Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Tuesday released the e-Compendium of 2177 projects completed under Back to Village Programme during 2020-21, compiled by Finance Department, here at Civil Secretariat.

While speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor outlined the impact the Back to Village Programme has made in taking governance to the grass-roots level.

J&K Government embarked on a unique mission- Back to Village (B2V) which has been a catalyst for development and a revolutionary step for people-centric governance, observed the Lt Governor.

Giving a pictorial depiction of as many as 2177 projects completed under the Back to Village programme, the newly released e-Compendium rightly depicts the success of ambitious initiative of the J&K Government, said the Lt Governor.

The UT Government has laid down a strong foundation through programmes like Back to Village where the top levels of administration and local population are working in a spirit of Jan-Bhagidari, thus empowering the people in a true sense, said the Lt Governor.

Highlighting the significance of putting the Government’s work in the public domain, the Lt Governor observed that the e-books are part of the efforts of the Administration to enhance transparency and accountability by providing information that can be easily accessed by the citizens, besides serving as a reference for all stakeholders, including policy planning and executing agencies.

Pertinently, the public outreach programme-B2V even gets a mention by the Prime Minister in the ‘Mann-Ki-Baat’ as a festival of development, public participation and awareness.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lt Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Administrative Secretaries and other concerned officers were present on the occasion.

‘JeM militants who killed policeman, his family in Awantipora identified’

By: Amjad Hussain

Srinagar: A top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a foreigner were among two militants killed in an overnight encounter with government forces at Maloora area of Parimpora in the city outskirts, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at Police Control Room (PCR) here, IGP said the LeT commander whom he identified as Nadeem Abrar was arrested by a joint team of police, CRPF and army at Parimpora prior to his killing in an encounter at Maloora area.

The provincial police chief said the slain commander after being arrested was taken to the police station wherein he confessed having kept an AK-47 rifle in a house at Maloora.

He said Abrar after disclosure was taken to the site for recovery of weapon, however lost his life after a foreign militant hiding out-there opened fire upon the search party. IGP said a pistol was recovered from Abrar while two AK-47 rifles were recovered from the encounter site.

“During sustained interrogation, Abrar confessed having kept an AK-47 rifle in a house at Maloora following which CASO was launched in the area. The moment the search party entered into the house for recovery, a foreign militant hiding out-there opened fire in which Abrar suffered injuries and later succumbed,” added he.

IGP said the slain commander had not informed that a foreign militant was present in the house wherein he had kept his weapon, however both of them were neutralized during an overnight gun battle. He said an officer and a CRPF man also sustained injuries in the ensuing encounter.

Kumar said the slain LeT commander was also wanted in a shootout case at Lawaypora in which three CRPF personnel were killed in March this year. IGP said Abrar along with another militant Khursheed Mir who he said was killed in an encounter at Sopore carried out the attack.

Elaborating, IGP said the rifle Khursheed Mir had snatched from the slain CRPF personnel has also been recovered. He said the militant outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF) recently released a video depicting Khursheed killing CRPF men and then snatching their weapon at Lawaypora.

IGP termed the killing of LeT Commander and a foreign militant who is believed to be from Pakistan at Maloora as a major success for the government forces.

Replying to a query whether there are LeT militants active in Srinagar, IGP said one among the six youth from Srinagar having joined the outfit was killed while five others will be killed or arrested soon.

“A sleeper-cell network is also active in Srinagar and our efforts to come across this nexus are on,” added Kumar.

Regarding recent killing of a policeman, Fayaz Ahmad his wife and daughter at Awantipora in south Kashmir, IGP said militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) had carried the attack and the assailants have been identified and will be arrested or neutralized soon.

“Two militants of JeM outfit killed the policeman and his family at Awantipora, both stands identified, while one is a local, another is a foreigner,” he added.

‘India to have comprehensive drone policy’

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening met Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and discussed the security situation following an unprecedented drone attack at the Jammu air base on Sunday, the sources in the security set up said here.

During a high level security meeting, discussions were held on futuristic challenges in the defence sector and equipping our forces with modern equipment,” the sources further said, adding that a comprehensive “Drone Policy’ is soon formulated to prevent Jammu air base attack like security challenges in future.

Before going to the meeting the Defence Minister was briefed by the top brass of the Air Force today on Drones and how to formulate a policy on them.

The security forces will be provided with modern equipment to meet the challenge of the weaponised terror drones in days to come, the sources further said.

