Thursday, December 18Latest news and updates from Kashmir

INDIA

After Year’s Halt, Army Plans ‘Grand’ Celebration on Kargil Vijay Diwas

After Year’s Halt, Army Plans ‘Grand’ Celebration on Kargil Vijay Diwas

INDIA
After low profile events on Kargil Vijay Diwas last year due to Covid-19 pandemic, this year Indian Army has decided to hold massive celebrations as a tribute to the sacrifice of the 527 soldiers who lost their lives in the war. Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the 22nd Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas also coincide with 50th year of India’s glorious victory over Pakistan in the year 1971 war, which is being celebrated as Swarnim Vijay Varsh. They said that the victory mashal already reached Ladakh after traveling through every nook and corner of Jammu Kashmir. “On Vijay Diwas, the victory flames would be received at Dras War Memorial. In addition to this army has planned a week long grand celebrations from Northern Command Udhampur to Dras , War Memori...
Media Organization that Brought Covid-19 Mass Burial Along Ganga into Limelight Raided by IT

Media Organization that Brought Covid-19 Mass Burial Along Ganga into Limelight Raided by IT

INDIA
The Income Tax department is completing raids on the media house Dainik Bhaskar's offices. According to some media reports, the raid is in progress at Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Ahmedabad in Gujarat and some other districts in Maharashtra too. The IT officials are looking through the business premises just as private premises of the advertisers in Madhya Pradesh. No authority proclamation has been given by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) yet however, charge authorities affirmed that the raids are in progress. Dainik Bhaskar had done a bunch progression of stories on the passing's in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and bodies being left along the stream Ganga and recently also reported on how phones were tapped during Modi-Shah's tim...
Eid-Ul-Adha: Indo-Pak Armies Exchange Sweets Along LoC in Twin North Kashmir Districts

Eid-Ul-Adha: Indo-Pak Armies Exchange Sweets Along LoC in Twin North Kashmir Districts

INDIA, INTERNATIONAL
Aimed to revive the old tradition, the Armies of India and Pakistan on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha exchanged sweets at the historic Teethwal crossing bridge and Kaman Aman Setu in Uri in the twin North Kashmir districts of Kupwara and Baramulla respectively. An official told the news agency--Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that on the occasion of Eid-Ul-Adha the Indo-Pak armies exchanged the sweets in a meeting held at Teethwal and Uri in twin sectors in the presence of police and other officials this afternoon. They said that all the necessary Covid-19 protocols were followed during the exchange of sweets by the two sides. Meanwhile, an Army spokesperson, in a statement said that on the occasion of Eid-ul- Zuha and as a gesture for promoting peace, harmony and compassion in the true ...
NSO claims list of Indian phone numbers targeted for surveillance is “not ours, never was”

NSO claims list of Indian phone numbers targeted for surveillance is “not ours, never was”

INDIA
On Tuesday, in a conversation with NDTV, the Israel based NSO Group that created Pegasus spyware said that the list of Indian phone numbers reportedly targeted for surveillance by the government with its software is "not ours, never was." The latest report by NDTV says that a spokesperson of NSO said that the company is "not related to the list published by Forbidden Stories (the Paris-based non-profit group that obtained a database of 50,000 phone numbers)." "It is not an NSO list, and it never was - it is fabricated information. It is not a list of targets or potential targets of NSO's customers," the spokesperson said, and also added that "repeated reliance on this list and association of people on this list as potential surveillance targets is false and misleading." "The compa...
No Deaths Due to lack of oxygen in Covid’s Second Wave – Government

No Deaths Due to lack of oxygen in Covid’s Second Wave – Government

INDIA
Monsoon Session of the Parliament is going on and the Union Health Ministry today alleged in the Rajaysabha that there had been no deaths because of the Lack of Oxygen during the Second Wave of Covid 19. Reacting to an inquiry with regards to whether during the second COVID Wave, an enormous number of COVID-19 patients passed on streets and clinics because of intense lack of oxygen, the Ministry said that Health is a state subject and itemized rules were given by the Central Government to the states and UTS and "no death because of Oxygen has been specifically reported by the states/UTs." In a different verbal reaction in the Rajya Sabha, Mansukh Mandaviya clarified that the public authority's work was to distribute the information put together by the states and that they didn't requ...
SC Staffer Who Had Accused CJI Gogoi of Sexual Harassment also on the list of Potential Snooping Targets

