Precious Kashmir

OGW arrested in Kupwara: Police

Front

08/04/2022

Kupwara: An over ground worker of militants was arrested from Gudmacher area of Lolab Kupwara, police said on Thursday.

“A joint team Police Station Sogam, along with 28 RR and 162 Bn CRPF has apprehended one OGW from Gudmacher area of Lolab Kupwara,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.

He has been identified as Owais Ahmad Khan, son of Ghulam Mohammad Khan of Khancheck Tekipora Lolab.

“During preliminary investigation, he was found to be in contact with a Pakistani based (militant) handler, who had motivated him to join (militant) ranks,” he said, adding, “Some incriminating material has also been seized from the arrested person”.

Further investigation in the case has been taken up and more arrests in this “network cannot be ruled out.”

“ Timely action by joint forces has prevented his recruitment into (militant) ranks,” he said, adding, “Kupwara police requests parents to keep a close watch over their children to not fall into the trap of the adversary who have spoiled the youth of Kashmir for their nefarious designs.”

Explores ideas towards building an innovation ecosystem in JK

Jammu & Kashmir

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Explores ideas towards building an innovation ecosystem in JK

Chief Secretary holds meet with STP Pune

Srinagar: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, today chaired a meeting with the officers from Science and Technology Park, Pune, for exploring ideas about building an innovation ecosystem and culture in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pertinently, Science and Technology Park, Pune, one of the first Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks (STEPs) set up in 1986 by National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of Department of Science and Technology (DST), provides technology inputs for various governmental and industrial development projects, development of new technologies and its commercialization besides imparting need based high end training.

Chief Secretary listed out few areas where the government of JK will be interested in and asked the UT officers to study the projects and services of STP which would be tailor-made to provide solutions to various issues. He said that JK would like to partner in application of new and existing technologies for specially made clean solutions to various pressing issues like biomass utilization, sewage treatment, plastics treatment, Kangri design and house construction.

Chief Secretary said that as JK comprises of around 55 percent of forest area, it produces a large quantity of biomass and would require the modern technological interventions to be introduced for capitalizing on this low hanging fruit and conversion into some form of energy. He said that second area of interest would be converting plastics into a usable commodity as plastics don’t gel with the beauty of Kashmir.

Dr. Mehta also emphasized upon developing a people friendly Kangri design saying that the present design of Kangri has numerous disadvantages causing several mishaps in the past.

He said that JK needs some immediate scientific interventions that would help in sewage treatment during the Amarnath Yatra where more than six lakh pilgrims are expected to visit this year.

Chief Secretary added that business incubation and entrepreneurship development besides skill training and awareness programs will be another area of interest. He said that in near future there will be huge investment with several reputed industries coming up in the UT which will automatically create jobs for 3-4 lakh people. He said there is a need for skill gap analysis so that we can create highly skilled and employable youth for meeting the industry demand. He said that focus will be laid on specialized training ecosystem to provide a job ready workforce to the industry.

He directed the officers from JK to study the cyber critical technology development and S&T innovation programmes and funding in line with National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovators to support entrepreneurs and innovators from idea stage to scale-up stage.

Chief Secretary said that knowledge partnering with STP will be a milestone towards great learning as they would be bringing in technologies that are currently ahead of normal technologies.

Director General, Dr Rajendra Jagdale, said that STP would help the government to build a deep research and innovation ecosystem besides enhancing skill development environment through ITI up gradation. He said that they would provide technology infusion for various policies and services like tourism, disaster management, environmental protection, municipal waste processing, agri waste to diesel among other things and would play the role of nodal Innovation agency for S&T based multi-sectoral transformations.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Higher Education, Principal Secretary Skill Development, Principal Secretary School Education, Director Industries Kashmir and other officers from Science and Technology Park while Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Principal Secretary YSS, Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce, Secretary Tourism participated online.

Inaugurates Public Lounge, VC Hall at DC Office Srinagar

Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta on Thursday inaugurated Public Lounge and Video Conference Hall here at DC Office Complex, Srinagar.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P.K Pole, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad were present on the occasion.

The Chief Secretary took a round of the newly created public facilities in the DC office Complex Srinagar.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary said creating Public Lounge for the people visiting DC Office Srinagar is a good step which will give a respectable waiting place.

