Srinagar: “Corona pandemic has affected mental health of the people due to isolation, restriction on movement, social gathering and idleness which has barred people to have normal social interaction and outdoor activities,” said Dr Junaid Nabi, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar on Wednesday.

Another reason which has affected mental health is fear, stigma and isolation period of Covid positive patients, Dr Junaid said.

“The fear of catching infection and the later repercussions has taken maximum toll on sound minds”, said the Psychiatrist and added that it is essential to overcome the fear psychosis with a positive mind that “the pandemic phase is temporary and this shall pass too.”

Besides, the stigma attached to covid-19 infection has also affected the mental health of patients, he said, while speaking about the behaviour of people towards covid positive patients. “Some people don’t come to help  infected patients, instead they run away from them” this behaviour is absolutely wrong, he said,  and called for a compassionate attitude towards patients to help them out of the disease.

Moreover, children and old aged people constitute two susceptible age groups who have been silently affected by the pandemic and it has also impacted  their mental health, Dr Junaid said. “As children haven’t been to school for one and half year now due to pandemic lockdown, they were not able to interact, play and express themselves with friends and classmates”, he said  adding that due to this isolation children tend to develop  stress and anxiety, which parents need to take care of so that children don’t feel lonely.

“Parents need to  engage their wards in various hobbies and creativity”, besides “working parents should capitalize this period to spend most of the time with children by involving them in physical and mental activities that would be beneficial for both parents and children.” he advised.

Regarding old aged people, psychiatrist said that they are vulnerable as well as easy target of virus and have been distressed with the pandemic. This age group also needs to be taken care of very well, he said. “It is the responsibility of younger members in a family to share valuable time with them and interact more and more with them to keep them in high spirits.

Further, he said that SOPs should be followed properly and in a standard way and stressed on the idea that following SOPs doesn’t mean to make your life miserable.

Srinagar: As part of a vaccination drive launched by the Government, the Information Department organized a vaccination camp for media persons at the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Srinagar.

As many as 100 media persons coming in the 18-44 age group were vaccinated today at the Media Complex of DIPR. The vaccination drive is being conducted on the directions of Director Information & PR Rahul Pandey. The journalists working in all districts of J&K are also being vaccinated at District headquarters.

The media persons working for international, national and vernacular press organizations got the first dose of the vaccine during the drive. Those inoculated with anti covid-19 vaccine included reporters, photojournalists, sub- editors, editors and  many journalists working with both print and electronic media outlets.

Speaking on the importance of holding vaccination for journalists, Haris Ahmad Handoo Joint Director Information said that media persons have been categorised as a  priority group for vaccination by the Government and nature of their duties is such that they come in public contact during reporting, that is why this high-risk group is being vaccinated on priority,”.

He said that the Information department in coordination with the Department of Family Welfare, MCH & Immunization and Health department shall ensure all media persons get vaccinated. The vaccination teams are being deployed by the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar in this regard.

Information department has urged all journalists working with print, electronic media to come forward for vaccination as it is important for their safety and their families as they have to perform their professional duties everywhere and require protection from the risk of contracting infection.

Later, JD Information thanked District Administration, Health & Family Welfare departments for deploying a dedicated team of doctors and paramedics for the vaccination drive.

Earlier vaccination drives have also been conducted for working journalists and staff associated with Media Organizations on 27th March and 22nd May at Press Club and another vaccination camp for Media was organized by District Administration Srinagar at Press Enclave on 25th May.

By: Owais Gul

Srinagar: Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir, over 83 lakh people have been tested across the Union Territory for the virus of which over 80 lakh were detected negative till May 26, 2021 (Wednesday).

Official figures revealed that 2,78,859 people have been tested positive across Jammu and Kashmir till May 26 (Today).

Of 2,78,859 cases, 43,892 are active positive cases in J&K, the figures further revealed, adding that 21,420 out of the total cases are travelers and 2,57,439 are others.

According to the official figures, a total of 83,59,251 tests have been conducted since the outbreak of the disease while 80,80,392 samples have been tested as negative till 26^thMay, 2021.

Figures suggest that a total of 2,31,265 people who were tested positive since the outbreak of the disease in J&K have recovered while 3,702 out of the total cases have died.

Of total 3,702 fatalities till May 26, 1,784 belong to Jammu division while 1,918 are from Kashmir division.

Pertinently, J&K, like other parts of the country, is grappling with the second wave of the COVID-19, which led to a steep surge in the positive cases from last one month. However, the figures suggest that the daily positive cases are declining with each passing day from the last nearly one week across the Union Territory.

On Tuesday, the Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla while chairing a high-level meeting to review the management of the COVID-19 pandemic across all Union Territories, was informed that through the Government’s timely response, the daily number of COVID-19 cases in J&K has reduced from an all-time high of 5500 to 2200 in two weeks. The same period also witnessed a reduction in the case positivity rate from 13% to 6.2%, Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam had informed the chair. (KNO)

By: Jahangir Sofi

Srinagar: Amid spike in Covid-19 cases and prevailing global pandemic situation, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has categorized the media persons under ‘High Risk Group’, after keeping in view the nature of their duties.

