Precious Kashmir

Operation on war-footing to restore traffic to Gurez

Jammu & Kashmir

20/03/2021

Srinagar: Snow clearance operation was going on war-footing to restore traffic to dozens of far-flung and remote areas, including the border town of Gurez, which remained cutoff from the rest of Kashmir since January 1 due to accumulation of several feet of snow.

An official in the Deputy Commissioner Office, Bandipora, told UNI that the road connecting the border town of Gurez is likely to be reopened on April 15.

“Snow clearance was almost finished and the Bandipora-Gurez road was to be reopened on April 1. Only about 12 km road stretch was left to be cleared,” he said.

However, he said the road opening date was postponed as Razdan pass and adjoining areas on Bandipora-Gurez road received about 1.5 to 2 feet of fresh snowfall last week. “With the improvement in the weather conditions, the snow clearance operation has been restarted on war-footing to restore traffic to the border town and adjoining areas,” he said.

He hoped that the snow clearance operation will be completed by third week of the April. “There is a wet weather prediction from Sunday. So the snow clearance operation is again expected to be affected during that time,” he added.

The authorities provide helicopter services to ferry patients and other stranded people, including students, from Gurez during these winter months. As many as 150 aspirants appearing in Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) examination were airlifted to Bandipora from Gurez by District Administration Bandipora last month. Similarly, many patients were airlifted from Gurez to Bandipora for medical treatment.

However, the people of Gurez and adjoining border villages have been demanding a tunnel near Razdan pass so that the border area remains connected with rest of the valley throughout the year.

Good opportunity to find lasting peace vis-a-vis Kashmir: Mehbooba

City

United News Of India

20/03/2021

Srinagar: Reacting to Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa comment, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said that it is a good opportunity for India and Pakistan to set aside hostilities and find a long lasting solution vis-a-vis Kashmir.

Mehbooba, who is the President of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said both the countries have huge military budgets to outdo each other when the same resources can instead be used on common challenges like poverty, education and healthcare.

“A good opportunity for India & Pakistan to set aside hostilities & find a long lasting solution vis-a-vis Kashmir. Both countries have huge military budgets to outdo each other when the same resources can instead be used on common challenges like poverty, education & healthcare,” Mehbooba tweeted.

Gen Bajwa on Thursday said that it was time for New Delhi and Islamabad to ‘bury the past and move forward’. “The Kashmir issue is obviously at the heart of disputes. It is important to understand that without the resolution of Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, [the] process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity”.

The comments had come a day after Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan was trying to bring in peace, but India would have to take the first step to normalize ties.

6-year-old battling for life at Shopian hospital

City

Jahangeer Ganaie

20/03/2021

Family alleges negligence by doctors

CMO says committee formed to probe matter

Shopian: A 6-year-old girl is battling for life as doctors at the district hospital Shopian have been allegedly giving her expired injections since past four days.

Taking serious note of the allegations levelled by the girl’s parents, the hospital administration has ordered a probe whether the girl was really given expired injections.

Mohamad Iqbal Khataria, a resident of Devpora area of Shopian said he admitted his daughter Bazila Jan,6, at DH Shopian, four days ago, with pneumonia.

He said doctors at hospital have been giving Babila expired injection Monocef from last four days after which girl’s condition worsened.

“Since past four days, my daughter was given expired injection. Today morning, we checked its expiry date and we all got shocked to see that the injection given to my daughter has already expired on October 20, 2020,” a visibly upset father alleged.

He further alleged that he contacted all officials even CMO but none from the hospital administration responded. “I have now requested District Magistrate Shopian to enquire into the matter and take serious action against the persons involved in negligence,” Kataria said.

However, Medical Superintendent District Hospital Shopian Dr Mohammed Ismail said they have already seized the medicine and investigation has been taken up. He claimed that the expiry date on the pack of injection was March 2021.

He added that if girl would have been taking expired injection since last four days, she would have been critical. “The girl is stable,” he said. “The nurse who had given the injection to the girl has been suspended immediately.”

Chief Medical Officer Shopian Dr Ramesh Malla said a committee has been constituted to inquire the matter and action will be taken against whosoever is found guilty—(KNO)

Badamwari to be thrown open on March 21

City

Precious Kashmir

20/03/2021

Srinagar: Tourism Department is organising cultural evening at Badamwari Garden from 4pm to 6 pm on Saturday to announce its opening and the garden will be also thrown open for general public form March 21.

The Badamwari was closed for visitors despite almond bloom due to Covid lockdown last year. The almond garden located on the foothills of historic Koh e Maran in Srinagar, holds much significance as it heralds the arrival of spring in Kashmir.

Locals urged the administration earlier to throw open the Badamwari Garden. However the tourism department has decided to announce its opening and the garden will be open for general public form March 21.

