Precious Kashmir

Met predicts fresh wet spell

Front

12/04/2021

Srinagar: Weatherman on Sunday forecast light to moderate rains in plains and snow over upper reaches from April 14 night.

“There’s no forecast of any severe weather till 14th. Expect another spell of light to moderate rain/thunderstorm and snowfall over higher reaches during April 14th night to April 15th,” Director Meteorological Department Sonam Lotus said.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures settled below normal across Kashmir.

A MeT official told GNS that the minimum temperature settled at 6.4°C against 6.8°C on the previous night in Srinagar. The temperature in the summer capital was minus 1.2°C below normal for this time of the season, he said.

Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of 4.0°C against 4.2°C on the previous night, the official said.

Pahalgam, the famous resort in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum of 0.9°C against 0.7°C on the earlier night.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of 4.8°C, same as previous night, the official said.

Kupwara recorded a low of 5.1°C against 3.7°C on the previous night, the official said.

Gulmarg record a low of 0.0°C, same as previous night and it was minus 0.5°C below normal for this time of the year in the world famous skiing resort in the north Kashmir, the official added. (GNS)

Rusted mines recovered in Samba

Front

United News Of India

12/04/2021

Jammu: At least five anti-personnel mines were found in the Border village of Dera in Rajpura block of Samba district, officials here said on Sunday.

Last week too, three anti-mines were recovered in the district.

Police sources that the rusted mines were recovered while digging at the house of one Darshan Lal at Dera, Samba.

One April 6, three rusted mines were found at the same place while digging, they added.

Police took the mines in its custody while a Bomb Disposal Squad Samba was pressed into service for neutralizing the bombs.

Baseer inspects yatra transit camps at Anantnag

Jammu & Kashmir

United News Of India

12/04/2021

Directs for augmenting facilities for ease of Amarnath pilgrims

Anantnag: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan Sunday inspected Yatra transit camps here and enquired about the arrangements and other facilities being put in place for the convenience of Amarnath yatris.

He visited the transit camps, Food Corporation of India Godown at Mir Bazar and Walnut Factory at Qazigund.

Baseer stressed upon the concerned officers to put in place proper arrangements in all respects to the yatries during the yatra.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Anantnag briefed the Advisor about the facilities available at the transit camps besides the upgrades being done for making the stay of pilgrims pleasant and comfortable.

The Advisor informed that the transit camps at Anantnag have a cumulative capacity for about 6000 pilgrims with provision of all basic facilities.

While taking stock of the preparations, Baseer directed the concerned officers to augment facilities on time for making the stay and journey of yatris smooth and easy.

He directed to earmark places for establishment of langers, ensure round the clock electricity to the camps, install peripheral electric lights and high mast lights in the area.

He also directed to install good quality toilets in requisite numbers, efficient drainage system with well laid paths and proper sanitation. He stressed on provision for adequate parking facilities with proper lighting at all places.

Emphasising on dewatering of camps during rains, he passed proper directions to install pumps that would ensure the same.

The Advisor impressed upon the officers to designate camp commanders and set up round the clock Control rooms headed by camp commander while coordinating with all the departments involved. He further directed for arrangement of medical facilities at all places with doctors and paramedical staff deployed there besides establishment of separate Covid centres. Advisor emphasized on passing of necessary guidelines to the pilgrims and adherence to Covid SOPs to be ensured for the safety of yatris. He directed to keep round the clock ambulances and fire services on standby mode at each camp.

He also called for earmarking Disaster Centre Gulab Bagh and GDC Qazigund as back up space for the accommodation of the yatris.

Admin reviews Covid containment measures at Lakhanpur

Jammu & Kashmir

Precious Kashmir

12/04/2021

DC Kathua, MD NHM stress on increasing testing counters, operating additional Covid Care Centers

Jammu: Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Rahul Yadav along with Mission Director NHM, J&K; Choudhary Mohammed Yasin, Sunday conducted visit to the main entry point of Union Territory of J&K Lakhanpur to take stock of the COVID-19 containment measures, especially screening and testing of inbound passengers.

The officers were accompanied by Addl. Director, NHM, J&K, Hitesh Gupta; Chief Medical Officer, State Surveillance Officer, Jammu, Nodal Officer Lakhanpur and other concerned officers.

During the visit, the officers took stock of arrangements put in place for testing of travellers coming from outside UT and other COVID control measures.

The meeting of Officers of allied departments was also convened wherein various issues were discussed. The meeting decided to increase testing counters for smooth movement of passengers; deployment of additional manpower including paramedics & supportive support and establishment of five additional DEOs under Emergency COVID Response Package through National Health Mission.

It was also decided that for proper testing of passengers including truckers stamping of the persons and necessary COVID-19 protocols need to be followed for which reorientation of the staff deployed for testing at Lakhanpur shall be conducted by Chief Medical Officer. For passengers coming by train at Kathua, directions were issued for enhancing RT-PCR testing.