A top official while confirming the development, said that the government recently took a decision to keep media persons in the High Risk Group, after it was observed the nature of their duties in view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.

“Journalists are more vulnerable to get infected with the virus as they are always on the run and come in contact with many people. So DIPR today held a vaccination drive for left out journalists at the directorate office Srinagar, before that two vaccination drives were held in collaboration with Kashmir Press Club (KPC),” an official said.

An official said that they have directed all the District Information Officers to conduct the vaccination drive for journalists, and so far the vaccination drive has been carried at district Anantnag, District Budgam and District Baramulla.

On considering media men as frontline warriors, the official said, “We know the Journalists are at the frontline, and delivering their duties professionally, that is why the government has categorized them under the High Risk Group.”

“The matter will be looked into and taken up with the higher ups, whether there is any such policy decision to designate the journalists as frontline warriors, but the Journalists have been officially recognized now as ‘High Risk Group,” an official said.

During the inoculation drive at DIPR complex on Wednesday, Media Coordinator Shabir Ahmad and Bilal Ahmad said, after the directions were passed to coordinate with the Journalists who are yet to get vaccinated, many Journalists from print and electronic media came and took the jab.

“If there is still any left out journalist who hasn’t taken the vaccine can contact us during the office hours,” they said. (KNO)

Srinagar: The Joint Coordination Committee of City Center (JCCCC) Traders Wednesday appealed to the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to opt for unlocking as otherwise many would be left to starvation.

In a statement issued here, President Kashmir Retailers Association and General Secretary JCCCC, Farhan Kitab said the lockdown has badly affected the livelihood of lakhs of people who along with their families have been left at the verge of starvation.

He said from traders to transporters, the business community is badly affected especially for the city center shopkeepers, where no shop has been able to open for the last over a month.

He said let the government call a joint meeting of stakeholders and medical health experts to decide about the protocol for the unlock.

Kitab extended full support to the adherence of such prospective protocol of SOPs as would be set by the government.

He also sought a relief package for traders community and said the process should start with amnesty on payment of service bills like electricity, sanitation, special extension of the statutory dates of GST, exemption of interest and penalty for not filing the return by the statutory date and six month moratorium on bank interest and EMI without interest.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government continued to impose a strict curfew across the Union Territory for the 28^th straight day on Wednesday in order to prevent the Coronavirus from spreading.

Nonetheless, police in a statement claimed to have arrested 21 persons in the Valley and fined over 1100 people for violating the guidelines and norms.

Police and paramilitary troopers were deployed on the roads again today in order to enforce the Corona curfew in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, some of the areas witnessed a brisk movement of private vehicles throughout the day while the majority of the roads remained temporarily blocked after the forces erected concertina wires, which thwarted pedestrians as well as the vehicular movement.

Witnesses said that all the shops and markets remained closed across the Valley while only emergency services were seen functioning normally.

Meanwhile, a statement reads that during the last 24 hours, police have arrested 21 persons, lodged 15 FIRs and also realized fine to the tune of Rs 1,54,910 from 1118 people for violating the guidelines and rules throughout Kashmir.

“The special drive against the violators of Covid-19 guidelines and rules continued throughout all the districts of Kashmir Valley to ensure that people adhere to SOPs and guidelines envisaged by the government to curb COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.

Moreover, police urged people to cooperate in containing the spread of Coronavirus by following the SOPs, guidelines and protocols for the safety of the people. “The special drive shall continue throughout the districts of Kashmir Valley to strengthen the safety measures,” police said. (KNO)

Srinagar: A Sarpanch was on Wednesday arrested for duping two families by promising them of getting their kin, detained for questioning in a militancy related case, released in south Kashmir district of Anantnag.

Official sources said that two suspects (name withheld) were called for questioning in a militancy related case. “As the youth were being questioned, the family approached the local Sarpanch Nisar Ahmad, who sought money for the release of the youth,” they said.

“When the Sarpanch enquired about the youth, he was informed that they will be released if not found guilty,” they said, adding Nisar took Rs 1.1 lakh from the families to get the youth released.

They said the duo during questioning was found innocent and subsequently released. “After reports of Nisar taking money from the families came out, he was arrested and a case was registered in Police Station Anantnag,” they added. (UNI)

By: Tasaduq Hussain

Srinagar: Amid reports about the cap on the number of Hajj pilgrims by Saudi Arabia, the authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday said that the decision about the number of pilgrims to be allowed to perform Hajj this year was expected within a week.

Executive Officer (EO) J&K Hajj Committee Abdul Salam Mir said that no decision has been taken as of now about the number of pilgrims allowed to perform Hajj pilgrimage this year.

He said that a decision in this regard was expected to be taken within a week. “Around 8000 pilgrims have registered themselves for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage. We have also made vaccination mandatory for all those scheduled to perform Hajj given the COVID situation,” he said.

