New Delhi: Quad’s success is very important for regional and global stability, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at India-Australia virtual summit emphasizing “commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”

The US, Japan, India and Australia have an informal alliance called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, that positions itself as being committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

“There is also good cooperation between us in Quad. Our cooperation reflects our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” said Modi.

Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison participated in the second India-Australia virtual summit on Monday.

Speaking during the summit, Modi conveyed condolences for the loss of life and property caused by floods in Queensland and New South Wales.

In the last two weeks, floods in eastern Australia have killed at least 21 people. Thousands of homes have been left uninhabitable.

Talking about comprehensive strategic partnership, Modi stated, “During our last virtual summit, we elevated our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. And I am happy that, today, we are establishing the mechanism of annual summits between the two countries. This will create a structural mechanism of regular review of our relationship.”

He said that relations between India and Australia have made remarkable progress in the last few years.

“Trade and investment, defence and security, education and innovation, science and technology — we have very close cooperation in all these areas. Our collaboration has grown rapidly in many other areas, such as critical minerals, water management, renewable energy, and Covid-19 research,” he stated.

Indian Prime Minister welcomed the announcement of the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Critical and Emerging Technology Policy in Bengaluru.

“It is imperative that we have better cooperation between us in cyber and critical emerging technologies. It is the responsibility of countries with similar values like us to adopt appropriate global standards in these emerging technologies,” he said.

He also pointed out that the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement has made remarkable progress in a very short time. “I am confident that the remaining issues will also be agreed upon soon. The early completion of “CECA” will be crucial for our economic relations, economic revival and economic security,” he stated.

He also thanked the initiative to return 29 antiquities.

“And the artifacts that you have sent include hundreds of years old idols and paintings illegally smuggled from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh as well as many other Indian states. And for this I express special gratitude to you on behalf of all Indians. Now all the idols and other things that you have given us back will be returned to their original place. On behalf of all Indian citizens, I once again express my heartfelt gratitude to you for this initiative,” he added. (IANS)

Srinagar: A civilian was shot dead by the suspected militants at Gotpora area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district while a non-local street vendor was critically injured after being fired at by the militants, police said Monday.

An official said that a civilian identified as Tajamul Mohi-ud-din Rather was shot at by the unidentified militants outside his home in Budgam. The injured civilian has been rushed to the hospital for treatment.

However, the injured succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital, officials said, adding that the area has been cordoned off and massive searches launched.

A non-local labourer was shot at by the unidentified gunmen at Gangoo area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said. They said that that a non-local labour identified as Bisujeet Kumar, son of Paras Mandan of Bihar was injured after he was fired upon by the suspected militants at Gangoo area.

He was immediately rushed to the District Hospital Pulwama for treatment.

A police spokesman said that during the evening hours, two incidents were reported in Budgam and Pulwama districts. Senior police officers along with reinforcement reached at both the spots.

“In Budgam, militants barged into the house of one civilian Tajamul Mohi-ud-din Dar resident of Gotpora area of Budgam and fired indiscriminately upon him. In this incident, he had sustained critical gunshot injuries and was immediately shifted to nearby hospital for the treatment however, doctors declared him dead on arrival,” the spokesman said.

About Pulwama incident, 7:45 pm, militants fired upon one street vendor identified as Bisujeet Kumar Son of Paras Madal resident of Bihar. “In this incident he had received gunshot injuries and was immediately shifted to SMHS Hospital Srinagar in a Critical Care ambulance where he is being treated,” he said.

“Police have registered cases regarding both the incidents. Investigation is in progress and officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances leading to these crimes. The respective areas have been cordoned and search in these areas is going on.” (KNO)

New Delhi: Narco militancy instances are emerging at western borders, particularly at international boundary sector, with Pakistan aiming at causing instability especially along border areas, Minister of State (Defence) Ajay Bhatt said on Monday.

India and Pakistan share 3,223 km of borders running along the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Except for about 900 km of borders in Jammu and Kashmir categorized as the Line of Control and Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), rest is demarcated as international border.