Sarmad Hafeez Secretary Tourism and Director Tourism Kashmir, Dr. GN Itoo will be hosts of the cultural evening.(KNS)

BOSE to declare Class 11th result by 2nd week of April

City

Precious Kashmir

20/03/2021

By: Mohsin Khan

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) is likely to declare the results for Class 11th annual regular session of Kashmir by the end of 2nd Week of April.

JKBOSE Chairperson Professor Veena Pandita said evaluation of Class 11th papers will take at least 25 more days to complete.

“Many formalities are yet to be completed yet and as such results will be declared by the End of 2nd week of April,” she said

Veena refuted the reports that board will declare the results of 11th class in coming few days are baseless and asked students not to pay heed to rumours. (KNS)

PM Modi emphasizes on role of defence cooperation in India-US ties

National

United News Of India

20/03/2021

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday emphasized the important role of bilateral defence cooperation in India-U.S. ties.

Mr Modi’s remarks came when the visiting U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd James Austin III called on him this evening. It is the first high level visit from the U.S. to India after the new administration of President Joe Biden took over office in January.

The Prime Minister welcomed the warm and close relationship between the two countries and outlined his vision for strategic partnership between India and the U.S.

Mr Modi requested Defence Secretary James Austin to convey his best wishes to President Biden. The Defence Secretary conveyed the greetings of President Biden to the Prime Minister.

The U.S. Defence Secretary reiterated the U.S. government’s continued commitment towards strengthening bilateral defence relations between the two countries. He expressed strong desire on the part of his country to further enhance strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Earlier, Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin III arrived here on a three-day official visit to India and was received at the Palam Air Force station by the defence officials.

Mutton crisis likely to end within a week

City

Precious Kashmir

20/03/2021

Srinagar: The severe mutton crisis in Kashmir is likely to end in a week’s time after new retail mutton rates, which came into effect immediately, were approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday.

The revised mutton rates came as a result of hectic negotiations with the dealers. The authorities have finally fixed the rate of mutton at Rs 535 per kilogram in Kashmir.

President of All Kashmir Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association, Mehraj Ud Din said that they had called a meeting today in which all the wholesale mutton dealers showed up.

“Directions were given to all wholesale meat dealers to procure the livestock while keeping in view the government approved meat rates,” he stated, adding that they were asked to get in touch with their contacts in outside Mandis to aggressively increase the supply of livestock in the Kashmir valley.

He further said that it will take some more to end the shortage of mutton. “However, the change will be visible from tomorrow hopefully”.

While talking about the seizure of certain meat shops after the newly fixed rates were ordered to be implemented in the region, Mehraj Ud Din said that these are unscrupulous elements and need to dealt with as per law.

Meanwhile, Parvez Ahmad Ganie, who is the President of Butchers Union Pulwama, said that they are surely facing ‘a little shortage’ of livestock at the moment. “After months of strike, the supply is expected to take time to settle down and suffice the demand”.

Pertinently, mutton is a highly sought-after commodity in Kashmir with a consumption of around 1,000 lakh kg/year.

As per estimates of All Kashmir Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association, Kashmir consumes meat worth over Rs. 5 Crores daily and yearly, the import figure is around Rs. 2500 Crores. (KNT)

Covid-19 Vaccine

Edit

Precious Kashmir

19/03/2021

There is a worrying spike in covid-19 cases in several states of India. Jammu and Kashmir is no exception and is witnessing an uptick in the infections lately. On March 18, J&K saw 140 fresh cases to take the overall tally to 128097. The active cases have gone past over a thousand again—1073 to be exact—244 in Jammu and 829 in Kashmir.

Beyond doubt, there was an alarming degree of laxity at all levels with testing numbers steadily dropping, contact-tracing reduced to just getting immediate family members of positive cases tested while mask wearing, as well as enforcement of social distancing norms, are observed more in breach than the adherence required.

The best way to fight the “second wave”, apart from strictly instituting Covid-19 management protocols, is to use the vaccines. Presently, people above the age of 60 or those older than 45 with varied medical conditions can be inoculated. There is need to relax the eligibility criteria. No doubt, protecting the most vulnerable is vital but at the same time a large number of infections are still among younger people who are more mobile, and likely to be the ones spreading the infection most. So far globally nearly 393 million doses of vaccine have been administered, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. India accounts for around 9% of them. In Kashmir context, so far 77% of healthcare workers, 78% of front line workers, and 12.28% of elderlies and co-morbid patients, totalling 4,39,910 people have been vaccinated in Jammu and Kashmir with no reported case of extreme adversity. The government said that arrangements have also been put in place for on-spot registration and administration of vaccination to the remaining health care workers and frontline workers, yet to be vaccinated. It should be hastened. It is good that government has also decided to increase Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs).