The Public Lounge is a state of Art facility which apart from providing people a decent seating place will help the visitors connect with different sections of the DC office.

Moreover, officers can meet the delegations at Public Lounge itself.

A landline number 01942452182 has also been installed through which people can seek prior appointment to save their Time. Apart from Public meeting, people can seek special appointments in case of urgent matters.

Chief Secretary said the creation of public infrastructure and providing better facilities to the people visiting govt offices for grievance Redressal is among the top priorities of the government.

Regarding Video Conferencing facility that has been completed during the year 2021-22 and is equipped with modern audio/visual system, the Chief Secretary said such digital media are important in the present age of technology for smooth conduct of pubic business in minimum timeline.

On the occasion, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the officers and officials of the DC Office Srinagar to discharge duties with added zeal and dedication. He exhorted upon them to be sensitive and responsive to the problems of citizens and put in their best efforts to mitigate the same.

The Additional District Development Commissioner, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Additional Deputy Commissioners, Dr Syed Haneef Balkhi and Faz lul Haseeb, besides other senior Officers of District Administration were also present on the occasion.

Kashmir reports 7 Covid cases, Jammu none

City

Nadeem Nadu

08/04/2022

Kashmir reports 7 Covid cases, Jammu none

By: Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar: Kashmir Valley reported seven fresh Covid-19 cases while no case was reported from Jammu division even there was no death due to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Thursday.

They said that the there was no fresh case from Jammu for the second day while all seven were from Kashmir Valley, take the overall tally to 453847—163933 in Jammu and 285014 in Kashmir.

Giving district wise details, the officials told GNS that Srinagar reported 6 cases, Baramulla 0, Budgam 1, Pulwama 0, Kupwara 0, Anantnag 0, Bandipora 0, Ganderbal 0, Kulgam 0, Shopian 0, Jammu 0, Udhampur 0, Rajouri 0, Doda 0, Kathua 0, Samba 0, Kishtwar 0, Poonch 0, Ramban 0 and Reasi 0.

There was no death reported in the last 24 hours, they said. So far 4750 persons have succumbed to the virus—2327 in Jammu and 2423 in Kashmir.

Besides, they said, 26 Covid-19 patients recovered during the time and two were from Jammu and 24 from the Valley. So far 448947 people have recovered, leaving the active case tally at 148— 13 in Jammu and 148 in Kashmir.

The officials told GNS there was no new confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today. So far 51 black fungus cases have been confirmed in J&K, the officials said. They also informed that 15400 doses of covid-19 vaccine were administered during the time in J&K. (GNS)

KHOA demands relief, rehabilitation for Nigeen Lake fire victims

City

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Srinagar: Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association today demanded the government to give immediate and urgent attention to provide every sort of relief to reconstruct the houseboats that gutted in fire on March 4 in Nigeen lake.

In a statement issued here, Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association (KHOA) spokesperson Yakub Dunoo, said in the midnight of 4th March, 2022 seven houseboats gutted by fire among which five belong to Badyari brothers and two of them belong to Raj Oata and Qayoom Tholla.

“It is very unfortunate that these families lost their livelihood,” reads the statement, adding, this is a sad event and tremendous loss to the owners. The government of India and J&K Administration must

“I Salute houseboat owners for their daring and exemplary efforts to save the lives of tourists. The LG of JK should honor Abdul Rashid Badyari and his team with highest Prize,” Dunoo said.

8 shopkeepers booked for FS&SA violations in Budgam

Jammu & Kashmir

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Budgam: The Food Safety Wing of Drug and Food control Organisation (DFCO), Budgam today carried out intensive market drive in various markets of Budgam.

During the inspections of mutton and chicken sellers at Mirgund, Naslabpora and in many Khansahab areas of Budgam, 5 butchers, 1 Chicken seller and 2 Milk vendors were found selling Meat /Chicken and Milk in unhygienic condition and in clear violations of Food Safety and Standards Act.

The teams soon swung into action and booked 8 offenders for prosecutions.

The action against erring butchers and chicken and Milk sellers was taken during a special drive conducted on the directions of Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration to check the quality of food items during the holy month of Ramadan, also inspections and sampling were carried out for bakery shops, Ready to eat food shops, Grocery shops and various categories of food item were lifted for analytical purposes.

The inspection of butchers shops was conducted by joint team of Food safety Officers and veterinary Assistant Surgeon from Animal and sheep husbandry department Budgam.

