It is a known fact that the poaching of wildlife for profit or pleasure has decimated populations of endangered species, particularly those at the risk of extinction.
Despite technological advancements to detect and prevent poaching and trafficking, reports keep on pouring now and then that the disturbing trend continues.
In a landmark judgment, J&K and Ladakh High Court has said that trading in endangered animals or articles made from their skin, bones or any other part was similar to dealing in noxious or pernicious trade like intoxicating drugs.
The court precisely underlined that what was destructive of the environment, forests and wild life was contrary to the directive principles of State policy.
There is complete ban imposed on such trade due to enactment of J&K Wild Life Protection Act, 1978.
It is a settled position of law that the trade which is pernicious can be totally banned without attracting Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India.
The court pointed out that trading in animals close to being wiped out of existence and articles made from their bones, skins or other parts of their bodies, is a situation akin to dealing in any other noxious or pernicious trade like intoxicating drugs. The Parliament is, therefore, well within its powers to impose a ban by way of appropriate legislation on trading in wild life and their derivatives in furtherance of Article 48A like it can prohibit trade in intoxicating drugs and liquors in compliance with the mandate of Article 47.
While the law is there, there is a need to enhance measures to track, prove, and prevent wildlife crimes. There is also a need for evaluative research on interventions that have the potential to allow illicit trade and in other words keep wildlife under danger.
Without drastic action to conserve habitats, the rate of species extinction — already tens to hundreds of times higher than the average across the past ten million years across the globe— will only increase. There is a need for proactive environmental policies, the sustainable production of food and other resources and a concerted effort to protect wild animals.
Wildlife Protection
COVID-19 deaths : Complete Covid relief distribution within 2 months: CS
Approves procedural guidelines for ex-gratia of Rs 50k each to victims
Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday approved procedural guidelines for ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 each to COVID-19 victims and directed completion of relief distribution exercise in favour of all beneficiaries within two months.
Dr. Mehta chaired a meeting of the UT Executive Committee for Disaster Management to review the requirement of funds in districts for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and COVID management.
Administrative Secretaries of departments of Finance, Health & Medical Education, Revenue, and Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (DMRRR) participated in the meeting.
In furtherance of its earlier decision of providing ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the victims of COVID, the UT Executive Committee today approved the procedural guidelines governing the relief distribution.
The Chief Secretary further directed formulation of standard operating procedures in consultation with the domain experts for streamlining the disbursal of ex-gratia relief within three days.
It was informed that so far 4,176 people have died due to COVID-19 and the relief will be disbursed in favour of the families through a transparent verification process via aadhar linked direct benefit transfer (DBT).
As per the approved guidelines, the Deputy Commissioners in consultation with the Health Department will provide the ex-gratia relief of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of COVID victims including those involved in relief operations and preparedness activities; based on valid death certificates issued in this regard. The guidelines also require the Deputy Commissioners to provide the online application link for seeking the ex-gratia relief on the district’s official web portal.
The Chief Secretary observed that the death certificates mentioning COVID as the cause of death might not have been issued to victims in the earlier wave and accordingly directed the department to lay down SOP and also constitute a grievance redressal committee to facilitate the families in availing the required documentation.
Dr. Mehta stressed adherence to the existing data on official COVID-deaths and SAKSHAM relief distribution to further streamline the rollout of the ex-gratia relief. He directed completion of relief distribution exercise in favour of all beneficiaries within two months.
Moreover, the State Executive Committee also sanctioned the release of Rs 66.12 crore to districts for distributing disaster relief on account of damages due to incessant rains, hailstorms, and snowfall on 23rd and 24th October 2021.
DIG NIA, 2 J&K policemen conferred with Shourya Chakra
Srinagar: President of India, Ram Nath Kovind Wednesday presented Shourya Chakra to two Jammu and Kashmir policemen (posthumously). Deputy Inspector General, National Investigation Agency, Amit Kumar has been conferred with the prestigious Shaurya Chakra award.
Kumar was conferred with Shaurya Chakra, the third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards and comes after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra. It precedes the Yudh Seva Medal.