SC Staffer Who Had Accused CJI Gogoi of Sexual Harassment also on the list of Potential Snooping Targets

INDIA
According to the latest coverage done by The Wire on the Pegasus Project, 11 numbers used by a former supreme court aide and her family and were brought to the attention of an unidentified official agency prior to possible hacking. In April 2019, three phone numbers of Supreme Court official who indicted former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on sexual harassment charges were selected as potential surveillance targets for an unidentified Indian agent who may be a client of Israel's NSO Group. At the time, she was one of four senior judges who protested against CJ's choice of baker Deepak Mishra, says The Wire report. The employee whose name has been kept secret, was fired in December 2018, weeks after she said it had rejected the judge's motion. She said that she had filed an affidavit...
AajTak Fires a journalist for Tweets Criticizing PM Modi

AajTak Fires a journalist for Tweets Criticizing PM Modi

INDIA
Shyam Meera Singh, a journalist and a former employee of AajTak on Monday said he was terminated from AajTak channel for his two tweets that were critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his first tweet, Singh said that those who seek respect for Prime Minister should first ask him to respect his Prime Ministerial post. In the second tweet, he criticised the trolls for tagging his employer and seeking his termination. He further said, ”I will not compromise from writing that Modi is a shameless Prime Minister”. https://twitter.com/ShyamMeeraSingh/status/1417122172024225793 After his termination, Singh took to twitter and wrote several emotional tweets. In one of them, he said, ”People dedicate their degrees, research papers to their Ideals. I have nothing to show but a term...
Rahul Gandhi’s Name Also Among Pegasus Targets

Rahul Gandhi’s Name Also Among Pegasus Targets

INDIA
Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament, Rahul Gandhi’s name is among the list of people whose has been target of Israeli spyware 'Pegasus,' The Wire reports. The list also includes name of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and the Centre's new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. As per The Wire report, at least two mobile phone accounts used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were among 300 verified Indian numbers listed as potential targets by an official Indian client of the Israeli surveillance technology vendor, NSO Group. The report also claims that five social friends and acquaintances of Rahul Gandhi were also in the list of potential targets and also none of them “plays any role in politics or public affairs." On Sunday Media outlets including The Washington Post,...
‘I will not stop reporting the truth’, Rupesh Kumar Singh undeterred after name appears on Pegasus list

‘I will not stop reporting the truth’, Rupesh Kumar Singh undeterred after name appears on Pegasus list

FEATURED, INDIA
Vikram Raj In recent developments, a worldwide list of many individuals whose mobile phones may have been tainted with the Pegasus programming software has emerged. It is being said that there are names of about 300 Indians in this list, out of which the names of 40 Journalists and activists have been revealed yet. Pegasus is the name of the most sophisticated piece of spyware at any point, created and owned by a private Israeli corporate called NSO group. Whenever it has wormed its direction onto your telephone, without you seeing it, it can transform it into a 24-hour reconnaissance gadget. It can duplicate messages you send or get, collect your photographs and record your calls. It may furtively film you through your phone's camera, or enact the amplifier to record your discussion...
Police official Allegedly sits on top of a woman in UP, Assaults Her

Police official Allegedly sits on top of a woman in UP, Assaults Her

INDIA
An Uttar Pradesh police official allegedly overpowered a woman, pulled her to the ground and hit her as he sat on top of her in Kanpur Dehat district. Photographs of the cop sitting on top of the woman and hitting her, have gone viral on the social media. The incident reportedly took place on Saturday. The Kanpur Dehat Police denied the allegations and said that the team was attacked by the women of the family of Shivam Yadav, who according to the police, had threatened a candidate in the panchayat elections. According to reports, sub-inspector Mahendra Patel had an altercation with the woman in Durgadaspur village while he was looking for Yadav. Kanpur Dehat superintendent of police (SP) Keshav Chaudhary said the videos show that Patel, who is the in-charge of the Bhognipur po...