Srinagar: 21 policemen and an intern doctor were among the 59 fresh cases of the COVID-19 infection in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. With these cases, the overall tally has mounted to 1449—1238 in Kashmir and 211 in Jammu. Among them 745 are active cases—140 in Jammu and 605 in Valley while 684 patients have recovered—69 from Jammu and 615 from Kashmir while 20 others have died.
Officials said that Kulgam district reported 21 cases, Anantnag 12, Kupwara 7, Srinagar 5, Budgam 4, Kathua and Ramban 3 each, Ganderbal 2 while Jammu, Kishtwar and Doda reported one case each.
Dr. Salim Khan, nodal officer for COVID-19 at the Government Medical College Srinagar, told GNS that 33 samples out of over 700 samples tested at Microbiology Lab of CD Hospital here returned positive for the pathogen.
Among the samples which returned positive, 21 were from District Police Lines Kulgam, 11 from Anantnag including 2 pregnant women besides an intern doctor from Psychiatric Disease Hospital, he said.
Sources said the policemen who have tested positive are aged between 25 to 59 years and are residents of different parts of Valley.
Police said all the 21 were already in isolation from March 18 in a compound separated from DPL Kulgam by 3 kilometres.
“The officials were all part of a special pool of 60 personnel created as a reserve exclusively for Covid-19 duties at Quarantine and isolation centers, for handling Covid-19 patients and potential carriers and for acting as substitutes for police stations in case of covid breakout in a particular unit,” police said in a statement.
The samples of the officials were being taken from time to time as a precautionary measure, it said. “When one such sample turned positive four days ago, Health authorities were requested to take samples of all the officials present in the reserve,” the police said, adding, “There is no need to panic as all the officials have been and are in isolation and were never put on public interface duties such as nakas, police stations, etc.”
Nodal officer for coronavirus control at SKIMS, Dr G H Yatoo, told GNS that 14 test samples returned positive for the pathogen. However sources said that three among them pertained to those who had previously tested positive and samples were sent for retest.
Professor Farooq Jan, medical Superintendent of the hospital, told GNS that the seven among the samples which returned positive were received from CMO Srinagar and includes 26-year-old from Maisuma, 21-year-old from Bemina and seven from Kaweri, Reshigund and main Kupwara, all travelers with history of travel to Delhi, Ambala, Dehradun and UP. He said two samples were received from DH Ganderbal and include 37-year-old from Ganderbal and 22-year-old youth from Safapora. The three other samples were from DH Pulwama and include 60-year-old man and two women—one aged 20 and other 50—from Chatabal Kulgam.
Meanwhile, four samples out of 400 tested at SKIMS testing lab returned positive. They include 3 males—2 from Soibug and one from Naru besides a female from Loolipora areas Budgam district. Also, sources said an operation (LSCS ) was performed on a Covid positive pregnant female from Anantnag at the hospital. “Both mother and child are ok,” a doctor at the hospital said.
Seven cases were reported from private Lab—two from Kathua, one each from Haryana, Jodhpur Rajasthan, Dyala, Kishtwar and Anantnag.
With these fresh cases, Anantnag now has 264 COVID-19 patients, highest in all districts, followed by Kulgam (192), Srinagar (174), Bandipora (137), Baramulla (129), Kupwara (125), Shopian (109), Jammu (68), Budgam (62), Kathua (40), Udhampur (33), Ramban (30), Ganderbal (27), Pulwama (19), Samba (16), Rajouri (8), Kishtwar (7), four each in Poonch Reasi and one in Doda.
The government said six more COVID-19 patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals and include three from Jammu division and three from Kashmir Division.
Additionally, till date 125866 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for surveillance which included 33586 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 57 in Hospital Quarantine, 745 in hospital isolation and 21893 under home surveillance. Besides, 69565 persons have completed their surveillance period. (GNS)
According to reports this evening, there has been heavy shelling in the region. It has not been confirmed whether there have been any casualties as of yet. The clashes are alleged to have taken place in the Poonch district of the Jammu and Kashmir region.
Within the Poonch district, the exchange of fire happened along the Line of Control – which separates the two states – in the Balakote sector.
According to the Kashmir Walla, Pakistani troops allegedly shelled Indian Army posts.
The Indian Army then retaliated leading to the clashes.
The region has been the epicentre of the dispute between both India and Pakistan.
On Tuesday morning, 15 houses were destroyed after police and paramilitary forces killed two alleged militants in the Kashmir Valley.
