Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha and political leaders on Wednesday condemned the twin attacks in Kashmir, which left a civilian and a police officer dead.

Sinha in a tweet said that militants and their handlers responsible for these killings will be brought to justice soon.

“Deeply saddened by the barbaric and cowardly terrorist act in Srinagar and Anantnag. I strongly condemn this heinous attack on civilian Rouf Ahmad & JKP officer Mohd Ashraf. The terrorists and their handlers responsible for these killings will be brought to justice soon,” Office of J&K LG tweeted.

Sinha further said that such an act will not succeed in undermining Jammu and Kashmir’s development journey.

“Such barbaric terror act will not succeed in undermining J&K’s development journey. Deepest & heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. Govt stands with the families & friends at this difficult time,” he tweeted.

Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President, Omar Abdullah expresses condolences with the bereaved families.

“Allah marhoom ko magfirat farmaye Ameen. I unreservedly condemn these two attacks & send my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives today,” Omar tweeted.

Peoples Conference chairman and former minister, Sajad Lone in a tweet prayed for the heavenly abode of the slain.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families of Rouf Ahmed and ASI Ashraf, killed by gunmen today. May Allah grant Jannat,” Sajad tweeted.

Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari also condemned the attacks while terming it as highly reprehensible, saying that the radical forces have only added to the woes of the people in J&K.

“Violence in any of its manifestations is always unacceptable and will yield nothing except for further death and destruction. The vicious cycle of death has caused much loss to human lives in J&K while devastating the socio-economic conditions of the people during the last over three decades. It is high time for such incidents to be stopped now,” he said.

Bukhari extended his profound condolences to the bereaved families in this time of despair and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls. He also demanded that the government should disburse adequate ex-gratia relief to the families of the slain besides nabbing the perpetrators of this heinous crime and bringing them to justice.

Chairs high-level meeting on road safety, bats for trauma centres near accident-prone highways

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday said deaths occurring due to the road accidents are worrisome. He also chaired a high-level meeting on Road Safety here at Civil Secretariat.

“Deaths due to road accident are indeed a cause of worry. The Government is making continuous efforts to make the public aware of road safety and is committed to enforce the rules and necessary interventions & facilities,” observed the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor directed the concerned officials to identify factors contributing to road accidents & take proactive measures, ensuring enforcement of safety laws in true spirit & making improvements in the response system and spreading awareness on road safety.

The Lt Governor passed explicit directions to the officials to rectify black spots within 3 months. “Traffic management has become more & more technology-driven. We need to make necessary technological interventions for highly effective road safety measures,” said the Lt Governor.

Training of traffic police, strengthening manpower, generating awareness amongst the people, especially in educational institutions, crackdown on drunken driving & speed, roping in volunteers for road safety programs would be important steps to address the challenges, added the Lt Governor.

Taking note of regular incidents of road accidents in particular areas, the Lt Governor asked the health department to explore possibility of developing more trauma centres near accident-prone highways to help accident victims during the crucial golden hours. The chair was informed that the Health and Medical Education Department has so far established eight Trauma Centres in various districts.

The Lt Governor advised for replicating the effective traffic management models and collaborative efforts with different stakeholders to get the desired results on the ground.

The Lt Governor asked the concerned departments to explore the modalities and prepare a proposal for establishing integrated centres of Inspection & Certification and licensing in highly accident-prone areas of the UT.

He further directed for conducting regular meetings of the District Road Safety Committees for comprehensive and multi-sectoral road safety strategies.

The chair also took a detailed assessment of the Action Taken Report on raising awareness about road safety, Road Safety Fund, strengthening of highway patrolling for prevention of accidents and fatalities, besides deployment of 136 Ambulances provided by MoRTH and operationalization of 102/108 Helpline Number.

Hirdesh Kumar, Commissioner Secretary to the Government, Transport Department briefed the meeting about initiatives taken by the government regarding road safety.

He also informed about the important aspects concerning road safety, including road safety action plan; functioning of road safety council, lead agency, and district road safety committees; category-wise cumulative registered vehicle population.

The meeting was briefed about the mechanism put in place for developing an intelligent traffic management system for Srinagar and Jammu cities under AMRUT scheme.

Discussions were also held on the Road Safety Audit of all existing roads; removal of encroachments, hoardings; fixing of road signages, speed limit, and other traffic calming measures; erection of crash barriers on the National Highway and other major roads; preparation of calendar for the training of Engineers in road safety; removal of unauthorised cuts on National Highways & other major roads and regulation of cross junctions.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Vivek Bhardwaj, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department; Administrative Secretaries; Divisional Commissioners, besides Senior officers of Civil and Police Administration attended the meeting, in person and through virtual mode.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday advocated for commitment towards promotion and preservation of Dogri linguistic heritage.