The Minister in a written reply to G.C. Chandrashekhar in Rajya Sabha said, “Security situation along Western Borders (IB Sector) remains largely stable. However, there are indications of an emerging narco-militancy nexus sponsored by inimical elements across the border aimed at causing instability, especially along border areas.”

The Minister also stated that Indian forces along western borders are adequately poised “to respond to any challenge posed by adversary across entire conflict spectrum”.

Explaining the current situation at the Line of Control, the Minister said that the situation along the LoC remains stable post the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGsMO) Understanding of February 2021.

Both the armies have exercised restraint in the interest of maintaining peace along the Line of Control.

“However, the situation is being closely monitored and Indian Army remains prepared to thwart any threat from inimical elements as also to respond in case of any escalation along the Line of Control,” he said.

Before both countries decided to abide by the ceasefire on February 25, 2021, a total of 10,752 cases of ceasefire violations had taken place along India’s border with Pakistan in 2018, 2019 and 2020. (IANS)

New Delhi: Even as interest rate on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has been proposed to be reduced to 8.1 per cent for FY22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday stated that the rate is still higher compared to schemes like Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and Public Provident Fund.

“I just want to place it before the hon’ble sir, you and also to have it put on the record of the Rajya Sabha. Sukanya Samridhi Yojana is at 7.6 per cent, Senior Citizen Savings scheme is at 7.4 per cent, PPF is at 7.1 per cent,” the Minister said while replying to the discussion on Appropriation Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

She, however, recognised the concerns raised by some opposition members over the reduction of interest rate on retirement savings.

The Minister noted that State Bank of India’s highest rate for portfolios like 5 to 10 year fixed deposits is at 5.50 per cent and it has a mark-up for senior citizens which takes it to 6.3 per cent.

“Government’s own borrowing (G-Secs) on an average across various tenures is at 6.28 per cent, i.e. if the government goes to borrow from certain funds it has to pay that kind of a rate,” she further said defending the reduction in interest rate for EPF.

“These are today’s realities which do keep us in the context of decisions which have been taken by a central board of EPFO. It is yet to come to Finance Ministry for approval but the fact remains that these are the rates which are prevailing today and it is still higher than the rest,” Sitharaman said. The Finance Minister emphasised that the Central Board of EPFO has members from various stakeholders including workers.

The Central Board of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its meeting on March 12 had recommended 8.10 per cent annual rate of interest to be credited on EPF accumulations in members’ accounts for the financial year 2021-22.

The interest rate would be officially notified in the government gazette following which EPFO would credit the rate of interest into its subscribers’ accounts. The reduced interest rate of 8.1 per cent on employees’ retirement savings is almost four-decade low. (UNI)

Azad may get RS berth

New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has reached out to the disgruntled G-23 group and sources say that its senior leaders will be adjusted in the party’s decision-making body and are likely to be given important roles in the party.

Sources say that during the meet with senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday, Gandhi assured him that prominent roles will be given to the leaders and nobody will be ignored, as she will be meeting leaders of election-going states starting from Himachal Pradesh.

According to the sources, Azad is likely to be sent to the upper house while Anand Sharma, whose term expires on April 2, will be given important role in the Assembly polls.

The other leaders who are considered for key roles included former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is likely to be made the state party chief, while Kuldeep Bishnoi – who is not a G-23 member, could be the legislative party leaders.

Similarly Manish Tewari and Sandeep Dikshit may also be accommodate in the party organisation.

Azad, after meeting the party chief on Friday, had toned down the group’s demands, saying that there is no question on the leadership, and that there is no vacancy right now.

“Nobody said Mrs Gandhi should quit. She is Congress President, we are leaders of the party, the feedback which is given to restructure organisation is not meant for public… there is no question on the leadership, when Mrs Gandhi offered (to step back), we all rejected it.

“When the party will go for organisational polls, then there will be deliberations. At that time it will be decided,” he had said.

“Distancing himself from the views of senior party leader and fellow G-23 leader Kapil Sibal on leadership change, Azad noted that Gandhi’s offer has been rejected by all groups, including the one he belonged to, and “we wanted her to continue”. (IANS)

Mumbai: Amid rising concerns of rupee depreciation, in the backdrop of the US announcing rate hike, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that India will be able to maintain the stability of the Indian rupee.

