Kulgam: A militant was killed in South Kashmir’s Kulgam village on Sunday.

Police said that based on specific input about the presence of militant in village Sursano Kulgam, a cordon and search operation was launched by Kulgam Police and soldiers from 34 Rashtriya Rifles.

During the search operation, the militants hiding in the orchids started firing indiscriminately upon the security forces, which was retaliated leading to an encounter.

In the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed whose identity is yet to be ascertained. Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the dead body. All the recovered material has been taken into case records for further investigation.

In this connection an FIR vide number 46/2021 under relevant sections of law has been registered in Police Station Yaripora and investigation has been initiated. (KNT)

Cheers for India Olympic team in Mann ki Baat

New Delhi: A day after India won its first silver medal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the ‘Victory Punch Campaign’ has already begun on social media.

The Prime Minister urged people to share victory punch along with team and cheer for India. He said, “These sportspersons have reached where they are after overcoming numerous hurdles in life. Today, they possess strength of your love and support. Come let’s extend our good wishes to all of them, encourage them.”

He said, “at Tokyo Olympics, watching Indian sportspersons’ march carrying Tricolour exhilarated not just me but the entire country, as if the whole country unitedly exhorted her warriors saying, ‘Vijayi Bhava’ (emerge victorious)!”

He also remembered the Kargil war and said that it is one symbol of bravery and patience on the part of India’s Armed Forces which the whole world has watched. “I wish you read the enthralling saga of Kargil, let us all bow to the bravehearts of Kargil.”

He said a recent study done by MyGov discovered that 75 per cent of those who send their messages and suggestions to Mann Ki Baat are below 35 years of age.

This means that Mann Ki Baat is the view of the youth of India. Mann Ki Baat is a medium where there is positivity and sensitivity, he said.

The Prime Minister also mentioned about T.S. Ringphami, a young aeronautical engineer by profession who is involved in apple cultivation which is gaining significance in Ukhrul, Manipur and the farmers there are now cultivating apples in orchards. These farmers also went to Himachal Pradesh to take proper training.

He said that 32-year-old Bikramjeet Chakma from Unakoti, Tripura is earning good profit after starting ‘ber’ cultivation and is motivating others for its cultivation.

The name of Isaac Munda also came up in the PM’s Mann ki Baat from a village in the Sambalpur district of Odisha who once worked as a daily wage labourer but now has become an internet sensation and earning well through his YouTube channel. In his video, he shares local delicacies, traditional food recipes, his village, lifestyle, family and food habits.

The Prime Minister also appealed to people to use Khadi and handloom products in his monthly radio programme. (IANS)

Kargil: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat on Sunday visited the border town of Drass and reviewed the security situation and operational preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

An Army official said Gen Rawat took a firsthand review of the security situation and operational preparedness of the troops at the forward locations along the LAC in Drass, the second coldest place in the world. Gen Rawat also interacted with the troops during his visit to the forward locations. The General was briefed about various aspects of the security situation by senior Army officials during his visit.

The Chief of Defence Staff complimented the troops deployed along the LAC for their high morale and exhorted them to remain resolute and steadfast.

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning a special event narrating the stories of Operation VIJAY was organized by the Army at Lamochen near Dras where an account of the epic battles on Tololing, Tiger Hill, Pt 4875 and other prominent features was narrated with these very landmarks visible to the audience in front of their eyes.

Lt Gen MV Suchindra, GOC White Knight Corps along with Kargil War Heroes Sub Sanjay Kumar, PVC, Sub Yogendra Singh Yadav, PVC, including the gallantry award winners and VeerNaris and NOKs of Kargil War attended the event. The narration took everyone down the memory lane showcasing the daring feat achieved by the valiant soldiers of Indian Army.

On Friday, to mark the 22 years of the Kargil war victory, 25 bikers from Indian Army reached the Drass Kargil War Memorial from Udhampur. The two-day bike rally was flagged off by PVC Subedar Sanjay Kumar from Udhampur. (UNI)

Shillong: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the target of providing pure drinking water to every household in the country before the completion of 75 years of Independence.