Kumar was conferred the prestigious award for “displaying exceptional leadership, indomitable courage and conspicuous bravery” durning an ant-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in September this year had ordered appointment of then DIG Central Kashmir Amit Kumar to the post of DIG NIA (Level-13A in the pay matrix) on deputation basis for an initial period of 5 years from the date of joining the post.
Meanwhile, a statement issued here reads that on 01-03-2019 upon specific information about the presence of militants in village Babagund, Handwara police launched a joint search operation in the said village.
“During search, the hiding militants started firing indiscriminately on the search party led by SgCt Naseer Ahmad and SgCt Gh Mustafa. The firing was retaliated which led to a fierce gun battle,” it said.
“Both the cops put their lives in danger and evacuated civilians from the encounter site and engaged militants in a fire fight. As the encounter site was densely populated the encounter continued for three days to avoid civilian casualties.”
SgCt Naseer Ahmad and SgCt Gh Mustafa showing highest order of gallantry gunned down two militants and also received bullet injuries by themselves. Both the officials were later killed.
For their bravery, they have been conferred with Shourya Chakra award, the highest bravery award of the nation by President of India. (KNO/GNS)
No power shutdowns till Jan end: KPDCL
‘Fresh curtailment schedule being implemented on trial basis for next few days’
By: Owais Gul
Srinagar: In order to ensure adequate electricity to the consumers, the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) has suspended all the maintenance works till next two months, thus simultaneously the frequent power shutdowns will no longer be witnessed till January 2022 end.
Besides, the authorities in KPDCL also informed that a fresh plan vis-à-vis power curtailment is being implemented on trial basis for next couple of days, saying that metered areas to witness 1-4 hours power cut in 24 hours while the non-metered areas would witness 1-6 hours electricity cut.
Chief Engineer KPDCL, Aijaz Ahmad Dar said that the load has increased to a large extent in the last few weeks, adding that the people are not paying heed to the requests regarding the judicious use of the power.
“We had appealed to people to use electricity judiciously especially during morning and evening hours,” he said, adding that every house is using 5-6KV electricity regularly, which leads to the extra curtailment. “Against the agreement of 860KV, the department is supplying 1400KV, thus the KPDCL is supplying double power to the consumers,” he said.
“As compared to previous year, we have been planning to ensure less power curtailment this year. In this regard, a fresh plan is being implemented on a trial basis. The metered areas will witness nearly four hours curtailment in a day while the metered will witness nearly 6 hours curtailment. There is a possibility of more than 6 hours curtailment at isolated places where the usage remains too high,” he said.
The Chief Engineer also stated that inspite of the relentless inspections; the people don’t refrain from the wrong doings, adding that the KPDCL is trying its best to ensure adequate electricity, but the people are not cooperating at all.
“We have also decided to suspend all the maintenance works to put an end to the power shutdowns. The works have been suspended till January end to ensure a better power scenario to the people,” Chief Engineer KPDCL said.
Pertinently, people have been complaining of unscheduled power cuts since last couple of weeks and stated that they are facing immense hardships in absence of the adequate electricity. (KNO)
India’s TFR declines to 2 nationwide
New Delhi: India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2 at the national level and ranged from 1.4 in Chandigarh to 2.4 in Uttar Pradesh, as per a Health Ministry survey.
NITI Aayog’s Member, Health, Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, and Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary Rajesh Bhushan released the factsheets of key indicators on population, reproductive and child health, family welfare, nutrition and others for India and 14 States and UTs clubbed under Phase 2 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) (2019-21).
The survey showed that all Phase 2 states have achieved replacement level of fertility (2.1) except Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
The survey has found that the overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially from 54 per cent to 67 per cent at all-India level and in almost all Phase 2 states/UTs with the exception of Punjab. The use of modern methods of contraceptives has also increased in almost all states and UTs.
The key indicator of the Health Ministry survey has revealed that the unmet needs of family planning have witnessed a significant decline from 13 per cent to 9 per cent at all-India level and in most of the Phase 2 states/UTs. The unmet need for spacing which remained a major issue in India in the past has come down to less than 10 per cent in all the states except Jharkhand at 12 per cent, and Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – both at 13 per cent.
