Kashmir.Watch

Blog

  • USAID to fund 200 ventilators for India to help tackle COVID-19

    They were originally made for use in the U.S. but are being “repurposed”

    India will take delivery of 200 ventilators donated by the United States within the next month, government sources said in New Delhi on Monday.

    According to the sources, the ventilators, which would be paid for by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will arrive in May and June in two instalments, and a final schedule of delivery will be notified next week.

    While the government has not commented on the total value of the donation from the U.S., it is likely to be funded by an additional grant of $3 million that USAID had made last month. In a statement on April 16, the U.S. government said the funds through USAID would help “mitigate the spread of COVID-19” and focus on financing healthcare access.

    The ventilators, which were originally built for use in the United States, that has seen more than 1.5 million cases of COVID-19, are being “repurposed” for donations to several countries, including India.

    “India has been a great partner to us for quite some time, and I’m encouraged here about the ventilators to India. It’s one of the several countries I noted that will be getting ventilators, because, you know, this President has done so well on ventilators — 100,000 [manufactured] in 100 days — that we are able to repurpose them and then send them around the world,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Saturday, responding to a question about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet that the U.S. would donate the ventilators and “stand with India and PM Narendra Modi during this pandemic”.

    India has seen nearly 1,00,000 cases of the Coronavirus, with about 56,000 active cases and more than 3,000 deaths.

    It is unclear whether the ventilators donated by the U.S. came in response to a specific request from India. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has 18,855 ventilators available for COVID-19 patients at present, while the government’s Empower group tasked with COVID-19 response said about 60,000 more have been ordered. On May 15, Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan said about 0.45% of COVID-19 patients in India are on the ventilator.

    From inputs from Bindu Shajan Perappadan, The Hindu

  • CBSE announces dates for pending Class X and XII examinations

    Class XII Board examinations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and Class X exams were by riots in northeast Delhi

    The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday announced that the rescheduled Class XII Board examinations that had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and Class X exams by the riots in northeast Delhi would be held from July 1 to 15.

    Along with the dates, the CBSE also issued safety instructions for the students. All students would have to carry their own hand sanitiser in a transparent bottle, cover their nose and mouth with a mask or cloth and follow physical distance norms.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Migrant workers, police clash in Ahmedabad

    Nearly 100 workers gathered near the construction site in IIMA’s new campus in Vastrapur area and started demanding food, wages and that they be sent back to their native places.

    Gujarat continues to see clashes between restless migrant workers who want to return to their native places and the police.

    A day after similar incidents in Rajkot on May 17, angry migrant workers clashed with policemen near the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) on the morning of May 18.

    The police had to use teargas shells to disperse migrants, who work in a construction site in the IIMA’s new campus in Vastrapur area of the city.

    Nearly 100 migrant workers gathered near the construction site and started demanding food, wages and that they be sent back to their native places. As the police came to disperse the crowd, a scuffle erupted between them.

    The police said that they rushed to the spot following complaints about stone pelting by workers on the road in front of the new campus of prestigious business management school.

    50 detained

    More than 50 workers have been detained by the police after the incident.

    On May 17, violence broke near Rajkot in an industrial area where police and migrant workers clashed over the issue of being sent back to their native States.

    Ever since the lockdown was imposed to combat the COVID-19, Gujarat has seen around a dozen incidents of violence between migrant workers and police in Surat, Gandhidham, Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

    Though there is no official figure about the exact number of migrants working in Gujarat, as per industry estimates, there are approximately three million migrant workers working in various industrial sites. The workers are mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

    So far, the State government has arranged more than 300 special trains to send back around four lakh migrant workers.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • 5 doctors, 19 armed cops among 45 test positive, J&K’s covid-19 tally surpasses 1200 mark

    Srinagar: Five doctors and 19 armed forces personnel were among at least 45 fresh cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir so far on Monday, taking the over tally of the Covid-19 patients in the J&K to over 1200 mark.

