Srinagar: After brief exchange of fire Wednesday evening, the militants managed to give slip to the security forces in Check Nowgam area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

An official said that a joint team of Police, Army and CRPF launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) on specific information about the presence of militants in the area on Wednesday evening.

He said that as the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering a gunfight.

The official said that during initial exchange of fire, three soldiers were injured, however, militants managed to escape from the spot.

He said that cordon layers were tightened after initial exchange of fire, however, nothing has been found so far. The injured soldiers were identified as Somveer Kumar, Mayank Singh and Sunil Kumar, who were shifted to 92 base hospital Srinagar, where their condition is stated as stable. A police official said that a foreigner and two local militants were trapped, who managed to flee from the encounter site. (KNO)

Srinagar: The minimum temperature dropped across Kashmir Valley even as some parts of Srinagar, the summer capital of J&K, and Pahalgam were blanketed by a thin blanket of snowfall, officials said on Thursday.

An official of the meteorological department here said that Srinagar had traces of snowfall or rain in last 24 hours till 0830 hours today. However reports said that most parts were blanketed by a thin layer of snow. The summer capital of the J&K recorded a low of minus 1.3°C against last night’s 1.3°C, he said.

Kashmir is presently under the grip of 40-day long harshest period of winter, known locally as ‘Chillai Kalan, which started from December 21. It is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai Khurd’ and a 10-day-long ‘Chilla Bachha’.

Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 10.0 °C against minus 10.4°C on previous night, he said. The temperature was nearly 2.5°C below normal for this time of the year in the famous resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 0.2°C against 0.2°C on the previous night, he said.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 4.3°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night, the official said.

Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, had 0.2cm of snowfall and recorded a low of minus 10.9°C against minus 5.6°C on the last night, he said.

Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.4°C against 1.6°C on the previous night, the official said.

Jammu recorded a low of 5.5°C against previous night’s 7.7°C and the temperature was 3.2°C below normal for the J&K’s winter capital during this time of the year, he said.

Banihal recorded a low of minus 0.8°C, Katra had minimum of 5.0°C while Bhaderwah recorded a low of minus 1.5°C, the official said.

Weatherman has forecast cloudy weather in J&K coupled with moderate to dense fog in plains of Jammu till January 29.

“Fair to partly cloudy weather is expected throughout J&K till January 29 with moderate to dense fog in morning hours in plains of Jammu,” the official said. He said there would generally cloudy weather on January 30 and that there is possibility of light rain/snow on January 31st. “Expect warmer days and colder nights till January 29th,” he said, adding, “There’s no forecast of any major weather till ending January.” (GNS)

Srinagar: Jammu-Srinagar highway, the only surface link connecting Kashmir valley with the outside world, shall remain open for two-way traffic on Friday. The traffic on the highway remained suspended for few hours till the authorities cleared debris of landslide near Panthyal in Ramban district.

“On 28-01-2022, subject to fair weather and better road conditions LMVs(passenger)/private cars shall be allowed from both sides on Jammu-Srinagar highway viz Jammu towards Srinagar and vice- versa,” a traffic department official said in a statement.

He said Traffic Control Unit Jammu/Srinagar shall liaise with TCU Ramban before releasing the traffic, he said.

He said cut off for LMVs/private cars from Nagrota (Jammu) will be at 0800 hours to 1200 hours, from Jakheni (Udhampur) at 0900 hours to 1300 hours and from Navyug Tunnel (Qazigund side) 0900 hours to 1300 hours “(subject to change depending on the road position then)”

He said no vehicle shall be allowed before and after cut off timings.

Regarding HMVs/Load carriers, he said, “subject to fair weather and better road conditions, they shall be allowed from NAVYUG Tunnel (Qazigund side) towards Jammu after assessing the traffic situation on highwaya.” He said TCU Srinagar shall liaise with TCU Ramban before releasing the highway.

Meanwhile, Mughal Road, connecting Shopian with Poonch and Rajouri districts, remained closed for vehicular movement in view of snow accumulation at Peer Ki Gali.

Also, Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road remained shut for vehicular movement in view of snow accumulation on Zoji la axis and has been closed till further orders. Kishtwar-Sinthan road also remained closed in view of snow accumulation, the traffic department official said. 

New Delhi: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh hosted a lunch for the Jammu & Kashmir Tableau team members who had performed in the Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath in the national capital.

The team of artists, along with choreographers and musicians, have also been given appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The members of the team expressed their overwhelming joy at the support and encouragement offered by Dr Jitendra Singh and also the hospitality given by him. They said, this was the first-of-its-kind experience they had gone through and they were absolutely excited about it.

Pertinent to mention that, unlike on several earlier occasions, this was a rare Republic Day function at Rajpath, New Delhi in which the Jammu & Kashmir Tableau was primarily dominated by culture and art of the Jammu region and the face of the Tableau displayed Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan along with other monumental projects like world’s highest Rail Bridge in Reasi and institutions like AIIMS, IIT and IIM, which have come up in the region during the recent years under the Modi Government. The background music and lyrics were also based on Jammu’s popular folk songs, “Sadha-e-Jammu”, “Sadhi Bakhri Pehchan”.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last nearly eight years, a conscious effort has been made to provide equitable development and equitable attention to every region of Jammu & Kashmir. This has ignited confidence and self-esteem in every section of society and every region, he said.

Complimenting the members of the team for their distinguished performance, Dr Jitendra Singh said, he would like the people back home to understand the amount of effort, hard work and focussed preparation for several months, which had been put in for this performance. He also appreciated the perseverance and difficult competitive trial through which the team members had gone through for getting their Tableau included in the Republic Day programme at the national level.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, very few people are aware that entry of any State or UT Tableau in a Republic Day programme at national level has to go through different stages of competition and trial, and many States and UTs get excluded in the process and lose the opportunity to be included in the Republic Day programme. For this, he also complimented the hard work put in by the officials of the Department of Culture and consistent support rendered to them by the freelance groups engaged by them.

Dr Jitendra Singh had a detailed interaction with each of the members of the team individually and said they were the Cultural Ambassadors of the region. He assured each one of them every possible support for upgradation of their skill and performance. (KNO)

Srinagar: A tourist guide’s body was found in Drang area of Gulmarg on Thursday, a day after he had gone missing in the famous tourist destination.

Reports said the tourist guide namely Firdous Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Mohammad Bhat of Katipora Tangmarg went missing while he was accompanied by a group of tourists while they were on trekking from Kangdori towards Gulmarg.

The ‘guide’ halted on way, while asking the tourists to continue the movement. The tourists, on not finding him, reached out to the police, informing them of the person having gone missing.

Confirming it, a police official said that on receiving the information, a rescue operation was launched to trace the missing person.  “His body has been recovered and family has been informed,” the police officer said.

The body would be handed over after medico-legal formalities, he said. (GNS)