Postpaid mobile phone services likely to resume in Kashmir from Monday
Srinagar: Postpaid mobile services, which were slated to resume on Saturday in Kashmir, are likely to begin from Monday, a major step towards easing curbs in the state, officials said.
Restrictions were imposed 69 days ago after the Centre abrogated Jammu and Kashmir's special status. The announcement regarding the postpaid mobile services will be made by the state administration on Saturday, they said.
The administration has been examining various options with regard to suspension of mobile phone services which have come in for severe criticism for causing hardships to about 7 million residents of the Valley.
At one point, it was planned to open only BSNL services followed by allowing activating only incoming calls run by private telecom operators.
However, it has now been decided to go the whole hog by allowing operationalisation of all postpaid phones run by all operators and numbering around 40 lakh subscriber. This will leave out about 26 lakh prepaid mobile subscribers.
The services were likely to be resumed Saturday but a last minute technical hitch led to postponing of the resumption of services. The subscribers will have to, however, wait for some more time for the Internet services to resume in the valley, they said.
The move comes barely days after the Centre issued an advisory opening the valley for tourists. Travel association bodies had approached the administration, saying that no tourist would like to come to the valley where no mobile phones working.
The mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir were shut down on August 5 after the Centre announced in New Delhi the abrogation of the special status guaranteed to the state under Article 370 of the Constitution.
Partial fixed line telephony was resumed in the valley on August 17, and by September 4 all landlines, numbering nearly 50,000, were declared operational.
In Jammu, the communication system was restored within days of the blockade and even mobile Internet was started around mid-August. However, after its misuse, the Internet facility on cellular phones was snapped on August 18.
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India delivers first batch of BrahMos missiles to Philippines
New Delhi, Apr 19: India on Friday delivered the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, in reflection of the growing military ties between the two countries amid China's military muscle-flexing in the South China Sea.
The supplies came over two years India signed a USD 375 million deal with the Southeast Asian nation to supply the weapon systems.
A C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) transported the missile and the launchers to the Philippines for the country's marine forces, official sources said.
Under the January 2022 deal, India will supply three batteries of the missiles, their launchers and related equipment.
It was the first export of the BrahMos missile by India.
A few other countries including Argentina have also shown interest in procuring BrahMos missiles from India.
BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
India has been looking at further expanding defence ties with the Philippines against the backdrop of growing global concerns over China's increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Both India and the Philippines have been emphasising the need for peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea and for adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).
The twin sides are also favouring implementation of an arbitral award by a UN court on the South China Sea.
The UN's Permanent Court of Arbitration, adjudicating the Philippines' case against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, ruled in favour of Manila. However, China refused to accept the verdict.
There have been growing global concerns over China's sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
Several countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, have counterclaims.
As part of efforts to boost military ties with the Philippines, India has decided to post a defence attache to that country along with Ethiopia, Mozambique, Poland and Ivory Coast.
Watch | #BrahMos supersonic cruise Missiles delivered to the Philippines by India today
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) April 19, 2024
The two countries had signed a deal worth USD 375 million in 2022 pic.twitter.com/Fx6aaGMk2n