    Sources told GNS that the nineteen samples taken at DPL Anantnag, which is collection point, returned positive.
    “There is no policeman from district police Anantnag. The DPL Anantnag is a collection point and all the 19 personnel are from armed police,” a senior police officer said.
    Official sources told GNS that five doctors whose samples returned positive include a 30-year-old from Bemina Srinagar (posted at SKIMS MCH), 27-year-old from Asham Sumbal Bandipora (posted in Orthodontics dental college Srinagar), 46-year-old from Ladakh (Consultant ENT SMHS), 42-year-old from Mahjoor Nagar Srinagar (Consultant ENT SMHS) and Registrar ENT SMHS, a 30-year-old doctor.
    The other patients who have tested positive at CD hospital’s covid-19 testing lab include 50-year-old woman from Bemina Srinagar, admitted to an isolation ward in SMHS. The others including 75-year-old woman of Kokernag, 55-year-old man from Fateh Kadal Srinagar, 65-year-old woman from Kulgam, 56-year-old from Kargil, 70-year-old woman from Budgam, 55-year-old man from Pattan Baramulla and 27-year-old from Sallar Anantnag were also admitted to SMHS hospital.
    The nineteen armed policemen who tested positive are aged between 25 to 53 years old and maximum among them are in 30s, they added. Eleven other samples were confirmed at army’s Command Hospital Udhampur and include 10 from Kulgam and one resident of Udhampur district, sources said. The two others are from Rajouri and their samples were confirmed at GMC Jammu.
    With these cases, the number of Covid-19 patients have risen to 1228 so far. “There is possibility of more cases as the day progress,” sources added.(GNS)

  • E-commerce companies may resume full services from Monday

    The wait may be over for e-commerce companies whose operations have been hit hard by the lockdown.

    PTI

    E-commerce companies are likely to resume full services across most parts of the country from Monday under the fourth phase of the lockdown that allows greater relaxations, although industry watchers say they are waiting for states’ decision on the matter.

    According to the latest Union Home Ministry’s order, “all other activities will be permitted, except those which are specifically prohibited” under the fourth phase of the lockdown that ends on May 31.

    However, in containment zones, only essential activities will be allowed. States and union territories – based on their assessment of the situation – may prohibit certain other activities in various zones or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary, the order added.

    Emails sent to Flipkart and Amazon India did not elicit a response.

    Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President of Paytm Mall, said the move will help the company deliver to most of the metro cities which were in the red zones.”

  • Sensex, Nifty fall sharply as Centre’s economic stimulus fails to impress

    Updates from the world of economy, markets, and finance

    PTI

    The performance of the benchmark stock indices this morning suggests investors aren’t very impressed by the Centre’s economic stimulus package.

    US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has warned that the economic recovery in the US after the coronavirus pandemic will turn out to be a long one.

    E-commerce companies may resume full services from Monday

    The wait may be over for e-commerce companies whose operations have been hit hard by the lockdown.

    PTI reports: “E-commerce companies are likely to resume full services across most parts of the country from Monday under the fourth phase of the lockdown that allows greater relaxations, although industry watchers say they are waiting for states’ decision on the matter.

    According to the latest Union Home Ministry’s order, “all other activities will be permitted, except those which are specifically prohibited” under the fourth phase of the lockdown that ends on May 31.

    However, in containment zones, only essential activities will be allowed. States and union territories – based on their assessment of the situation – may prohibit certain other activities in various zones or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary, the order added.

    Emails sent to Flipkart and Amazon India did not elicit a response.

    Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President of Paytm Mall, said the move will help the company deliver to most of the metro cities which were in the red zones.”

    Paying off loans, investing in SIPs will equip one to deal with financial turbulence

    Credit card as a payment mechanism is not bad if the full bill is settled. However, if the bill is only paid in part, with the rest to be settled over a period of time, the demon will celebrate as it will make one’s life miserable.