As has been underlined by Chief Secretary at a meeting, there is need for greater coordination between the frontline workers of various departments including health, social welfare, school education, rural development, and housing and urban development to effectively deliver the vaccines at the grass-root level.

There is also need to allay fears amid recent flurry of reports from Europe that blood clots are developing in a very small fraction of those vaccinated and leading to a cascade of European countries announcing a temporary halt to their vaccination programmes involving the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine.

Public trust remains a key ingredient to successful vaccination programmes and all measures should be taken to dispel the fears.

Azad turning ‘rebel’ puts Congress in quandary in J&K

Anchor stories

Afaq Bhat

19/03/2021

Azad turning ‘rebel’ puts Congress in quandary in J&K

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad raising a banner of revolt against the party high command has created multiple problems for the “grand old party” in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the media reports the party high command wants to avoid direct confrontation with Azad but to tighten the noose around him, his loyalists have been served notices. They have been asked to explain why they have not attended the party meetings and other functions that were held in the recent past.
Azad during his recent visit to Jammu had stirred the hornet’s nest by praising Prime Minister Narerndra Modi following which the Congress activists had staged a protest against him in the winter capital.
It’s in place to mention here that the Congress high command had stripped Azad and 22 other senior leaders of the party posts last year after they wrote a letter to the Congress high command seeking change in party leadership. Since that day the group of leaders ousted from the party posts is known as G-23 and Azad has emerged as the undisputed leader of the group.
Azad completed his Rajya Sabha term last month; despite Ahmed Patel’s seat being vacant in the upper house the Congress Party did not nominate Azad. “It was a clear signal that Azad and others don’t figure in the new scheme of things in the Congress Party,” said an observer.
He said that the G-23 leaders have been projecting Azad as an alternative to Rahul Gandhi and are trying to build a narrative that he only can save the Congress Party. “The Congress Party is on the crossroads and it needs to put its act together. It seems that the party has done a big blunder by sidelining the senior leaders,” he added.
“In Jammu and Kashmir also the Congress Party is finding itself in a difficult situation. Close aides of Azad have advised him to launch his own political party in the newly carved out union territory as most of them believe that J&K’s statehood will be restored sooner or later,” the observer said.
An analyst said, “The party which shared power in J&K for 12 consecutive years, first with the Peoples Democratic Party (from 2002 to 2008) and then with National Conference (from 2009 to 2014) is grappling with number of issues today and it appears that it has lost the footing in the region.”

MEA reiterates India’s desire for peaceful relations with Pak

Front

Tasaduq Hussain

19/03/2021

MEA reiterates India’s desire for peaceful relations with Pak

Srinagar: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Thursday said that India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan and is committed to addressing issues if any, bilaterally and peacefully in an atmosphere free of militancy, hostility and violence.

The information was shared by the Minister of State (MoS) External Affairs (MEA), V. Muraleedharan in a written reply filed to the Rajya Sabha in response to the queries including track one and track two dialogue and the recent ceasefire agreement between two sides besides the dialogue in the past six years.

Muraleedharan in a written reply said that both India and Pakistan have agreed to the strict observance of all agreements of cease firing with effect from the midnight of 25 February.

Muraleedharan said that during the visit of the External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in December 2015, it was decided to have a meeting at the level of the foreign secretaries to work out the modalities of the comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

“However, the meeting of the Foreign Secretaries could not take place due to the militant attack on the Pathankot Air Base in January 2016 and the continued support to cross border militancy and ceasefire violations by Pakistan,” Muraleedharan said.

He said that the government’s consistent position has been that India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan and is committed to addressing issues, if any, bilaterally and peacefully in an atmosphere free of militancy, hostility, and violence.

“The onus is on Pakistan to create such a conducive atmosphere including by taking credible, verifiable, and irreversible action to not allow any territory under its control to be used for cross border militancy against India in any manner,” he said.

Muraleedharan said that India and Pakistan maintain regular channels of communication through the respective High Commissions and other established mechanisms such as hotlines, flag meetings, scheduled talks between the Directorate Generals of Military Operations (DGMO).

“Through these well-established mechanisms, the government regularly takes up all cases of unprovoked ceasefire violations and support for cross-border militancy infiltration by Pakistan forces,” he said.

The Minister said that Pakistan has been consistently called upon to abide by its 2003 ceasefire commitment for maintaining peace and tranquillity along the International Boundary and the Line of Control following the scheduled talk between the Directors General of Military Operations over hotline.

“A joint statement was issued on 25th February 2021, in which both sides agreed to the strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the line of control and all other sectors with effect from the midnight of 24/25 February 2021,” Muraleedharan said—(KNO)

1...4,2794,2804,281...5,076 Page 4,280 of 5,076