Taking to microblogging site, LG Sinha on Dogri Manayata Diwas said, “Greetings to the people of J&K on the occasion of Dogri Manta Diwas. The day is observed to commemorate the inclusion of Dogri language in the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution.”

He further tweeted, “Let’s renew our commitment and efforts to the promotion & preservation of Dogri Linguistic heritage and practice local languages for the protection and promotion of cultural identity.”

“Language is a cultural asset, heritage and everyone must feel pride in speaking in their own mother tongue,” said LG Sinha. (UNI)

Asks H&ME to monitor int’l travelers through Air Suvidha portal

Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the public health system preparedness for the new COVID variant Omicron, which is reportedly 3-4 times more infectious than the Delta variant.

Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education, Divisional Commissioners Kashmir/ Jammu, all Deputy Commissioners, MD National Health Mission, Director, Family Welfare, and concerned HoDs participated in the meeting.

It was informed that the three cases of Omicron variant of COVID were reported in Jammu, all of whom are without any travel history and are now being monitored.

The Chief Secretary directed the district administration to enhance testing and contact tracing for positive patients and closely trace the infection trajectory to establish micro-containment zones at an early stage.

Additionally, all Deputy Commissioners were directed to ensure strict enforcement of COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), COVID SOPs/protocols and micro-containment zones, besides regulating large gatherings.

“Any breach on these accounts will lead to imposition of night curfews and further restrictions,” Dr. Mehta added.

Moreover, the divisional and district administrations were asked to establish buffer zones around the declared micro-containment zones and monitor the spread of the disease to guide further actions.

All line departments were directed to appoint one nodal officer for ensuring CAB adherence across all Government offices with a special focus on industries and transport.

Further, Health Department was asked to remain in a state of readiness by gearing up their manpower and machinery and firming up the inventory of oxygen supply and medicines.

The Health and Medical Education department was asked to ensure proper functioning of COVID-related infrastructure including COVID dedicated hospitals, ventilators, oxygen supported beds and oxygen plants.

The department was also asked to monitor international travelers through the Air Suvidha portal and accordingly make COVID containment arrangements to regulate their testing, quarantine and treatment in respective cases.

Additionally, the National Health Mission was asked to continue with the COVID-dedicated IEC campaign to generate mass awareness on various preventive measures and COVID Appropriate Behaviour, besides completing the full vaccination of the remaining eligible population.

HED to monitor teaching outcomes through online appraisals from HoDs, Peers, Students

Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Higher Education Department.

Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Mission Director, Rashtriya Uchachatar Shiksha Abhiyan, and concerned officers participated in the meeting.

It was informed that under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Department is contemplating various reforms for structural changes in the education sector encompassing multidisciplinary studies; skill-based courses, and courses on Indian culture and traditions.

Accordingly, the technical educational institutions namely IIT Jammu, IIM Jammu, and AIIMS Jammu have signed MoUs to provide integrated courses to the students of these institutions. Similarly, the SMVDU, University of Kashmir, Cluster University, Jammu/ Kashmir have also started integrated programs with special exit provisions, besides strengthening the research and skill enhancement courses.

Under NEP-2020, Government Degree Colleges of Jammu and Kashmir will be given graded autonomy in a phased manner along with academic bank credit facility and NAAC accreditation.

Under the Hub-Spoke model, the Department has identified 14 colleges for establishing Center for Invention, Innovation, Incubation, and Training (CIIIT), besides introducing vocational courses in multiple verticals like agriculture technology, horticulture technology, veterinary technology, food, science and technology, among others with multiple entry/ exit options. Meanwhile, several Government Degree Colleges are also being motivated to conduct research on socially relevant issues.

The Department is further taking up construction of girls hostels to increase the enrolment of girls in far-flung areas along with constructing deficient infrastructure to fill critical infrastructure gaps in existing colleges and to also allow shifting of colleges from rented accommodation to their own buildings.

It was further informed that the Higher Education Department is in the process of establishing 50 new colleges which will take up the tally of higher education institutions in Jammu and Kashmir under the government sector to 142.

The Chief Secretary asked the Department to rationalize the availability of teachers at new colleges on the basis of respective student enrolments and evolve a strategy to promote synergy and integration among all colleges through e-lectures in virtual mode.

The Department was further asked to explore additional activities for utilizing the state-of-the-art infrastructure available with the colleges in extra-curricular teaching and learning experiences, and awareness generation activities.

Dr. Mehta urged the Department to frame timelines for granting academic autonomy to the Government Degree Colleges and receive NAAC accreditation over the next five years.

Moreover, the Chief Secretary requested the Department to develop an online appraisal mechanism for capturing feedback on teaching-learning outcomes from the HoDs, peers, and students.