By: Mubashir Aalam Wani

Srinagar: In a bid to combat the deadly pandemic, the district administration Srinagar on Wednesday enforced 50 per cent opening of shops in the markets and other places across the district. However, the traders objected to the move, saying that the government should rather go for a shutdown on a rotational basis and that too after taking them on board.

Pertinently, Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir has recorded sharp increase in the number of daily COVID-19 positive cases from past over two weeks, thus forcing the administration to take a series of measures to contain the virus from spreading.

In one such measure, the administration today enforced 50 per cent opening of shops with officials stating that the shops and business establishments will remain open on a rotational basis.

“Markets having shops on both sides of the road will remain open on a rotation basis on a particular day while markets having shops on one side of the road will remain open on an odd-even basis,” Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar had said in an order yesterday. Besides, the public transport shall as per the order be permitted to ply only at 50 per cent of authorized seating capacity.

However, the traders’ community expressed resentment against the order, saying that the decision will not help contain virus. They also complaint that they have not been taken on board before announcing the new decision.

While talking to KNO Noorudin, a shopkeeper from Lal Chowk said: “we can’t follow the opening of markets on rotation. Instead we can open shops on alternate days.”

Farooq Ahmed, another shopkeeper from Lalchowk said “ There is no benefit of this kind of rotational lockdown. Administration should impose area wise lockdown like one day for uptown and one day for downtown areas as that is a better option “.

President Traders Federation Kashmir Muhammad Yaseen Khan said: “ It is a surprising decision taken by authorities as nobody from association was taken on board. Administration should talk to traders first before imposing any Restrictions on traders.”—(KNO)

By: Tasaduq Hussain

Srinagar: With the resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities have ordered the setup of oxygen generation plants to ensure there is no crisis and people from remote areas in the northern belt aren’t made to suffer for want of oxygen.

North Kashmir alone has a total of 1562 active cases as on Tuesday and has reported 316 deaths with the highest figures of positivity and fatality in the Baramulla district alone.

The patients requiring a high flow of oxygen from twin districts of Bandipora and Kupwara were referred to either Srinagar or Baramulla.

Talking to KNO a senior official of Mechanical Hospital and Central Heating, a wing of Mechanical Engineering Department Kashmir said that the three districts in north Kashmir including Kupwara, Bandipora, and Baramulla will have 1000 oxygen Liters Per Minute (LPM) generating plants and all of them will be made functional in the ensuing week.

The official said that in North Kashmir, Kupwara will be the first district to have the oxygen generation plant functional with a capacity of 1000 liters per minute (LPM).

He said that the work is underway and the trial has been conducted successfully and hopefully the remaining will be finished by tomorrow evening.

“Subsequently it will be finalized in a day or two for use with pipe connections to all the beds separately,” an official said.

In Baramulla, the official said that Government Medical College (GMC), already has 350 Liters Per Minute (LPM), plant functional, and the work for an additional one thousand oxygen generating plant is underway and is expected to be finalized this week only.

An official said that the work for the oxygen generation plant is underway with one thousand Liters Per Minute (LPM) capacity is also underway at Sopore and it will be made functional in a couple of days positively while the trial will be conducted by tomorrow.

About Bandipora, the official said that the work is underway and more required material is being sent, and hopefully, it will be made functional sooner.

The official also said that given the spike in COVID-19 cases in the valley the Health Department has tasked us (MED) to make one oxygen generation plant functional in every district.

“Most vital gadgets required for the plant have been imported. It’s very helpful for the patients requiring a high flow of oxygen besides there is no need of an additional person or cylinder even no transportation of any logistics is required at all,” an official said.

He said that not only during the COVID-19 but patients with different problems including respiratory need a high flow of oxygen will have much ease.

By: Rachel V Thomas

New Delhi:  Increasing efforts towards faster mass vaccination and virus surveillance is the key to ward off dangers posed by a triple-mutant coronavirus now present in the country, health experts said on Wednesday.

The B1617 variant, first detected in Maharashtra, contains mutations from two separate virus variants — E484Q and L452R. The third mutation evolved from the double mutation where three different Covid strains combined to form a new variant.

Two of these triple-mutant varieties have been found in samples collected from Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

The RNA virus has the potential to acquire mutations as it replicates and spreads. These mutations can, sometimes, result in virus variants with better adaptability to its environment.

“As the virus spreads, it gets more opportunities to acquire mutations and evolve at a faster rate. This is a natural aspect of virus life-cycle but it is very important that we track these changes (virus surveillance) and follow the important viral characteristics associated with these mutations,” Dr Veena P. Menon, Faculty-In-Charge, Clinical Virology Laboratory, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, told IANS.

While the SARS-CoV2, causing the Covid-19 infections, has evolved at a much slower rate compared to Influenza or HIV viruses but as the number of infections rises, we are observing a rapid emergence of numerous viral variants.