The remarks come at a time when there are speculations of Indian rupee depreciating following the US Federal Reserve Bank increasing the interest rates by 25 basis points, after more than three years.

“…I can say with reasonable amount of confidence that we will be able to maintain the stability of the Indian rupee. In fact, our interventions in the foreign exchange market, if you see, it is the standard policy, that we intervene to prevent excessive volatility,” Das said while addressing CII National Council Meeting here.

He noted that the India has been able to maintain the stability of the Indian rupee and will continue to maintain even going forward. Speaking about inflation, Das noted that it is expected to moderate.

“I don’t see the inflation going beyond 6 per cent and infact our expectation is it will moderate at 4.5 per cent,” he said. Stating that the current situation is unimaginably uncertain, Das said it is difficult to make assumptions on the movement of price of crude.

On the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis on India’s growth, Das said, “this year’s projection is 8.9 percent. And even if you factor in the impact of impact of the Ukraine crisis, it will be very marginal on that.” While the Governor did not give any growth projections, he said, “I don’t see the inflation going up beyond 6 per cent.”

He noted that the Indian economy is better placed today and there is no reason for complacency.

“We have to be watchful and we are. We are also monitoring the crude and commodity prices and the volatility very closely. And while we are watchful about the inflation, but at the same time, we remain committed with dealing with any kind of challenge,” Das added.

He also noted that with all the volatility and uncertainties, the possibility if stagflation for India doesn’t arise.

Speaking about the stance of RBI, he said that while focusing on growth and development we have to also look at stability and long-term sustainability of all investments. “We have to factor in stability issues and also look at sustainability of every investment. Sometimes, in rush for investments, throwing the sustainability aspects, will be counterproductive,” he added.

Das said since, during the pandemic period, there was no activity happening in the financial markets and it appeared to be freezing up, the RBI announced liquidity infusion measures to ensure that liquidity is not scare and there is abundant liquidity in the market.

The Governor emphasized that even going forward, the RBI will ensure that there is enough liquidity in the market. “We will ensure that there is abundant liquidity in the market for the credit system to be active for the credit system to function normally. And we will ensure that there is no scarcity of liquidity. There will be abundant liquidity to meet the productive requirements of the economy,” he said. Das said the approach of the RBI has been going beyond and looking beyond the rule book.

The Governor further said that the RBI’s stance has been supportive of the growth and that the apex bank has resisted all the temptations of reversing its monetary policy and moving away from accommodative stance, because we could clearly foresee that the inflation will moderate and it will be moderated. He noted that initiating a premature demand compression through monetary policy action would be counterproductive monetary policy.

“…premature monetary policy intervention would have resulted in demand compression, and that would have been counterproductive for growth and revival. And when the economy was facing grim prospect of a negative growth, that was not the time to think of changing your stance, the idea continues to remain supportive of growth,” he added. (UNI)

By: Fazil Mir

Srinagar: An officer of the Public Works Department was found dead in his residential house in Ramban district of Jammu division on Monday morning, official sources said.

They said that an AE of PWD identified as Jamsheed Ahmad Khan son of Ghulam Mohammad Khan, a resident of Hardbare Kaskoot was found dead in his residential house on Monday.

The body was later shifted to SDH Banihal for post-mortem purpose.

A police officer confirmed the incident to news agency Kashmir Dot Com and said Police has taken its cognizance and started investigation in this regard. ”The body has been handed over to his family members after completing medico-legal formalities,” he added. (KDC)

3 referred to Srinagar hospital

Kupwara: At least eleven passengers were injured after a snow slide hit a passenger vehicle at Sadhna Top in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday afternoon.

An official said that a Sumo bearing registration number JK09-5693 was swept away by a snow slide and fell into a deep gorge at Sadhna Top, resulting in injuries to 11 passengers.

He said that soon after the incident, a rescue operation was launched by Army, Police and locals and all the passengers were rescued in injured condition and shifted to Sub-District hospital Tanghdar for treatment.