Salam said that no one will be allowed to proceed for Hajj pilgrimage without COVID-19 vaccination. “We don’t know whether all those who have registered themselves for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage have vaccinated themselves or not as the details were not available with them but no one will be allowed without it.”

Notably, reports said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to cap the number of pilgrims in this year due to COVID-19 situation.

They have also announced that anyone below 20 years of age and above 60 years won’t be allowed to perform Hajj this year. (KNO)

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Wednesday chaired a high level meeting to review the preparedness of Power Department for Jammu division in view of the ongoing summer season.

During the meeting, which was attended by senior officers of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (JPDCL), and J&K Power Transmission Corporation Limited at Raj Bhavan, the Lt Governor passed various important directions to streamline the power transmission and distribution system in the UT.

Stressing on speeding up the process of replacement of damaged transformers to avoid inconvenience to the people, the Lt Governor fixed an 8 hour deadline for replacement of damaged transformers in urban areas, while rural areas will get transformers replaced within 48 hours.

Adopt a futuristic approach, make procurements in advance and fix responsibilities for delays, besides taking corrective measures to provide consumers with the requisite facilities, the Lt Governor asked the Power Department.

He further emphasized on urgent re-examining of short-term and medium-term measures to minimize disruption in supply, network resilience, besides developing better synergy between officials at all levels.

In order to make the repair and replacement working more effective, the meeting decided that the transformers would get a Unique Identification number with details of Installations and repairs. One month’s timeline was fixed for preparing an online system for inventory management, executing a meter reading application for streamlining the process of power consumption, billing & collection.

The Lt Governor asked the concerned officers to rationalize the buffer stock of inventory in all districts in order to reduce the replacement time.

“Speed up the process of replacement of non-functional power infrastructure. Prioritize areas with more power consumption; put power curtailment schedules in public domain and address the issues of power outage in villages”, the Lt Governor directed the officers.

Directions were also passed to senior officials for monitoring of up-gradation work of grid stations, strengthening of distribution mechanism, transmission lines, while concentrating on immediate needs of power supply, focusing on maintenance of transmission and distribution networks.

The Lt Governor also directed the officers to take all necessary measures to reduce the transformers’ damage rate, besides upgrading the infrastructure to reduce instances of disruption causing power outages.

While taking the status of power supply to oxygen generation plants, the Lt Governor directed the concerned officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply with backup to the oxygen plants.

The Lt Governor further directed for making the response mechanism for power restoration prompt and more effective to ensure optimum power supply to every household in the summers.

Meanwhile, the Lt Governor took a detailed overview of the total Installed Transformation Capacities and peak demand met in Jammu Division during Summers 2020 and anticipated for Summer 2021.

He further assessed the present status of category-wise power consumers, district-wise power demand & supply position in Jammu, buffer stock of distribution transformers, augmentation of receiving stations, procurement of spares & inventory, status of branch cutting/ trimming of trees.

During the meeting, the Lt Governor also took stock of the implementation of directions passed earlier pertaining to strengthening of the Power sector in J&K.

Principal Secretary PDD, Rohit Kansal briefed the Lt Governor about preparedness of the department for the summer season, besides status of various projects for augmentation of power infrastructure in Jammu Division, including commissioning of 220 KV LILO-I Interconnection with PGCIL Jatwal , construction of 160 MVA 220/66  KV GSS Ghatti, Kathua along with its associated 220 Kv D/C Thein- Hiranagar Transmission line, construction of 160 MVA 220/66  KV GSS, Samba along with its associated 220 Kv D/C Jatwal-Samba Transmission line, capacity addition works at GSS Barn , capacity addition works at GSS Canal, capacity addition works at GSS Gladni.

BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner, Finance Department; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department & Information Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Jagmohan Sharma, Chairman JPDCL; Gurmeet Singh, MD JPDCL; Chief Engineers and other concerned officers attended the meeting.

Jammu: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam Wednesday held a meeting with the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department (R&B), to review the progress made under the flagship programme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana’ (PMGSY) in the previous financial year and fixed a target of completing 4,200 km of road this fiscal.

While appreciating the progress made in the previous financial year, the Chief Secretary observed that the Department has registered an unprecedented achievement by completing 3,300 km of rural roads under various schemes, thereby providing safe and secure all-weather connectivity to the eligible habitations.

The Chief Secretary maintained that the Department must utilize the acquired expertise in fast-tracked project execution to achieve a road length of 4,200 km this fiscal. The projected target includes 800 km and 3400 km rural road in Kashmir and Jammu province, respectively.

He asked the Principal Secretary to periodically review district-wise progress for timely resolution of bottlenecks and associated challenges. He advised the Department to prioritize works that are free from encumbrances while simultaneously resolving such issues/grievances in the projects facing delays.

The Department was also asked to maintain quality standards of new constructions and ensure creation of high-quality infrastructure, besides undertaking routine inspections of the works with focussed attention on maintenance works.

The Chief Secretary also reviewed issues related to un-awarded works, forest clearances, land acquisition, quality standards, and utility shifting.