SRINAGAR: An India Today investigation has found “unscrupulous elements offering Covid orphans for sale.”
Children who lost their parents to the pandemic might be falling prey to illegal adoptions, and possibly trafficking, the report said.
The report claimed an NGO in Kashmir called Global Welfare Charitable Trust run by Asrar Amin, offered Covid19 orphans to a India Today’s reporters for Rs 75,000, a child, Rs 1,50,000 for a pair.
“We have so many orphans with us. But if one wants a Covid orphan, there’s no problem,” he said. “Kashmiri children are really beautiful, Mashallah!”, the report quoted Asrar as saying, adding, “I am not taking this money for myself. It’s for my trust.”
Asrar, India Today reported was willing to offer the orphans without any paperwork.
“You must be adopting a child for some reason. There’s no need for paperwork in that situation. But if you still insist, you can do it,” he was quoted as having said.
On being asked by the reporter if any problem were to arise tomorrow, he replied, “That’s my headache. I’ll handle. I’ll say you never met me. I don’t know you,”
The India Today investigation also found another NGO operator, Aijaz Ahmad Dar of Nobel Foundation from Pampore offering newborn Covid orphans. Some of them reportedly lifted from hospitals for adoption.
Dar told India Today reporters, “Suppose there’s a newborn. We’ll get that baby lifted right away.”
Dar talked about having taken some doctors in confidence. “We’ll take some gynaecologists, some MD (qualified doctor), whom I know, in confidence. We’ll ask them how much money they would want if there’s a death.”
“We’ll talk to them to give us any orphan who has lost his/her mother. We’ll tell them not to send the baby to any orphanage but give it to us. We’ll update. God willing, we’ll have a child whose parent died from Covid,” the India Today reported him as saying. Dar talked about being in touch with at least 500-600 orphans from eight to ten years of age and demanded Rs 10 lakh for such children.
The media group, however, did not offer any details if the two groups mentioned in the investigations have sold any child, so far, or not. The two groups mentioned in it, at the same time, have not reacted to the investigation, so far.
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SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday fixed ex-gratia assistance of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin (NoK) of those who died due to COVID-19.
The amount will be payable from Disaster Management Act, 2005.
“Grant of claim to the next of kin of the deceased by Covid-19 as an ex-gratia assistance @ Rs 50000 in terms of the items and norms of NDMA as per communication issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) (Disaster Management Division) on 25-09-2021,” reads the order issued by Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction Civil Secretariat Jammu.
According to the directions issued by the administration, the implementation of the scheme shall commence immediately and shall be applicable to all deaths of residents belonging to UT of J&K that occurred due to COVID-19.
“The eligibility of cases under the scheme shall be verified through the database created by Health & Medical Education Department, Government of J&K and shall be duly certified by the designated medical authority for the purpose in accordance with the standard operating procedure as notified by the Health and Medical Education Department, Government of J&K,” reads the order.
The government has also asked Deputy Commissioners (Chairman, District Disaster Management Authority) and Health and Medical Education Department to ensure saturation of the scheme within a period of two months.
“All Deputy Commissioners shall put a robust yet simple mechanism in place for DBT disbursement of the ex-gratia assistance. They shall issue an appropriate order for the constitution of a District Level Committee (DLC) for the redressal of any grievances with regard to the certification of the COVID death,” the order says.
Besides, the government has ordered the constitution of a committee which will include Additional Deputy Commissioner of the concerned District, Principal of Government Medical College/Chief Medical Officer of District and MS of District Hospital/Government Medical College.
The government has also asked District Level Grievance Committee to verify the authenticity of the COVID -19 death as per the MoHFW and ICMR guidelines, propose necessary remedial measures including amended certificate of COVID-19 death and detail appropriate administrative resources to verify facts in accordance with the guidelines issued for COVID-19 related deaths.
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SRINAGAR: District Administration Kishtwar has ordered an inquiry against the Chief Education Officer ‘for issuing transfer orders of teachers on the day of his retirement.’
Acting on the complaint of general public against Chief Education Officer Kishtwar regarding issuance of transfer order of teachers on the day of his retirement and subsequent directions by Principal Secretary to School Education Department, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kishtwar, Ashok Sharma ordered the inquiry against the Chief Education Officer Kishtwar and put him under suspension till further orders.
As per the order issued by the DC, Additional Deputy Commissioner has been asked to conduct the inquiry into the matter and submit the report in fifteen days.
The transfer orders issued by the outgoing CEO Kishtwar have also been kept in abeyance till further orders.
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SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that only Parliament can restore the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Sinha also hinted that the Assembly polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir once the ongoing delimitation process concludes.
“Only Parliament can restore statehood. Both the prime minister and the home minister have spoken on this issue in detail in Parliament and to the country,” Sinha said on the sidelines of his interaction with industry, organised by the Jammu and Kashmir’s department of industries and commerce in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kolkata.
“They (prime minister and home minister) have clearly stated that after the delimitation process concludes, polls will be held and statehood will be restored,” he said.
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SRINAGAR: Minimum temperatures again fall in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday due to clear overnight sky, with the summer capital Srinagar registering the coldest night of the season so far, a Met official said.
“The minimum temperatures dropped further across Jammu and Kashmir today due to clear night sky. These temperatures are likely to drop further as the weather is likely to remain dry till December 4,” he said.
The minimum temperature recorded in the Srinagar city was minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest night so far, an official of the Meteorological Department said.
The famous hill resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir was the coldest place in Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius.
Kupwara township of north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius. Kokernag, in south Kashmir, recorded minus 1.8 degrees Celsius while Qazigund registered minus 3.3, he said.
In the Jammu region, Jammu city recorded 8.8 degrees Celsius, Katra recorded 8.8, Banihal minus 0.6, Batote recorded 3.6 and Bhaderwah 1.5 as the night’s lowest temperatures.
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SRINAGAR: An army personnel allegedly shot himself dead with his service rifle in Banihal area of Ramban district on Tuesday.
Reports said that Sepoy Tejpal Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was on sentry duty when he fired upon himself inside a camp at Chamalwas.
An official said the soldier was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to injuries. After autopsy and completion of other formalities, the body was handed over to the unit of the deceased for the last rites, he said.
They, however, said the reason behind him taking this extreme step was not immediately known.
Confirming the incident, a police officer said a case has been registered and further investigation was underway in this regard.
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SRINAGAR: Two militants killed in the Pulwama encounter have been identified, Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet.
Police said that they have been identified as JeM commander Yasir Parray, an IED expert and a foreign militant Furqan. The tweet quoting IGP Kashmir said they were wanted in several cases.
SRINAGAR: At least 10 houses were gutted in a massive fire in Tatri-Kilshay village of Tulail in Gurez area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district late last night, officials said on Wednesday.
Quoting the officials the news agency KNO reported that at least 10 residential houses were completely gutted in the fire that broke out on the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday in the village.
Several families were rendered homeless, losing all their belongings in the blaze they said.
They said that the fire erupted from one of the residential houses in the village and engulfed the surrounding houses within no time. “The cause of the fire is yet to be known. There was however, no loss of human life reported in the incident while the actual assessment will be made later in the day,” the official said.
Meanwhile, a police official said that they have taken cognizance of the matter and has started investigation to ascertain the actual cause of fire.
The locals meanwhile urged the district administration for immediate compensation and relief to the affected families.
Some of videos of the fire showing local families struggling to put down the flames during mid night have gone viral on social media.
