Struggling with the slow speed of the internet on Friday, February 5, Aisha, a tenth class student, was downloading tutorials of her new class. Not able to download, she lost hope of completing her assignments on time. Concerned about the embarrassment in the class, she cried. A few hours later, however, Aisha, a resident of Sonwar, was jumping with joy. The high-speed mobile internet (4G) was restored. The high-speed internet restoration resulted in uploading and downloading, almost in a jiffy.
Relaxed, she cleared the backlog updated the gadgets and gallery and started talking and sharing joy with her brother, studying outside Kashmir.
YEAR AND HALF LATER
Snapped in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, ahead of August 5, 2019, the high-speed mobile internet was restored in the Union Territory on February 5, after a blanket ban of 18 months.
Earlier roaming as a rumour for a couple of days, the news of restoration was confirmed by Rohit Kansal, the government spokesman and senior IAS officer in a late evening tweet. “4G mobile internet services being restored in the entire J&K,” Kansal tweeted.
Later, the order issued by Shaleen Kabra, principal secretary (home) directed Kashmir and Jammu division police chiefs to ensure compliance and “closely monitor the impact of the lifting of restrictions’’. However, the order had a rider that high-speed internet facility on prepaid SIM cardholders would be provided “only after verification as per the norms applicable for postpaid connections”.
The order further said that an “objective assessment of the prevailing circumstances” was done by a special committee constituted on the directions of the Supreme Court order of May 11, 2020.
This story is from the February 14, 2021 edition of Kashmir Life.
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This story is from the February 14, 2021 edition of Kashmir Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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