The full immunisation drive among children aged 12-23 months has recorded substantial improvement from 62 per cent to 76 per cent at all-India level, underlined the survey. As many as 11 out of 14 states/UTs have more than three-fourth of children aged 12-23 months with fully immunisation and it is highest 90 per cent for Odisha.
On comparing the previous NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 data, the increase in full immunisation coverage is observed to be expeditious in many states and UTs. Over 50 per cent of Phase 2 states/UTs are sharing over 10 percentage points during the short span of 4 years.
The states/UTs which were surveyed in the Phase 2 are Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. (IANS)
Constitution Day: PM to address event at Central Hall of Parliament
New Delhi: As a part of ‘Constitution Day’ celebrations this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the programmes being organised in Parliament and Vigyan Bhavan on November 26.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the programme organized in Parliament will begin at 11 a.m. and will be held in the Central Hall. “Programme at the Central hall of Parliament will be addressed by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker. After the speech of the President, the nation will join him Live, in reading the preamble of the Constitution,” it said.
The President will also release the digital version of constituent assembly debates, digital version of calligraphed copy of Constitution of India and updated version of the Constitution of India that will include all amendments till date.
The President will also inaugurate ‘Online Quiz on Constitutional Democracy’.
Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the two-day Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court in the evening at Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhavan here. All judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of all high courts and senior-most puisne Judges, Solicitor General of India, and other members of the legal fraternity will be present on the occasion. The Prime Minister will also address the distinguished gathering.
The nation will celebrate Constitution Day on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The observation of Constitution Day started in 2015, based on the vision of Prime Minister Modi to give due recognition to the significance of this historic date.
“The roots of this vision can also be traced back to the ‘Samvidhan Gaurav Yatra’ organised by then Gujarat Chief Minister Modi in 2010,” the PMO said. (IANS)
India’s engagement with world over disaster relief strong: Rajnath
New Delhi: India’s engagement with the world and especially the Indian Ocean Region has been robustly strong, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday while lauding the Armed Forces for being the first responder in the region for humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations.
“India’s unique position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), complemented by a capability of the Armed Forces, enables it to contribute significantly in humanitarian aid and disaster relief situations,” said Singh while virtually inaugurating the 5th World Congress on Disaster Management.
He said that the armed forces have time and again demonstrated that they care for and stand by the country’s partners in times of need without distinguishing between natural or man-made disasters.
The minister reiterated India’s vision for the Indian Ocean encapsulated by the concept of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Singh underlined that SAGAR has both distinct and inter-related elements such as deepening economic and security cooperation among the littoral states, enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories, working towards sustainable regional development, Blue Economy and promoting collective action to deal with non-traditional threats like natural disasters, piracy and terrorism.
He maintained that while each of these elements require equal attention, developing an effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters is one of the most important pillars of SAGAR.
Singh made special mention of some notable humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions in the IOR undertaken by India in recent years, including Operation Rahat in Yemen in 2015 when India rescued and evacuated over 6,700 persons, including over 1,940 citizens of more than 40 other countries, cyclone in Sri Lanka in 2016, earthquake in Indonesia in 2019, Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and flooding and landslides in Madagascar in January 2020 where Indian assistance was promptly provided.
He added that the Covid-19 pandemic has not dented India’s commitment, which was demonstrated by India’s response during the oil spill in Mauritius in August 2020 and the oil tanker fire in Sri Lanka in September 2020.
India taking the lead and offering expertise of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (DRI) to friendly countries was also highlighted by Rajnath Singh.
“Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was first proposed by India during the 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in New Delhi. It is today an international coalition of countries, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector and academic institutions, that aim to promote disaster-resilient infrastructure,” he said.
Singh added that India has been regularly conducting exercises to deepen the HADR co-operation and co-ordination with its neighbours and friendly countries with a focus on sharing expertise and building capabilities.
He called for cooperating more closely to strengthen international architecture for building structures to prevent and manage future disasters.
He also suggested a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the pandemic on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, emphasising on the need to incorporate new ideas in global and national strategies for the implementation of the goals.