As per Officials, the drive will be intensified in all blocks of District Budgam to check the quality of food being sold in the market.

All food business operators are hereby directed to refrain from deviations and shall be dealt strictly as per the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 said Yameen ul Nabi Designated Officer District Budgam.

Besides Food Safety on Wheels was also put into service for on spot quality check of food items and 20 analysis of food items were carried out during the drive.(CNS)

Dr MY Zagoo posted in-charge CMO Anantnag

Jammu & Kashmir

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Srinagar: Government on Thursday ordered that Dr. Mohd. Yousuf Zagoo, incharge Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Anantnag shall lookafter the charge of the post of Chief Medical Officer, Anantnag in addition to his own duties till further orders.

“The above arrangement is purely made on temporary basis and subject to the outcome of writ petition(s), if any, pending before the court(s) of law and shall not confer any right upon the officer to claim preferential treatment at the time of regularization/promotion which shall be made strictly in accordance with the rules,” reads the order by government, a copy of which lies with GNS.

KU’s CCPC holds campus recruitment drive

City

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Srinagar: Kashmir University’s Centre for Career Planning and Counseling (CCPC) on Thursday conducted a campus recruitment drive for the varsity students.

The students will be hired by Extramarks Private Limited, a leading education technology company in India, for the positions of School Relationship Officer across Kashmir Valley.

Speaking with officials of the company during an interaction, Director CCPC Prof Geer M Ishaq highlighted the activities that the Centre has initiated in the domains of coaching and placements.

“As the pandemic is receding, we are accelerating our coaching and placement programmes and are approaching more companies for job placements. We will be having more campus drives in the future. IAS coaching is already going on in full swing at the Centre and soon we will be starting coaching for NET/JRF too,” Prof Ishaq said.

Consultant at CCPC Dr Bilal Ahmad Pandow, who coordinated the event said that 54 students have registered with the Center for this position and the officials from Extramarks have shortlisted around 10 to 12 candidates.

“We look forward to have more such campus placement programmes,” Dr Pandow added.

HR Business Partner- J&K with Extramarks, Aamir Qureshi gave a detailed presentation about the company to the candidates wherein he highlighted the significance of the education technology sector.

“India’s Edutech industry is poised to become $30 billion in size in the next ten years,” Qureshi mentioned.

The company provides 360-degree education support to learners through new-age digital education solutions.

Business Unit Head, J&K, Umar Majid, Deputy Manager B2B Sales, Meer Mohammad Tauseef and Deputy Manager B2G Sales Ghulam Sibtan Mir, who were accompanying the Extramarks team conducted the interview of the candidates.

“The selectees will be provided with the job offer letters soon,” Tauseef said.

ICCR to launch India Alumni Portal for foreign students

National

Indo Asian News Service

08/04/2022

ICCR to launch India Alumni Portal for foreign students

New Delhi: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on April 9 would be launching an ‘India Alumni Portal’ as a platform to connect with foreign students around the world who have studied in India, officials said on Thursday.

Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar will address the event with a video message, while Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi will launch the portal in the presence of president of ICCR, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in fact, has recently emphasised on creating an effective ICCR India alumni network to engage them and keep them connected and updated on a dynamic India.

It is in line with PM Modi’s vision that ICCR has developed the India Alumni Portal with the aim to connect all foreign scholars who have studied in India including ICCR scholars who can be India’s best ambassadors, offering invaluable soft projection across their personal and professional lives.

In a statement, the ICCR said many students who have studied in India are in senior positions in their countries or in influential global roles, and are contributing towards spreading positive messages about India and adding to India’s soft power globally.

“The portal is to be a single platform for all past and present foreign scholars to register, interact, maintain their Indian linkages and remain anchored India. It will also facilitate continuity and re-connecting with many past scholars and offer a single platform for all past and present scholars to register, interact, share conversations and make contributions. Indian missions abroad will also harness these contacts in various way,” the ICCR said.

As part of the development of the portal and to engage the alumni in the best possible ways, the Indian missions overseas will form alumni associations in the countries of their accreditation and celebrate an alumni day. Other activities will include inviting alumni association members to meet the Indian dignitaries visiting that country and providing information with regard to the ICCR scholarship facility through the alumni.

