By: Sheikh Danish

Srinagar: Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh on Tuesday said that 42 militants were killed in the past three months.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a wreath laying ceremony of a paramilitary CRPF personnel who was killed in a militant attack in Srinagar on Monday, the DGP said that 42 militants have been killed in the past three months.

Referring to the recent militant attacks on non-local labourers and CRPF personnel in Kashmir, the police chief said these attacks are a clear manifestation of savagery and insanity.

“Everyone including civil society condemned these attacks. We also condemn these attacks,” he said, adding that necessary action would be taken in these incidents.

The police chief said that OGWs are being kept out of circulation and legal action is being taken against them. “In the past three months, 42 militants have been neutralized,” he said, adding that 32 foreign militants were killed in 2021.

He said the police would continue to work for strengthening peace in J&K. (KNO)

New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called upon the BJP MPs to interact with different sections of the society, as different programs of the party starting from its foundation day on April 6 to April 20.

According to sources, PM Modi asked MPs to reach out to different sections, like the Anganwadi workers, workers in the unorganized sector, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes among other sections and to discuss different government programs with them.

PM Modi asked all MPs to hold big events in their constituencies in the fortnight starting from BJP’s foundation day, and to reach out to the downtrodden sections of society.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi meanwhile said that the BJP is going to run a “social harmony campaign” for a fortnight across the country.

On the foundation day of the party, on April 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address party workers and leaders across the country virtually. Campaigns to reach out to people with government schemes will be held from April 7 to April 20.

Government programs like Swachh Bharat, Ayushman Bharat, Janaushadhi, PM Awas, Har Ghar Jal, PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Ujjawala schemes are among the programs that the BJP MPs will publicise.

BJP National President JP Nadda also congratulated the Prime Minister over BJP crossing the 100 MP mark in Rajya Sabha for the first time.

Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir on April 24 on his first visit to the union territory after the abrogation of Article 370, BJP general secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul said on Tuesday.

Koul said this while addressing a function of Kashmiri Pandits.

“The Prime Minister will address a conference of local body representatives in Samba on National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24.

“Efforts are being made for a meeting between the Prime Minister and representatives of the Kashmiri Pandit community so that they can raise their concerns with him.”

This will be Modi’s first visit to J&K after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission has strongly countered the ‘information being shared on social media as well as press statements issued by a number of political parties, seeking rescheduling of J&K Combined Competitive (Main) Examination proposed to be held from 8th April 2022 to 17th April 2022’ and clarified its position with regard to conduct of J&K Combined Competitive (Main) Examination, 2021.

To set the record straight, dates and events relevant and leading to conduct of J&K Combined Competitive (Main) Examination from 8th April, 2022, the J&K PSC has reproduced the factual details.

The details describes that preliminary exam held on 24th October, 2021; 20790 candidates appeared in the examination; preliminary exam results declared on 13th November, 2021 and 4545 candidates declared eligible for appearing in J&K Combined Competitive (Main) Examination, 2021; first public notice issued on 13th November indicating first fortnight of February, 2022 as the likely date of start of mains examinations; second notification inviting applications for mains was issued on 26th November indicating date of exam commencement as 14th February, 2022; keeping in view the onset of 3rd wave of COVID-19 and conduct of Indian Forest Service Examination, 8th March, 2022 was fixed for commencement of J&K Combined Competitive (Main) examination, 2021. However, this was revised to 10th March so as to facilitate candidates appearing in the IFoS examination by issuing a notification dated 22nd February.

J&K PSC further said that few unqualified candidates approached the High Court on 21.02.2022 and obtained interim orders which were contested by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. Due to these interim orders certain contingencies arose and resultantly exam had to be postponed on 9th March till further notice. The High Court reserved the Judgment on 16th March, 2022 and the same was announced on 01.04.2022 and a public notice (date-sheet) was issued on 01.04.2022 itself for conduct of J&K Combined Competitive (Main) Examination from 8th April, 2022 – 17 April 2022.

Attempts have been made to mislead the general public with reference to rule 32 of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (Business Rules & Procedure) Rules, 2021 claiming that the rule envisages an intimation period of at least one month before commencement of examination. To put things in perspective, it is important to refer to rules 26 (Receipt of Applications), 27 (Scrutiny of Applications), 28 (Determination of Eligibility) and 29 (Appellate Authority) of said rules before conclusions are made since rule 32 is to be read conjointly with the aforementioned rules and is not to be read in isolation.

To make things even clearer, it is vehemently reiterated that rule 32 is relevant only when a fresh notification for recruitment is issued and in the present case the chronology of dates makes it amply clear that since the issuance of first notice on 13th November, 2021 almost 145 number of days have passed and for the candidates to claim that sufficient notice has not been provided is nothing but a mischievous attempt to mislead and cast aspersions on the fairness of the process adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission.

