Srinagar: Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Security, J&K, Dr S D Singh Jamwal Wednesday visited Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium Sonawar Srinagar.
ADGP Security reviewed the security and police arrangements put in place for smooth and secure conduct of Independence Day celebration.
Ganderbal: The increasing numbers of stray dogs in Ganderbal district have become a cause of grave concern for the inhabitants of the district who are not able to move around freely.
Locals of several villages in Ganderbal said that the problem has assumed a serious dimension with concerned authorities turning a deaf ear to the public outcry.
Locals said that herds of dogs can be seen on the prowl at various areas of the district including busy markets of Beehama, Duderhama and other adjoining areas.
The increasing number of stray dogs are posing a grave threat to the life of people and the movement of people, especially children, elders and women has become difficult during morning and evening hours.
People have alleged that the steep rise in dog population was due to their transportation from urban areas during night hours and have appealed to the concerned authorities to tackle the menace at an earliest so that people heave a sigh of relief.
Inhabitants alleged that the authorities are doing nothing to control the menace. “Scores of dogs are seen on the prowl at various areas of the district including busy markets of Kangan, Ganderbal and other places,” they said.
The locals said that the dogs are posing a grave threat to the life of people besides they cannot move easily, especially children, elderly persons and women. They said it has become difficult during morning and evening hours to move at ease.
“We are living under threat due to the dog menace; we cannot move freely on roads and go to mosque during wee hours,” said Qaiser Ahmad, a local resident. He said that “our school going Children are vulnerable to attacks by stray dogs which forced us to stop them from attending school.”
Locals said that municipal authorities have failed to look into the matter despite repeated requests to them. They have appealed the concerned authorities to tackle the menace at an earliest for the convenience of the people. (KNO)
New Delhi: Amid faceoff with the Opposition the Rajya Sabha could not work properly and most of the time was wasted in disruptions.
As per sources, the productivity of the House went down to 28 per cent against average productivity 95 per cent in last five sessions. However, the official data could not be avail till the story was filed.
The Upper House of the Parliament was scheduled to function till Friday but was adjourned two days ahead. On the last day, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, while thanking the members, said that 21 Bills were passed in the House.
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned sine die on Wednesday, two days before the scheduled end of the Monsoon session, but not before a major faceoff between the Opposition and the government with both blaming each other for the disruption of proceedings.
The Lok Sabha was also adjourned sine die earlier in the day.
In the Upper house, Goyal demanded that the Chairman should constitute a special committee to enquire about the behaviour of the MPs, as done in Lok Sabha in the past, and “strict action should be taken as mere suspension will not work”.
He alleged that the Opposition, right from the first day, had planned that it will not allow the House to function.
Earlier after passing of the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill 2021, which aims to restore the states and Union Territories’ power to make their own OBC lists, The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 were passed amid the din.
There is no end as far as road accidents are concerned. Many precious lives continue to be lost while many people suffer disability, some for lifetime. The consequences of a tragedy often endure long after the mishap is over. Road accidents occur due to multiple causes such as over-speeding, use of Mobile phone, drunken driving including consumption of alcohol, drug or overloaded vehicle, vehicular condition, poor light condition, jumping red light, overtaking, neglect of civic bodies, weather condition, fault of driver, fault of pedestrian, driving on wrong side, defect in road condition, defect in condition of motor vehicle, automobile design, etc.
As per the data made available in the parliament recently, the government said 3564 accidents in 2020, across India occurred due to potholed roads alone. Even the numbers are lesser than such accidents in last three years with 4775 reported in 2019 and 4869 in 2018; this is substantial given the fact that there were restrictions on account of lockdown due to covid-19 pandemic and as such restricted vehicular movement also.
As per figures available, 3,19,028 accidents happened due to over-speeding, 12,256 were caused due to drunken driving/consumption of alcohol & drugs, 24,431 were as a consequence of Driving on wrong side of lane/ indiscipline while 10,522 were result of mobile phone use, accounting for 2.3% of the total accidents.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, in 2019, at least 4,37,396 road accidents were recorded in India, resulting in the death of 1,54,732 persons and injuries to another 4,39,262 persons. Jammu and Kashmir has gained the notoriety of being amongst the states or UTs having the highest percentage of unnatural deaths including due to accidents in the country. 1009 people died in 5839 road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a study by the World Bank on road accidents, every death in India caused by a road accident leads to the depletion of nearly seven months’ income in the households of poor families and pushes the victims’ kin into a vicious cycle of poverty and debt. The low-income rural households, predictably, are hit the hardest.