The ICCR has been offering scholarships to foreign students for the past 40 years and now, through the portal, it hopes to create an important platform of cultural ambassadors of India.

It is estimated that the ICCR alumni is nearly 30,000 strong and the portal will, therefore, also facilitate re-connecting with the past scholars.

World doubles squash: Dipika-Joshna back to winning ways

Sports

Indo Asian News Service

08/04/2022

World doubles squash: Dipika-Joshna back to winning ways

Glasgow (Scotland): The top Indian squash players, Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa, the country’s best hope for a medal at the World Doubles Squash Championships 2022, got their campaign back on track by winning their third match in the preliminary group stage.

Seeded third, the Indian pair, who had lost their second match to Australia’s Rachael Grinham and Donna Lobban, kept their hopes alive by defeating Hong Kong’s Tsz-Wing Tong and Ho Tze-Lok 11-9, 11-8 in 23 minutes at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre here on Wednesday night.

Dipika and Joshna are currently third in Group B. The top two teams from the two groups (A-B) will advance to the semi-finals while the remaining teams will play classification matches.

On Tuesday, Dipika and Joshna won their opening match against Malaysian pair Ainaa Ampandi and Yiwen Chan. However, they went down to Aus’ralia’s Rachael Grinham and Donna Lobban.

The Indian pair, the two-time Commonwealth Games medallists, will face 11th seeds Abbie Palmer and Kaitlyn Watts of New Zealand and second seeds Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters of England in the remaining group matches,according to olympics.com website.

In the mixed team event, second seeds Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal recovered well after going down to local favourites Greg Lobban and Lisa Aitken 6-11 4-11 in Group B.

The Indian pair, who won silver at Commonwealth Games in 2018, b’at Malaysia’s Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Aifa Azman 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 to storm back into contention. Ghosal and Dipika are currently second in the group with two matches to play.

The mixed team event has four groups of five teams with the top two teams set to progress to the quarter-finals.

Vikram Malhotra and Joshna Chinappa, the second Indian pair in the mixed doubles, opened their Group A campaign with an 11-6 11-8 win against South Africa’s Jean-Pierre Brits and Alexandra Fuller.

In the men’s doubles, Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon, who was part of the bronze medal-winning Indian squash team at the Asian Games 2018, finished third in Group E. The pair will play classification matches starting Friday.

Worrisome Rise In Cancer Cases

Edit
Oped

Precious Kashmir

08/04/2022

Cancer cases in Kashmir Valley have registered a steep rise in the first quarter of this year. According to a report, SKIMS Soura alone received 1110 cancer cases from January 1 to March 31, 2022 which is said to be the highest in recent times.

According to the medicos, lung cancer was found prominent among men while breast cancer was seen on the rise among women

The worrisome trend happens amid changing times, pressures of a hectic life and variations in the environment.

Previous data also presents a grim picture. From 12675 in 2019 and 12344 in 2018, the cancer cases have increased to 13012 in 2020 in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the National Cancer Registry Programme Report. The figures surely look alarming compared to 3,075 cancer cases in 2011, 3,288 in 2012, 3,157 in 2013, 3,940 in 2014 and 4,257 in 2015.

As per World Health Organization, cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Other terms used are malignant tumours and neoplasms. One defining feature of cancer is the rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usual boundaries, and which can then invade adjoining parts of the body and spread to other organs; the latter process is referred to as metastasis. Metastases are the primary cause of death from cancer.

While cancer is a multifactorial disease, the risk factors, inter alia, include ageing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, unhealthy diet and air pollution.

Cancers of the lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus were the most common cancers among men. Cancers of the breast and cervix uteri were the most common cancers among women, the report said.

In 2020, tobacco related cancers are estimated to contribute 3.7 lakhs (27.1%) of the total cancer burden.

As per the officials, cancer is diagnosed and treated at various levels in the health care facilities. The treatment in Government Hospitals is either free or “highly subsidized” for the poor and needy, the Ministry of Health informed the parliament recently.

The studies show a sharp rise in dangerous diseases like cancer, largely attributed to food. The experts have been stressing the implications of junk and packaged food. As depicted from the data, tobacco related cancers are also on rise.

The experts have been calling people to focus on preventive measures to arrest the growing incidence of the disease in the Kashmir Valley. It is time perhaps to focus on preventive measures. Administration must take the lead.

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