Jammu: Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane on Wednesday visited the forward areas along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Jammu districts.

Gen Naravane is on a two-day visit to the White Knight Corps and the forward areas including Akhnoor, Rajouri and Naushera.

On arrival at the White Knight Corps HQ, Gen Naravane accompanied by Lt Gen Y K Joshi, Northern Army Commander, was briefed by Lt Gen Suchendra Kumar, General Officer Commanding, White Knight Corps regarding the prevailing security situation, Operational preparedness, COVID-19 Management and the assistance provided to the Veterans and the people of the region in our fight against the pandemic.

The COAS, accompanied by the Northern Army Commander and GOC White Knight Corps, thereafter visited the forward areas at Akhnoor, Naushera and Rajouri.

General Naravane interacted with troops deployed in the forward areas and appreciated the sustained efforts of all Ranks of the White Knight Corps towards maintaining the sanctity of the Line of Control as well as wholeheartedly assisting the civil administration, veterans and civil population specially in Border areas to combat the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Later in the day, the General Officer visited the Military Hospital at Jammu and reviewed the medical preparedness for COVID -19.

He appreciated the vital critical care being provided by the doctors and health care workers and awarded them appropriately.

Jammu:  Suspected grenade attack was reported in the Nud area of Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, police here said on Wednesday.

However, nobody was injured in the grenade blast.

Police here on Wednesday said that explosion took place on Tuesday night near a check post in the Nud area following which an alert was sounded.

“Searches were carried and on Wednesday morning splinters of a grenade was found few metres away from the check post in a nullah,” a senior police officer told UNI.

He said that it seems that the grenade was lobbed at the police party while no injuries were reported in the explosion.

Teams are on the spot and investigating the matter.

Gaza: Relentless rocket fire and rioting in mixed Jewish-Arab towns fuelled growing fears on Wednesday that violence between Israel and Palestinians that has claimed lives of 48 Palestinians.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Hamas and other Islamist groups in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza, while Palestinian militants have launched more than 1,000 rockets since Monday, said Israel’s army.

The most intense hostilities in seven years have killed at least 48 people in Gaza, including 14 children, two Palestinians in the West Bank, and five Israelis, triggered by weekend unrest at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

One multi-story residential building in Gaza collapsed and another was heavily damaged after they were repeatedly hit by Israeli air strikes.

Israel said its jets had targeted and killed several Hamas intelligence leaders early on Wednesday. Other strikes targeted what the military said were rocket launch sites, Hamas offices and the homes of Hamas leaders.

It was the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza, and prompted international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.

Gazans’ homes shook and the sky lit up from Israeli attacks, outgoing rockets and Israeli air defence missiles intercepting them. At least 30 explosions were heard within a matter of minutes just after dawn on Wednesday.

UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full-scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.

“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working with all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he wrote.

Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz vowed more attacks on Palestinian militant groups in Gaza to bring “total, long-term quiet” before considering a ceasefire.

“The army will continue to attack to bring a total, long-term quiet. Only when we reach that goal will we be able to speak about a truce,” Gantz said in the southern city of Ashkelon which has been hit by Palestinian rocket fire.

Israelis ran for shelters or flattened themselves on pavements in communities more than 70 kilometres up the coast and into southern Israel amid sounds of explosions as interceptor missiles streaked into the sky.

In the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Lod, near Tel Aviv, two people were killed after a rocket hit a vehicle in the area. Lod and other mixed towns have been gripped by angry demonstrations over the Gaza violence and tensions in Jerusalem.

Six Israelis killed in rocket attack

Six people in Israel, including three women and a child, were killed by rocket fire on Tuesday and early Wednesday, while 45 others have been injured.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said a 50-year-old woman was killed when a rocket hit a building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion, and that two women had been killed in rocket strikes on Ashkelon on Tuesday.

No details were shared on the identities of the two people killed in Lod, where Jewish and Palestinian Muslims live.

Hamas’s armed wing said it fired 210 rockets towards Beersheba and Tel Aviv in response to the bombing of the tower buildings in Gaza City.

Israel’s military says that around a third of the rockets have fallen short, landing within Gaza.

For Israel, the militants’ targeting of Tel Aviv, its commercial capital, posed a new challenge in the confrontation with Hamas.

The violence followed weeks of tension in Jerusalem during the month of Ramazan, with attacks by Israeli police on Palestinian protesters in and around Al Aqsa Mosque.

Violence also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in separate clashes, near Nablus and near Hebron, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognised by the international community.

‘No dearth of drugs, continuously getting medical supplies from GoI’

Srinagar:  General Manager (GM), Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation (JKMSC), Dr Abdul Majid Mirab Wednesday said there is no dearth of any Covid-19 related drug in Kashmir and the same is distributed among the Covid care hospitals as per the demand and requirement.

“Since we are dealing with the Covid supplies and its distribution, so it becomes imperative for us to make it clear to the general public that the situation of medicines is perfectly alright, as the medicines that we require for the treatment of Covid-19 are available with us in adequate quantity,” General Manager said.

He said that their mandate is that from diagnosis to treatment they are providing every required medicine/ medical supplies to the patient. “In terms of diagnostics, we provide Rapid Antigen, RTPCR logistics to the end users like the Directorate of Health Services, Government Medical College and SKIMS-JVC Medical College to conduct investigations,” Dr Mirab added.