Referring to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, the concerned officers were directed to keep extra vigil on travellers coming from outside UT and they were asked not let anyone go without sampling.

The officers were further directed to take all precautionary measures and ensure RT-PCR testing of travellers coming from Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujrat and other states that witnessed surge in Covid-19 cases in recent times. The opening of additional COVID Care Centers for isolation of asymptomatic positive travelers from other States/ UTs was also explored.

SMC conducts mega cleanliness drive of water channel

City

Precious Kashmir

12/04/2021

Srinagar, April 11: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation under the program “Azaadi Ka Amrut Maha Utsav” and “Sundays for Srinagar campaign” conducted a mega cleanliness drive of water channel flowing from from Bulbulbagh Bund Barzullah to Byepass a stretch of 3 and half kilometers.

The drive was completely supervised by Mayor Srinagar Junaid Azim Martu and Commissioner SMC Athar Amir Khan who actively participated in cleanliness drive.

Atleast 200 SMC sanitation workers were involved in the drive.

The two guests Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General Tourism, Govt of India and Priyanka Sulkhlan, From World Resources Institute also participated in the drive.

Besides Joint Commissioner Adm Mr Syed Abul Qasim, Chief Sanitation Officer Nazir Baba, other officers, officials, various NGOs including locals of the areas too participated in the drive.(KNS)

Girl killed, 5 injured in Awantipora car accident

City

Precious Kashmir

12/04/2021

By: Syed Aijaz

Pulwama: An 18-year-old girl died and five other sustained injuries in a road accident on Srinagar Jammu highway at Awantipora on Sunday.

Official said according to preliminary information a maruti car bearing Registeration No. JK19 0675 collided with a divider resulting in the car skidded off the road.

The accident took place at at Khanibogh near Barsu Awantipora Highway when the car was on its way from Tral to Srinagar, he said.

The official said one out of the six car occupants identified as Tanzeela Rasheed(18), Daughter of Abdul Rasheed Resident of Wagad Tral of Pulwama District sustained serious injuries and was shifted to hospital but she succumbed way to SMHS Hospital.

“Five other Persons travelling in car who have been identified as Iqra Yousuf Daughter of Mohd Yousuf , Manzoor Ahmad Dar Son of Ab Rasheed Dar, Rozy Daughter of Abdul Rasheed, Mubarak Yousuf son of Mohd Yousuf and Anayat Yousuf, all residents of Wagad Tral of Pulwama District were shifted to Sub District Hospital Pampore and were referred to SMHS hospital Srinagar”, he added.

Police has registered a case and started investigation. (KNS).

Passenger jeep falls into gorge, two killed in Ramban

Jammu & Kashmir

United News Of India

12/04/2021

Jammu: Two persons including a driver was killed when a passenger jeep they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge during wee hours on Sunday in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Police said that a jeep on way from Harog towards Sumber when it reached Meghdhar, the driver lost control of the vehicle and it rolled down the hill into a 500 to 600 feet deep gorge.

The driver identified as Manpreet Singh, son of Bharat Singh of Bhajmasta, tehsil and district Ramban and a passenger namely Randhir Singh, son of Prithvi Singh, resident of Bhajmasta, died on the spot.

Police have taken cognizance and shifted the bodies to District Hospital, Ramban.

Can natural antioxidants help fight new GI symptoms in Covid patients?

National

Indo Asian News Service

12/04/2021

By: Vivek Singh Chauhan

New Delhi: As many Covid-19 patients in the country are experiencing gastrointestinal (GI)-related symptoms in the second wave, which is now more lethal, health experts on Sunday emphasised that consumption of natural antioxidants might help fight the new GI symptoms.

The experts say that natural antioxidant like gamma oryzanol, which is derived from rice bran, has multiple health and GI benefits.

According to Anil Arora, Chairman, Institute of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pancreatobiliary Sciences, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, supplementing a nutritious diet with gamma oryzanol may improve gastritis symptoms.

“Doing modification in diet and taking natural antioxidants act as scavenging agents and control the cell damage can improve GI health and might help fight new GI-related Covid-19 symptoms,” Arora told IANS.

The results of several clinical trials suggest that gamma oryzanol supplementation can help people manage and control many gastrointestinal complaints.

According to the experts, the outbreaks of viruses with widespread and mortality in the world population have motivated the research for new approaches.

While talking to IANS, Arora mentioned that even patients who are recovering from Covid-19 are experiencing massive gastrointestinal bleeding, which is due to clotting in the vessels that might lead to ulceration and necrosis and GI bleeding.

It is seen that Covid-19 patients in the second wave are experiencing new symptoms, such as joint pain, body ache, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, ulceration in the stomach, etc, are among the new symptoms.

The health experts also found the absence of cough and fever and yet people being tested Covid positive.

They also warned that as many details about the SARS-CoV-2 virus are still not known, it is important to maintain a healthy diet by taking natural antioxidants to keep our other organs healthy such as the liver — as it plays an important role in keeping us healthy.