With the increase in the number of infections and spread, there are more opportunities for the virus to mutate.

“As the infections are increasing at an alarming rate, there is a very high likelihood that we will encounter more virus variants in our population. Some of these variants get selected for faster transmissibility (spread) or ‘increased severity’ (more pathogenic) and also “immune (vaccine) escape”, Menon explained.

The evidence so far suggests that none of the important virus variants are associated with increased severity. However, an increased transmissibility is associated with the UK variant (lineage B1.1.7) while the Brazilian and South African variants exhibit ability to escape vaccine-induced immunity.

“Mutation in the respiratory virus is a natural process. This process is augmented in situations of high spread and presence of vaccinated people in the community. We will see more variants in India in future too,” Dr Harshal R. Salve, Associate Professor at Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS New Delhi, told IANS.

Stricter implementation of public health infection control measures like usage of masks, social distancing and vaccinations are all key to prevent the spread. Besides, the need is to continue monitoring the virus evolution, the experts said.

“Combining genetic surveillance methods with evaluation of the biological and clinical characteristics of these virus variants will aid in better understanding virus variants and its clinical and public health impact,” Menon added.

Vaccinations can play a great role in curbing the spread of Covid.

Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, is able to “effectively neutralise” the double mutant strains, including the UK variant and the Brazil variant of the coronavirus, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said in a report.

By: Quaid Najmi

Nashik (Maharashtra): In a horrific incident, at least 22 Covid-19 patients on ventilator support died at a Nashik public hospital after an abrupt drop in pressure due to leakage in oxygen supplies, and two others succumbed later, officials said.

The tragedy occurred at the Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital run by the BJP-controlled Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), which is among the biggest civic bodies, and in one of the worst Covid-19 hotspots in the state.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and other senior Central and state leaders cutting across political lines expressed their grief over the tragedy that occurred on the day of Ram Navami.

Visiting the tragedy-hit hospital this evening, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that according to NMC officials and experts, there were certain technical glitches while oxygen was being transferred from a tank which caused a sudden variation in the pressure of the oxygen being administered in the Covid-19 ward, and 24 patients on ventilator beds died gasping for breath within minutes.

“However, the NMC authorities handled the crisis very efficiently and helped prevent a bigger tragedy. They managed to save a part of the oxygen, which is stored at below minus 180 degrees Celsius,” said Tope.

People were left speechless as visuals of the tragedy were posted on social media with the invisible gas stored in the tank under extremely cold minus-temperatures suddenly gushing out in snow-white, hissing clouds, with workers and others running around in panic. Some technicians were seen struggling with the controls to curb the deadly outflow.

At that time, around 150 patients were undergoing treatment on oxygen or ventilator beds but when the oxygen pressure plummeted without warning, the hospital staffers were seen running helter-skelter to save their lives by shifting them to other wards or nearby hospitals.

“It’s a very serious incident… coming due to a drop in pressure of the oxygen being administered to the patients,” Tope said of the tragedy, which happened as the state struggles to beef up its oxygen supplies.

Shaken by the sudden loss of their near and dear ones, wailing relatives slammed the NMC authorities, demanding to know who would take responsibility for the tragedy.

NMC Municipal Commissioner Kailash Jadhav termed it as “a very sad tragedy”, ordered a probe into the incident and assured action against all found guilty of lapses.

He said that owing to the leak, the oxygen supply was stopped for around half-an-hour, which culminated in the disaster that claimed 24 Covid patients.

Nashik Collector Suraj Mandhare attributed the deaths to the pressure drop in the oxygen tank, which is managed and maintained by a private company.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that he was stunned to learn of the tragedy, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and his party workers to extend all assistance to the victims’ families.

CM Thackeray said that “the state is numbed” by the sheer calamity in the midst of the Corona war being waged by the state and announced a total compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased.

Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar condoled the tragedy and assured a high-level investigation, with condolences also coming from Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray and other ministers. The Leader of Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis, described the incident as “terrible and disturbing”.

Hitting out at the BJP, Congress state spokesperson Sachin Sawant said: “The hospital is managed by the NMC which is under the BJP. The BJP must take responsibility. Where are the party’s Mayor and 3 MLAs.”

Besides Tope, state ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Rajendra Shingane, Chhagan Bhujbal and other senior leaders rushed to Nashik for a spot assessment of the situation.

BJP’s Leader of Opposition in Council, Pravin Darekar, however, attacked the MVA government and demanded lodging of cases under culpable homicide against NMC Commissioner Jadhav, accusing him of being “solely responsible” for the incident.

The Nashik incident has become the worst Covid-related tragedy in the past 13 months of the pandemic, days after a mega-fire killed 11 persons at a Mumbai hospital on March 26.

