Srinagar: The government on Tuesday posted Atal Dulloo (IAS) as Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Finance Department.

According to an order issued here by the government, Vivek Bhardwaj, (IAS) has been posted as Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Health and Medical Education Department.

Dulloo who was hitherto Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Health and Medical Education Department, shall also be the Chairman and Managing Director Jammu and Kashmir Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, as per the order.

With his posting as Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Finance Department, Chief Secretary A.K. Mehta (IAS) has been relieved of the additional charge of the post.

Meanwhile, Rehana Batul (JKAS), Secretary to the Government, Public Grievances, has been designated as Commissioner/ Secretary to the Government, Public Grievances, with immediate effect, as per proviso (i) to sub-rule (5) of Rule 21 of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service Rules, 2008, reads a separate order issued by the government. (GNS)

CS says unemployment in J&K decreases to nearly 11%

Srinagar: On the first day of its visit here the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation today held threadbare discussion with J&K administration on several issues related to the waste management rules laying special emphasis on Swachh Bharat Mission and cleanliness of rivers and lakes in J&K.

The delegation is lead by its Chairman,Pratap Singh Bajwa and 11 other Rajya Sabha members namely Vandana Chavan, Dushyant Gautam, Dr Vikas Mahatme, Surendra Singh Nagar, Ram Vichar Netam, Dr Amar Patnaik, Dr Banda Prakash, GVI Narsimha Rao, Tiruchi Siva, Pradeep Tamta, and Vivek K Tankha.

The committee was briefed by the Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta about the historical steps taken by the administration during the past couple of years. The CS informed the visiting delegation that the UT has fully adopted the 73rd and 74th amendments of the constitution bringing governance to the grassroots level.

The Chief Secretary also apprised the committee that for the first time District Development Council (DDC) elections had been conducted with a large participation of people giving the vibrant and people friendly Council to them.

The CS further revealed that the UT has the distinction of being an open defecation free region besides having the robust system of door to door collection of municipal waste in the municipal areas. He gave out that all the recruitments including class IV are now entrusted to recruitment board.

Dr Mehta also mentioned that there is proper rule of law in the UT now and institutions have been strengthened at every level. He claimed that every public penny is accounted for with the help of error-free mechanism that has been put in place. He said that with the help of IT tools like BEAMS and EMPOWERMENT portal the public is kept abreast with the expenditure made by the administration.

He also made out that around 4500 youth clubs under Mission Youth started functioning in J&K from the 15th of Aug. He said that unemployment in J&K is being tackled holistically here with its percentage decreasing to nearly 11% despite covid pandemic. He further gave out that it is the endeavour of this government to slash it down under 5% in future.

The Chief Secretary also highlighted that around 21943 projects have been completed in J&K in 2020-21 up from 12637 in 2019-20 and 9229 in 2018-19. He said that each project has to be now mandatorily e-tendered here brining total transparency in the system of award of contracts and quality of work executed.

In a separate presentation made by Principal Secretary, H&UDD, Dheeraj Gupta to the committee the compliance of J&K to different rules related to waste management were deliberated upon. It was said that J&K has formulated and implemented the policy and strategy for solid waste management (SWM) besides devised an action plan and bylaws for the same. He gave out that tenders for bio-remediation of 9 polluted rivers has already been floated.

He further presented that in compliance to Biomedical Waste Management rules the UT has constituted the State level Advisory Committee and District level Monitoring Committee. Similarly action has been taken regarding implementation of Construction &Demolition Waste Management Rules, e-Waste, Plastic Waste Management Rules and Hazardous & other Waste Management Rules.

In his presentation the Commissioner Secretary, Forests, Sanjeev Verma presented the status of cleanliness of various water bodies here including lakes and rivers. He presented the studies of 4 lakes including Dal, Wular, Mansar and Surinsar lakes.

He divulged that the PH, Oxygen Demand, and Biological oxygen demand are all within permissible limits in these water bodies. Further he informed the committee that the desilting, deweeding and extraction of lily pads is going on at a brisk pace.

The Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) explained before the Parliamentary Committee that the Corporation is catering to about 1.55 million population having nearly 1.84 lakh households. He mentioned that the corporation is scheduled to collect about 526 tonnes of waste daily. He gave out that 60% municipal area is serviced by door to door collection from households.

He also said that SMC is working on an innovative idea of ‘Sunday for Srinagar’ to clean areas that are neglected or vulnerable for garbage accumulation. He further made out that SMC has poultry waste collection service in all 74 wards besides providing service of construction & demolition waste service on minimal charges by applying online.

The Commissioner also said that to tackle the menance of polythene pollution SMC is currently running a 6R campaign of reduce, reuse, recycle, remove, refuse and report. He revealed that the corporation deals with the waste on scientific lines as they have 3 scientific cells established at Achan land fill site.

The Commissioner also said that around 9 lakh tonnes of legacy waste is treated through bio-mining and bio-remediation technique. He revealed that the corporation has tendered out waste to energy project besides had signed an agreement for power purchase to be generated from this plant.

The Parliamentary Committee appreciated the measures taken by the UT administration in achieving certain goals and fulfilling the parameters of Swachh Bharat Mission. They said that ‘Sunday for Srinagar’ initiative is an impressive idea and should  be adopted nationwide.

The Committee exhilarated upon the officers that the efforts needs to be doubled so that next time Srinagar comes up as a cleanest hill station instead of its current ranking of 36th.

Earlier the Parliamentary Committee enquired from various oil companies like IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and GAIL about the codes of practice for emergency response and disaster management plan. They asked about the SoPs and other checking put in place at all their installations here to avoid exigencies. It was said that the companies have a robust safety system in place that has a chance of 10 errors out of million operations only lower than the mechanism employed at nuclear plants.

The Committee also had detailed discussion with the representatives of banks operational here. They enquired from the representative of RBI, SBI, J&K Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank and Canara Bank about their compliance with priority sector lending. Each of the bank provided details regarding the credit provided to sectors like agriculture, horticulture, handloom and handicrafts etc.

The committee members asked several clarifications from the banking representatives and asked them to give equal importance to small ticket businesses. They asked for giving priority to these sectors while disbursing loans as they contribute majorly to employment generation after agriculture and allied activities.

Later the Committee members also visited the interiors of the dal lake and took first hand appraisal of the cleanliness measures taken by the Lakes and Waterways Authority. The committee then visited the Swerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Laam, Nishat and asked about the scientific method of treatment of waste there.

Says Kashmir silk industry will face more tough times

Srinagar: After the Union Ministry of Commerce notified the rates for export incentive scheme, RoDTEP, Sheikh Ashiq, President, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCC&I) Tuesday expressed disappointment as the Kashmir silk industry will face more tough times given the latest pronouncement.

“As most of the silk carpets come from Kashmir, the latest order, will break the back of the already suffering industry at a time when it needs support from the government,” Ashiq said in a statement issued here.

“The silk carpet and handmade carpet will get a RoDTEP at the rate of 1.2 percent against earlier 5 percent under MEI scheme. Most of the silk carpets are made in Kashmir and this order is a discouraging sign for the dying industry,” said Sheikh Ashiq, as the whole industry is disappointed.

According to him, 1.2 percent is the lowest RoDTEP, and we appeal to the Union Commerce Minister to review and hike it as it will help in revival of the ailing industry.

He also appealed to the B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, Commerce Secretary to Government of India who previously served as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory to help the people associated with this industry and reconsider new RoDTEP order and its impact on stakeholders.

Pertinent to mention, exports from J&K, especially handicrafts and silk are showing a decline trend and it will be further aggravated by the low RoDTEP which will make exports suffer. The KCCI suggested in coming days, a representation will apprise government of the problems and appraise the need for hike in RoDTEP.

The government has decided to extend the benefit of Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme to all goods, with effect from January 1, 2021, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Under the RoDTEP, various central and state duties, taxes, levies imposed on input products among others are refunded to exporters to boost exports.

Srinagar: The government on Tuesday said that the possible 3^rd wave of Covid will be defeated before its arrival, appealing the people to follow the standard Operating Procedures in letter and spirit.

Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the function, Director Health Services, Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather said that the government has already started preparations with regard to the possible third wave of Covid.