“Gamma oryzanol improves liver functioning and remarkably exerts anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic roles in the liver as an important detoxifying organ,” Namita Nadar, Head of Department, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Fortis Hospital Noida, told IANS.

“One of the most important benefits of gamma oryzanol is that it has a protective effect on the liver. It can be taken as a food supplement for taking care of your liver,” Nadar added.

Covid-19 pandemic in India registered another alarming trajectory on Sunday with over 11.08 lakh active caseload reported in the last 24 hours–the highest ever in the last seven months.

Only seven days are short in completion of seven months from September 18 last year when the highest ever 10,17,754 active Covid-19 cases were registered in India. Now, the active caseload registered till 7 am on Sunday is 11,08,087.

India’s total active caseload now comprises 8.29 per cent of the country’s total positive cases — a net increase of 61,456 cases.

The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala cumulatively account for 70.82 per cent of India’s total active cases.

Back To Online Schooling

Edit
Oped

Precious Kashmir

10/04/2021

Covid-19 has reared its ugly head again, forcing the closure of the schools in Jammu and Kashmir.

Even when reopened last month after two years, attendance at schools remained voluntary as the government of India’s guidelines specify that parents can decide what their wards should do. Most parents gave consent and school resumption seemed uninterrupted until covid-19 announced unpleasant come back. The decision to shutting the schools temporarily for now seems in right direction in order to minimize negative impacts.

For two years now, the education sector in Jammu and Kashmir took a big beating due to 5 August 2019 security clampdown and Covid-19. It impacted the progress on many ways and the second wave threatens to be more damaging.

Recent estimates by UNICEF suggest that over 25 crore children in India have been negatively impacted by the closure of schools. The pandemic, as per the UNICEF—United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide—has further widened the existing inequity in the education sector across the globe. The school managements have done well to prevent loss of time and bridge learning gaps by resuming online classes. There is need to address issues in light of a recent study by UNESCO –“imperfect substitutes” for classroom learning. While it is true that online classes disallow interaction, at least it keeps the education step up intact. A good thing for the students of Jammu and Kashmir has been the resumption of 4Ginternet services which was restored in February this year after 550 days, the longest internet suspension anywhere across the globe. The petulant sense of grievance especially among the student in past is not found in contemporary times. Prior to the resumption of the high speed internet, students were left frustrated with every session given the fact that in low speed they were unable to see the content and video lectures uploaded by the schools as well connect with the teachers during online lectures.

Also, there are some poor children who cannot afford smart phone which keeps the behind their other counterparts. Some may not be in a position to afford the internet also. Perhaps, the policymakers should work out on these fronts. A free or subsidised access to the internet for poor students until the pandemic is contained should be worked out. It is important to understand that while online classes will not solve the problem at hand, they will ensure that learning continues.

PAGD awaits ‘formal burial’ as parties hit dead end

Anchor stories

Afaq Bhat

10/04/2021

PAGD awaits ‘formal burial’ as parties hit dead end

By: Afaq Bhat
Srinagar: Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)—an amalgam of regional parties—that consisted of National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party and other political formations—seems to be awaiting a “formal burial.”
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “Peoples Conference led by Sajad Gani Lone pulling out from the conglomerate seems to have ended the bonhomie between the regional parties that had come together to fight for a bigger cause. The NC and PDP leaders haven’t met each other for a longtime and it seems that the PAGD constituents are not that interested to carry forward the alliance.”
It’s in place to mention here that the PAGD had fought the District Development Council (DDC) elections that were held last year under a single banner and had won 102 DDC seats. “After the DDC poll results were declared the conglomerate couldn’t frame a joint strategy to cling on to the success it had achieved,” the analyst added.
He said, “Situation that has emerged during the past few months has proven it beyond doubt that political parties in Kashmir are finding it hard to make a comeback. The National Conference leaders have turned silent, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been caught in too many wrangles. People Conference has got a shot in its arm as prominent leaders from North Kashmir have joined the party in the recent past.”
An observer said, “The political scenario in Kashmir has changed drastically. Whenever assembly elections are held no single party will be in a position to call the shots. After the delimitation process gets completed, Jammu and Kashmir regions will have equal number of seats. Forming a government for any party won’t be an easy task.”
He said, “After August 5, 2019, the situation in J&K has changed completely. Politicians, who used to call the shots in the erstwhile state are struggling to keep their parties intact.”
A leader of a political party said, “Sooner or later New Delhi will have to restore J&K’s statehood and politicians will make a comeback. The political parties won’t become irrelevant; they will have a role once delimitation is over. The PAGD may or may not exist but in the changed scenario it doesn’t make a lot of difference. If the politicians want to remain relevant they will have to prove their worth. They will have to keep their roles confined to the jobs that will be assigned to them.”
He said, “The PAGD seems to have hit a dead end and it appears that it has ceased to exist.”

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