The meeting was held under the backdrop of Drone attack on Jammu air base on the Sunday morning and also two similar flying objects were sighted in the Kaluchak military area on Monday.

The Defence Minister, who was on the three day tour of Ladakh, also briefed the Prime Minister about the security situation in the Ladakh and Jammu Air force station.

During wee hours on Sunday, the Indian Air Force’s Jammu station was hit by the two drone attacks causing minor injury to IAF personnel.

Sunday’s attack took place shortly before Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief General MM Naravane’s scheduled visit to Ladakh to review India’s operational readiness in the backdrop of the ongoing stand-off with China.

The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe to the terror attack which appeared to be the handiwork of Pakistan based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. (UNI)

New Delhi: Hours after the Ministry of Home Affairs handed over the probe into the drone attack at an Air Force Station (AFS) in Jammu to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the NIA on Tuesday registered a case to probe the matter.

An NIA spokesperson said that the anti-militancy probe agency, in pursuance of the MHA order, has reregistered the case under several sections of the Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The official said that while the NIA has been working with the other agencies since immediately after the incident, pursuant to the re-registration of the case, requisite actions as per the law have been initiated.

An NIA team had visited the blast scene on Sunday to collect samples from the spot.

In a first of its kind militant attack in the country, two drones were used to drop explosives at the vital military installation on the intervening night of June 26-27. Two consecutive explosions took place within a gap of five minutes at the high-security Jammu Air Force Station, injuring two personnel on duty in the technical area. The drones later flew away.

In the two back-to-back explosions, which occurred at 1.37 a.m. and 1.42 a.m., the roof of a building was damaged. However, the explosives missed the aircraft hangar nearby. No valuable equipment was damaged in the attack.

The Air Force Station is about 14-15 km from the nearest point on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The farthest that a drone from Pakistan has come so far on the Indian side of the IB and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region is 12 km.

Pakistan-based militants are suspected to be behind the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to attack the Air Force Station, officials said.

The attack on the Air Force Station took place a few hours after Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative with an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing nearly 5 kg in Jammu. (IANS)

By: Nadeem Nadu

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir reported 308 fresh covid-19 cases while six more people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.

They said 99 of the fresh cases were reported from Jammu Division and 209 from Kashmir Valley, taking the total count to 315298.

Regarding deaths, the officials said that four were reported from Kashmir Valley and two from Jammu Division, taking the fatality count to 4316.

Providing the district-wide details, the officials said that Srinagar reported 84 cases, Baramulla 29, Budgam 18, Pulwama 5, Kupwara 21, Anantnag 16, Bandipora 13, Ganderbal 12, Kulgam 9, Shopian 2, Jammu 12, Udhampur 16, Rajouri 8, Doda 22, Kathua 0, Samba 1, Kishtwar 20, Poonch 10, Ramban 9 and Reasi 1.

Moreover, they said, 493 more COVID-19 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours—149 from Jammu Division and 344 from Kashmir.  So far 306177 patients have recovered, leaving active cases at 4805—1968 in Jammu and 2837 in Kashmir.

There was no new confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today and thus the cumulative number of confirmed cases remained to be 29 in J&K.

A number of fresh covid-19 cases were confirmed at diagnostic labouratories of CD hospital here and GMC Anantnag respectively.

The CD cases include male (72) from Nehama Pul, male (22) from Shahabad, male (24) from Gundbal, female (55) from Nawakadal, male (75) from BB Cantt Srg, female (20) from Noorbagh, male (36) from HMT, female (45) and male (13) from Eidgah, female (60) from Srg, male (76) from Rajbagh, male (65) from Khalandar, male (40) from Palpora, two females (54, 67) and male (66) from NA, male (30) from Fatehkadal, male (60) from Lalbazar, female (58) from Nishat, male (50) from Tulail, female (26) from Bemina, female (40) from Peerbagh, female (32) from HMT, male (19) and female (22) from Bemina, female (35) from Barzulla, male (33) from Safakadal, female (33) and male (40) from Batmaloo, male (40) from Rambagh, female (85) from Soura, male (28) from Lal Bazar, two males (32, 11) from Nowshera, female (21) from Zakura, male (22) and two females (14, 50) from Lal Bazar, male (35) and female (9) from Hawal, female (20) from Bota Kadal, male (24) from Millstop, male (50) from Nowshera, male (44) from Elahibagh, female (19) and male (38) from Alamgiri Bazar, male (26) from Syedpora, male (70) from Brain, two females (23, 2) from Nigeen, male (65) from Habak, male (35) from NA, male (48) from Tailbal, male (60) from Zakura, male (45) from Habak, female (30) from Syedpora, male (82) from Harwan, two females (75, 45) from Mufti Bagh, female (22) from Zakura, female (29) from Nawakadal, female (34) from Khanyar, female (18) from Srg and male (17) from Brain Srinagar.

