Daily Bulletin: Restrictions reimposed in Srinagar ahead of Eid; IMD issues orange alert in six districts of Kerala; day's top stories

Authorities reimpose some restrictions in Kashmir ahead of Eid al-Adha today Restrictions that had been temporarily eased on Friday and Saturday – allowing some bakeries, pharmacies and fruit shops to open ahead of the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Adha – were reinstated in major parts of the Srinagar on Sunday afternoon. [caption id=“attachment_7146221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. Reuters[/caption] Police vans drove around some areas ordering people to shut shop and go home, and most streets were silent by evening, as thousands of troops kept vigil, witnesses said. Sources told NDTV, that police vehicles were seen making announcements on loudspeakers asking people to return to their homes, and shopkeepers have been told to shut their shops. The Centre had locked down the region last Sunday, cutting off communications, detaining more than 300 political leaders and activists, and putting a “virtual curfew” into force with numerous roadblocks stopping the movement. Reuters reported at least 10,000 people were involved in Friday’s protest in Soura, based on an estimate provided by a police source and backed up by two eyewitnesses. Another official source on Saturday gave Reuters the same estimate. Dilbag Singh, the Jammu and Kashmir director general of police, told Reuters on Sunday that between 1,000 and 1,500 people were returning from praying at mosques on Friday when “some miscreants” started pelting stones at security officials. “It was a reaction to stone-pelting by these miscreants that one or two rounds of pump-action gun were fired,” Singh said, adding that four to five men suffered injuries. Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic ties with India and suspended trade in anger at Delhi’s latest move. IMD issues orange alert in six districts of Kerala; Toll climbs to 72 and over 2 lakh people displaced so far   According to reports, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued an orange warning – orange indicating be alert and prepared – for six districts. These are Kasargode, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Idukki. After pounding Kerala for days, there was some let-up in the rain fury on Sunday even as the toll climbed to 72, with 58 people still missing and over 2.51 lakh people in relief camps across the state. With the recovery of more bodies, including 23 from Malappuram, 17 from Kozhikode and 12 from Wayanad since 8 August, the toll has gone up to 72, as per the latest report issued by the government at 7 pm on Sunday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited a relief camp at Wayanad and patiently heard the woes of the people who were displaced from their homes following flooding and destruction of their dwellings. Gandhi also visited Kavalappara, a 10-acre settlement near Nilambur in Malappuram, that bore the brunt of a massive landslide on 8 August. The Wayanad MP on Sunday urged the state and Central governments to provide immediate assistance to those affected by the floods in Kerala and promised to do everything possible to get the people back on their feet. Kohli, Bhuvneshwar shine in India’s victory over West Indies in 2nd ODI India grabbed a 1-0 lead in the ODI series against West Indies with a 59-run win in the rain-affected second ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. Opting to bat first, India captain and Player of the Match Virat Kohli brought up his 42nd ODI century and was ably supported by Shreyas Iyer (71), with India posting 279/7. In the bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the way with 4/31 as West Indies were bowled out for 210 in reply. Reliance Industries AGM at 11 am today; Jio GigaFiber rollout, Jio phone 3 announcements expected Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today (12 August). The event will be live-streamed online and will be available on the company’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook account. Jio, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries, usually releases its new products at the company’s AGMs. In the AGMs held in 2018 and 2017, RIL came out with successive models of the Jio phone. Investors are awaiting the announcement of the launch of Jio Phone 3 today. According to CNBC-TV18, investors can expect announcements about the commercial rollout and pricing of Jio’s broadband service GigaFiber, and the triple play plan for GigaFiber that bundles broadband, landline as well as television services at the AGM today. Jio GigaFiber would provide ultra high-definition entertainment on large screen TVs, multi-party video conferencing from a living room, voice-activated virtual assistance, virtual reality gaming, digital shopping and immersive experiences, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani had said at the 41st AGM, last year. Reliance stock has recorded a record growth at Rs 1,162 on 9 August 2019 from Rs 964 on 5 July 2018, when its last AGM was held. Reliance Jio has already become India’s largest telecom player by revenue and the second-largest by subscriber base. Govt likely to announce steps to remove friction points in the economy to boost growth The government is working on a set of measures to remove friction points in the economy with a view to ensuring easy availability of funds to productive sectors and stimulate overall growth, sources said. However, the strategy being worked out does not include a proposal for reduction of GST rates as the government believes that taxes are already lower than in the past, they added. The set of measures being firmed up by the finance ministry is based on the feedback received by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her interactions with different stakeholders, including industry chambers, bankers and foreign and domestic investors. Student unearths serious vulnerability is educational software At the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas, 18-year-old Bill Demirkapi revealed major vulnerability in school software that exposed millions of records including student grades, immunisation records, cafeteria balance, cryptographically hashed passwords and photographs. More than 5,000 schools appeared to be included in the data, with roughly 5 million individual records in total, including students, teachers, and other staff.