The injured passengers were identified as Abdul Rashid (40) Zameeda Begum (35) Sania (14) Simrab (12) Shafeeq Ahmad (37) Naseema Begum (29) Farhan (3) Rehan (3) SarwarJaan (70) Tofeeq Ahmad (16) Ajmal (14).

The official said that three injured passengers including Abdul Rashid, Zameeda Begum and Tofeeq Ahmad were referred to Srinagar for advanced treatment.(KNO)

Srinagar: Hundreds of men, women and Children were in queue at Hazratbal waiting for the turn to apply Leech therapy on the occasion of Navroz being celebrated in Kashmir valley on Monday.

Wali Mohammad an expert of Medicinal Leech Therapy or Hirudin Therapy was busy at Hazratbal treating hundreds of patients with different ailments on the bank of Dal Lake despite people mostly choosing modern medical science for the treatments.

Hailing from Tailbal in Srinagar, 70 years Wali Mohammad believes if one applies Leech therapy with trust, belief and justice, he will definitely get cured of his ailment.

The ancient treatment of Leech therapy is mostly being applied from the month of March 14 with the commencement of Iranian new year calendar for nine days and WaliMohammad believes that these days are most appropriate for the patients of high Uric Acid, Hypertension, Snow frost bites and for a kind of tumor.

Since the time of ancient Egypt, leeches have been used in medicine to treat nervous system abnormalities, dental problems, skin diseases, and infections.

Leeches are mostly being used in plastic surgery and other microsurgery as it contains peptides and proteins that work to prevent blood clots. These secretions are also known as anticoagulants. This keeps blood flowing to wounds to help patients heal, Wali Mohammad said.

Currently, leech therapy is seeing a revival due to its simple and inexpensive means of preventing complications.

Leeching is the application of a living leech to the skin in order to initiate blood flow or deplete blood from a localized area of the body. Through the 19th century leaching was frequently practiced in Europe, Asia, and America to deplete the body of quantities of blood, in a manner similar to bloodletting.

However, with the availability of modern scientific treatments for different ailments available all over the world and change in the lifestyle, people in less numbers believe in the Leeching application.

SonuNazir in her thirties applied Leech therapy to treat her frost bites caused during the winter in her feet. She is undergoing this ancient treatment for the past three years and has got cured, she claimed.

Most of the people who had come from far off areas had reached Hazratbal early in the morning to undergo the Leech therapy. (UNI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday held that high courts should not stay construction of infrastructure projects like construction of roads.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V. Ramasubramanian said: “Since the construction of roads is an infrastructure project and keeping in view the intent of the legislature that infrastructure projects should not be stayed, the High Court would have been well advised to hold its hand to stay the construction of the infrastructure project.”

“Such provision should be kept in view even by the writ court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India”.

The bench added that a word of caution ought to be mentioned that any contract of public service should not be interfered with lightly and in any case, there should not be any interim order derailing the entire process of the services meant for larger public good.

“The grant of interim injunction by the learned Single Bench of the High Court has helped no one except a contractor who lost a contract bid and has only caused loss to the state with no corresponding gain to anyone,” it said.

The top court judgment came on an appeal filed against the Jharkhand High Court division bench’s January 6, 2022 order, whereby the appeal filed by the state against the order of the single bench allowing a petition was dismissed.

The dispute was in connection with a grant of tender by the Jharkhand Road Construction Department for reconstruction of the Nagaruntari-Dhurki-Ambakhoriya Road.

The bench noted: “If the court finds that there is total arbitrariness or that the tender has been granted in a malafide manner, still the court should refrain from interfering in the grant of tender but instead relegate the parties to seek damages for the wrongful exclusion rather than to injunct the execution of the contract.”

“We also find that multiple layers of exercise of jurisdiction also delay the final adjudication challenging the grant of tender. Therefore, it would be open to the High Courts or the Chief Justice to entrust these petitions to a Division Bench of the High Court, which would avoid at least hearing by one of the forums.”

The top court disposed of the appeal with a direction to the state government to allow the appellant, a private firm, to resume and complete the work by excluding the period spent in the stay of execution of the contract as it set aside the High Court’s judgment, which had ordered a fresh tendering process for reconstruction of the road. (IANS)