    All kinds of loans cause obstacles in wealth creation. This does not mean we should not borrow. Instead of staying in a rented house and paying rent, it is better to go for a home loan and pay monthly instalments in the form of EMIs. Similarly, if someone is ill in our family and there isn’t sufficient health cover, we have to borrow.

    Borrowing for funding daughter or son’s education is also justifiable, but having borrowed, pay off the loan at the earliest.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Coronavirus | Japan slips into recession, worst yet to come as pandemic wreaks havoc

    The last time Japan suffered recession was in the second half of 2015.

    Reuters

    Japan’s economy slipped into recession for the first time in 4-1/2 years, GDP data showed on Monday, putting the nation on course for its deepest postwar slump as the coronavirus crisis takes a heavy toll on businesses and consumers.

    The world’s third-largest economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter in the three months to March, intensifying the challenge for policymakers battling a once-in-a-century pandemic that has already caused widespread disruptions.

    Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted an annualised 3.4% in the first quarter as private consumption, capital expenditure and exports fell, preliminary official data showed, following a revised 7.3 decline in the October-December period, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

    The median market forecast was for a 4.6% contraction in the first quarter.

    The last time Japan suffered recession was in the second half of 2015.

    “It’s near certainty the economy suffered an even deeper decline in the current quarter,” said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute. “Japan has entered a full-blow recession.”

    The coronavirus, which first emerged in China late last year, has ravaged the global economy as many nations went into strict lockdowns to curb the outbreak that has so far killed over 3,10,000 people worldwide. The pandemic has been massively disruptive on supply chains and businesses, particularly in trade-reliant nations such as Japan.

    Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s $5 trillion economy, slipped 0.7%, versus a 1.6% drop expected by economists.

    That marked the second straight quarter of decline, as households were hit by the double-whammy of the coronavirus and a sales tax hike to 10% from 8% in October last year.

    The virus’ impact on corporate Japan has been telling, with the GDP data showing exports contracted sharply by 6% in the first quarter.

    The shakout in global trade was highlighted in the recent March data, with Japan’s exports slumping the most in nearly four years due to plunging U.S.-bound shipments including cars.

    Capital expenditure fell 0.5% in the fourth quarter, against a median forecast for a 1.5% drop and marked the second consecutive quarter of declines, the data showed.

    Taken together, domestic demand knocked 0.7 percentage point off GDP growth, while external demand shed 0.2 point.

    All of this has put a strain on labour market. The jobless rate in March rose to its highest in a year, while job availability slipped to a more than three-year low.

    Deepening slump

    Conditions are expected to have worsened in Japan in the current quarter after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April declared a nationwide state of emergency amid a rise in coronavirus infections.

    The emergency, which urged citizens to stay home and many businesses to close, was lifted for most regions on Thursday, but remained in effect for some big cities including Tokyo.

    Analysts polled by Reuters expect Japan’s economy to shrink an annualised 22.0% in the current quarter, which would be the biggest decline on record and underscores the collapse in activity that is expected to see the worst global slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

    The government has already announced a record $1.1 trillion stimulus package, and the Bank of Japan expanded stimulus for the second straight month in April. Abe has pledged a second supplementary budget later this month to fund fresh spending measures to cushion the economic blow from the outbreak.

    The nation’s major globe-trotting manufacturers weren’t spared the pandemic’s sweeping impact either.

    Toyota Motor Corp on Friday said it would reduce vehicle production in Japan by 122,000 units in June, as a lack of demand for new cars due to the coronavirus prompts the automaker to keep its plants running on limited operations. The automaker is bracing for an 80% drop in full-year operating profit, its lowest in nine years.

  • U.S. to deport 161 Indians this week

    Among those on the list to be deported, the maximum 76 are from Haryana, followed by 56 from Punjab; 12 from Gujarat; five from Uttar Pradesh; four from Maharashtra ; two each from Kerala, Telengana and Tamil Nadu; and one each from Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

    PTI

    The United States this week will deport 161 Indian nationals, most of whom had entered the country from its southern border with Mexico and have exhausted all legal options.