He added that oxygen plants with a capacity of 1000 LPM, have been set up in every district of the Valley. “As the possible 3^rd Covid wave will affect the children and women, the ICUs and NICUs have been set up in all the districts to tackle the situation,” he said.

Dr Rather further stated that as the preparations have been made, the possible 3^rd Covid wave will be defeated before its arrival. However, he appealed to people to follow the Covid related guidelines in letter and spirit, adding that following SOPs is the only way out to defeat the virus. (KNO)

Srinagar: At least three persons including an elderly man who were injured in road accidents succumbed to their injuries today.

A 75 year old man Ghulam Muhammad Parray of Preng area of Central Kashmir’s Kangan who was injured in a road accident at Preng on Sunday succumbed to his injuries at SKIMS Soura today.

An 18-year old youth Waseem Ahmed Sofi of Chakloo Sopore who had sustained injuries at Ladoora Sopore road accident died in the SKIMS Soura today.

Meanwhile, a motorcyclist from Kalaroos Kupwara, Javaid Ahmed Sheikh, who along with two others had suffered injuries in a road accident near Ganapora Crossing of Handwara died in hospital. (KNT)

Srinagar: Traffic will remain suspended on Wednesday on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.

No vehicle will be allowed from Jammu or Srinagar tomorrow to allow the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake weekly necessary maintenance and repair on the road, a traffic police official said.

He said frequent closure of the highway due to landslides and shooting stones during the winter, the Union Territory (UT) administration later decided to allow NHAI to undertake weekly maintenance on the road on every Wednesday so that the road remains open for traffic on other week days. Suspension of traffic results in shortage of essentials, particularly fresh vegetables and fruits in the Kashmir valley, where people entirely depend upon imports from other parts of the country, particularly during winter. (UNI)

Rotary Club honors Covid warriors, donates 250 Oxygen concentrators

Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Pandurang K. Pole today gave away certificates of recognition to the Covid Warriors of Kashmir for putting in relentless efforts to help Covid victims and also making efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

The felicitation ceremony was organized by Rotary Club of Kashmir and HN Wanchoo Trust here at Srinagar under the campaign “Welcome Zindagi- saving lives serving lives in Jammu & Kashmir” in presence of Director Health Services Kashmir (DHSK), Dr. Mushtaq A Rather besides dignitaries from Rotary International Club.

Parliament members in Rajya Sabha Vivek Tankha, Partap Singh Bajwa, Rajya Sabha; Tiruchi Siva, G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, Rajya Sabha, Pradeep Tamta, Dr. Vikas Mahatme, Dr. Amar Patnaik,  Dushyant  Gautam, V. Vijayasai Reddy, Dr. Banda Prakash, Ram Vichar Netam and Surendra Singh Nagar were present on the occasion.

Vivek Tankha on the occasion announced organising mega health camps under Rotary Rahat Mission in Kashmir, opening of school for specially abled children in Srinagar and Jammu and organising mega mental health awareness campaigns in Jammu and Kashmir.

The club announced distribution of over 250 Oxygen concentrators in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It also launched Rotary Rahat Medical Mission in Jammu and Kashmir for needy patients besides announcing opening of schools for specially-abled children in Jammu and Kashmir regions and launching mental health awareness programs.

Speaking on the occasion, the Div Com said the local administration made every effort to contain the Covid in Kashmir by administering vaccines to beneficiaries in every nook and corner of the Valley. He hailed the initiatives of the Rotary Club for their initiatives to honour the Covid warriors and assured full support from the administration.

The DHSK, Dr. Mushtaq said that the health workers have left no stone unturned to treat the people when their dear ones were leaving them at hospitals and it was only these doctors and paramedical staff who were treating them in these difficult times.

He also said as compared to other states the Kashmir valley had fewer mortality rates and it was only possible because of cooperation among the departments and various other institutes like Rotary Club.

Dr Mushtaq said that the department has completed the vaccination above 45 in all the districts of Kashmir, and is fully prepared with the third possible wave, and added 1000 LPM oxygen plants have also been installed at every district.

