Precious Kashmir

BSF SI found hanging at his quarter in Rajouri

Jammu & Kashmir

23/03/2022

By: M S Nazki

Jammu: The body of a Sub-Inspector with Border Security Forces was found hanging from ceiling of his quarter under mysteriously circumstances in Sunderbani area of Rajouri district on Tuesday, officials said.

They said at 1800 hours, the BSF Sub Inspector’s body was found inside his quarters at a camp in Sunderbani.

He has been identified as LadupBomza. A police officer said that inquest proceedings have been launched into the death of the Sub Inspector who was from West Bengal.

“Post-mortem has been conducted at Sub-district Hospital Sundarbani. After completion of legal formalities, the body stands handed over to BSF authorities,” he said. The officer said that suicide was “definitely a possibility” but police investigation “will cover all other angles”. (GNS)

Women dies, 4 others injured in Tangmarg accident

City

Precious Kashmir

23/03/2022

Baramulla: A woman died and four others were injured after a vehicle they were travelling in met with an accident at Sranzfall area of Tangmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday evening.

Officials said that a Sumo bearing number JK09-8450 skidded off the road and turned turtle at Sranzfall on Baba Reshi -Baramulla road, resulting in on spot death of a woman and injuries to four others.

They said soon after the incident, the injured were shifted to a Sub District Hospital Tangmarg for initial treatment.

Officials while identifying the deceased women as Shaheena Begum, wife of Nazir Ahmed Khan of Nilsar, said that a case has been registered and is being investigated by the police.(KNO)

H.H Shrimath Samyamindra Thirtha Swamiji of Shree Kashi Math Samsthan Varanasi calls on Lt Governor

Jammu & Kashmir

Precious Kashmir

23/03/2022

Srinagar: His Holiness Shrimath Samyamindra Thirtha Swamiji of Shree Kashi Math Samsthan, Varanasi called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhawan.

During the interaction, H.H Swamiji discussed with the Lt Governor about plans of the organisation of providing scholarship assistance to 250 needy students of Jammu and Kashmir, besides other help to them.

The Lt Governor while interacting with H.H Swamiji expressed gratitude to him for his remarkable contribution to society.

A delegation of Orchardists cum farmers also met the Lt Governor and apprised him about various issues and concerns faced by them. Director-General Horticulture Kashmir, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat was also present.

While interacting with the Lt Governor, they demanded support for agri-tech startups of J&K, implementation of high-density scheme on fast track basis, soil testing labs in all districts, high tech greenhouses with solar panels, solar-powered infrastructure for Cold Storage facilities and crop insurance scheme for J&K farmers.

They requested the Lt Governor for strengthening of tie-ups and linkages between universities and farmers for seed development and other agri-research techniques.

The Lt Governor while interacting with them said that the government has already initiated several steps for the development of horticulture and agriculture sector in J&K, besides required support through different schemes is being given to young entrepreneurs for establishing their own enterprises.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Pahalgam Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association met Lt Governor and submitted a memorandum to him.

They demanded renewal of lease agreements of hotels, installation of Cable Car facility in Pahalgam, restoration of industrial benefits to tourism and hospitality sector of J&K, besides other demands.

During the meeting, the Lt Governor observed that the Union Government and UT Administration has initiated sustained and concerted efforts for the development of hospitality and tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

He assured the hoteliers and restaurant owners that their demands would be taken up with the concerned departments of UT Administration for appropriate redressal on merit.

As local brick prices soar, Punjab bricks sell like hot cakes in Kashmir

Anchor stories

Ahmed Shabir

23/03/2022

As local brick prices soar, Punjab bricks sell like hot cakes in Kashmir

Better quality, guarantee on breakage attract people, say dealers

By: Ahmad Shabir

Anantnag: As the local brick kiln owners failed to adhere to the government rates, the people here in Jammu and Kashmir prefer to use Punjab bricks during the construction of their buildings as besides having better quality, the cost of per truck load remains almost same.

Administration last year fixed Rs 21000 for a truck load of bricks plus carriage and had constituted district level committees to ensure that the brick kiln owners abide by the directive.

However, most of the brick kiln owners did not give any damn to the government fixed rates and continue to sell a truckload of bricks at the rate of Rs 33000 to Rs 35000 with extra carriage.

The hike in brick prices forced the people to delay or halt their constructions as they had hoped that the brick prices will come down.

Nonetheless, a year later, as the prices of local bricks continue to shoot up, the youth in many areas of Anantnag worked on the idea to tie up with the brick kilns in Punjab and make available both machine made and handmade bricks available to the people at either the same rates or lesser.

Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat from Mahind village of Bijbehara, who started the brick business six months ago, said that he has sold at least 15 lakh bricks so far.

“As the brick prices in the Valley touched skies, the idea to bring better quality bricks from outside struck my mind. The response has been beyond my expectation. The demand is such that every month, I have to order at least 15 to 20 dumpers of bricks,” Ishfaq said.

People prefer the bricks from outside given their quality, he said. “We guarantee the customers that there won’t be a single half baked or broken brick in the vehicle containing 7000 bricks. Besides the quality, the reason for the people preferring outside bricks is that they arrive almost at the same rates,” Ishfaq said.

He said that they get a truck load of bricks from Punjab at the rate of Rs 18000 only but it is because of the huge transportation that the rates on arrival here go between Rs 34,000 to Rs 37,000.

A resident of Khiram, Khurshid Ahmad, who purchased bricks from Punjab for the second-storey of his house said that the bricks in Kashmir have turned gold despite being low in quality than those arriving from outside.

“I was waiting for the brick prices to come down for last one year but instead their prices continued to shoot up. During last one month, I visited many brick kilns in Anantnag and everywhere I was told the rates for a truck load of bricks between Rs 34,000 to Rs 37,000. Later, I went to a man from neighbouring village, Mahind who is selling the bricks from Punjab. The quality of bricks attracted me at the first sight and on enquiry about rates, I decided to purchase them at the very moment,” Ahmad said.

4th Covid Wave

Edit
Oped

Precious Kashmir

23/03/2022

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has said that IIT Kanpur has clarified that they have not forecasted the fourth wave of COVID-19 in India. Nevertheless an independent study done by a team of researchers from their Department of Mathematics and Statistics have prepared a mathematical model and submitted the same to a preprint server for the experts to comment. While the same is not peer reviewed, modelling studies are based on a certain set of inputs either based on real world scenarios, or approximations of those inputs that are not available and may vary in accuracy according to the technique used.

Often these studies involve taking a relatively small actual sample and extrapolate the result to the entire population.

While this may achieve near accurate results for a small homogenous country or region, such techniques have failed repeatedly to give reliable results for a large diverse population, the ministry said. Ruling out the possibility of the 4th wave as inaccurate may not be appropriate either.

The ministry at the same time said that given the emergence of variants of COVID-19 virus with variable transmissibility and other public health implications, it is closely following COVID-19 trajectory globally and in the country along with various expert committees.

In addition, network of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) of laboratories is undertaking whole genome sequencing of samples for timely detection of mutant variants of virus, it said.

The ministry says that it regularly holds review with all relevant stakeholders including subject experts and states to review preparedness and response measures to address COVID-19 pandemic following the five-fold strategy of test-tack-treat-vaccinate and adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour. The J&K government must keep track of the situation closely and continue to keep a close watch.

Economy is far from fully recovering. There is still a need to stay alert even as the fresh cases have declined significantly. Vaccination remains the key along with strict observance and enforcement of Standard Operating Procedures.

A significant portion of the population in J&K is still without vaccination. And they remain most vulnerable. There is a need to ensure that more and more people take the vaccine. All efforts shall be made by authorities through active involvement of PRIs, community leaders, market associations and federations to urge people to take the jabs and maintain guard against the pathogen.

All Indian nationals bound to reply to census queries: Govt

National

Indo Asian News Service

23/03/2022

All Indian nationals bound to reply to census queries: Govt

New Delhi: Every Indian national is legally bound to reply to the census questions and all requisite steps are being taken to carry out the census and compilation of the National Population Register (NPR) exercise smoothly, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

“Every person is legally bound to answer the census questions to the best of his or her knowable or belief and all requisite measures are taken with the support of the state governments to conduct the census and the National Population Register (NPR) exercise smoothly,” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

He also said that under the provisions of the Census Act 1948, the state governments appoint census officers to to aid or supervise the census exercise.

Ministry officials also said that the housing listing phase of the census and the exercise to update the NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020 but were postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has put the census operation on hold but is yet to announce the new schedule.

Pant has achieved incredible success, will only get better under Ponting: Watson

Sports

Indo Asian News Service

23/03/2022

Pant has achieved incredible success, will only get better under Ponting: Watson

New Delhi: Former Australian all-rounder and Delhi Capitals’ new assistant coach Shane Watson feels that Rishabh Pant has already achieved an incredible amount of success in his young career so far and the wicketkeeper-batter will only get better under Ricky Ponting’s coaching in the IPL.