    A special chartered flight will take them to Punjab’s Amritsar.

    Among those on the list to be deported, the maximum 76 are from Haryana, followed by 56 from Punjab; 12 from Gujarat; five from Uttar Pradesh; four from Maharashtra ; two each from Kerala, Telengana and Tamil Nadu; and each from Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

    According to Satnam Singh Chahal, executive director, North American Punjabi Association (NAPA), they are from among the 1,739 Indians languishing in 95 jails across the US.

    They were arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE while trying to enter the United States illegally.

    According to an ICE report, the US deported 611 Indian nationals in 2018, which rose over two-and-a-half times to 1,616 in 2019.

    NAPA said among the 161 to be deported to India, three are women.

    The youngest of them are two 19-year-old youths from Haryana.

    The fate of the remaining Indians languishing in the US jails is still unknown, Mr. Chahal said.

    Though there is no data to show from which Indian states those languishing in the US jails came, most of them are believed to be from North India.

    Most detainees had asked for an asylum, claiming that they experienced violence or persecution in their home country.

    Over the past a few years, US judges did not buy their argument and dismissed their applications.

    Mr. Chahal, who has been working among them for years, alleged that there is a nexus of human traffickers and officials in north India, especially Punjab, who encourage young people to leave their homes and illegally enter the US.

    These middlemen and agents charge Rs 35-50 lakh from each individual.

    In a statement, Mr. Chahal urged the Punjab government and the Centre to take action against illegal agents.

  • Sensex plunges over 800 pts in early trade; bank stocks crack

    ICICI Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, cracking around 6%

    PTI

    Equity benchmark Sensex plunged over 800 points in opening session on Monday dragged by losses in banking stocks as the government’s fiscal stimulus package failed to revive confidence in domestic investors.

    After hitting a low of 30,265.67, the 30-share index was trading 731.91 points or 2.35% lower at 30,365.82.

    Similarly, NSE Nifty slumped 226.90 points, or 2.48%, to 8,909.95.

    ICICI Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, cracking around 6%, followed by Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Titan, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid and ONGC.

    On the other hand, Infosys and TCS were trading with gains.

    In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled 25.16 points or 0.08% lower at 31,097.73, and the broader Nifty slipped 5.90 points, or 0.06%, to close at 9,136.85.

    Foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth ₹2,388.04 crore in the capital market on Friday, provisional exchange data showed.

    Doubts over the effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus package, extension of the nationwide lockdown and spike in COVID-19 cases in the country weighed on investor sentiment, traders said.

    The government, in its first four tranches of the stimulus package, focussed on credit line to small businesses and new fund creations to be shouldered by banks and financial institutions with very little extra budget spending. In the last set of measures, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced plans to privatise PSUs in non-strategic sectors and suspend loan default-triggered bankruptcy filings for one year, and also gave a ₹40,000-crore hike in allocation for the rural employment guarantee scheme to provide jobs to migrant workers.

    Further, the government last night extended the lockdown for two more weeks with the fourth phase providing more relaxations outside the containment zones.

    Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note.

    International oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 2.77% higher at $33.40 per barrel.

  • Obama was ‘grossly incompetent president’: Trump

    The Trump’s reaction came after Mr. Obama on Saturday criticised the US authorities’ response to the coronavirus outbreak.

    PTI

    U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called his predecessor Barak Obama a ‘grossly incompetent president’

    The Trump’s reaction came after Mr. Obama on Saturday criticised the US authorities’ response to the coronavirus outbreak.

    He (Obama) was an incompetent president. That’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent, Trump told reporters at the White House on his arrival from Camp David.

    Trump was responding to a question on the virtual commencement address by Obama a day earlier.

    In his address to college graduates, Mr. Obama had said that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the American leadership.

    More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing, Obama said without naming officials.

    A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge, he added.

    There was no immediate response from the office of the former president on the remarks made by Mr. Trump.