The raid occurred in the city of Srinagar which also saw a policeman and paramilitary trooper injured.
Earlier this month, further violence was reported in the town of Handawar in the region.
Two officers were killed in the town before three men of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed in a separate attack.
India has persistently accused Pakistan of supporting militants in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
Last year, a bomb killed 40 Indian paramilitary police officers.
The attack was the deadliest on Indian forces in Kashmir since the insurgency against India’s partial rule began in 1989.
Following the militant attack, tensions sparked between the two countries as both states came close to all-out conflict.
Following the militant attack, India conducted airstrikes on what it termed as militant camps.
Pakistan retaliated with its attack on which led to an Indian fighter jet being downed.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by forces before being returned in a peace gesture.
Despite tensions de-escalating since the conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan could be defeated in 10 days if a conflict sparks once again.
He said: “Pakistan has already lost three wars.
“Our armed forces will not take more than 7-10 days to make Pakistan bite the dust.”
Last year Mr Modi revoked the special status of the region under Article 370 of the constitution.
Under this measure, the region was given partial autonomy in order to formulate its own laws and was a point whereby relations worsened.
(Except for the headlines, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi says People’s Liberation Army is blocking Indian patrols in Ladakh and Sikkim.
India on May 21 rejected China’s claim that troops have trespassed into Chinese territory, and accused Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops of “hindering” patrols by Indian soldiers. In a first such statement after weeks of a standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers at four points along the boundary in Sikkim and Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs also told China that “peace and tranquillity in border areas” is an “essential prerequisite” to developing bilateral relations.
“Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western Sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously,” said MEA official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. “All Indian activities are entirely on the Indian side of the LAC. In fact, it is Chinese side that has recently undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns,” he added.
The remarks followed claims by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 19 that Indian troops were attempting to “unilaterally change” the status quo at the boundary between them, and “blocking” patrolling by Chinese border guards.
On May 21, the Chinese MFA issued another statement repeating the claims and said that Chinese troops “firmly” dealt with what it called the Indian troops “crossover and infringement activities,” while also telling the United States not to interfere in the dispute between India and China. “We urge the Indian side to work together with us, abide by our leadership’s important consensus, comply with the agreements signed, refrain from unilateral actions complicating the situation,” said MFA spokesperson Zhao Lijian.
With inputs from Ananth Krishnan in Chennai; The Hindu
Cambridge University will have no face-to-face lectures until summer 2021 at the earliest in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
It is the first U.K. university to set out its plans for the academic year starting in September.
“The university is constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during the pandemic,” the university said.
“Given that it is likely that social distancing will continue to be required, the university has decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year.” Lectures would continue to be available online.
Smaller teaching groups could also take place in person, the university said, but only as long as they conform to social-distancing requirements.
The university moved all teaching online in March. Exams will also be carried out virtually. The decision by Cambridge comes as a row has escalated in the U.K. about whether or not it is safe for students to return to school.
Government ministers plan to partially reopen English primary schools from June 1, but this is being challenged by some unions and local councils over safety concerns. Britain has the highest death toll in Europe and the second-worst in the world behind the United States.
The government’s official rolling tally, of deaths after positive tests, stood at 35,341 on Tuesday. But broader statistics including suspected virus deaths took the toll to at least 41,000.
Sagar police have filed a FIR against Congress president Sonia Gandhi over some tweets posted on the official Twitter handle of the party criticising the way in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has handled the COVID-19 situation and on utilisation of PM CARES Fund.
In the complaint, Praveen K.V., an advocate, has alleged that the tweets from the handle @INCIndia on May 11 on the initiatives by Modi government in the Centre to tackle the COVID-19 situation and on utilisation of PM CARES Fund were highly misleading. The complainant has said that, at a time when the nation was fighting against the pandemic, the Congress has tried to spread false information on the issue through social media platform and thereby has tried to mislead and provoke the people against the government. The complainant has requested for action as per the existing laws against Ms. Gandhi and those who are handling the Twitter account of the party.
Based on the complaint, Sagar police have booked a case under section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505(1)(b) (cause fear or alarm to the public or inducement to commit an offence against State or public tranquillity) of Indian Penal Code against Ms. Gandhi.
Women in Paris after their release from a police station in 2011, when a ban on full-face coverings went into effect in France. Credit: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
While face coverings are fast becoming the norm to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, visible on city streets and public transportation everywhere, the global politics that surround them are more complicated than ever — a reflection not just of this current crisis, but also of broader values and stereotypes.