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SRINAGAR: Two militants were killed in an encounter with counter-insurgent forces at Qasbayar area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday, police said.
SRINAGAR: A gunfight broke out between militants and counter insurgent forces in Qasbayar area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday.
Reports said that a joint team of Army, CRPF and Police launched a cordon and search operation in Qasbayar area after having credible inputs about the presence of some militants in the area.
KOLKATA: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Tuesday held interactions with the Industry leaders at Kolkata and invited them to invest in the Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha during Industry Meet at Kolkata
The event organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organisation (JKTPO), Department of Industries and Commerce, J&K in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) included Industrialist/ Investors from Eastern India.
While discussing the host of interventions made by the UT Government for creating a sustainable, balanced, progressive and competitive industrial ecosystem in the region, the Lt Governor made several important announcements on the occasion.
The Lt Governor has announced the enhancement of the Industrial Development scheme outlay to meet the exceeded expectation of Investments in Jammu Kashmir.
‘The proposed investment has already reached Rs. 31,000 Cr and is expected to cross Rs.51,000 Cr by the end of the financial year. Given the response received, the government is enhancing the scheme outlay to meet the demand,’ the Lt Governor observed.
With the quantum jump witnessed in the proposals received for setting up business enterprises, the demand for land has correspondingly increased, and to meet the growing demand, Land Bank is being developed across the UT. The Lt Governor announced that the UT government is coming up with the rules governing change of land use shortly to facilitate the setting up of business enterprises on private land.
‘This will ensure the seamless establishment of business enterprises on private lands. Business enterprises coming up on private land shall be entitled to all the incentives as per extant policy and procedure,’ the Lt Governor added.
Due to the second wave of Covid and subsequent lockdown, several new industrial units have not been able to come into production within the specified timelines. To redress the issue, the Government is mulling to give a one-time extension to such units, upto March 31, 2022 for coming into production, announced the Lt Governor.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor said that J&K UT is on a mission to renovate, reinvent, and ready to take a quantum leap to become the fastest-growing region in the country, pushing the targets for economic growth and employment.
Our aim is to deepen the trust with the business conglomerate, build the industrial base and strengthen the socio-economic stability, observed the Lt Governor.
Under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Home Minister, we worked out a blueprint to unlock investment flows and are in the process of developing a business culture, an industrial ecosystem in J&K that has been missing since Independence, the Lt Governor noted.
Elaborating on the efforts being made by the UT Government to encourage new investment, and to nurture the existing industries, the Lt Governor said that J&K is one of the best destinations in the country for setting up new businesses as of now with the best incentives and improving infrastructure facilities.
“We are fulfilling all the crucial requirements of the industries including the transparent policy of land allotment, private industrial estate development, ensuring ease of doing business, besides the administration has actively worked with solutions approach and introduced around 160 new initiatives and reforms in a short period of time”, the Lt Governor observed.
Promotion of industrial units, providing capital Incentive, a liberal capital Interest subvention, GST Linked Incentive, Ease of Doing Business, development of sector-specific Industrial Estates and Parks, Single Window system, are some of the reforms brought in by the government to unleash the potential of the industrial sector, the Lt Governor added.
The Single Window Portal is being made live with 120 online services. For keeping in sync, the J&K Single Window Portal is being integrated with National Single Window System shortly. Further, J&K shall be the first UT to implement all the 301 business reform action points under Ease of Doing Business initiative of DPIIT by December 31, 2021, informed the Lt Governor.
Highlighting the immense possibilities presented by Jammu & Kashmir, the Lt Governor observed that the region offers abundant raw material for Agro & Food processing, manufacturing, land, labour, quick and competitive means of transportation. Besides, there is an ‘amazingly easy interface with the government’ through responsive governance & minimum government, in addition to being logistically the most attractive region with industrial land bank, sector-specific policy and international air cargo facility.
In addition, by December 2022, the train will also reach Kashmir giving alternate all-weather connectivity to the valley, he added.
The Lt Governor further announced that the UT administration has a detailed “What you need” plan ready because we know that everybody wants a return on their investment sooner than later.
“This is the dawn of a new era for the growth, development, and overall well-being of the people of J&K. Barriers to trade and commerce have been removed. The people of J&K can now fully enjoy the rights and benefits enjoyed by all other citizens of India,” the Lt Governor observed.
Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary to J&K Government, Industries & Commerce Department and Ankita Kar, Managing Director, JKTPO elaborated on investment opportunities that J&K is offering to the Industries.
Principal Secretary Industries invited industry members to visit J&K and witness the changes on the ground themselves and take benefit of the best industrial policy in the country.
“We are confident that such steps coupled with the Central Government’s and UT Administration’s efforts in J&K will soon create an environment for attracting industry to the UT,” said Sh Subhasendu Chatterjee, Vice Chairman CII West Bengal State Council and Wholetime Director of Haldia Petrochemicals.
The interactive session facilitated prospective investors to have a dialogue on the immense investment opportunities presented by the verdant region.
A video of J&K encapsulating different developments in the UT in the last two years was also showcased on the occasion.
The event was attended by over 40 delegates and some prominent industry groups included Tata Steels, Haldia Petrochemicals, Anmol Feeds, Eveready Industries, KCT Industries, Herbalife Industries, Green Ply Industries, Titagarh Wagons, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited.
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SRINAGAR: The Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday chaired the 5th UT-Level Bankers’ Committee meeting and reviewed the achievements of banks and financial institutions operating in Jammu and Kashmir for the half-year ended September 2021.
Financial Commissioner Finance, Atal Dulloo, Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department & Panchayati Raj, Bipul Pathak Principal Secretary, HUDD, Dheeraj Gupta, Chairman & MD J&K Bank (Convenor J&K UTLBC) R K Chhibber, Director, DFS, MoF (GoI) A.K. Dogra, CGM In-Charge (FIDD), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Sonali Sen Gupta, Chief General Manager NABARD, A. K. Sood and other senior functionaries of the Government, RBI, NABARD, Banks, LDMs, line departments, insurance companies, BSNL were also present on the occasion.
In his opening remarks, the Chief Secretary, Dr.Arun Kumar Mehta impressed upon the banks and Financial Institutions to increase their business to boost economic growth in J&K.
Reiterating the directions issued by Finance Minister, Dr Mehta directed the Public Sector Banks to expand their foot print besides scaling up the credit lending in J&K.
He also directed the Public Sector Banks to initiate measures to bring in more Non Banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) having business relations with them to J&K. The PSBs were directed to prepare the plan in this regard by December 31, 2021.
The Chief Secretary asked NABARD to prepare roadmap for utilization pipeline under all schemes and prepare projects for better utilization by December 31, 2021.
While announcing that agricultural and industrial products for each district have been identified by J&K Government, the Chief Secretary directed Punjab National Bank to take lead in preparing the Plan under One District One Product (ODOP) programme by 15th December 2021 in respect of the products already identified by Government.
Reviewing the performance of banking sector during the first half of FY 2021-22, the Chief Secretary expressed serious concern upon poor lending in the priority sector in general and agriculture sector in particular despite immense potential in these sectors.
He stated that 70% population in J&K is directly or indirectly linked to agriculture and banks need to do more to improve lending in the sector.
In order to improve the lending under Government Sponsored Schemes/ Employment Generation Schemes, the Chief Secretary directed the Information Technology Department to develop online portals by December 31, 2021 for various schemes for online submission of applications on the pattern of the existing PMEGP Portal.