Shah said that Modi has set the target of providing pure drinking water to every household in Meghalaya on the occasion of 50 years of the northeastern state. “If the source of water is not pure then people will not be healthy,” the Home Minister said after inaugurating the Greater Sohra Water Project on the second day of his two-day visit to Meghalaya.

The Rs 25 crore project was jointly launched by the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the Government of Meghalaya under the North-East Special Infrastructure Scheme to provide pure drinking water through taps to every household of the mountainous state.

Shah said that there is an ambitious programme to provide drinking water to 2,80,000 families in the state of Meghalaya, which is clubbed into 1,874 small projects. He said that the task of delivering such an ambitious project in this remote area is extremely important and challenging. The Union Home Minister later garlanded the statue of Swami Vivekananda at Ramakrishna Mission in Sohra and participated in the prayers programme.

Union Minister for DoNER G. Kishen Reddy, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Department of Space Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, DoNER, B.L. Verma, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma among others also accompanied Shah. (IANS)

Srinagar, July 25: Militants snatched the service rifle of a policeman on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police sources said.

Sources said an AK-47 rifle was snatched from a policeman in the Shamsipora Khudwani crossing area by militants.

Police said a search operation is now going on to trace the assailants. 

Srinagar: Security forces on Sunday averted major attacks by recovering four Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the frontier Kashmir district of Kupwara.

Official sources said that following specific information, a joint Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched by 41 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and police in the Ladriwan area in Kupwara.

“During the CASO, security forces recovered four IEDs packed in a bag and four bundles of wire (10 meters long each),” they said.

Sources said a Bomb Disposal Squared (BDS) was immediately summoned to defuse the IEDs. “The area has been cordoned off to prevent anyone from coming towards the spot,” they said.

They said the search operation was going on when the reports last came in. (UNI)

New Delhi: The Centre has launched a web portal to facilitate submission of applications and identification of children eligible to receive support under the ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme.

The scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting children who have lost both parents or surviving parents or legal guardians or adoptive parents due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The scheme aims to ensure comprehensive care and protection of such children in a sustained manner, enabling their wellbeing through health insurance, empowering them through education, and equipping them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs 10 lakh, on reaching 23 years of age.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched the web-based portal pmcaresforchildren.in for the purpose, and the module on child registration and identification of beneficiaries has been made functional and will be regularly updated with necessary information.

Chief Secretaries of all states and Administrators of all Union Territories have been asked to direct the District Magistrates to identify the children eligible for receiving support under the scheme and provide the portal with the details to enable prompt assistance to these children.

States and UTs have also been advised to take steps for registration of children which needs to be completed within the next 15 days. The Ministry has also requested the Chief Secretaries and Administrators to personally monitor the progress of data entry in the portal. (IANS)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported 166 new covid-19 cases, 28 of them from BSF, even as there no was death due to the virus in last 24 hours, officials said on Sunday.

They said 34 of the cases were reported from Jammu Division and 132 from Kashmir Valley, taking the case tally to 320657.

Providing the district-wide details, the officials said that Srinagar reported 66 cases, Baramulla 18, Budgam 9, Pulwama 10, Kupwara 5, Anantnag 4, Bandipora 1, Ganderbal 9, Kulgam 9, Shopian 1, Jammu 9, Udhampur 3, Rajouri 5, Doda 3, Kathua 0, Samba 1, Kishtwar 5, Poonch 2, Ramban 1and Reasi 5.

A number of these cases were confirmed at diagnostic labouratories of SKIMS and GMC Anantnag.

The SKIMS cases include female (40) from Khag Budgam, male (74) from Rawalpora, female (35) from Bun Makhama, female (7) from Gopalpora Chadoora, male (40) from Kuzwera Chadoora, male (32) from Beehama Gbl, male (33) from Shahgund, twenty eight males (58, 50, 40, 44, 41, 38, 29, 31, 30, 29, 29, 45, 34, 41, 57, 52, 47, 29, 27, 27, 38, 53, 29, 41, 57, 57, 52, 41) from Ch BSF Humhama, female (15) from Ganderbal, female (40) from Srinagar, female (22) from Ahmadnagar, female (38) from Natipora, female (45) from Ramban.

The GMC Anantnag cases include female (40) from Bhan, female (17) from Qaimoh, female (85) from Laripora Ang.

So far 4374 people have succumbed to the virus in J&K.

