Islamabad:  Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward” as he asserted that the peace between the two neighbours would help to “unlock” the potential of South and Central Asia.

Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue here, Gen Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between Pakistan and India – the two “nuclear-armed neighbours”.

“We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India.

India last month said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of militancy, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of violence and hostility.

“Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Kashmir, Gen Bajwa said, adding that any effort to improve ties without addressing the core issue would be vulnerable to external political factors.

“The Kashmir issue is at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity,” he said.

The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

Gen Bajwa’s remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement at the same venue.

Gen Bajwa also that peace between Pakistan and India would help to “unlock the potential of South and Central Asia” by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.

Gen Bajwa also talked about poverty which he said was linked with the regional tension that had hindered the regional connectivity and integration.

“Despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defence, which naturally comes at the expense of human development,” he said.

However, he added that Pakistan was resisting the temptation to become part of the arms race or increase defence budget despite rising security challenges.

“This has not been easy, especially when you live in a hostile and unstable neighbourhood. But having said that, let me say that we are ready to improve our environment by resolving all our outstanding issues with our neighbours through dialogue in a dignified and peaceful manner,” he said.

India and Pakistan had announced on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.

Talking about the concept of national security, Gen Bajwa said that it was not just about protecting countries from external and internal threat.

“Today, the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation,” he said.

He said that since national security involved ensuring human security, national progress and development, it was not solely the function of the armed forces and required a national effort to safeguard a nation.

Chief Secretary urges people to get vaccinated fast

Jammu: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired the 3rd meeting of the UT Steering Committee to review the progress of COVID-19 vaccination drives that were rolled out in January 2021.

Administrative Secretaries of the departments of Health & Medical Education, Home, Housing & Urban Development, Information, Youth Services & Sports, School Education, Tribal Affairs, besides Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Director, SKIMS,  and Principal GMC Jammu participated in the meeting.

It was informed that 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. And 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.

Moreover, COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) in Jammu and Kashmir are also being gradually enhanced to 3034 including 34 private centres. All the CVCs will be connected through 873 cold chain points with a total vaccine storage capacity of more than 50 lakh doses and vaccination capacity of 3 lakh doses per day. The vaccines are being administered free of cost at all government CVCs and at private centres against the payment of Rs. 250 per dose.

At the vaccination centres, vaccination slots are being proportioned to accommodate reserved appointments of COWIN registered beneficiaries, 2nd dose beneficiaries and open/walk-in beneficiaries on a day-to-day basis.

To effectively deliver the vaccines at the grass-root level, Chief Secretary impressed upon greater coordination between the frontline workers of various departments including health, social welfare, school education, rural development, and housing and urban development.

The Chief Secretary also emphasized the need of evolving a multi-sectoral response to the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine by involving NGOs, NCC, and other volunteers, besides maintaining open and transparent communication through a proactive IEC strategy to curb misinformation and rumors.

He also urged people to participate in the vaccination drives and get vaccinated on priority to keep themselves and their families safe from the infection.

Biggest single-day jump in over 3 months; death toll mounts to 1,59,216 with 172 new fatalities

New Delhi: India on Thursday recorded a biggest single day jump in over 3 months in the COVID-19 cases as 35,871 people tested positive for the pestilence. As many as 172 new COVID-19 fatalities were recorded across the country during the past 24-hours taking the death toll to 1,59,216.
The officials said that the active caseload has reached to 2,52,364, which accounts for 2.20 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate further dropped to 96.41 per cent.

The single-day spike of 35,871 cases is the highest in 102 days. As many as 36,011 new infections were recorded on December 6.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,10,63,025, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.39 per cent, according to the data.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 23,03,13,163 samples had been tested up to March 17 with 10,63,379 being tested on Wednesday.

The 172 new fatalities include 84 from Maharashtra, 35 from Punjab and 13 from Kerala.

So far, 1,59,216 deaths have been reported in the country including 53,080 from Maharashtra, 12,564 from Tamil Nadu, 12,407 from Karnataka, 10,948 from Delhi, 10,298 from West Bengal, 8,751 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,186 from Andhra Pradesh.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir recorded a surge in the cases of novel coronavirus with 140 of them reported in the last 24 hours while one person died during the time, officials said on Thursday.

Of the fresh cases including 36 travelers and a minor, 25 were from Jammu Division and 115 from Kashmir Division, taking the overall tally to 128097.

Giving district-wise details, Srinagar reported 75 cases, Baramulla 17, Budgam 6, Pulwama 2, Kupwara 1,

Anantnag 6, Bandipora 1, Ganderbal 0, Kulgam 2, Shopian 5, Jammu 20, Udhampur 2, Rajouri 0, Doda 1,

Kathua 2, Samba 0, Kishtwar 0, Poonch 0, Ramban 0 and Reasi 0.

Regarding the fatality, they said, the victim belonged to the Valley and took the toll to 1978 including 731 in Jammu and 1247 in Kashmir.