There is a need to lay down engineering standards and complaints procedures that will help citizens hold the concerned to account. There is also need for education, civil society cooperation and professional policing besides muscular enforcement of law through tougher penalties for seat belts, drunken driving, smartphone use and other violations. Otherwise the carnage will only increase.
Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: For the first time in the history of Jammu & Kashmir, chairpersons of District Development Councils (DDCs) will take salute at all district headquarters, excluding Srinagar and Jammu, on the occasion of Independence Day.
In a letter, a copy of which is lying with The Precious Kashmir, the General Administration Department (GAD) has communicated to both the divisional commissioners that DDC chairpersons shall preside over I-day functions at district headquarters and take salute there.
The DDC elections were held in November – December last year by UT administration after Central government amended “The J&K Panchayat Raj Act-1989 under The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.”
Subsequently, in February this year, the DDC members elected chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in all 20 districts of the UT.
According to the GAD communiqué, J&K’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha shall preside over the main function and take salute on the Independence Day function, at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket stadium, Srinagar.
“Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, advisor to Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor shall preside over the main function and take salute at Maulana Azad Stadium, Jammu,” reads the communiqué.
The letter further added that other advisors, Mayors of both capital cities and DDC chairpersons of Jammu and Srinagar, shall attend the main function in their respective cities.
According to the letter, Block Development Council chairpersons and President Municipal councils/committees shall take salute at their respective block headquarters and respective municipal headquarters.
As per the official data, there have been 26 floods that have occurred since 2017 across India.
While eight of them were reported in 2017, five occurred in 2018, four in 2019 and 7 last year. Jammu and Kashmir saw the worst flooding in 2014 which had a devastating impact. Nonetheless no major flood has occurred since then even as flash floods wreaked havoc at some places amid cloud bursting. It is also not the case that while major floods have not occurred since 2014, repeats would not happen. In fact the number of people exposed to floods worldwide has increased by almost a quarter over the last two decades, as per an analysis of satellite-based data by Columbia University’s Earth Institute, the report of which was published earlier this month. Among its main findings is that almost 86 million people moved to flood-prone regions between 2000 and 2015. The reason was attributed to economic necessity. Also the finding revealed that most flood events were caused by excess rainfall, followed by storm surges, snow or ice melt, and dam breaks.
The climate change scenarios were analysed using high-resolution regional climate model. Simulations for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s indicate an all-round warming for Indian subcontinent. Impact of climate change and climate variability on the water resources are likely to affect irrigated agriculture, installed power capacity, environmental flows in the dry season and wet season.
There are various causes of floods. They happen due to both greater than normal rainfall, and the limited capacity of rivers, drainage and water harvesting structures to withstand and discharge excess rain. While climate crisis is causing substantial disruptions in monsoon patterns, scientists having been warning that floods will only become more frequent and powerful. To minimise loss, it is only proper planning that can insure against the inevitable extremities of nature including floods.
To reduce the impact of flooding, it is also critical to go back to basic practices such as planting more trees, stop destroying and encroaching on the floodplains of rivers besides increasing drainage capacities.
It is also imperative for the government as well as the people to take warnings of scientific risk assessment seriously.
The government needs to recall, time and again, the scientific consensus that future rain spells may be short, often unpredictable and very heavy, influenced by a changing climate. There is a need to invest in reliable infrastructure to mitigate the impact of flooding and avert disasters like one in 2014 when almost half of Srinagar and many villages in south Kashmir were devastated.
By: Afaq Bhat
Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that saffron of Jammu and Kashmir would be marketed through National Agricultural Cooperating Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) is a major step towards revival of saffron industry in the Valley.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The saffron industry in the past suffered a lot due to inconsistent policies of the past regimes.”
It’s in place to mention here that saffron production took a massive hit during the past 30 years as the industry was not fetching the desired results. With the government’s intervention and strenuous efforts under the Saffron Mission, farming has been revived. New technology and incentives have come handy for the farmers. “The NAFED being assigned the job to market the saffron will help the growers and would encourage more and more people to join the saffron cultivation,” the analyst added.
The Prime Minister, while making the announcement about handing over the saffron marketing to the NAFED, said, “Jammu and Kashmir’s world famous saffron will be sold across the country. This will give a big boost to Saffron farming in J&K.”
“Prime Minister Modi deserves kudos for doubling the income of saffron farmers in 2021 much before the target of 2022 set by him,” said an observer.
With the creation of Saffron Park the price of saffron has also increased. The income of farmers has also doubled.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for the sale of saffron through NAFED. “I express my deepest gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making J&K’s Kesar available at all outlets of NAFED nationwide which will enhance profitability of the Kesar producers and directly connect local farmers in the market,” the LG said in a tweet.