Dr Mehta laid emphasis on end to end digitisation of all beneficiary oriented schemes in J&K and asked the concerned departments and banks to synergize their processes for early results.
While directing banks to clear the backlog of Government-sponsored cases, he also directed the sponsoring agencies to scale up sponsorship under the respective schemes in line with the prescribed targets.
The Chief Secretary impressed upon the Banks to take advantage of the digitization of the land records for extending hassle free credit in J&K.
While appreciating the banks for their role in saturating Kissan Credit Card Scheme in J&K, Dr Mehta asked them to create more employment opportunities for the youth by enhancing lending in the priority sector.
While appreciating that J&K is a top ranker in the country in the realm of financial inclusion, he announced that a dedicated financial inclusion campaign will be launched in J&K by the banks from January 1 to march 31, 2022 to make further advances in the domain of financial inclusion.
Dr Mehta directed the banks to saturate the unbanked areas with banking touch points in J&K by January 26, 2022.
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SRINAGAR: In a major success, J&K prevented youth from south Kashmir from joining militancy ranks and detained him in Rajouri district of Jammu, officials said Tuesday.
Quoting an official news agency KNO reported the detained youth was reportedly in contact with some militants through social media platforms and he was called to Rajouri.
“On the basis of specific information, police constituted a team and intercepted him. He hails from South Kashmir’s Shopain district who was travelling to Rajouri district in a passenger vehicle,” the official said. “During questioning of the detained boy, it has been found that he was in regular contact with some militants through social media handles and was all set to join militancy ranks.”
They said that the youth was called to Rajouri from where he was to be given the next destination but before he could reach Rajouri police team succeeded in detaining him. “He is being questioned and counterparts of Police in Kashmir have been informed,” said officials.
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SRINAGAR: The maiden Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report released by the National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has revealed that Jammu and Kashmir and newly carved out Ladakh UT has 12.8 per cent of its population which are “multi-dimensionally poor”. The study based on the date of 2015-16 is in tune with the earlier findings that Jammu and Kashmir is one of the least poor states in India where the BPL ratio of the population was less than half of the national average.
This is the main Srinagar city called the downtown where congested housing is the norm. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
As per the report, Srinagar is the multi-dimensionally least poor district. The district has an MPI score of 0.006 and has only 1.51 per cent of its population which is poor. Pulwama (3.79 per cent), Shopian (6.51 per cent) and Budgam (6.84 per cent) respectively are the districts that have the least poor population after Srinagar.
The Ramban district on the other hand is multi-dimensionally most poor with 35.26% of its population who are multi-dimensionally poor. Ramban has an MPI score of 0.163. Doda district is in second place with a 28.92 per cent multi-dimensionally poor population.
Baramulla has a poor percentage of 7.06, Kulgam 7.43, Ganderbal 7.82 per cent, Anantnag 8.36 per cent, Bandipora 11.07 per cent, Kupwara 16.08 per cent.
In the Jammu division, Jammu district has the least multidimensionally poor population of 6.97 per cent followed by Samba 9.67 per cent, Kathua 13.08 per cent, Reasi 21.92 per cent, Poonch 24.27 per cent, Kishtawar 24.29 per cent, Udhampur, 26.83 per cent, Rajouri 27.52 per cent.
Twin districts of Leh and Kargil in Ladakh have 5.36 per cent and 19.4 per cent multi-dimensionally poor people. It means Kargil has almost four times poor population in comparison to Leh.
The report has stated that as per the uncensored headcount ratio, 25.9 per cent of the population is deprived of nutrition, 12.7 per cent of maternal health, 45.2 per cent of cooking fuel, 47.0 per cent of sanitation while 14.2 per cent of the population is deprived of drinking water.
A household is considered nutritionally deprived if woman between 15 to 49 years or man between ages of 15 to 54 years if found to be with a body mass index which is less than 18.5 kg/m2. The children under 5 years of age are considered malnourished if their z-score of height-for-age and weight-for-age is below minus two standard deviations from the median of the reference population.
The report further stated that a household is considered to be deprived with regard to maternal health if any woman in the household who has given birth in the five years preceding the survey has not received at least four antenatal care visits for the most recent birth or has received assistance from trained skilled medical personnel during recent childbirth.
Meanwhile, a household is considered deprived of drinking water, if it does not have access to safe or improved drinking water within a 30-minute walk from home.
In India, the nutritionally deprived population stands at 37.6 per cent, maternal health at 22.6 per cent, sanitation at 52 per cent, cooking fuel at 58.3 per cent and electricity and housing at 12.2 and 45.6 per cent respectively.
Among states and union territories, Kerala is a multi-dimensionally least poor state with just 0.71 per cent of its population as poor, while Jammu and Kashmir rank 16th and fares better than states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Bihar is the most multi-dimensionally poor state with 51.91 per cent of its population in the poor category followed by Jharkhand with 42.16 per cent.
As per the report, in early 2020, the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, identified 29 global indices to monitor, analyse and evaluate with the aim of improving India’s position in global rankings.
Under this mandate, also known as the Global Indices for Reforms and Growth (GIRG) mandate, NITI Aayog was identified as the nodal agency for the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
India’s national MPI measure uses the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who have been key partners in ensuring the public policy utility and technical rigour of the Index. Importantly, as a measure of multidimensional poverty, it captures multiple and simultaneous deprivations faced by households.
“This baseline report of India’s first-ever national MPI measure is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). The national MPI measure has been constructed by utilizing twelve key components which cover areas such as health and nutrition, education and standard of living,” vice-chairman NITI Aayog, Dr Rajiv Kumar has said in a message.
The report has revealed poverty patterns throughout India. The report said that it has employed a non-monetary poverty index, which captures overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards. It further said that the report also complements income poverty measurements because it measures and compares deprivations directly by capturing information on broader quality parameters.
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SRINAGAR: The government Tuesday announced winter vacations for all schools of Kashmir division and winter zones of Jammu region from December 6 and 13 to February 28.
Quoting a top official of the department news agency KNO reported that the School Education Department has said that the educational institutions upto class 8th standard shall observe winter vacation from December 6 to February 28 and the senior classes from 9 to 12 shall observe it from December 13 to February 28.
The official said that the decision was taken after a meeting that was held earlier wherein different agendas were discussed including the winter vacations for the Kashmir division and winter zones of Jammu division.
In the meantime, another official said that the decision of winter vacation was taken in view of the dip in mercury.
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SRINAGAR: The Government today informed that 171 new positive cases of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), 32 from Jammu division and 139 from the Kashmir division, have been reported today, thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 336852.
Moreover, 172 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals including 22from Jammu Division and 150 from Kashmir Division.
The Bulletin informs that no new case of Mucormycosis has been reported today.
On COVID vaccination, the bulletin informs that 52,425doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative number of doses administered across J&K to1,66,25,485.
According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), out of 336852 positive cases, 1625 are Active Positive (291 in Jammu Division and 1334 in Kashmir Division), 330751 have recovered and 4476 have died; 2185 in Jammu division and 2291in Kashmir division.
The Bulletin further said that out of 17636861 test results available, 336852 samples have tested positive and 17300009 samples have been tested as negative till date. Besides, 48,282 COVID tests have been conducted in last 24 hours.
Till date 4471309 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 7104 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 1625 in isolation and 429468 in home surveillance. Besides, 4028636 persons have completed their surveillance period.