The Commission makes it clear that it is making every effort to conduct the J&K Combined Competitive (Mains) Examination, 2021 in a fair and transparent manner and the same shall be held from 8th April, 2022 as per the date sheet already notified in this regard.

New Delhi: Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops, stationed at the disputed Line of Actual Control with India in eastern Ladakh, have started learning Hindi language, indicating they are not moving back

CCTV-7, China’s military TV network devoted to the PLA, has recently broadcast visuals of PLA soldiers deployed near Pangong Tso learning Hindi. It showed a notebook of a soldier which says: “Hum Chini Sainik hain. Yeh humare commander hain. Hum batcheet kare? (We are Chinese soldiers and this is our commander. Shall we talk)?”

The state media broadcast headline stated: “Mastered Hindi in 4 months! He negotiated with foreign troops on the front line of border defence.”

This clearly stated that Chinese soldiers, deployed at disputed locations in eastern Ladakh, have started learning Hindi and they are there to stay.

On his recent visit to India, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his talks with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, had stated that China and India should not let the border issue define or affect the overall development of the bilateral relationship.

He reiterated China’s stated position that the LAC standoff should be placed in its “proper position” while the two sides take forward ties in other spheres.

To this, both Jaishankar and Doval, in their separate meeting with Wang, sent a clear message that the disturbed situation will continue to hold up normalisation of bilateral relations and asked for speedy disengagement of troops at all friction points in Ladakh sector in order to set the stage for de-escalation along the LAC.

Jaishankar said that 15 rounds of military talks and eight rounds of diplomatic talks had resulted in disengagement at several friction points but more needs to be done.

“This needs to be taken forward since the completion of disengagement is necessary for discussions on de-escalation to take place. I would describe our current situation as work in progress, obviously at a slower pace than desirable and my discussions with (Wang) were aimed at expediting the process,” he had said.

Jaishankar said he was “very honest” in conveying “our national sentiments” that tensions created by China’s troop deployments since April 2020 “cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship between two neighbours”.

New Delhi: A Special CBI court in Bangalore sentenced then head cashier of State Bank of Mysore (presently SBI) to seven years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2.19 crore in a case related to fraudulent exchange of demonetised currency with legal valid currency.

The acused, identified as B Dinesh, then head cashier of State Bank of Mysore (presently SBI), Periyapatna Branch in Karnataka, was sentenced to undergo seven years RI and a fine of Rs 2,19,35,000, a CBI Spokesperson said.

CBI had registered a case against Dinesh on the allegations that he had fraudulently exchanged demonetised currency with legal valid currency of Rs 2,18,46,300 during the period from November 10 to 23, 2016, in violation of the Government of India notification of November 8, 2016.

It was alleged that Dinesh had altered the actual denominations/figures written on the deposit slips submitted by the genuine customers for crediting the said amount to their respective accounts, CBI said.

The probe agency filed a charge sheet on November 30, 2017 against the accused. The Trial Court found the accused guilty and convicted him.

New Delhi: A Bill to amend the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar introduced The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, which will amend the 2005 Act.

The new legislation prohibits the financing of such weapons. The 2005 Act only prohibited the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

“In recent times, regulations relating to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems by international organisations have expanded. Further, the United Nations Security Council’s targeted financial sanctions and the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force have mandated against financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems,” Jaishankar said in the statement of object and reasons of the Bill.

He said there is a need to amend the Act to provide against the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The Bill prohibits financing of any activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, empowers the Central Government to freeze, seize or attach funds or other financial assets or economic resources for preventing such financing, and prohibits making available funds, financial assets or economic resources for any prohibited activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 was enacted to prohibit unlawful activities in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The Act covers unlawful activities relating to biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and their delivery systems and provides for integrated legal measures to exercise controls over the export of materials, equipment and technologies in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and for prevention of their transfers to non-State actors or terrorist.

By: Ishtiyaq Ahmad

Srinagar: At least 40 people have been killed and over 430 injured by wild animals for the last five years across Kashmir.

Official data reveals that there is no end to man-animal conflict in the valley.

Since 2017, at least 40 people have been killed by wild animals. Among them 11, 5 and 9 were killed in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Similarly, over 430 people have also been injured by wild animals in several incidents across the valley. Those include 120 in 2017 and 85, 87, and 57 in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively.

An official of the Wild Life Department said that mass urbanization, denudation of forests, encroachment of forestland, vanishing of buffer zones in the forests are some of the reasons responsible for conflicts between humans and animals.

“Animals do not feel safe in the forest so they are entering residential areas,” the official told news agency KINS.

“Leopards stray into residential areas usually in search of food. The human presence makes them insecure, following which they resort to attacking people,” the official said.