The 24-year old Pant, who took Delhi Capitals to playoffs in the IPL 2021, will continue to lead Delhi in the upcoming season of the cash-rich league, while Ponting also remains the coach of the franchise.

“The skill that Rishabh Pant has, take away his leadership, at 24-year-old to do what he’s been able to do in the infancy of his cricketing career…the things he has been able to achieve has been incredible. It feels like he’s been around for a long time. He can only continue to get better and learn from his experiences,” Watson said during Delhi Capitals’ virtual press conference to announce a collaboration with Royal Stag for the IPL 2022.

“For him to get an opportunity to be a leader under Ricky (Ponting), who was one of the best captains I played with. Ricky has the ability to lead a team and get the best from the people around him. Rishabh certainly has a great person around him,” he added.

The young Pant is often compared to former India captain M.S Dhoni but Watson feels though both have few similarities they are very different people and cricketers.

“Media and public, in general, want to compare apples to apples but every individual has their own skillset, their own ability and in a perfect world we could compare Rishabh with M.S Dhoni but both are very different people and cricketers, who have the incredible skill,” said the DC assistant coach.

“Rishabh is a leader who is very cool, calm and collected as well as what I have experienced with the other person — M.S Dhoni. In the end, all Rishabh can do is become the best version of himself. The public and media can continue to compare him to the great M.S Dhoni at their own peril. But all that matters for Rishabh and DC is that he brings the best version of himself as a player and leader,” he added.

The Australian is also excited to work with Pant, opener Prithvi Shaw and all-rounder Shardul Thakur and wants to help them in getting the best out of them.

“Looking forward to getting to know Pant, finding out what exactly makes him tick and finding out how I can help him in any way possible. Prithvi Shaw is someone I find very fascinating. The talent this young guy has is spectacular. He has incredible skills. Another guy I’m looking forward to working with is Shardul Thakur,” he said.

Notably, during his playing days with Chennai Super Kings, Watson shared the dressing room with Thakur.

“I worked with him (Thakur) in CSK. He’s an extremely skillful cricketer and is continuing to get better. We are seeing his skill with the ball and quite a few glimpses with the bat as well. He is a genuine all-rounder in all formats, especially T20.”

Watson feels Delhi have a chance to win their maiden title in IPL 2022 as they have been able to build a strong squad.

“The one thing that stands out for me is the squad. It is certainly one of the strongest with overseas and Indian players.DC have been close to winning the title and I feel they have what it takes to cross the line. There are not too many holes in the squad let alone the team,” he said.

To create fine balance between man & nature biggest challenge: LG Sinha

Front

Precious Kashmir

22/03/2022

To create fine balance between man & nature biggest challenge: LG Sinha

Attends celebrations of Int’l Day of forests
Says Govt committed for ecologically sustainable development

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday attended the celebrations of the International Day of Forests here at Convention Centre.

The event under the theme “Forests and Sustainable Production and Consumption” aims to raise awareness on combating climate change, environmental conservation, efficient use of forests for prosperity and well-being of current and future generations.

Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor termed the initiative as a significant effort to raise awareness among people for the protection of invaluable forests and making them realize their responsibilities to save Forests.

The Lt Governor observed that Sustainable Forest Management and efficient use of its resources is the key to combat climate change and ensure a prosperous ecosystem for future generations.

Reiterating J&K government’s commitment towards ensuring ecologically sustainable development, the Lt Governor said that the biggest challenge today is to create a fine balance between man and nature. ‘The wisdom and the experience of local communities must be utilized to preserve our forests and natural habitats’, he added.

Highlighting the important role of forests in climate change mitigation, the Lt Governor called for involvement of PRIs, and other non-government institutions working at gross root level in forest protection and conservation efforts. This will prove to be an important step towards participatory governance in natural resource management, he remarked.

The Lt Governor further underlined that Forestry and Soil Conservation works should aim towards provision and augmentation of water in Kandi areas.

The ‘Green J&K Drive’; the ‘One Beat Guard, One Village’ initiative; ‘Har Gaon Hariyali’ campaign; besides promotion of eco-tourism through ‘Tourist Village’ network and thrust on development of viable wood based industries are proving to be strong efforts to increase forest cover conservation, the Lt Governor observed.

The Lt Governor stressed that it is important to ensure rights of traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in the nature’s lap for generations are not infringed upon.

The historic implementation of Forest Rights Act in the UT under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister has benefitted large population of our tribal brothers dependent on forests.

The Lt Governor also stressed on the need to modernize the Forest and Wildlife management system and involving the forest dwellers in the social movement for the conservation of the environment.

He further advised the Forest department to encourage and recognize the contribution of women in forestry and wildlife conservation.