This is especially true in the European Union, where the laws informally known as “burqa bans” that forbid full-face coverings, often on the basis of public safety, are being called into question.
Suddenly the niqab, or full-face veil, has a whole set of new, more communal, associations; and various legal establishments are gearing up to challenge the current status quo.
“It’s a big contradiction,” said Alia Jafar, a British schoolteacher in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, of the many face covering laws, which differ by country — especially because, to avoid charges of discrimination, the legal wording of most burqa bans is often framed more neutrally to apply to both men and women hiding their faces.
Recently, inspired by the global surge of face coverings, Ms. Jafar posted a picture on social media, which she shared with The New York Times, of two women in the street during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Both wore wide-brimmed hats, pulled low, with scarfs tied across their faces. Only their eyes peeked through.
“It looks like the burqa,” Ms. Jafar said, by telephone. The implication being that things are not that different today. In the street, many wear baseball caps with bandannas across their faces.
Yet this week France stood firm on its ban, which prohibits the wearing of clothing intended to hide the face in public spaces, despite the fact that masks are now being required on public transportation and in high schools. The French interior ministry confirmed to The Times that the face coverings rule of 2010 would stay in place. (A separate 2004 ban prohibits head scarves in public schools, referring to the religious neutrality of state institutions.)
The result is a Catch-22. Those who do not wear a mask can be fined, as can those who violate the face-covering law
While some European countries, such as France, have exceptions to their bans that allow for face coverings for “health” reasons, confusion remains about what counts as an acceptable coronavirus face mask.
France has offered no formal specification. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior said, in an email, “it is common sense without legal definition.” The situation is further complicated by a worldwide shortage of personal protective equipment (P.P.E.), which has many people turning to existing items found at home for coverings.
When contacted, multiple human rights lawyers referred to the situation in France as “ridiculous.” Yet it is not unique. Many European countries are now requiring the wearing of face masks despite their concurrent bans on face coverings.
A florist in Paris preparing her flower shop for reopening while wearing a protective face mask. Credit: Mohammed Badra/EPA, via Shutterstock
In Belgium, a law passed in 2011 bans the wearing of clothing in the street that obscures one’s identity. Yet now, because of the coronavirus, masks are compulsory on public transportation and “strongly encouraged” in other places.
In the Netherlands, citizens are now required to wear masks on trains and buses. Yet last year, a law came into effect banning face coverings on public transportation, in hospitals and in schools.
In Austria, face masks are now compulsory in shops and on public transportation, yet in 2017 a bill was passed prohibiting face coverings in public spaces. There are similar situations in Denmark, Bulgaria and certain parts of Italy, Spain and Germany.
“Face masks are now seen as a social measure for protecting people, yet still niqabs are treated as an antisocial act,” said Asima Majid, a British Muslim, who currently wears a hijab (the Muslim head scarf), but has worn a face veil in the past. She reached out to other Muslim women via WhatsApp to ask about their experiences.
One, Maryam (she asked that only her first name be used), told The Times that she felt “personally attacked” by the bans. The spread of face coverings during the pandemic has made her feel “victorious.”
“There you go — you were objecting to this last year, and now you are joining in with me,” she said. “You can see that the supposed security threat all of a sudden has ceased.”
Indeed, the justifications for face-covering bans — that there is safety in being able to see people’s faces — are now unsettled. When contacted, several lawyers in Europe argued that the current situation makes such burqa bans unenforceable. “Given circumstances we live in now, the law is de facto not applicable,” said Rupert Wolff, the president of the Austrian Bar.
Satvinder Juss, a lawyer in London and a human rights expert, said that Europe’s burqa wearers are now, legally, on much “firmer ground” given the newly publicized health guidance around face coverings.
Mr. Juss said that if a French police officer were to single out and challenge a woman for wearing a burqa or niqab in public, since she would potentially be surrounded by others wearing home-sourced face coverings, the officer would “clearly be engaging in religious discrimination and sex discrimination,” which is forbidden under the European Convention of Human Rights.
In 2014, Mr. Juss represented a 24-year-old French Muslim who appealed France’s face-covering ban at the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S.A.S. v. France. While the court rejected France’s arguments for the ban for public safety reasons (as well as the protection of human dignity and gender equality), it ultimately upheld the ban, accepting the vaguer aim of “vivre ensemble” (living together). This justification holds that a concealed face inhibits the right of citizens to easily socialize and coexist.