The wildlife department has made several sightings of wild animals in lower areas. Leopards have also been found close to human habitats in the recent past.

The snowfall in the wildlife habitats has also led to food scarcity, forcing the animals to forage for food in the low-lying areas, the official said.

When animals descend into lower areas, there are chances of their interaction with human inhabitants. This, at times, creates man-animal conflict.

Perturbed over the incidents of the man-animal conflicts, the Wild Life Department has asked people residing near forests to take extraordinary precautions.

In the advisory issued several times, the Department has asked people to avoid using bush growths and forest fringe areas for nature calls in late evening or night hours.

“Provide sufficient light around your utilities outside your home so that animals do not feel safe in the vicinity. The villagers must regularly remove all bushes or shrubs from the vicinity of houses in cooperative manner,” it adds.

“Do not chase or try to go near a wild animal if sighted from a distance. Provide sufficient light around your utilities outside home so that animals do not feel safe in the vicinity. Children and women are vulnerable to leopards. Bear attacks, which can be contained if they move in groups or children are accompanied by an elderly person,” the advisory reads. (KINS)

‘Slew of measures being taken to promote water sports in Kashmir’
SRINAGAR, APRIL 05: The Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole today flagged-off 28 members Team of J&K Dragon Boat Association (DBA) at Zabarwan Park here, for their participation in the National Championship to be held at Alappuzha, Kerala from 8th to 10th April 2022.

Speaking on the occasion, the Div Com said that the team has experienced players who have participated in International events and wished them success in the competition.

He said Kashmir has huge potential for water sports and the government is taking slew of measures to promote such events and added that the open marathon of Kayaking and canoeing conducted recently in Jhelum is one such step.

He said that the administration is keenly working to provide opportunities to Youth to exhibit their potential.

The Div Com said that two Youth Clubs have been formed in every village and have been provided sports kits containing items of five sports. Besides, playgrounds have also been developed in villages to provide space for playing games to youngsters.

Regarding curbing drug addiction among Youth, he said “We have established drug de-addiction centres in seven districts to bring Youth back from drug abuse and involve them in different activities to save their future and society”.

Regarding curbing of opium cultivation, Div Com said that strict action has been taken against such farmers who cultivate opium and FIRs have been registered against them.

The flag-off ceremony was attended by  President JKDBA MS Punoo; President  Er Aamir Ali; Senior Vice President J&K DBA, Yaqoob Bhat; Vice President, Muzaffar A Shah; Jt Secy JK DBA.

Others who participated include Deputy Commandant SDRF Rashad Khan;  Director Khyber Industries Abdul Manan Trumboo; Director TCI Cements  Mohammad Yaqoob; CEO Elfa International  Mehran Khan, Tabsum Geelani and Hakim Ilyas from Ehsaas International, Faisal Khan from Olympic Sports and other prominent citizens and sports enthusiasts.

It was also informed that Farooq Ahmad Bhat, Coach from J&K Police Water Sports Team has been selected by the Asian Dragon Boat Federation as Official Member, for conduct of Dragon Boat event during the 19th Asian Games 2022 to be held at Hangzhou China in the month of September 2022.

The team has been sponsored by Khyber Industries Pvt. Ltd. and co-sponsored by J&K Youth Services and Sports, HK Cements, TCI Cements, Kashmir Mahal Resorts, Elfa International and Ehsaas International.

By M.S.Nazki

Jammu: Government on Tuesday placed under suspension a teacher for inflicting corporeal punishment to two girls of Middle School Khadurian Panchyat Dramman in Rajouri district.

“A report has been received through social media of beating of two young school girls of Middle School Khadurian Panchyat Dramman by a teacher namely Nisar Ahmed,” reads an order issued on the direction by Deputy Commissioner Rajouri.

The corporal punishment is banned in schools, daycare, alternative child care institutions etc, the order underlined.

“Hurting a child amounts to a crime and can make a person liable for punishment under sections 323, 325, 352 & 506 of IPC.”

Section 23 of the JJ ACT, 2000 states that whoever having charge of the child, assaults a child, is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months or fine or both, it noted.

“Pending enquiry into the incident Nisar Ahmed teacher is hereby placed under suspension and attached with ADC Kotranka till further orders,” the order reads as per a copy with GNS, adding, “Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kotranka is hereby appointed as Inquiry officer to enquire into the incident.” He has been asked to specifically look into the points as to whether it is true that the child was beaten; the specific reason for beating the child; the material used for beating the child (stick, rod, scale, hands, legs etc) and whether this is the first child beaten by the teacher or earlier other students were also beaten.

The inquiry officer is also required to mention place of posting of Nisar Ahmed and tenure of posting in the particular school as well as name of other teachers posted in the school and present at the time of incident. (GNS)