Providing district-wise breakup for positive cases reported today, the Bulletin said that Srinagar reported 62 cases, Baramulla reported 42 cases, Budgam reported 16 cases, Pulwama reported 01 case, Kupwara reported 05cases, Anantnag reported 01case, Bandipora reported 03cases, Ganderbal reported 09cases while as Shopian and Kulgam reported no fresh cases for today.
The bulletin further informs the general public that they can contact helpline numbers 0191-2520982/2674444/2674115/2674908/2549676 in Jammu Division and 0194-2440283/2430581/2452052/2457313/2457312 in Kashmir Division for any kind of guidance and assistance.
In case of emergency, people can avail free ambulance services 24×7 by calling toll free number 108 while as pregnant women and sick infants can avail free services by dialling toll free number 102, the bulletin reads.
It also informs that the public can reach national helpline by dialling 1075.
Further the bulletin also informs the public that for any kind of COVID-19 query, logon to https://ift.tt/2XYaXJZ
The readers can also reach us on the official Twitter account of DIPR-J&K @diprjk; website: http://www.jkdirinf.in; Webportal: jkinfonews.com and Facebook: @JKInformationOfficial.
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SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police in Budgam have recovered an ancient sculpture from Khag area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Tuesday.
SSP Budgam handed over 1300 years old sculpture of Goddess Durga to concerned department
A police spokesman in a statement said that accordingly a team of officers from the Department of Archives, Archaeology & Museums, Jammu and Kashmir Government were called for an examination of the recovered sculpture at District Police Office Budgam.”
“During the examination, it was revealed that the recovered sculpture of Goddess Durga dates back roughly to 7th AD (about 1300 years old),” said the police.
The sculpture is carved in a black stone with Goddess Durga seated on lion throne, however, some part of the left side arm is missing. Moreover, the sculpture is having the influence of the Gandhara School of Art.
The said recovered sculpture was handed over formally to Mushtaq Ahmad Beigh Deputy Director Department of Archives, Archaeology & Museums and his team by Tahir Saleem Khan-JKPS, SSP Budgam in presence of Police/Civil officers after fulfilling all the legal formalities, said a police spokesman in a statement.
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SRINAGAR: National Conference Chairman Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said that Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which was abrogated in August 2019, has to be reinstated, to bring back normalcy in the Union Territory.
“If normalcy is to be brought in Kashmir, then Article 370 has to be reinstated,” said the former Chief Minister of the Union Territory, while speaking to media persons in Delhi.
In August 2019, the Central government scrapped Article 370 which gave special rights to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two categories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. (ANI)
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SRINAGAR: Ghulam Mohammad Jan father of filmmaker Bilal A Jan passed away on Sunday morning due to a brief illness.
He was in his seventies and lived in Baghi Sunder Bala Chattabal Srinagar.
He is survived by his two sons and three daughters and grandchildren along with his wife.
According to his family members, Jan’s fateh khawani will be held on December 1, 2021 at 11 am at his graveyard in Baghiyas Chattabal opposite Abu Bakar Masjid near ATM Jammu and Kashmir bank.
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SRINAGAR: The government on Tuesday in a parliament said that 150 ancestral properties of Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir have been restored.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that as per the information provided by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, the land of 150 applicants has been restored.
“The Government has taken various measures to restore ancestral properties to migrant Hindus. Under the J&K Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection & Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, District Magistrates (DMs) of concerned Districts in Jammu & Kashmir are the legal custodians of the immovable properties of Migrants, who take suo motto action on eviction proceedings in cases of encroachment,” MHA said.
“The migrants can also request DMs in such cases. The DMs are further empowered to take all steps for the preservation and protection of such properties. As per the information provided by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, after the abrogation of Article 370, a total of 1678 migrants have returned to Kashmir for taking up the jobs under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015,” said MHA in a written reply.
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SRINAGAR: As many as 40 civilians have been killed and 72 injured in Jammu and Kashmir in militancy-related incidents till November 15 this year, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, MoS Nityanand Rai said that “Forty civilians killed, 72 injured in Jammu and Kashmir till Nov 15 this year. 35 personnel of the security forces, including Jammu and Kashmir Police, were killed in such incidents till November 15 and 86 were injured.”
The government has taken proactive operations against militants, identification and arrest of overground workers/supporters of militancy, action against members of banned organizations, intensified night patrolling and checking at Nakas, arrangements through appropriate deployment, coordination meetings amongst security agencies, high level of alertness maintained by the security forces and legal action in cases of militant funding, to protect the civilians.
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SRINAGAR: The family of a missing man, hailing from Sopore area in north Kashmir here have sought help from the administration to trace their beloved.
The family of a missing man, hailing from Sopore area in north Kashmir on November 30, 2021. KL Image by Bilal Bahadur
The family of Ghulam Nabi Naiko while talking to media persons at Srinagar’s press enclave said that their beloved aged 48 years, who is a trader at fruit mandi has left for Shopian for business purposes on 22 Sep and till date he is missing.
Quoting the family news agency KNO reported that Naiko talked to them on phone at 05:45 and said, ‘he is nearby and will reach home soon.’ and after that, his phone got switched off.
“We are not able to trace him since then from that day we are unfortunately unable to find him. We tried to search him everywhere but all in vein. He has two little kids. We appeal to the administration to help us in tracing our beloved,” they said.
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SRINAGAR: Cold wave conditions continued in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday as minimum temperatures remained below the freezing point.
The Metrological department Kashmir has forecast mainly dry weather till December 4.
Pahalgam – the famous health resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra was the coldest place in the Valley where the minimum temperature was minus 3.3 degrees.
The night temperature in Gulmarg in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 1.7 degrees.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the state recorded a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius while Qazigund in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 1.4 degree Celsius.
Kokernag town recorded a low of minus 0.9 degrees Celsius while Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius last night.
Jammu city recorded 9.0 degrees Celsius, Katra 9.8, Batote 4.6, Banihal recorded 0.6 and Bhaderwah recorded 2.4 degrees Celsius as the night’s lowest temperatures.
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New Delhi: India reported 6,990 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours, below the 10,000-mark for the fourth consecutive day, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday morning.
In the same time span, a total of 190 deaths were reported pushing the toll to 4,68,980 across the nation.
With the recovery of 10,116 patients, the cumulative tally has gone up to 3,40,18,299. The recovery rate now stands at 98.35 per cent, highest since March 2020.
The active caseload stands at 1,00,543, lowest in the last 546 days. Currently, active cases constitute 0.29 per cent of the country’s total positive cases, the lowest since March 2020.
Also in the same period, a total of 10,12,523 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 64.13 crore cumulative tests.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate at 0.84 per cent has remained less than 1 per cent for the last 16 days now.
The daily positivity rate stands at 0.69 per cent, which has also remained below 2 per cent for last 57 days and less than 3 per cent for 92 consecutive days now.
With the administration of 78,80,545 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the Covid inoculation coverage has reached 123.25 crore as of Tuesday morning.
This has been achieved through 1,28,09,178 in sessions.
More than 22.70 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories to be administered, according to the ministry. India has administered 123.25 crore vaccine doses so far under a nationwide vaccination drive. (IANS)
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SRINAGAR: A plastic factory was reduced to ashes in the industrial area of SIDCO Lassipora in Pulwama district in a massive fire that broke out on Monday late night.
Reports said that the fire broke out at the factory namely ‘Stalwart plastics’ on Monday at around 10 PM and engulfed the whole factory.