A number of these cases were confirmed at diagnostic laboratories of SKIMS Soura, CD hospital and GMC Anantnag.

The SKIMS cases include female (30) from Latina Beerwah Budgam, male (24) from Soura, male (46) from Upper Soura, four females (68, 14, 48, 18) and two males (50, 52) from Buchpora, male (65) from Fatah, male (80) from Shalimar, male (32) from Batmaloo Srinagar and female (24) from Behama Ganderbal besides male (81) from Bongam Shopian and male (75) from Janbazpora Baramulla.

The CD cases include female (28) from Zakura, male (35) from HMT Srinagar, female (18) from Mitrigam, female (04) from Aditrag, male (27) from Zewan, female (27) from Zoonimar, female (43) from Nishat, female (12) from Naibugh, male (74) from Gogjibagh Srg, female (NA) from Rainawari Srg, male (27) from Eidgah Srg, female (38) from Awantipora, male (52) from NA, female (60) from Khag, male (60) from Lal Bazar.

The GMC Anantnag cases include female (12) from Janglat Mandi and male (40) from Yaripora.

Moreover, they said, 74 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals—16 from Jammu Division and 58 from Kashmir Valley.

So far, they said, 125046 have recovered—51317 in Kashmir and 73729 in Jammu. There are 1073 active cases—244 in Jammu and 829 in Kashmir. (GNS)

Srinagar: Last year on this day (March 18) panic gripped Jammu and Kashmir when first case of lethal COVID-19 was reported in Kashmir.  It has been a year and there is still no respite from this pandemic.

The number of cases of COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir have crossed the figure of 1,28,000 since March 18 last year. The cases are still on rise affecting the normal life.

The number of deaths due to this lethal virus has also touched 1977 figure.
The data available with KNT reveals that the first case of Coronavirus was reported on March 18, 2020, after which the number of people infected with the deadly disease crossed to 10,000 on July 11, during which 171 people breathed their last. There was no let up in cases and the graph witnessed an upward trend.

The number of people suffering from this global pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir doubled on 31 July last year.
The data shows there were 20,156 people who had been reported positive for Covid-19 from 18 March to 31 July last year. During this time 378 persons died due to this deadly virus.

The wheel moved at rapid pace while in next 19 days this number jumped from 20,156 to 30,034 on August 19. On September 4, the total number of people infected with Corona in Jammu and Kashmir reached 40,990, while the number of deaths from the disease touched 694. On November 11, the number of people infected with this Virus crossed 100,000 mark while the death toll touched 1549.

The COVID-19 turned one year old in Jammu and Kashmir today.  There are still 1,28,000 infected people while 1977 persons have become victim of this virus.

New Delhi: The government on Thursday said the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held after the conclusion of the delimitation process and the final decision on poll schedule would be that of the Election Commission.

Replying to a debate on the budget for Jammu and Kashmir for 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said development works were progressing fast in the UT only because between August 5, 2019 and today, the “law and order situation has improved and the people have accepted the changes”.

“I want to thank the people of J&K for welcoming the changes of August 5, 2019 and peacefully participating in activities. The District Development Council Elections were a referendum on those decisions and a 51 per cent voting percentage showed that the people have welcomed the decisions,” Sitharaman said after National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi flagged security concerns accusing the Centre of converting J&K from a democracy to a bureaucracy.

The FM rejected NC’s assertions asking why 51 pc people would vote if law and order was not normal and if militant threats loomed.

She said six lakh youth had participated in sports activities in JK since 2019 and this reflected normalcy.

“Militancy related incidents are down,” Sitharaman noted informing the Lok Sabha that the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baralumma rail link would be completed by December 2022.

She said 3,500 MW power was generated in JK in 70 years since Independence while MoUs for generating 3,300 MW had already been signed UT since 2019.

“Hundred per cent household will be electrified and 100 pc water connections to houses given by September 2022,” the FM said.

She added that between 2019 and 2019, 8136 capital projects had been completed in the UT; followed by 10, 500 in 2019-2020 while 16000 projects will be finished this year.

The completion rate of projects has doubled between 2018 and now, said Sitharaman adding that J&K was doing well on MNREGA and over 3 crore person days of work had been generated in the current financial year.

On the job sector the FM said 10,000 vacancies had been identified and 8000 advertised. “As many as 12,379 gazetted and non-gazetted vacancies have been identified and the departments are in the process of referring these to recruitment agencies. JK Bank has sanctioned loans worth Rs 270 crore to 17,800 unemployed including 4,000 self -mployed women,” the FM said.

The government further informed the House that 6,000 acre had been identified for the establishment of industry in JK and 3000 acre were available for allocations.

Over one lakh crore worth of budgetary demands for JK were later cleared by a voice vote.

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2021 and The Puducherry Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2021 by voice-vote.