Given that many people in France are rapidly becoming used to seeing people from all walks of life covering their noses and mouths, however, Mr. Juss believes the “living together” justification no longer stands.
Belgium finds itself in a somewhat different position. Its face-coverings ban, which involves punishments of up to seven days in prison, makes no allowances for someone wearing a covering for health reasons, unlike most other European bans. The only exceptions are work, “festive events” or other, overriding laws, like those related to motorcycle helmets.
The country is currently in a state of emergency, which has given the government special powers to pass decrees, and it has made wearing a mask (or an alternative, such as a scarf) mandatory on public transportation.
Yet, no such allowances exist for those wearing masks in the street or other public spaces — a legal situation that Isabelle Rorive, a founder of the Equality Law Clinic at the University of Brussels, described as “bizarre.”
A store in Rotterdam that sells protective face masks, currently being required in many countries to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Credit: Marco De Swart/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
In the Netherlands, Tom Zwart, a professor of cross-cultural law at Utrecht University, used the word “hypocrisy” to characterize his country’s situation. The Dutch government bans face coverings, except for “health and safety,” but Mr. Zwart believes it is on shaky footing.
“Masks are not available,” Mr. Zwart said. “The prime minister even said to make one yourself, use a shawl or something else. So, if you have a burqa or a face veil, why not use that to protect yourself and others against the coronavirus? You are doing exactly what you’ve been told to do.”
In simultaneously enforcing masks for safety while also banning other face coverings, he said, with a laugh, huge swaths of the population are currently unwittingly breaking the law despite following the government’s new advice.
It is “very ironic,” said Karima Rahmani, the chair of group of more than 70 niqab-wearing women in the Netherlands called Blijf van mijn Niqaab (“Don’t touch my niqab”), who believe the burqa ban has fostered divisions and oppresses women.
The government, she said, was “talking about my niqab for years and years and making it a problem, coming with all kinds of arguments about how I’m dangerous, and disconnected from society, but they are all wearing masks now.”
Now, she said, she has noticed a slight public shift as others cover their faces. “Since the outbreak, there haven’t been people swearing at me in the street,” Ms. Rahmani said. “And I was used to being sworn at every day. People normally look at me angrily, but I have seen a change in their eyes. I can only hope that after all of this we can come together, and speak about their experience with face veils being everywhere now.”
E. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, said she hopes that as wearing masks for the sake of good will becomes normal, people will pause to think about how fear helped justify the passage of burqa bans.
“The political construction of the idea that face veils are something that are threatening to a nation, to a culture, to a society, has now been confronted,” she said.
Srinagar: With large gatherings being prohibited and social distancing rules in place to prevent deadly covid-19, people here in Muslim- majority Kashmir region will have a low key on Eid al-Fitr this time.
Many of Ramzan rituals and traditions were already disrupted due to the physical distancing norms and the lockdown.
During the lockdown, the people here have changed the way they observe their faith as places of worship have been closed to the public and social distancing rules have been in place.
Eid ul Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and is celebrated with Eid prayers, family gatherings and a feast. The Eid, is expected to fall on May 24 or 25.
But as large gatherings are prohibited and social distancing rules are still in place, Eid celebrations will look very different this time.
Ajaz Ahmad lives in HMT Srinagar with wife Afroza and their young daughter, Alisa usually, they spend Eid day with both of their families.
“Normally on Eid day, we go to the mosque for Eid prayers. Then we spend our time by visiting to our parents, and seeing other relatives before a big get-together at home. But on this EID, the family-of-three will stay at home and make it about Alisa,” he told news agency KINS.
Usually the Eid al Fitr celebrations are held in various gardens here in Srinagar, but due to coronavirus, these celebrations won’t be enjoyed this time.
On Eid day at famous Mugal Gardens and on the banks of Dal lake, the events attracts several people where a funfair is held alongside food vendors, family games, activities and more.
Shabir Ahmad of Bemina said: “Usually I go to Pratap park with my children to celebrate the Eid. This year I have told my kids that we won’t be able to celebrate like the way we used to. I don’t like it but we should listen to Government instructions to save lives. When we get back our normal lives we can celebrate, but now, we just have to wait,” (KINS)
The Indian Railways on Thursday said that over 1.78 lakh train tickets were booked within three hours of opening of the online bookings for some trains that are to start operations June 1 onwards.