Quoting officials news agency KNO reported that 44 RR headquarter, which is near the factory rushed to the spot to douse the fire, adding that the fire tenders from defence forces were also roped in to douse the flames.
They said that on priority, the civilians were evacuated and then a team of Army, police and fire and emergency started operation to control the fire.
They said that the fire was doused after the almost two-hour-long operation, adding that no loss of life has been reported while the industry was reduced to ashes while the cause of fire is being ascertained.
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SRINAGAR: After a judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court was detected positive for Covid19, the courtroom has been sealed. Almost 15 officials who are working with the judge are being tested.
The judge was tested positive for Covid19 on Monday. Officials in Jammu told reporters that he had flown from Srinagar on Friday and was attending cases on Monday.
As many as 150 fresh cases were reported on Monday, taking the overall caseload of active cases to 1626, of them, 1345 in the Kashmir region. Srinagar city tops the infection chart. Jammu and Kashmir has lost 4476 people to Covid19, so far.
In Jammu, authorities indicated they will be reopening the DRDO Hospital.
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A still-ragging pandemic and unending political uncertainty have dented the economy and pushed the job market to the edge, both in the private and public sectors. With the unemployment rates roaring in Jammu and Kashmir, well-read job seekers are now finding solace in menial jobs, reportsMinhaj Masoodi
The graph stating the state of unemployement in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of October 2021. KL Grpahics
In the chilling cold, at a construction site in Umarabad, in Srinagar outskirts, Mudabbir is labouring hard. The house owner is looking from a distance. Mudabbir’s phone rings. He picks his phone and starts talking flawlessly, in English.
The owner is taken aback. After Mudabbir finishes his call, the owner calls him and makes enquiries. Turns out, Mudabbir is a master’s degree holder in Chemistry. A resident of Ganastan, near Sumbal, poverty and need for money forced Mudabbir to work as a labourer in Kashmir’s construction sector.
Mudabbir’s father died a few years ago and the responsibility to earn fell on his shoulders. He had wanted to go for higher studies but the need to provide for his family forced him to look for a job. He tried for a year. But he did not get many offers. The trade and the private sector companies had stopped hiring people as the uncertainty dominating Kashmir for long, particularly post-2019, has seriously impacted the business. The ones he got, they were paying well below his bare minimum expectations. He decided to work as a labourer where wages and the time slots are fixed. Right now in freezing cold, a construction labourer works for Rs 700 plus a day.
ATM Guard
Farooq Ahmad Dar is an ATM guard. A resident of Ganderbal’s Tulmulla, Farooq was also compelled to settle for a low paying job because of his precarious financial condition. With a bachelor’s degree in Arts, he even had to drop out of his master’s degree midway.
Farooq was barely five years old enrolled for the nursery when his father, a daily wager was killed in a blast during the 1996 elections. His already financially weak family was forced into penury.
Farooq recalls that period with a perceivable lump in his throat, his voice cracking. “Farooq Abdullah came here personally to guarantee our family a job under SRO 43 but that has not materialized yet,” the young man said. “In 2006, my mother was forced to remarry. She also died for us. I was studying in PUC (11th standard). I used to work as a woodcutter on the side to support my family.”
Despite, facing hardships, Farooq did not leave his studies. “I faced a lot of criticism and torture from people. I was almost prevented from appearing in the matriculation examinations had a teacher not intervened on my behalf.”
Farooq completed his bachelor’s in 2011 amid tremendous financial stress. In 2014, he enrolled himself for a master’s programme. But owing to financial instability he had to discontinue his studies after appearing for two semesters.
“I had to take care of my little brother, my grandfather who was ill, daily expenses at home, and then my own studies at the other end. I had no option but to drop out.”
Now, after all these sacrifices, on a personal and familial level, Farooq now works as an ATM guard on a meagre salary. “All my sacrifices and my hard work has finally led me to become an ATM guard,” he said.
The lack of employment opportunities is the key tension in youth. Somehow, if some of them are lucky enough to get one; the returns are much less than their expectations. The soaring inflation has added to their woes further. This situation has led some of them to accept jobs even if with the least salaries in the hope that once the situation improves, their wags will appreciate.
Farooq said that he knew of an acquaintance in his locality, who had done master’s in English and Phonetics but now earns money by selling peanuts on a handcart.
Disturbing Data
The unemployment charts have soared since the reading down of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The figures provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Private Limited (CMIE) paint a grim picture of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the latest report, the unemployment for the month of October was 22.2 per cent as against 21.6 per cent in September. The figures made a quantum jump of 7 per cent from August to September.
The unemployment figures in Jammu and Kashmir are almost thrice the national average in India. At present, Only Haryana at 30 per cent and Rajasthan at 29.6 per cent have worse figures than Jammu and Kashmir. For the month of September, Jammu and Kashmir topped the unemployment chart across India.
These figures are in stark contrast to the ‘realities’ projected by the Central Government after the reading down of Article 370 and punctured a hole into their claims.
Since August 2019, the figures have crossed the 20 per cent mark at least seven times and 15 times since January 2016. The figures had although come down to single digits during the BJPDP government in December 2018 and in November 2020. The only time, the figures were worse, was at the peak of 2016 unrest, when the figures almost touched 30 per cent. Then, Kashmir was literally locked for almost half of the year.
Shrinking Avenues
The employment avenues in Jammu and Kashmir have been far and few. The government agencies have been the primary recruiters in the region as the government was always emerging as the ‘employer of last resorts’. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her recent visit claimed that almost half of the five lakh people on the rolls of the Jammu and Kashmir government have come through backdoor. She said, post abrogation of special status, the processes have been made transparent.
Kashmir health workers in a unique drive conduct tests and vaccinate shopkeepers in Srinagar business hub Lal Chowk to control the surge of Covid-19 infection, on June 15, 2021. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
In the government sector, Jammu and Kashmir has Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC), Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), J and K Bank, Police, Army and Paramilitary forces as the main recruiters Unlike JKPSC, all others are hiring youth against non-gazetted positions. The magnitude of the joblessness can be assessed by the fact that the key recruiting agency, the JKSSB has collected Rs 77 crore as examination fees between March 2016 and September 2020 from job hunting candidates, according to an RTI application.
The response of the people to the job applications can be gauged from the fact that when JKSSB advertised around 8000 jobs for Class IV employees, more than half a million aspirants applied for the jobs, with many among them holding post-graduate degrees and doctorates.
“Overqualified”
Eventually, an order was issued, which asked “overqualified” people to withdraw their applications ‘voluntarily’ or risk the punishment of never being considered for a position that JKSSB will advertise.
Some of the candidates challenged the order in the court of law but the Jammu and Kashmir High court observed that any higher qualification than on prescribed for a particular post may not be a suitable qualification and that the employer in its wisdom is justified in excluding the candidates with a higher qualification from the ambit of selection.
“…higher qualification than the prescribed 10+2 may not be suitable for many reasons; the first being that a highly qualified person may not be in a position to discharge the menial work which is required to be done by a Class-IV employee; secondly, if such highly qualified candidates are allowed to compete with candidates with lower qualification, as prescribed, it is but obvious that they will score above them and would get selected to the detriment of the candidates possessing the requisite eligibility; and thirdly, such candidates of higher qualification, if selected, would always be looking for a better job and, as soon as they are selected in some other better discipline, they would leave the Class-IV post rendering the entire selection as useless, besides forcing the employer to get those posts re-advertised and re-filled,” the court order had read.