Supplementary Demands for Grants in respect of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for 2020-21 was also passed by the Lok Sabha.

Demands for Grants on Account in respect of the Union Territory of Puducherry for 2021-22 was also passed. The Puducherry Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2021, The Puducherry Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2021 were also passed by the House.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Estimated expenditure for Jammu and Kashmir has increased this year, so has revenue.’ She said that development work in the Union Territory was being speeded up.

“Not one community in Jammu and Kashmir exempted from benefits of development,” she said while speaking about various projects that have been already completed.

Jammu: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam, today chaired a meeting to review the functioning of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and Sehat schemes under Ayushman Bharat.

Administrative Secretaries of the departments of Health & Medical Education, Home, Housing & Urban Development, Information, Youth Services & Sports, School Education, Tribal Affairs, besides Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Director, SKIMS, and Principal GMC Jammu participated in the meeting.

It was informed that so far 4,27,466 families and 14,85,059 beneficiaries- 71.49% and 48.06% of the respective targets have been enrolled under PM-JAY. Similarly, under the universal health coverage scheme ‘Sehat’, 8,77,846 families and 31,71,918 beneficiaries – 60.27% and 41.88% of the respective targets have been covered. As such, a total of 38,26,854 golden cards have been generated under both schemes to facilitate access to the cashless health facilities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Moreover, since the launch of J&K’s prestigious Sehat scheme on 26th December 2020, claims worth Rs. 5.46 crore have been settled and paid for 9,647 cashless medical treatments through the golden cards issued under Ayushman Bharat.

Pertinently, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has launched ‘Sehat’ in convergence with Ayushman Bharat to extend free of cost and cashless health insurance to nearly one crore residents of the Union territory, thus becoming the 1st UT in India to bring all its population under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.

New Delhi: Country’s largest central armed police force CRPF on Thursday said that stone pelting incidents have reduced to 10% only in J&K from earlier one.

Addressing a press conference here on the eve of the forces’ 82nd anniversary, the newly appointed Force’s DG Kuldeep Singh said that the incidents of stone pelting in the Kashmir have reduced drastically and added that a total of 226 militants were killed during operations by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir since the beginning of 2020.

He also said that the security personnel managed to apprehend 296 militants in the Union Territory (UT), he added.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, where the force works in close coordination with the state police and the Indian Army, 215 militants were killed in 2020 and 11 militants were killed this year,” he said.

“Only a few days back, we killed four militants in two different operations. This included the killing of top JeM commander Sajjad Afghani in an encounter during a joint operation in Shopian,” the DG further said.

On a specific question on a new security drill in view of recovery of “sticky bombs” in J&K, Singh said, “While frisking a vehicle, we keep in mind the specific threat. Although, we have not seen any such incident where we found sticky bombs attached to a vehicle. But yes, it is a challenge, we know it, they (militants) might try to use it and we have briefed our forces about it.”

The CRPF chief also informed that the force recovered 378 arms and 41 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), while 275 encounters/attacks took place during the period beginning 2020 till now.

Claiming that normalcy has been restored to a large extent in J&K, Singh said, “Earlier, there were restrictions on internet usage but now they have been lifted”.
He said even the extra forces that were sent to the UT for the District Development Council (DDC) elections have now been withdrawn and the normal deployment of the force remained there.

On arrangements being made for the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra, Singh said last year, the yatra did not happen and since this year it is taking place, arrangements would be made for a peaceful and smooth conduct of the yatra.

Srinagar: Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar on Thursday reviewed the security situation of tunnels, Road Opening Party (ROP) deployments and other security measures put in place on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

A police spokesperson said that IGP Kumar on Thursday visited south Kashmir district of Kulgam. “During his tour, the IGP Kashmir visited Jawahar Tunnel to review the security arrangements put in place for the security of the tunnel and also inspected the live functioning of electronic surveillance system placed at the tunnel,” he said.

Kumar was briefed by the CRPF officers deployed for the security of tunnel regarding the security arrangements. He also interacted with the deployed CRPF/Police officers and instructed them to take necessary measures so as to strengthen the security grid at Jawahar Tunnel in view of prevailing security scenario.

He also visited Police Post and Command Post Jawahar Tunnel where he interacted with the deployed manpower and gave on-spot instructions regarding enhancing the security measures.

The IGP also visited the under construction Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel and reviewed the security arrangements.

Later, he visited Sector-2 Headquarters and interacted with the Army officers regarding the various security arrangements put in place in the area for ensuring peace and conducting anti-militancy operations.

Kumar stressed on the officers to ensure synergy and better coordination among the forces working at the ground level to achieve maximum results.

The IGP Kashmir also reviewed the security arrangements and ROP deployments en-route National Highway. He interacted with the officers of CRPF/Police at various points and gave on-spot directions to the manpower deployed on ground.

He also directed the joint forces to work in tandem so as to thwart the evil designs of anti-national elements and ensure safety of the commuters travelling on NHW.