The 5th World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) has been organised in New Delhi from November 24-27, at the campus of IIT Delhi on the overarching theme of Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the context of Covid-19. (IANS)
Centre concerned over decreasing trends of Covid testing in states
New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday expressed concerns over the decreasing trends of Covid testing in some states. The health ministry said that the decrease in the Covid testing would undermine the actual infection spread within the community.
“With the onset of winter and increased pollution in some states, prevalence of ILI/SARI and respiratory distress symptoms should be closely monitored, with tests conducted regularly for timely monitoring and clustering of cases for early hotspot identification”, said the health ministry.
In a letter to the states, the ministry said that in the absence of sustained levels of sufficient testing, it is very difficult to determine the true level of infection spread in a geography. With a majority of countries seeing multiple surges in the Covid cases in recent times and a few developed countries facing even fourth and fifth wave despite high levels of Covid vaccination, there is a need for continued vigil given the unpredictable and contagious nature of the disease.
The ministry added further that all efforts must be implemented to preserve the gains made so far and to prevent deterioration of Covid-19 scenario across the country.
“Nagaland has reported 342 average daily tests as on week ending 22nd November. This is in a stark contrast to a high of 1,250 average daily tests conducted in the week of August 23-29. It is also worrying to note that the state has recorded a positivity of 1.5 per cent in the week ending 22nd November, having stagnated over the past 4 weeks, with an abysmally low share of RT-PCR tests,” said the ministry to the states.
The health ministry has written letters to the states: Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Ladakh.
The ministry has directed these states to maintain the momentum and build on the progress made so far to bring the pandemic situation under control. (IANS)
Drone Activity: BSF lodges protest with Pak Rangers at commandant level meet
Jammu: Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday lodged protest with Pakistan Rangers on violation of International Border by drone activity during commandant level meeting at Octroi post here in the city outskirts.
BSF spokesman here said that BSF and Pakistan Rangers commandant level border meeting was held at International Border of Border Outpost Octroi.
“Pak Rangers objected to the BSF defence construction work,” said the BSF spokesman.
He said that protest was lodged by BSF regarding violation of IB by Pakistan based Drones and also apprised the Pak commander to refrain from such activities.
He said that the BSF delegation was led by Ajay Suryavanshi, Commandant and Pakistan delegation was led by Wing Commander Lt Col Aquil of 13 Wing Chenab Rangers.
During the meeting, he said that Commanders of both border guarding forces discussed various issues including maintenance of border pillars and latest infrastructure activities on border, Pakistan Drone operations and other activities.
Both commanders also agreed to resolve all ops matter and border issues with a mutual understanding, he added.
The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere and both commanders agreed to work for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere on the border. (UNI)
Complete registration process of unorganized workers within one month: CS to L&E deptt
Jammu: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the registration of all unorganized workers in Jammu and Kashmir on the e-Shram portal of the central government.
Commissioner Secretary, Labour & Employment Department, Chief Executive Officer, J&K Building And Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Labour Commissioner, and other officers of the Department attended the meeting.
It was informed that the Department has so far registered 5,43,408 workers including 2,01,508 female and 3,41,900 male workers engaged in the unorganized sector.
It was further informed that the agriculture, construction, healthcare, transport, and handicraft sectors have contributed to approximately 20% of the total registrations. Other sectors with high registration tally are tourism, retail, domestic help, manufacturing, etc.
Regarding the ease of access to benefits under social security schemes for construction workers it was informed that through the unique ID generated on the e-Shram portal, the registration information can be accessed by multiple departments and agencies for ensuring timely disbursement of benefits to the verified beneficiaries.
The Chief Secretary asked the Department to register all the eligible workers including the temporarily engaged workers in the Government sector; on the portal and extend the benefits of workers’ welfare schemes to them within one month.
Further, Dr. Mehta asked the Department to focus on registering the unorganized workers being engaged under MGNREGA scheme as well as various Self Help Groups and cover them under the blanket of workers’ related welfare schemes.
To facilitate the registration on the e-Shram portal, the Department was asked to arrange the registration facilities across all Common Service Centres of Jammu and Kashmir, besides the district offices of the Labour Department.