Speaking on the occasion, President Rotary Club Kashmir Dr. Amit Wanchoo said the aim of this Welcome Zindagi initiative is that people came back to life after the two consecutive Covid-19 Waves.

He also said that our aim is also to provide facilitation to those who worked hard during the Coronavirus and risked their lives for the safety of others.

Of these 250 Concentrators, the Rotary Club will distribute 100 each among Kashmir and Ladakh while 50 will be given to Jammu.

Dr. Wanchoo said Welcome Zindagi is a two year campaign during which they would reach to each and every corner of the Jammu and Kashmir and help change lives.

The Members of Parliament also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the contributions of the Rotarians in reaching out to the needy people across the country. They said the Welcome Zindagi is a holistic initiative which will change the lives of the needy people here.

By: Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported 83 new coronavirus cases while one person succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.

They said 38 of the cases were reported from Jammu Division and 45 from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall case tally to 323582.

Regarding the death, they said, it was reported from Jammu, taking the fatality count to 4398—2159 in Jammu and 2240 in Kashmir.

Providing the district-wise details, they said, Srinagar reported 17 cases, Baramulla 5, Budgam 3, Pulwama 4, Kupwara 4, Anantnag 2, Bandipora 2, Ganderbal 3, Kulgam 3, Shopian 0, Jammu 9, Udhampur 0, Rajouri 8, Doda 7, Kathua 1, Samba 0, Kishtwar 5, Poonch 5, Ramban 0 and Reasi 3.

A number of these cases were confirmed at diagnostic laboratory of CD hospital here.

The CD cases include male (60) from Hazratbal Srg, female (60) from Rajbagh, female (60) from NA, male (55) and female (20) from Dalgate, male (45) from CD Hosipital Srg, male (60) and female (55) from Basant Bagh, male (53) from Hyderbal, female (50) from Narwara, female (17) from Kanyakumari, male (90) from Soura, male (45) from Mill Stop and male (27) from Nigeen Srinagar.

Moreover, the officials said that 153 more COVID-19 patients have recovered—58 from Jammu Division and 95 from the valley. So far, 318025 people have recovered, leaving active cases at 1158—473 in Jammu and 685 in Kashmir.

There was no fresh confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today. Thus far 42 black fungus cases have been confirmed in J&K, the officials added. (GNS)

Srinagar: Police on Tuesday lathi-charged photojournalists as they were capturing latter’s action against the Muharram mourners who were trying to carry protests in defiance of the curbs imposed by the government at Jahangir Chowk here on Tuesday.

Reports said that police deputed in the area targeted the journalists who were covering the protest amid curbs in the area as well in the adjoining areas on 8^th of Muharram.

A police officer was seen in action leading the policemen in lathi-charging the journalists.  Not official statement was issued till late in the evening what made the police attack journalists, the scribes however said the police action was sudden and that they were discharging their professional duties.

Meanwhile, the former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti termed the “thrashing” of the journalist unfortunate.

“Very unfortunate to see J&K police personnel mercilessly thrashing journalists in Srinagar. These people were simply doing their jobs – reporting the news. They don’t make the news & they don’t engineer events to create the story. I hope @OfficeOfLGJandK will ensure no repeat,” Omar said in a tweet.

Reacting to damage to the camera of freelance photojournalist Sajad Hamid, Omar said: “He’s an independent photo-journalist. His camera is his livelihood. The administration owes it to Sajad to compensate him for the loss he has suffered while working.”

PDP chief and former Chief Minister tweeted: “Media is spending hours debating the human tragedy & unfolding crisis in Afghanistan but will they speak up for their own community in Kashmir who were beaten to pulp today by security forces for doing their job?” (GNS)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board on Tuesday commenced Computer Based Written Test (CBT) Examination for more than 1200 posts.

This is the first written examination by the JKSSB after second wave of covid-19 reared its ugly head again, forcing postponing of the various examination earlier this year.

The posts were advertised vide Advertisement Notification No. 02 of 2021 and CBT examination shall continue till August 24 at various centres in Jammu, Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla. Around 62000 candidates are scheduled to appear in the examination, a senior official of the JKSSB said. (GNS)