“At 01:00 hours, 76 trains were available in the system for booking. 1,78,990 tickets were booked for 4,23,538 passengers,” a Railways spokesperson said.
Earlier, the Railways said that till 12:00 hours, 1,49,025 tickets were booked for 2,90,510 passengers for 73 trains.
The Railways will begin running 200 time-tabled trains June 1 onwards, for which the booking started at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The booking for these trains, which will have both AC and non-AC coaches, can be done only online.
“These special services shall be in addition to the existing Shramik special trains being run since May 1, and Special AC trains (30 trains) being run since May 12, 2020,” the Railways had said, adding that other regular passenger services continue to remain cancelled.
As per the Railway guidelines, the advance reservation period for these trains will be 30 days. In addition, no tatkal and premium tatkal booking will be permitted in these trains.
‘Counters will open soon’
Meanwhile, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the bookings for passenger trains via ticket counters would resume in a few days, and the Railways was currently studying the possibility of developing a protocol. In addition, the ticket booking via over 1.7 lakh common service centres would also be started.
Mr. Goyal added that on Wednesday, the Railways ran 279 Shramik trains, carrying about five lakh migrants. “Till now we have run 2,050 Shramik special trains, ferrying about 30 lakh migrants,” he said.
All shops had been allowed to open at railway stations and, as of now, only takeaways would be allowed in restaurants, he said.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”– Martin Luther
Watch Video:
A Poem by Arfa Farookh
King Here’s my video – “I Wish to see you Again”, taking you on a beautiful journey about all the places and all things I miss the most during this time when the world is going through a very serious pandemic situation, and most of us face a lockdown. But Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness. Caught in these memories by moments, I play them back and forth, Play them all over again. I know when this is all over, We’ll get out of our rooms, hold each other’s hands and walk out of the gloom. And I know, that’s when I will see you again!
Disclaimer: This video is not a work by Kashmir Today Staff.
Late in the evening on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence finally broke the mystery by releasing an official statement that the sound from the sky that took Bengaluru by surprise “was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bengaluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of ASTE.”
According to a Times of India report, Prior to that the Indian Air Force in a statement indicated towards sonic boom as the source of the sound but also admitting that none of its aircraft from its Training Command was airborne during that time. Although the IAF said that the ASTE (Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment) and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) could be conducting routine test flying it stopped short of making it official.
Interestingly, HAL was the first to respond with a statement after the loud noise was heard in Bengaluru but only with a denial that it was a sonic boom.
A deafening noise was heard on Wednesday afternoon that created panic across Bengaluru.
#Update It was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) @IAF_MCC@SpokespersonMoD
— Defence PRO Bengaluru (@Prodef_blr) May 20, 2020
“The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40000 feet altitude,” the defence ministry added in a follow up tweet. “The aircraft was far away from the city limits when this occurred. The sound of a sonic boom can be heard and felt by an observer even when the aircraft is flying as far away as 65 to 80 kilometres away from the person,” the defence ministry further said on Twitter. Sources told The Times of Indiathe fighter plane was most likely one of the SU-30 fighters being tested by the IAF’s Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment pilots. A retired pilot told the newspaper, “There are parameters of how to do a supersonic test. If it is indeed from a plane, then it’s a mistake. Pilots can go supersonic only after the aircraft has attained a height of more than 11 km. They are disallowed from doing so in populous areas even at those heights.” According to NASA, a sonic boom is a thunder-like noise one hears from the ground when an aircraft flies overhead “faster than the speed of sound, or supersonic.” The noise heard across Bengaluru around 1.30 pm on Wednesday was heard by residents of Cooke Town, Hosur Road, HAL, Vivek Nagar, Old Madras Road, Ramamurthy Nagar, Ulsoor, Kammanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, Kundanahalli, Whitefield and HSR Layout. It caused a number of people to share their experiences on social media and speculate about its cause. Some said the noise sounded like an aftershock from an earthquake. Others said their doors and windows rattled.
According to a report by The News Minute, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said that was no damage anywhere in the city. A report by The Indian Express quoted police personnel at the Bengaluru City Police Control Room saying that they started receiving calls around 1:20 pm.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) Director Srinivas Reddy said that there was no earthquake activity recorded on Wednesday in Bengaluru. “The seismometers did not capture any ground vibration as generally happens during a mild tremor,” he said.