New Delhi: With nearly 3,00,000 fresh COVID-19 cases, India reported its biggest-ever single-day spike at 2,95,041 infections that has pushed the overall tally to 15,616,130, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday.

The country also registered the highest-ever single-day spike in Covid-related deaths with 2,023 fatalities, pushing the death toll from the deadly infection to 182,570.

With the current surge, there are more than 2.1 million active cases across the nation.

Badly-affected cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal, Kolkata, Allahabad and Surat have almost run out of hospital beds with no available ICU beds in sight. The cities are now frantically converting extra capacity and hotels and stadiums into COVID-19 care centres.

With 277 deaths and 28,395 new infections, several government hospitals in the national capital on Tuesday complained of the shortage of oxygen stock, saying that it would last only for few hours and “people will die” if they do not get oxygen.

The top 10 states that have contributed the most to the daily Covid-19 tally in the past 24 hours are Maharashtra (62,097 cases), Uttar Pradesh (29,574 cases), Delhi (28,395 cases), Karnataka (21,794 cases), Kerala (19,577 cases), Chhattisgarh (15,625 cases), Madhya Pradesh (12,727 cases), Gujarat (12,206 cases), Rajasthan (12,201 cases) and Tamil Nadu (10,986 cases).

As many as 1,67,457 patients recovered and got discharged in the last 24 hrs, pushing the total number of recoveries to 1,32,76,039. Meanwhile, a total of 29,90,197 people have been administered nCoV jabs since Tuesday. The total number of vaccinations administered now stand at 13,01,19,310.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the nation this morning to follow the Covid-19 guidelines. Greeting the country on Ram Navami, PM Modi asked people to follow all the protocols in place to avoid getting the infection and keep the mantra of “dawai bhi, kadai bhi” in mind.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday over the coronavirus situation in India, he asserted that lockdowns should be the “last resort” to deal with the raging pandemic.

Globally, India has the second-highest case tally in the world after the US with more than 15 million cases, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

Govt constitutes Special task force to identify, screen  such employees
Srinagar: The administration of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has set-up a Special Task Force to identify and scrutinize the cases of employees suspected of being involved in the activities prejudicial to the security of the State for terminating them from service.

According to an order issued by the General Administration Department, a copy of which is in possession of KNO the government has constituted the STF under the chairmanship of additional director general of police, Criminal Investigation Department to scrutinize the cases of employees suspected of activities requiring action under the  proviso (C) of Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India.

Under the proviso (C) of Article 311(2), the government is empowered to terminate an employee without recourse to the normal procedure if it is satisfied that his/ her retention in public service is prejudicial to the security of the State.

The STF also comprises Inspector General of Police Kashmir/ Jammu, representative of Home department not below the rank of additional secretary, representative of Law department not below the rank of additional secretary and representative of the concerned department, as necessary, not below the rank of additional secretary.

The STF has been empowered to compile records of such employees and refer it to the committee constituted last year.

On July 30, 2020, a committee headed by J&K Chief Secretary and comprising  administrative secretary Home department, Director General of Police, administrative secretary General Administration Department, additional director general of police, CID and administrative secretary department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs was set-up to scrutinize and recommend cases under the proviso (C ) of the Article 311(2)

According to the GAD order issued this evening, the STF headed by ADGP, CID has also been empowered to engage with other members of Terror Monitoring Group(TMG) for identifying such other employees, as necessary

It is worthwhile to mention that the PDP-led regime terminated 12 employees for indulging in anti-national activities in 2016

In a first move of its kind by a civilian Government in J&K, the regime dismissed the employees on charges of  leading protests in their respective areas during the  2016 unrest—(KNO)

Re-Registration of outside vehicles

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday asked Regional Transport Officer Kashmir to file affidavit before it by tomorrow, indicating therein as to what necessitated the issuance of March 27 circular, mandating the vehicle owners who have purchased their vehicles bearing outside registration number to apply for a new registration within fortnight.

A division bench of Justices Ali Mohammad Magrey and Vinod Chatterji Koul also made it clear that pendency of the petitions would not be an impediment for traffic for the Transport Authorities to screen the vehicles with non-local registration mark for checking their veracity vis-a-vis the documents and the bonafide entry into the territorial limits Jammu and Kashmir. However, the court said that such exercise shall be undertaken by the officials of the transport department only.

Earlier, RTO Kashmir, who was present through virtual mode, submitted that the decision to notify the circular was taken in a meeting convened by the Secretary to the Government, Transport Department for ensuring screening of the vehicle which bears the non-local registration. The officer upon being pointedly asked by the court as to whether any exercise was undertaken to meet the requirements of Section 46, 47 and 50 of the Motor Vehicles Act by the Transport Department, he submitted that he has no records to that effect.