‘A sapling should be planted in every village in the name of a newborn girl child to create awareness among the present and future generations about the rights of our daughters, and developing consciousness amongst the people about our natural heritage’, the Lt Governor added.

Earlier, the Lt Governor conferred UT level awards to front line staff of Forest and Wildlife Department for their outstanding contribution in protection of forests and wildlife, afforestation, and plantation works.

“I congratulate all the UT level awardees for their exceptional service in Forest and Wildlife Conservation. The Forest Department’s endeavors towards the growth of sustainable forest economy and support to stakeholders dependent on forests, creating livelihood opportunities, especially for women SHGs are also appreciable”, the Lt Governor said.

During the event, the Lt Governor released report on City Biodiversity Index of Jammu and Srinagar cities, Wildlife Atlas of J&K and launched an Android App “Haryali” developed by the Social Forestry Department to facilitate the plant distribution schemes of Social Forestry Department.

He lauded the efforts of the J&K Biodiversity Council for development of city Bio-diversity Index of Jammu and Srinagar smart cities.

Sanjeev Verma, Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment highlighted the role of community participation in forest conservation. Involvement of people on a massive scale on convergence mode shall be attempted to dovetail the various opportunities and fund flow available in Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes, district sector and UT CAPEX.

Dr Mohit Gera, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF), J&K Forest Department expressed his gratitude to the UT Government for instituting UT level Forestry and Wildlife Awards for recognizing outstanding contribution of frontline staff to promote forest and wildlife protection and conservation.

J&K Forest Department will achieve a very important milestone of planting 130 Lakhs of plants as earmarked for this year.

The activities initiated under ‘Har Gaon Hariyali’, ‘One Beat Guard and One village program’, forest protection through demarcation, digitization, and promotion of wood-based industries will be provided dedicated attention and result oriented programs such as “Van se Jal, Jal se Jeevan”, “Forests for livelihood” will also be scaled up, he added.

Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; S.K Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden; Sarvesh Rai, Add. PCCF & CEO CAMPA J&K; HoDs, representatives from Panchayat Raj institutions, members of Biodiversity Management Committees, Self Help Groups and NGOs were present on the occasion.

Will ensure uninterrupted quality power supply: Sinha

Front

Precious Kashmir

22/03/2022

Appeals people to install smart meters, help in controlling theft

Jammu: In a major step towards ensuring uninterrupted power supply, the areas being installed with Smart Meters will be made curtailment free along with supply of quality power to the end user, said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha during an event at Convention Centre.

From today, 6603 smart meter households connected to 4 feeders of Jammu will receive quality electricity, announced the Lt Governor.

I appeal to the people to install smart meters and help the administration in controlling theft and reducing wasteful consumption, the Lt Governor added.

The move will enable consumers to monitor their power consumption behavior and regulate it accordingly. The Pre-paid feature, to be enabled in the coming days, will provide desired flexibility in the consumption of electricity to the consumers, said the Lt Governor.

Similar arrangements are being emulated in Kashmir as well, he added.

For the last seven decades, no credible efforts were made to increase neither the power capacity nor the transmission & distribution capacity was strengthened, the Lt Governor said.

The present government, for the last one and half year, is making sustained efforts to ensure reliable power supply to consumers, besides reducing transmission losses and improving distribution efficiency, he further added.

‘Policy being worked for Ukraine returned students to complete studies’

Front

Precious Kashmir

22/03/2022

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday met MBBS students of the Union Territory, who have returned from Ukraine, at Raj Bhavan.

The group of students accompanied by Arvind Gupta, Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir BJP expressed gratitude for the efforts made by the government for their evacuation from the war hit country.

Through a memorandum, they also expressed their gratitude towards PM Narendra Modi for the successful conduct of “Operation Ganga”, which led to safe return of Indian students, who were struck in Ukraine.

The students shared their experiences about how they were brought out of the war zone and reached their homes safely. They were thankful to the local administration for working as a bridge between the parents and the government.

During the meeting, the MBBS students studying in different years shared their worries about future studies due to the prevailing situation in Ukraine. They requested the Lt Governor for helping them to continue their studies in India.

The Lt Governor paid a patient hearing to the students and said that the Government of India and Union Territory government is deeply concerned about their future and working on a policy so they can complete their studies in the country itself.

The students who met the Lt Governor included Simon Jeet Singh, Arjun Gandotra, Aryan Dubey, Muskan Mahajan, Isha Sharma, Ridhi Goja, Chandan Singh Rana, Jasleen Kour, Diksha Khanna, and Parv Atri.

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