Aamir, one of the JKSSB aspirants with a master’s degree in zoology has since withdrawn his application. “I wish I did not have a master’s degree. I regret going for higher studies,” he said. “At least, I would have been eligible for this job.” He now works as a day labourer.
“Under the fast track recruitment, 20,323 posts stand advertised by Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (SSB) since July 2020 and presently the selection process has been completed with respect to 9,205 posts,” a JKSSB official was quoted saying last week. “Around 5,000 more selections will be finalised up to December 31.”
The Bank Balance
Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s 1800 job vacancies that it had advertised in 2019 got embroiled in controversies, despite the fact that more than 1,40,000 candidates had applied. Initially, the cut-offs were to be taken district wise. But, owing to the ouster of its chairman, the examinations were re-conducted after allegations of “mismanagement” were made by Jammu based political parties. After conducting the examinations afresh, a uniform pan-Jammu and Kashmir cut off was imposed, in which close to 1500 people were selected from Jammu and roughly 300 candidates were selected from Kashmir, according to insiders in the bank.
Demand And Supply
With no job opportunities around, the educational institutions witjin and outside of Jammu and Kashmir are pushing thousands every year from teh campus to the market. Most of them lack a skill.
As per data provided by the University of Kashmir, in 2019 alone, 6509 students appeared in the final examinations across various programmes out of which 5373 students were awarded the degree upon qualification of the exams.
There are a total of 13 universities operating across Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, a significant number of students study outside the valley, in various states of India while many others study abroad, who also continue to enter the system every year in search of potential jobs.
With the universities and the colleges churning out a lot of people every year, the supply side is hugely impressive, unlike the demand. Right now there are almost 8000 engineers and trained dentists sitting at home for many years now.
A few years back, even if the government would not create new positions, it would not alter a grand thumb rule that the government will get almost 10,000 vaccines merely because of deaths and retirements.
The restructuring of a reorganised government saw a lot of changes within and will take a long time to actually understand how it happened. Many windows got closed.
However, the recruitments in police, paramilitary forces and the army continued. Though the new recruitments are not known, almost 2000 youth moved out in the field after a year-long training in different regimental centres across Kashmir and Jammu. Only last week, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have sought applications for almost 800 sub-inspector positions. BSF is in the process of raising a women battalion each for Kashmir and Jammu.
Stumbling Blocks
And the competition for the limited number of posts remains extremely high. Even for the generation of those posts, certain measures have acted as a stumbling block.
Civil Secretariat Jammu.
The increase in retirement ages of people has been one of the factors leading to the drop in the number of posts available. The government employees initially used to retire when they attained an age of 56 years, following which the bar was raised to 58 and then to 60. In certain institutions of higher excellence, the retirement age is 62.
As a result, the posts which would have been rendered vacant after retirement are being occupied for longer durations, thereby forcing the probable candidates to either wait longer or look for employment avenues elsewhere. Though the administration has been pushing for an age slab to reconsider the continuation of its employee, the political decision-making through the security route is triggering more questions than answers.
Extensions
Similarly, in various sectors, particularly in the universities and health institutes, people are given extensions after they have attained the age of superannuation. While, in some cases, it may be mandated due to paucity of experience and probable candidates, but there is an overwhelming majority of people with creditable records waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity. In such cases, the tendency to grant extensions heavily weighs over the employment opportunities for many deserving candidates.
In many places, they are employed on contractual basis with paltry salaries while the senior members are granted extensions.
One such person who wished not to be named has been engaged on a contractual basis for over 15 years in one of the degree colleges in South Kashmir. While there have been assurances from the top about their jobs being made permanent, no headway has been made.
A vast section of the workforce on the government rolls are actually not employees. Most of the colleges are being managed by the contractual who lack good pay, a service rule, no CP Fund and no leave system. This is almost the same with the huge population that runs Jammu and Kashmir’s public health system. The basic health workers who are literally running the show had to put a huge battle with the system for getting considered as Covid19 warriors.
If all these positions are formalised, Jammu and Kashmir will open up for a huge number of jobs. This, however, sounds unlikely.
Private Sector
Private sector on the other hand, which had taken baby steps to establish itself in last few years, has been dealt severe blows due to successive lockdowns in last three years. The already meek private sector has been in a free fall for most of the last 30 years but the satiation post-2010 has been gruesome.
Private organizations are going for rationing of profit margins, laying off staff, reducing salaries in a bid to keep their businesses afloat.
A deserted view of Lal Chowk Srinagar during the strike against new land laws on Saturday, October 31, 2020. KL Image by Bilal Bahadur
ATM guards being supplied to Jammu and Kashmir Bank by a contractor are working on wages far below the Minimum Wages Act.
In the last few years, a number of start-ups, which had started on a note of good promise failed to sustain in an environment of economic uncertainty. It impacts the trend of start-ups and a fall in the number of people they usually engaged.
Most of the private sector is otherwise under pressure from the banks. Not understanding the impact that a series of incidents – unrests in 2008, 2010 and 2016, devastating floods in 2014 and the political situation since 2019, have done to the business, sections within governance structures are keen to use the same set of rules in Srinagar as they will have in Delhi. Right now, one major trader in Srinagar said, “the main objective is to ensure the company accounts does not turn into an NPA. The rest can wait.”
A passing our parade at the JAKLI centre in Srinagar in November 2016
Sustaining Business
Saadat Rafiqi, owner of Parsa’s at the IUST said that he was almost forced to wind up. He said that during the lockdowns, an absence of any business led him to cough up his staff’s salaries from his own pocket.
Although Saadat did not lay off his staff, he reduced their salaries during that time. However, without a running source of income, the salary had to be paid from his personal savings.
“We reduced the salary cap by mutual consent with our staffers. Then, I had to pay their reduced salary from my own savings, whatever little I had,” Saadat said. He had to raise a loan to retain his flock.
When the business activities partially opened, Saadat said some of his fellow restaurateurs applied for loans mortgaging their restaurants in the process, in order to prevent their businesses from going bust.
Another local start-up Lalchowkonline, an online book store that had started its business during the fag end of 2017 also faced a lot of hiccups in the last two and a half years. One of its co-founders, Haseeb Ashai said that their plans to expand to other districts were thrown into total disarray due to the situations that arose in the last three years.
“Although, we are doing okay at the moment, but we have faced lots of problems. We even had to lay off some of our staff.”
Liquidity Crisis
SRO-Kashmir’s founder, Mohammad Afaaq Sayeed said that his organization has received many requests for help from people who were earlier doing well but are now in a state of abject penury. “We have a lot of data of people who have requested us for help with regard to their day to expenses. There are a lot of people who are in financial distress.”
Afaaq in July this year had also shared a post on Facebook about one such incident where a small time shopkeeper had asked for assistance because he was unable to sustain his business.
With the private sector already in shambles and a lack of new avenues, there is a bankruptcy at all levels. Lockdowns for the last three years have meant that people have exhausted all their savings and have no financial cushion to fall back onto.
A former tailor in Bemina area, who wished his identity may not be revealed said that he now sells fruits on a cart. He was forced to leave the tailoring business because he could no longer afford the rent of his shop as his business was not able to recover from the shocks of subsequent lockdowns which not only exhausted his savings but also forced him to shut his shop permanently.
Racing for career, Kashmir young girls at a JK Police recruitment rally at Humhama Srinagar in June 2021. Photo: JKP
The Government Says
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha recently said that they will be having Rs 30,000 crore investments by the year end and these investments will create 450,000 jobs.