The government in the recent past has taken initiatives like Geographical Indication (GI) tagging and Spice Park at Pampore. These steps have proved to be game changers for the saffron growers. “The India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC) providing an e-auction for the saffron growers has helped them in fetching a good price for their crop. The GI tagging has provided an authentication certificate to the saffron in national and international markets where customers buy genuine saffron instead of fake brands sold in the name of Kashmiri Saffron,” the observer added.
According to the observers the National Saffron Mission has helped the growers in two ways i.e. one is that it has provided latest technologies of farming, besides it has provided incentives for saffron cultivation.
Kashmiri saffron remaining available at ‘NAFED’ shops across the country will further provide a boost to the world’s precious spice with respect to its marketing.
Srinagar: Ten civilians, two of the women, were injured in a grenade blast at a busy market in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Official sources said that the militants hurled a grenade towards security forces in Hari Singh High Street near Amira Kadal area of Central Kashmir’s Srinagar district at around 1445 hours.
However, they said, the device missed the target and exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to ten civilians who were shifted to nearby hospital for treatment.
Soon after the blast, a large posse of police and paramilitary forces reached the spot and cordoned off the entire area. Massive searches and frisking followed the incident, they said.
“Following the grenade attack, all the entry and exit points in and around Lal Chowk area were sealed and all the Nakas/checkpoints across the City Srinagar were activated,” a police spokesman said.
“During the intensive checking, a joint naka party near Makkah Market apprehended a suspicious person and upon the search of his bag recovered 02 live grenades. He has been identified as Adil Farooq Bhat son of Farooq Ahmad Bhat resident of Khrew Pampore, a journalist working as Sub-Editor with (local) News Agency.”
“It is pertinent to mention that the arrestee Adil Farooq was arrested earlier also in Feb-2019 and detained under PSA for his involvement in providing logistics as well as other support to the active (militants) operating in Khrew area,” the spokesman said.
Police have registered cases under relevant section of law regarding both the incidents and investigation is going on vigorously from all the angles viz-a-viz today’s grenade throwing incident and subsequent recovery of two live grenades, he said. “More arrests are expected and further details shall follow.”
The injured have been identified as Aparna (35) wife of Ranjit Bera of Culcutta, at present HSH Street, Owais Ahmad son of Ghulam Mohammad Laway of Chanpora, Gulzar Ahmad Ganai son of Ghulam Mohideen of Ajas Bandipora, at present Magarmal Bagh here, Raigan Singh son of Janak Singh of Ramban, , Abdul Gani Shah son of Abdul Ahad of Seel Beerwah, Mushtaq Ahmad of Khumani Chowk Bemina (TSO Food and Supplies), Tariq Ahmad son of Muhammad Shafi of Burzhama Srinagar, Suhail Ahmad Dar son of Farooq Ahmad Dar of Chadoora, Zualikha Wife of Mohammad Hafeez of Kargil and Firdous Ahmad Kotta son of Gulam Ahmad of Bemina. (GNS)
Srinagar: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) man was injured on Tuesday when militants attacked a security forces party in Kashmir’s Shopian district.
According to the police, the attack took place in Zainapora village.
“One CRPF jawan identified as constable Ajay Kumar of the 178 Battalion was injured in this attack. He has been shifted to hospital for treatment. The area was cordoned off for searches,” the police added. (IANS)
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday said that 57 local youth went to Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) on valid visa documents, but joined militant outfits there.
Dilbag Singh, Director General of Police said in a press conference in Rajouri district, “Of the 57, 17 youths returned along with weapons and got killed in encounters. 13 are still active here and 17 are living across, who are under constant watch of the J&K Police.”
The DGP said these youths crossed the LoC on valid documents and visas in 2017 and 2018. “But instead of studying there, they joined militancy”, he said.
The DGP said that because of the fact that youth who went to the other side of Kashmir on the pretext of studies and tourism later ended up in militancy, the visa procedure and security clearance has been made more strict.
About infiltration, he said so far 3 to 4 groups, including one in Bandipora and around three in the Rajouri-Poonch sector infiltrated into this side.
“Four militants who were killed in Bandipora had crossed over to this side through Machil and Gurez sectors while in Rajouri two militants were killed recently and there are apprehensions of the presence of two more”, DGP said.
He said launch pads are full across the LoC and the security forces have strengthened the anti-infiltration grid both at the LoC and in hinterland to foil all infiltration attempts. (IANS)
Precious Kashmir was registered in 2014. Today Precious Kashmir can well and truly take pride in the legacy of its work, and in its contribution towards the building of a free and fair Press in J&K state.
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