Moreover, they said, 197 more COVID-19 patients in last 24 hours have recovered—79 from Jammu Division and 197 from Kashmir, taking the number of people who have recovered in J&K to 314995. With this, there are now 1288 active cases—483 in Jammu and 805 in Kashmir.

There was no new confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today. So far 35 black fungus cases have been confirmed in J&K, the officials added. (GNS)

Srinagar: National Conference (NC) President and Member of Parliament Dr Farooq Abdullah on Sunday asked both India and Pakistan to be consistent, coherent and serious in their nascent engagement and ensure people of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh live a life free from unending miseries.

Dr Abdullah made these remarks while addressing party functionaries at two separate meetings at Laamad and Devsar, Kulgam.

Emphasizing that there is no substitute to dialogue, he said the moves and the messages indicating a thaw in relations between both the neighboring countries has put brakes on the escalating tensions. “For the entire chest thumping, both the countries cannot win a war against each other. Sooner both the neighboring countries realize the ground reality; the better it would be for both the nations,” he said.

He said it would be for the early return of lasting peace and stability to Jammu and Kashmir and the entire region.

Necessitating on the need of having result oriented dialogue between India and Pakistan, he said, “The dialogue process will benefit the people of Jammu and Kashmir the most. Both the nations, I have maintained all along, have to live side by side. It is up to them, if they want to live as enemies or supportive friends and partners in development. Both countries can achieve much by joining hands in progress.”

Dr Abdullah further said that if the ties between both the nations are to improve than they have to come out of their shells and narrow down the space of their differences and source of conflict between them to get together on the table to work towards an environment that recognizes the concept of J&K’s historical individuality, uniqueness of its socio-political complexes and restoration of its political dignity and historical selfhood.

Emphasizing on NC’s support to the peace and camaraderie between the two neighbors, he said that the party has all along been a strong votary of Indo-Pak dialogue. “There is no substitute for dialogue.  But the dialogue should result in JK centric CBMs including resumption of cross-LoC trade through a proper banking mechanism and doing away with the present barter system . Such JK centric CBMs will indeed help the two neighboring countries solve their disagreements amicably and in an objective manner for the greater good of the people of JK, Ladakh and the entire region,” he said.

He asked the workers to draw lessons from the worrying disadvantages of disunity impressing upon the workers to work towards strengthening the democracy and the party fortress. “The last person out there in Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh is looking up to us with sheer optimism that we will salvage the entire region from murderous manifestations of communalism, and regionalism and to catapult the people from the prevailing economic distress, and instability,” he said.

New Delhi: In less than ten months since the launch of the campaign, tap water has been made available in 66 per cent schools and 60 per cent anganwadi centres across the country, the ministry of Jal Shakti has informed.

Nine states and one Union Territory have 100 per cent provision of clean tap water supply in all schools, ashramshalas and anganwadi centres, despite Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown.

To ensure clean tap water supply to children in schools, anganwadi centres and ashramshalas (residential schools) for their wellbeing and better health, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2020 launched a campaign to make provision of tap water supply in these institutions.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti said, “In less than ten months since the launch of this campaign, tap water has been made available in 6.85 lakh (66 per cent) schools, 6.80 lakh (60 per cent) anganwadi centres and 2.36 lakh (69 per cent) Gram Panchayats and Community Healthcare Centres (CHCs) for drinking and cooking mid-day meal, 6.18 lakh schools have tap water in toilets/urinals and 7.52 lakh schools have tap water for hand washing facility.”

In Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, provision of clean tap water supply in all schools, ashramshalas and anganwadi centres have been made, despite Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown resulting into repeated disruptions, the ministry said.

To ensure safe tap water to children, on September 29, 2020, Prime Minister Modi appealed to all States and UTs, to reach every school and anganwadi centre with tap water connection on priority basis.

On October 2, 2020, a 100-day campaign was launched by Union Jal Shakti Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to bring awareness and a sense of urgency to provide clean drinking water to children across the country.

To ensure water availability and treatment of used water, in 91.9 thousand schools, rain water harvesting and in 1.05 lakh schools, grey water management systems have been put in place. This will not only boost the water availability but also create awareness among children and inspire them to learn water management in their growing stage.