Pakistan condemns terrorism in Kashmir, rejects link to Pulwama attack

Agencies
February 15, 2019

Feb 15: Pakistan on Thursday said the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 39 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

Attack in Pulwama in Kashmir is "a matter of grave concern", the Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.

Asserting that Pakistan has "always condemned acts of violence" anywhere in the world, it said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations."

In a tweet, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in Valley."

Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.

The Indian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India's brave security forces in Pulwama, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the UN and other countries, it said.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.

Countries from across the globe also condemned the terror attack in Pulwama, with global leaders like the US, Russia and France asserting that they stand with India in combating the menace of terrorism.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.

Russia, while condemning the terror attack, stressed the need to combat such "inhuman acts" with decisive and collective response without any double standards.

"We denounce terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reiterate the need to combat these inhuman acts with decisive and collective response without any double standards," a Russian Embassy statement said.

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said France most firmly condemns the heinous attack perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir.

"France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," he said.

Germany strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack, saying stands by its strategic partner India.

Australia, Turkey, Canada and Czech Republic also condemned the horrific terror attack.

India's neighbours Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives also expressed solidarity and vowed to combat the menace of terrorism jointly.

"I strongly condemn the deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir today killing at least 40 people. We send our thoughts and prayers to those affected. The Maldives will continue to work with India and the international community to combat terrorism in our region and the world at large," Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message through the country's High Commission in New Delhi said her country remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir. Bhutan strongly condemns terrorist attack of any nature. Our prayers are with the grieved family and we are following the situation closely," Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena expressed sadness over the dastardly terror attack, saying the world must condemn such brutal terrorist attacks and take effective action to prevent such incidents in future.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also "strongly" condemned the terror attack, calling for those behind the attack to be brought to justice.

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News Network
April 17,2020

New Delhi, Apr 17: A total of 3,336 Indians tested positive for coronavirus in 53 countries while 25 others died of the infection, government sources said on Thursday.

They said the Indians stranded abroad will have to be patient as the government is not evacuating them as part of a larger policy decision to check the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

"They need to be patient and stay where they are. Our missions have been told to extend all possible help to the stranded Indians," said a source.

According to the sources, evacuation of around 35,000 foreign nationals from 48 countries has been facilitated so far from India.

The sources said the majority of Indians who tested positive for the coronavirus infection are living in the Gulf region. A sizeable number of Indians staying in France and the US have also tested positive.

They said that Indian missions in the Gulf region have been told to extend all possible assistance to the Indians in distress.

Around eight million Indians are living in the Gulf countries and there has been growing anxiety among them over their livelihood in view of the pandemic as it has majorly impacted the oil-driven economy of the region.

Almost all Gulf countries have taken a series of drastic measures including imposing total lockdown, travel restrictions and even closing borders to stem the spread of the coronavirus infection.

The United Arab Emirates has already warned of possible action against countries refusing to allow their citizens to return.

Around 3.3 million Indians are living in the UAE and they constitute roughly 30 per cent of the country's population. Among the Indian states, Kerala is the most represented followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

A large number of Indians are working in the construction sector in Qatar which is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

As a matter of policy, India has decided not to bring back the stranded Indians from abroad till the nationwide lockdown ends.

The issue of Indians in Gulf region figured prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video conference with heads of Indian missions abroad on March 30.

Welfare of Indians in the Gulf was the major focus area in the discussions Modi had with leaders of countries in the region over the last few weeks, officials said.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Even as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in various parts of India, more than 1 million people have recovered and discharged till now, informed Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health, here on Thursday.

"More than 1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in the country. This landmark recovery has been achieved because of the selfless work and dedication of our doctors, nurses and frontline workers," Bhushan said at a press conference.

Giving the number of cured persons, Bhushan said, "More than 1,020,000 patients have recovered. They have been discharged. It is a great achievement."

He said, "The recovery rate has shown positive trends. It was 7.85 per cent in April and today it is 64.4 per cent, which is another heartening news which tells us that whatever battle is put by the Union government in collaboration with state governments is showing results."

"Sixteen states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average. Of these, Delhi has a recovery rate of 88 per cent, Ladakh 80 per cent, Haryana 78 per cent, Assam 76 per cent, Telangana 74 per cent, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat 73 per cent, Rajasthan 70 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 69 per cent and Goa 68 per cent," Bhushan said.

He said effective clinical management lead to a decrease in case fatality rate. In June it was 3.33 per cent and now 2.21 per cent.

Bhushan said the case fatality rate in India today is 2.21 per cent and it's among the lowest in the world. Twenty-four states and Union Territories have lesser fatality rate than that of the country.

Herd immunity in a country of the size and population of India can not be a strategic option. It can only be achieved through immunisation.

"Over 18,190,000 tests have been conducted in the country including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. There has been a week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 test per 10 lakhs population per day," Bhushan said.

He added, three vaccine candidates, are in phase 3 clinical trial. These three are in the US, UK and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase I and II of clinical trials. 

Trial of the first vaccine involves 1,150 subjects at eight sites, second on 1,000 subjects at five sites.

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Agencies
May 26,2020

In a startling revelation, cybersecurity researchers have claimed that a hacker has posted personal details of nearly 2.9 crore Indian job seekers at one of the hacking forums on the Dark Web for free.

As part of the regular sweep over the Deep Web and Dark Web, researchers from cybersecurity firm Cyble came across an interesting item, where a threat actor posted 2.3GB (zipped) file on one of the hacking forums.

"The leak actually has a lot of personal details of millions of Indians Job seekers from different states," Cyble said in its blog on Friday.

This breach includes sensitive information such as email, phone, home address, qualification and work experience etc from job seekers spanning across states, from New Delhi to Mumbai and Bengaluru. 

Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for such personal information to conduct various nefarious activities such as identity thefts, scams, and corporate espionage.

"It appears to have originated from a resume aggregator service given the sheer volume and detailed information," it added.

Cyble indexed this information at ‘AmIbreached.com; – Cyble's data breach monitoring and notification platform.

Cyble researchers have identified a sensitive data breach on the dark web where an actor has leaked personal details of nearly 29 million Indian job seekers from various states. 

"Cyble's team is still investigating this further and will be updating their article as they bring more facts to the surface,” it said in a statement.

Cyble said it has acquired the leaked data. 

The same cyber security firm earlier exposed that Bengaluru-based edtech firm Unacademy was hacked.

According to Cyble researchers, nearly 22 million Unacademy user accounts were affected and the data was dumped and sold on Dark Web.

'We would like to assure our users that no sensitive information such as financial data or location has been breached," said Hemesh Singh, Co- Founder and CTO, Unacademy, in a statement.

In April, hackers sold personal data of a whopping 267 million Facebook users for just Rs 41,500 (approximately 500 Euros) that includes email addresses, names, Facebook IDs, dates of birth and phone numbers.

No passwords of the 267 million Facebook users were exposed by the hacker, according to Cyble.

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