“Since the officer was not in a position to satisfactorily demonstrate the origin of the circular and his authority to issue it, the court feels it appropriate to ask the officer to file his affidavit before the court by tomorrow (April 22), indicating therein as to what necessitated the issuance of circular and remain present in person along with records on the next date,” the court ordered as per GNS.

The Secretary to the Government, Transport Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammu, shall also remain present through virtual mode on April 21, the court said further.

Last week, the court had also directed the authorities to file response to the petition filed by one Irshad Hussain Munshi, a resident of Buchpora Srinagar. The court has however already declined to hear the plea as a Public Interest Litigation.

The petitioner, Munshi, has sought directions to the concerned authorities to quash RTO Kashmir’s circular dated March 27, mandating the vehicle owners who have purchased their vehicles bearing outside registration number to apply for a new registration as per the provisions of Section 47/50 of Motor Vehicle Act 1988 within a prescribed period of 15 days, failing which action as warranted shall be initiated against them.

He also sought directions also clarify by way of a circular or order on the issue of levying of tax on the vehicles purchased outside J&K if the previous owner of the vehicle has already paid the tax on the vehicle.

He also sought directions to clarify by way of circular from which period the tax is to be levied on the vehicles.

Munshi has also sought directions to the concerned not to seize or impound or fine the vehicles bearing outside registration number in pursuance of the RTO’s circular.

He also sought direction to the authorities concerned to give the public ample period of time for submitting heir documents for re-registration and also sought directions to amend/relax the rules in order to avoid inconvenience to the general public. (GNS)

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has sought an affidavit by the Law Secretary with regard to creation of promotional posts in the court’s computer section.

A bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Javed Iqbal Wani passed the order after law secretary informed that for want of certain formalities, the proposal could not be considered by the competent authority. The officer submitted that after the High Court completed all the requisite formalities and submitted the financial implications involved in the creation of posts proposed, the matter is being considered by the competent authority. As a matter of fact, the court observed that there is one communication of law secretary with the reply affidavit which indicates that a meeting was conveyed on 19 April 2021 in the office chambers of Financial Commissioner, Finance to discuss issue and take a final decision on the recommendation made by High Court. What is the outcome of meeting, however, is not shared, the court observed, as per GNS.

B A Dar, Sr. AAG, sought four weeks’ time to file fresh affidavit, indicating the decision taken by the law secretary with regard to the creation of posts already recommended by the High Court with all the requisite formalities complete.

On last date of hearing, the court had castigated the Law Department for not filing of status with regard to recommendation made by the court on the issue.

The petitioners, employees appointed as Data Entry Operators in Srinagar wing of high court, have filed the petition, seeking creation of four posts of Selection Grade Data Entry Operators, two posts of Section Officer (Computer), two posts of Assistant Registrar-I and  One post of Assistant Registrar-II so that they would be entitled for fair chance of promotion.

They sought a direction from the court that the authorities be directed to remove the stagnation of the petitioners by creating promotional avenues on the analogy as has been evolved in the cases of other categories of posts in the court. (GNS)

Srinagar: Rains lashed parts of Kashmir Valley even as minimum temperatures rose amid cloud cover, officials said on Wednesday.

A meteorological department official told GNS that Srinagar received traces of rain while it recorded a low of 10.4°C against 8.9°C on the previous night. It was 1.5°C above normal in the summer capital of J&K.

Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, received 2.0mm of rain during 24 hours till 0830 hours and recorded a low of 7.4°C against previous night’s 4.9°C, the official said.

Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, received 3.8mm of rain and recorded a low of 5.3°C against 1.4°C on the previous night, he said.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, received 5.2mm of rain during the time and recorded a low of 5.8°C against previous night’s 4.8°C, the official said.

Kupwara in north Kashmir had 0.3mm of rain and recorded a low of 7.7°C against 4.5°C on the previous night, the official said.

Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, received 1.6mm recorded a low of 1.4°C against minus 1.0°C on the previous night, the official said.

“Fairly wide spread light rain/thundershowers is expected in Jammu and Kashmir,” the official said for forecast for next 24 hours.

For subsequent two days, the official said that “widespread light to moderate rain/thundershowers are expected.”

Srinagar: After remaining closed more than a day, Jammu-Srinagar highway, the only surface link connecting Kashmir with outside world, shall reopen for one-way traffic on Thursday for one-way traffic.

“Tomorrow  (April 22), subject to fair weather and better road condition, LMVs (Passenger) shall be allowed from Jammu towards Srinagar  on Jammu-Srinagar highway,” a traffic department official said in a statement.

“Commuters are advised not to travel on Jammu-Srinagar highway without confirming the status of road from TCU Jammu/ Ramban/Srinagar in view of inclement weather prediction issued by Met department upto 22-04-2021.”