.1% and 11.8% of our revenues were derived from projects in North America, Europe and the rest of the world, respectively,” the report said.

    In fiscal 2020, it derived 31.5% of its revenues from the financial services and insurance industry. “Instability and uneven growth in the global economy has had an adverse impact on the growth of the IT industry in the past and may continue to impact it in the future. This instability also impacts our business and results of operations and may continue to do so in the future,” the report added. If the economies of the U.S., U.K. or the EU weaken or growth remains uneven — including as a result of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit — Infosys believes its clients may reduce or postpone their technology spending significantly. This may, in turn, lower the demand for its services, negatively impacting its revenues and profitability.

    Meanwhile, during the fiscal, its employee count rose 6.09% over the previous fiscal, the report said. Infosys had 2,42,371 employees, of which 228,449 were professionals, involved in service delivery to clients. During the previous year, it had grown over 11%.

    During the year, Nandan M. Nilekani voluntarily chose not to receive any remuneration for his services rendered to the company.

    As an independent director, Biocon’s executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw received $150,000. During the fiscal ended March 31, CEO Salil Parekh received a total remuneration of $6 million, which was 27% higher than his previous year’s total remuneration of $4.8 million.

    COO Pravin Rao’s total remuneration also rose to $2.2 million from $1.7 million last year, a 29% rise.

    The company’s past policy was to pay out up to 70% of the free cash flow of the corresponding financial year in such manner (including by way of dividend and / or share buyback) as may be decided by the Board from time to time. Effective from fiscal 2020, the company expects to return approximately 85% of the free cash flow cumulatively over a 5-year period through a combination of semi-annual dividends and/or share buyback and/or special dividends.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Microsoft cuts editorial staff, to replace them with AI: Report

    IANS

    Microsoft is reportedly laying off at least 50 news production workers and replacing them with artificial intelligence (AI) — based algorithms to perform their editorial duties.

    According to a report in the Seattle Times on Saturday, roughly 50 employees have been notified “that their services would no longer be needed beyond June 30”.

    These news production contractors work with Microsoft News, the company’s news content arm that operates MSN.com and other properties.

    A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement that like all companies, they evaluate business on a regular basis.

    “This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, redeployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic,” said the Microsoft spokesperson.

    Some employees told Seattle Times that “MSN will use AI to replace the production work they’d been doing”.

    The work includes using algorithms to identify trending news stories from dozens of publishing partners, rewrite headlines or adding better photographs or slide shows.

    Besides the production work, the contract employees also planned content, maintained the editorial calendars of partner news websites and assigned content to them.