The GMC Anantnag include male (18) from Aishmuqam, male (12) from Shangus Ang, female (34) from Mehmoodabad, male (47) from Pashim Vihar Delhi, male (43) from Gurgaon Delhi, female (55) from Batakoot Ang, male (32) from Iqbalabad, male (38) from Hanji Danter, female (68) from Pushwara, male (42) from Brakpora, male (34) from Ashmuqam, male (7) from Brariangan Shangus, two females (25, 24) from Songlan Shangus, female (26) from Brariangan Shangus, female (24) from Deethu Shangus, female (38) from Yamrach, female (25) from Nadimarg, female (25) from Kokergund, male (15) from Batpora, male (40) from Paljan, female (50) from Hangalbush, female (28) from Nadimarg, female (46) from Kandipora, female (70) from Shurath and male (40) from Kokerhama. (GNS)

New Delhi: India reported 37,566 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 3,03,16,897, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

India reported less than 40 thousand daily COVID cases after 102 days.

Besides, the country also saw 970 deaths, pushing the total number of fatalities to 3,97,637. The fatality rate stood at 1.31 per cent.

A total of 56,994 patients recuperated during the past 24 hours, pushing the number of recoveries to 2,93,66,601. With these new recoveries, recovery rate jumped from 96.80 per cent to 96.87 per cent.

Now, active caseload further declined to 5,52,659, which is 1.82 per cent of total cases.

Meanwhile, weekly positivity rate remains below 5 per cent, currently at 2.74 per cent.

Daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.12 per cent, less than five per cent for 22 consecutive days, the Ministry added.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that a total of 40,81,39,287 samples were tested so far for coronavirus. Of this, 17,68,008 were tested on Monday.

Meanwhile, 32,90,29,510 doses have been administered since January 16 this year, of which 52,76,457 were administered in the past 24 hours. (UNI)

Srinagar: Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (INCCU) has selected J&K’s summer capital Srinagar among the two cities from India for UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) 2021.

INCCU is a government body which functions under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development with an objective to advise the Government in matters relating to the UNESCO.

In an endorsement letter, Under Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, mentioned that INCUU is pleased to endorse the applications for UNESCO Creative Cities Network, 2021 from Srinagar for Creative City of Craft & Folk Art along with Gwalior for Creative City of Music.

According to the website of UNESCO, the Creative City Network involves seven creative fields which include handicrafts and folk art, media art, film, design, food, literature and music.

Last year, UNESCO designated 66 new Creative Cities, of which southern Indian city Hyderabad (India) was selected in the field of Gastronomy while as Mumbai, capital city of Maharashtra, was designated in creative field of Film.

This year, the INCCU has endorsed Srinagar and Gwalior cities for Creative City of Craft & Folk Art and Creative City of Music respectively.

The UNESCO website mentions that the UNESCO Creative Cities bring a tangible contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative thinking and action.

It adds that through their commitment, cities are championing sustainable development actions that directly benefit communities at urban level.

According to the information available on UNESCO’s website, the UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.

The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level, adds the information.

Srinagar: Inhabitants of Baghat area of Barzulla on Tuesday expressed resentment against Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) authorities for allegedly allowing a blue-eyed person to raise a commercial building in a residential locality.

The local residents said that after an objection raised by them some three years back, the court had put the building permission in abeyance after it was found that a commercial building was being raised in the locality.

However, they said that the work at the building remained halted for quite some years, but has been resumed by the owner again today, raising apprehensions among the locals.

The locals said that they are meeting the concerned authorities in this regard on Wednesday to seek their intervention and ensure that the construction work on building, coming up for commercial purposes should be stopped forthwith.

Meanwhile, Ward officer Manzoor Ahmad said that he has already visited the place today where the owner provided him with some court documents and related files. “I have written to the higher ups and have attached the documents also to seek their directions whether the work has to be stopped,” he said.

He added that he will take action accordingly, adding that the owner has also given in writing in the court that the building is for residential purpose only and in case he is found violating the norms, then the building should be demolished. (KNO)