If we talk of stock position in terms of Oxygen cylinders and Concentrators we have been getting the same from the Government of India continuously, he said adding, “Yesterday we also received 200 Oxygen Cylinders and we also got 100 certified Oxygen concentrators and the same are also being distributed among the concerned quarters.

General Manager said that the stock position of JKMSC is perfectly fine and there is no need to worry and they are also upgrading the facilities from time to time.

Besides this, he said that on the directions of Lt. Governor of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the JKMSC has been providing Covid Management Kit for home treatment to the patients who are detected Covid-19 positive.

“This kit is given to such patients on spot after he is reported Covid-19 positive through Rapid Antigen Test or the same is handed over to him at his home if he has been confirmed positive through RTPCR test and the Covid Management Kit contains pulse oximeter and other mandatory medicines required for the treatment of the virus,” he added.

Mirab said that there is a monitoring system that keeps track of the health of the patients under home isolation and keeps guiding them till they turn negative. “With the existing monitoring system in place, the person is called twice by the concerned officials to check his health status including pulse and saturation level and on that basis patients are being managed at home,” he added.

He said the public should not pay heed to rumours; rather the only important thing that people should focus on right now is to follow the Covid-19 related SOPs and guidelines in letter and spirit to come out of this pandemic.

Srinagar: Body of a 15-year-old girl, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping in Jhelum last week, was on Wednesday recovered from the river in  Srinagar.

Official sources said the girl (name withheld) allegedly committed suicide by jumping into river Jhelum near Budshah Bridge in the city on May 6. “A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, but the body of the girl was not found,” they said.

They said panic gripped Panzinara area in the city when some locals saw a body of a girl floating in the river on Wednesday morning. “The locals immediately informed the police,” they said, adding a team was rushed to the area and the body was taken away.

They said police has registered a case and initiated investigation to ascertain the circumstances which forced the girl to commit suicide. “After completing all the legal and medical formalities, the body of the deceased would be handed over to her relatives for last rites,” they added.

Srinagar: The maximum temperature remained below normal due to overcast condition and intermittent rain in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley, where wet weather is predicted during the next 48 hours.

However, barring world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, the night temperature settled above normal across the valley.

A Met department spokesperson said light to moderate rain and thunder storms would occur during the next 48 hours in the valley under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which is active in the region.

He said there is a weather warning during the next three days, during which lightening, thundershowers and hails with gusty winds (30-40 km/hour) would occur at isolated places.

After witnessing above normal night temperature, people woke up to a chilly and rainy Wednesday morning in the summer capital, Srinagar, where people could be seen wearing sweaters and jackets to keep themselves warm. There was slight improvement in the weather as sun played hide and seek in the afternoon. But, as the day progressed, rain lashed the city in the evening, resulting in further dip in the temperature. The night temperature in the city improved marginally from Tuesday and settled at 12.8 degree, which is about 2 degree above normal.

He said the light rain and thundershowers would occur during the next 24 hours in Srinagar, where the maximum and minimum temperature would settle at 20 degree and 12 degree, respectively.

Intermittent light rain lashed world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, resulting in chilly weather conditions during the day.

World famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, also received moderate to heavy rain in the evening, resulting in dip in the maximum temperature. The night temperature at the resort also dipped about 3 degree from Tuesday and settled at 5.7 degree, which is slightly above normal.

Srinagar: Police on Wednesday suspended Constable allegedly involved in beating of a doctor and a paramedic in Shopian district of South Kashmir.

The police action follows letter by medical Superintendent of district hospital Shopian to the Deputy Commissioner of the southern Kashmir district, seeking action against concerned police personnel for beating a doctor and a paramedic during Corona Curfew.

A senior police officer said Constable has been placed under suspension for violating clear instructions by IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.

The order of his suspension has been issued by SSP Shopian, the officer said.(GNS)

Srinagar:  Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Wednesday paid rich tributes to Jammu & Kashmir’s renowned journalist Shujaat Bukhari who was assassinated three years ago on the 29th of Ramadan.

Lone in a statement said that Late Shujaat Bukhari Sahib will be remembered by coming generations as a torchbearer of steadfastness, courage, and unbiased journalism.

He said even when three years have passed since Shujaat  left us all, yet he continues to make an indelible mark on the young minds that are always eager to contribute through their pen and words.

“Shujaat was a proud Kashmiri, a champion of its language and culture, and someone who sought dialogue over slogans and violence. Shujaat was a lover of peace and never shied away from his responsibility to strive for making it an inseparable feature in peoples’ lives here. He worked tirelessly to ensure a dignified, peaceful, and tranquil future to the coming generations. It was his impeccable courage and unbiased approach towards his profession that gave sleepless nights to those who are out there to rob Kashmir of its intellectual property and fearless voices. His independence of mind cost him his life,” Lone said.

The PC chairman also hailed the role played by late Shujaat in reviving the lost Kashmiri language and instilling new life into the dying Kashmiri language by launching the first Kashmiri Newspaper Sangarmaal.

“He was a consistent believer in peace and reconciliation who fought at the forefront for Kashmir’s dignified tomorrow”, he added.