“My goal is to reach out and engage about 80 per cent of the young population of Jammu and Kashmir within the next five years and make it possible for them to be an engine of growth for the overall socio-economic transformation of the UT,” Lt Governor Sinha told Harvard US India Initiative (HUII) in February 2021.
There are a lot of projects under construction. But neither of these mega-projects is being implemented by the local contractors or the labour force. “On paper, you may have a lot of investments but the fact is it is not tricking in any kind of turnover at a basic level,” one teacher of economics in a college said. “Lack of local handholding is what is missing.”
FinMin Speaks
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is literally the defacto finance minister for Jammu and Kashmir as well, spent two days in Jammu and Kashmir. She said Jammu and Kashmir is “rapidly passing through a developmental phase” and its economy will double in the “next two years”.
Asked specifically about the surging joblessness in Jammu and Kashmir, Sitharaman said it is not a Jammu and Kashmir specific trend but a country wide phenomenon. Several schemes have been launched by the Government to ensure employment to youth, she said, insisting these schemes have resulted in youth being taken back on their jobs by their employers and fresh recruitments done by new units.
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SRINAGAR: National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Monday cautioned the people against falling prey to divisive forces, saying forging unity is a key requisite for the restoration of J&K people’s inalienable and inherent democratic and constitutional rights.
He said this while addressing a massive workers convention at main town Kishtwar. Among others Party General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, Provincial President Rattan Lal Gupta, Zonal President Sajjad Kichloo, Political Advisor to Vice President Tanvir Sadiq, YNC Provincial President Ajaz Jan, District President Kishtwar Tanveer Kichloo, Provincial Vice President Brij Mohan Sharma and Ex MLC Iqbal Bhat were also present.
On this occasion, many prominent people joined the National Conference. Those who joined the party include District President AITUC Ishtiyaq Malik, Trade Union leaders Ab Hakim Sheikh, Irshad Ahmad Najar, Roshan Lal, Retd Cultural Officer Nisar Doolwal, social activists Ajeet Kumar Bhagat, Javed Ahmad Ahangar.
In his address, Omar said the efforts to wish us off from the political space of Jammu and Kashmir have seen no let up since 1953. “We have withstood dismissals, defections and coups in every decade be it in 53, 75, 84 or 90. History is replete with such attacks on us. Quite recently people’s support steered us clear from their designs aimed to desolate our party. Having me and most of my colleagues caged for months altogether proved abortive. Braving all odds and intimidations, even the last person living in the remote hamlet of Doda supported us. People took it upon themselves to prove those wrong who had wished us off. The out and out support we received from people from every nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir is a telling indictment of this fact,” he said adding that the party derives its strength from people and is strongly rooted in every region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar stated that not much has changed in Jammu and Kashmir and nor is there any major change visible in Kishtwar. “J&K remains on the edge. Much touted dividends which the August 5 decisions were claimed to offer are not visible on the horizon. People have not seen any tranquillity. The situation had contrarily deteriorated. Development is only visible in Twitter hashtags and shoddy propaganda PR. The promised flood of fresh investments is not detectable on the ground. Politics even though it abhors a void, has remained in a vacuum. Elections are nowhere on the horizon. The democratic process continues to remain in suspended animation. Press freedom, land and Job rights stand liquidated. Two and a half years have passed since the unconstitutional decisions of August 5 were undertaken. What is it that has been achieved?” he asked.
He maintained that NC is fighting for truth. “It’s constitutional, peaceful and democratic. Never has NC outflanked the ambit of democracy. In Fact, it is us who have been at the receiving end of undemocratic onslaughts. We will continue with our struggle because it is based on truth,” he added.
Taking a dig at Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s remarks made in a public gathering in South Kashmir, Omar said that Azad’s statement on Articles 370, 35 A tantamount to Congress’s refusal to own it’s own legacy. “I have the highest respect for Azad sb but by making such a remark, he has preempted the verdict of the apex court as well. It is a downright mockery of the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Such statements call into question Nehru’s accepted version of India,” he said adding, “The abridged articles are articles of faith for us. If no one supports us in our struggle, we will walk alone. It is the future of our youth and coming generations, which is associated with it. It is our land, employment, and our exclusive rights on our resources that are at stake,” he said.
Reiterating NC’s vision of inclusive development, Omar said that the amount of development, infrastructure build-up and employment generation done by NC governments for the Chenab region is unrivalled till date. “People of Chenab should have the first right over the region’s resources. During our successive governments, we ensured that the benefits of employment in local power plants reach the local population. In the years to come, we will do everything to give a sense of entitlement to the locals,” he added.
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SRINAGAR: The Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired a meeting of the COVID Task Force to review the public health response to COVID-19 and asked the divisional and district administrations to ensure universal testing of all foreign travellers to Jammu and Kashmir in the light of the emergence of new COVID variant Omicron.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta (IAS)
Administrative Secretaries of Finance, Health & Medical Education, Home, Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, besides Divisional Commissioners Kashmir/ Jammu, Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag, Srinagar, Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi and Budgam, along with MD, National Health Mission, Director, Family Welfare, and other concerned officers participated in the meeting.
It was informed that the Central Government has issued guidelines for detecting cases of COVID variant Omicron from countries declared at risk.
The Chief Secretary underscored the need to adhere to the laid down guidelines and test all the incoming foreign travellers through international flights. As per the guidelines, the negative travellers will be sent for home quarantine of 7 days and re-tested on the 8th day, whereas, the COVID positive patients will be sent to institutional quarantine centres for 15 days and their samples will be sent for genome sequencing at ICMR designated testing laboratories.
It was emphasized that de-boarding from international flights must comply with the COVID appropriate behaviour (CAB) and set protocols and a special COVID helpdesk is forthwith established at the Srinagar airport. Besides, Secretary, Disaster Management was asked to monitor the situation and submit a daily report for timely intervention of the concerned agency.
The Chief Secretary impressed upon the Health Department to establish genome sequencing facilities at Government Medical Colleges, Srinagar and Jammu to fast-track the detection of Omicron variant and other mutations.
Moreover, district administrations of Budgam and Srinagar were asked to establish government quarantine centres and further explore arrangements for paid quarantine facilities for institutional quarantine to deal with any emergent situation.
The Health and Medical Education Department was asked to conduct equipment audit to establish functionality of COVID related infrastructure including COVID dedicated hospitals, ventilators, Oxygen supported beds, and Oxygen plants. The Department was directed to ensure readiness of manpower and machinery to cater to a peak caseload of at least 7500 patients per day and firm up the inventory of oxygen supply and medicines.
Further, the Chief Secretary directed the Deputy Commissioners to enhance testing rate and contact tracing for positive patients to trace infection trajectory and establish micro-containment zones at an early stage. Additionally, the Deputy Commissioners were directed to reduce the daily reported cases through strict enforcement of CAB, COVID SOPs and protocols, and micro-containment zones.
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SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s first virtual gaming arena was opened on Monday at the city centre in Lal Chowk in Srinagar.
Pavilion Gaming Centre was inaugurated at Maulana Azad Road in Lal Chowk on November 29, 2021. KL Image by Mehraj Bhat
Kids and even adults can now play under one roof at the Pavilion Gaming Centre at Maulana Azad Road in Lal Chowk.
The facility has been established on a 4,000 square feet area by two young entrepreneurs, Adnan Shah and Aqib Chaya, offering 30 high-end gaming experiences on PC and console and alternative experiences like a bowling alley, arcade games, crazy waters, racing simulators and 360-degree wireless virtual reality room.
The multi-crore gaming centre has been a dream project of the two entrepreneurs, who had successfully established their name in the apparel, fashion and hospitality sectors.
“It was our dream project and finally we have inaugurated it today,” said Adnan Shah.
He said the gaming centre will help kids arrest boredom from the closure of schools and take them off their cell phones.
“For the past more than a year, kids are at home and don’t have a school where they could play with other kids. They are now heavily addicted to gaming on cell phones, which is a dangerous trend.
“The eSports centre will help children involve in physical collaboration, strategic thinking and sportsmanship. The development of these skills would increase a kid’s self-confidence, which will lead to better academic outcomes,” Shah said.
“The Pavilion Gaming Centre provides RFID technology-based cards to the visitors to play the games. The cards are available for Rs 200 onwards and exciting offers are available at higher denomination cards, said Chaya.
He said this is the first of its facility in the Valley, which offers a plethora of gaming opportunities to the kids.
Ribbon Cutting function at Pavilion Gaming Centre at Srinagar on November 29, 2021. KL Image by Mehraj Bhat
“With the help of these games, children can decrease screen time and remain involved with other kids, which is the need of the hour when schools are closed,” said Chaya.
On an inaugural day on Monday, hundreds of kids along with their parents turned up to enjoy the games and expressed happiness at such a facility, which otherwise they could enjoy only outside J&K.
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SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed over a thousand militant attacks on army and Central Armed Police Forces in last years’ since 2019 in J&K and 177 personnel were killed, the government informed parliament on Monday.
Replying to parliamentarian Anand Sharma in the Rajya Sabha, presently in the winter session, Minister of Defence Ajay Bhatt said that 594 militant attacks were recorded in 2019, 244 in 2020 and 195 as on Mid November.
He said that while 80 security forces personnel include CAPF were killed in 2019, 62 in 2020 and 35 till 15 November 2021.
The MoS Ajay Bhatt also informed that 137 soldiers, 49 air force and four navy personnel lost life due to covid-19.
Responding to a separate question by parliamentarian Dr Santanu Sen regarding the details of the total number of defence personnel, their family members and civilian staff who got COVID-19 positive since its outbreak and those who lost their life due to the virus, the minister said that 1311 family members of serving army personnel and 276 defence civilian staff died due to covid-19. He said 114 family members of serving Air Force and 41 defence civilian staff of Air Force besides 66 family members of serving navy personnel and 96 family members of defence civilian staff died due to the pathogen.
He said As per extant Rules, no special compensation for deaths occurring due to infectious disease is provided to Armed Forces personnel by the Ministry of Defence, while they are in service. However, all such cases of death while in service are provided terminal benefits, he said as per the reply, a copy of which lies with GNS.
In addition, he said, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued guidelines on September 11, 2021, for grant of the ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 50,000 (Rupees fifty thousand only) per deceased person, including those involved in the relief operations or associated in the preparedness activities, subject to the cause of death being certified as COVID-19, as per the ‘Guidelines for Official Document for COVID19 Death’ jointly issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Indian Council of Medical Research on September 3, 2021. (GNS)
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SRINAGAR: Range officer Kupwara, Block Officer Manigah and two beat officials were on Monday placed under suspension for failing to act against forest damages in two compartments of Manigah block of Kamraj forest division.
Viewing the negligence seriously, Range officer Kupwara Mohammad Yaseen Khan, Block Officer Manigah, Mohammad Shafi Mir and two other beat officials were suspended for failing to act against forest damages in compartments NH 80 and 82 of Manigah Block.
Based on inputs and tip off received an enquiry was conducted into the matter.
On the findings of the enquiry, the Range Officer, Block Officer and two beat officials were suspended and a departmental enquiry has also been initiated against them.
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SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today laid the foundation stone for the Tirth Yatri Niwas & Disaster Management Centre of Amarnath Shrine Board at Majeen, near IMPARD, Jammu.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha during foundation stone laying ceremony of Yatri Niwas of Amarnath Shrine Board at Jammu
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor congratulated the devotees of Amarnath; officials of the Shrine Board and the people of the Jammu region for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Yatri Niwas.
With the foundation of the Yatri Niwas, we have fulfilled a long pending demand of all stakeholders, organizations associated with Amarnath Yatra, devotees from across the country and abroad, said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor expressed his desire to develop Yatri Niwas as a symbol of compassion, spirituality, service, peace and happiness.
Yatri Niwas is not merely a building. It needs to be developed as a centre for the awakening of consciousness, a confluence of ancient philosophy so that the devotees can feel bliss and may begin their further Journey to Shri Amarnath ji Shrine in South Kashmir with purity and perfection, the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor directed the officials of Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board to establish a library for showcasing the spiritual and cultural heritage of J&K to the visiting pilgrims.
Work with greater commitment and dedication to provide safe and best-in-class facilities keeping in mind the faith of the devotees and the timeless tradition of Amarnath Ji Yatra, the Lt Governor told the officials.
He said that a Yatri Niwas with a capacity of more than 3200 pilgrims is under construction at Chandrakot in Ramban, and the foundation for another Yatri Niwas with a capacity of about 2800 passengers was laid in the month of August this year in Srinagar.
The Yatri Niwas in Jammu will also open up new employment avenues for the local population, especially for the youth, he added.
Dharma has been the very essence of the Jammu region since ancient times. The morning breeze here is filled with the prayers just as all our Vedas, Upanishads, Shastras begin with a salutation to the almighty. Therefore, we are making dedicated efforts to serve all those who are starting their spiritual odyssey from the City of Temples, observed the Lt Governor.
Elaborating on the work being done to develop tourism in Jammu, the Lt Governor said that a pilgrimage tourism circuit connecting Mata Vaishno Devi, Purmandal- Utterbehni, Mansar-Surinsar and Shiv Khori together is coming up, besides promoting the unexplored tourism potential of Jammu to attract more tourists.
Durga Bhawan, a high utility pilgrim-centric facility at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine is under construction. Study for the restoration of Shiv Khori is being done and work on it will begin soon. We are also exploring the feasibility of a ropeway at Shri Amarnath Shrine, the Lt Governor informed.
The Lt Governor expressed gratitude to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for the inclusion of rejuvenation of Purmandal and Uttarbehni in the PRASAD scheme.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor, along with the members and officials of the SASB performed Bhumi Pujan rituals for the new facility.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor, speaking on the occasion, reiterated the commitment of the UT Administration to provide comfortable and modern facilities to the devotees of Amarnath.
In his address, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary highlighted J&K Government’s initiatives to improve the facilities for the visiting pilgrims. Once completed, the new Yatri Niwas would accommodate more than 3000 pilgrims, he added.
Chander Mohan Gupta, Mayor JMC expressed gratitude to the UT administration and Shri Amarnath ji Shrine Board for the Yatri Niwas catering to the needs of the devotees and other stakeholders.
Rahul Singh, Addl CEO SASB, in his welcome address, informed about the recent developments made by SASB for facilitating Amarnath Yatris.
Bharat Bhushan, DDC Chairperson Jammu; Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, HUDD; Sanjeev Verma, Commissioner Secretary to Government, Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment; Mukesh Singh, ADGP Jammu; Dr Raghav Langer, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, CEO, SMVDSB; Anshul Garg, DC Jammu; former legislators, PRI representatives, religious heads and a large number of people from various communities attended the foundation laying ceremony.
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