Precious Kashmir

Omar asks Delhi to fulfill pledges made to JK people

City

19/03/2021

Srinagar: National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday asked New Delhi to fulfill pledges made to people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a gathering here at Damhal Hanjipura Kulgam, Omar said the party has long been associated with the political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar was in Kulgam to pay tributes to NC’s veteran leader and former speaker Wali Muhammad Itoo on his 27th death anniversary.

“While the entire party leadership was incarcerated, the workers withstood all the intimidation with bravery and didn’t give in,” Omar said.

“The DDC results have made it clear that the people of Jammu and Kashmir trust none other than NC when it comes to representing their genuine political aspirations. However there is no scope of contentment, the results also revealed some shortcomings as well which we need to plug on time,” he said.

Asking New Delhi to fulfill its solemn pledges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar said, “The founding fathers of the nation have listed all the solemn commitments made to the people of J&K in the constitution itself. We are subjected to canards, called as anti national and timid when we call for having a dialogue with the neighboring country to solve all the impending issues. The fresh veiled diplomatic outreach between India and Pakistan, and the successive DGMO level accord on the implementation of ceasefire on the borders between India and Pakistan is a telling indictment of our stand. We in our party don’t resort to rabble rousing. Pragmatism has long been the template of our party policy. And our repeated calls for dialogue both internal and external are borne out of our commitment to non-violence and predilection for peace”.

“I hope the DGMO level talks act as a step towards greater engagement between India and Pakistan,” he said.

SMC Commissioner discusses beautification, plantation in Srinagar

City

Precious Kashmir

19/03/2021

Srinagar: A meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Commissioner SMC Athar Aamir Khan to discuss and review beautification and plantation of Srinagar city.

Besides other officials ,S.E R&B Landscape Division, DFO Urban Forestry, Deputy Director Floriculture were present in the meeting.

In the meeting Plantation on both sides of Main roads of the city, Beautificatuon of dividers, Plantation in existing parks and gardens other public spaces, identifying open spaces and patches for large scale plantation and beautification was discussed at length.

Commissioner SMC stressed on planting of trees and beautifying roads and dividers.

He emphasized the need to have in place the Urban art, murals, wall painting near bridges, flyover or at the prominent places after identifying the same in across the city.

Govt want to ease farmers’ journey from seed to market: PM writes in letter to farmer

National

United News Of India

19/03/2021

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wrote a letter to a farmer in Uttarakhand’s Nainital saying the government is making continuous efforts to ease all problems of the farmer from seed to market.
Modi also thanked the farmer named Kheemanand for congratulating him on completion of five successful years of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and other efforts of the Government, Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“Thank you for sharing your valuable views on the continuing efforts being made by the Government to improve various sectors, including agriculture, and take the country to new heights of development,” Prime Minister Modi wrote in the letter.
‘Such messages give me new energy to commit myself for the service of the country,’ Mr Modi added.
Referring to the success of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the Prime Minister said, ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is continuously playing an important role in protecting the economic interests of the hardworking farmers by reducing the risk associated with weather uncertainties. Crores of farmers are availing the benefits of this farmer-friendly insurance scheme today.’
Referring to the government’s committed efforts towards agriculture and farmers’ welfare, Mr Modi wrote further in the letter, “Through comprehensive coverage and transparent claim redressal process over the last five years, this ‘fasal bima’ (crop insurance) scheme has emerged as an example of our determined efforts for farmers’ welfare.
Today, sustained efforts are being made to remove every small and big difficulty in the way of the farmers’ journey from the ‘seed to market’ and to ensure their prosperity and progress of agriculture.”
Modi also appreciated the contribution and role of the people in the progress of the country in the letter and wrote: ‘Today the country is rapidly moving towards building a strong, prosperous and self-reliant India with a vision of all-round development.
Energised by the trust of all the citizens, the nation is determined to achieve the national goals and I am sure that our efforts to take the country to new heights on the world stage will be further intensified.’

Perils Of Complacency

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Precious Kashmir

18/03/2021

As has been the case historically, pandemic diseases have a tendency to re-emerge and spread anew, giving rise to a second wave of infection. This seems to be the case with the present pandemic when seemingly it was on its way out.

After the marked slowdown in the new COVID-19 cases reported daily for last few months, there is again surge in the infections. It points out, in what should worry one and all, towards the beginning of the second wave.

Even though there is more clarity now about how to fight it than in the terrible early months, the damage could be minimized. The battle against the ravaging virus depends on choices people and government make.

For people, this means a commitment to wearing face masks, washing hands and avoiding crowded places. For the administration, the key, as has been stressed upon by the Prime Minister in the meeting with Chief Minister, is building a robust testing, contact tracing and isolating regimen. So far, the record is quite uneven.

The governments have been asked by the centre to scale up RT-PCR tests, create micro-containment zones, increase vaccination in both private and government hospitals and stop vaccine wastage.

It is important to recall that while the pandemic was ebbing, medical experts continued to warn about the unpredictable ways of the virus. And, when the India’s caseload began to dip late last year, they had urged people to not let their guard down. Unfortunately such warnings did not seem to have struck a chord for large sections as people seem impatient to return to normal social life.

The spurt in infections in several parts of Indian including Jammu and Kashmir since last month testifies to the perils of complacency. There are, however, ample reasons why the new wave of infections shouldn’t stoke pessimism. For one, much more is known about the virus in contemporary times than last year when governments across the globe were forced into one of the stringent lockdowns. Fortunately also, there hasn’t been an alarming surge in fatalities. The second wave may not be as severe as the initial one amid availability of the vaccine. There is, however need for giving a serious thought to opening up vaccination to all age groups in areas grappling with the current surge. One of the most crucial elements that helped control the first wave was aggressive testing, contact tracing and treatment. All these effort are worth it if a second wave can be avoided or ameliorated.

NGO goes missing after constructing public toilets in Pahalgam

Anchor stories

Ahmed Shabir

18/03/2021

NGO goes missing after constructing public toilets in Pahalgam

Anantnag: Municipal Committee Pahalgam (MCP) in 2018 constructed several community type public toilets (CTPTs) at different locations in the world famous tourist spot.

The CTPTs were constructed under central sponsored Swatch Bharat Mission (SBM) and were aimed to eliminate open defacation by the people, including tourists.
The contract for construction these toilet blocks had been allotted to a local non government organization (NGO). As per the terms and conditions of the contract, the NGO which constructed the toilet blocks was also supposed to operate them. However, three years after the completion of these toilet blocks, constructed at the cost of Rs 13 lakh each, all of them remain locked.

Local residents have questioned the MCP for its failure to make these public conveniences functional.

“One wonders why authorities wasted such a huge amount on these public toilets if they had no plans to throw them open after completion,” said a local activist, Mushtaq Pahalgami.

Another resident, Zahoor Ahmad said that absence of public toilets tourists face many difficulties.

Though there are some decades old public toilet blocks functional but there condition is too unhygienic to be used.

“There are some old toilet blocks here but they are almost useless due to their bad condition. And the new ones continue to be remain locked. This absence of toilet blocks here results in open defecation by the tourists,” said Ahmad.

Executive officer, MC Pahalgam, Tafweez Ahmad Mir, said that the NGO which had constructed these CTPTs were supposed to run and maintain them as well.

“The NGO had agreed to all our conditions before taking up the contract.

But after finishing the constructions they locked these toilets and fled. They are missing since then. I have joined here only four months ago and soon after joining I took a serious note of it,” the EO said.
He said that he has served two notices to the NGO asking it make these CTPTs functional.

“So far there is no response from NGO to our notices. I would have unlocked these facilities and made them operational but i want to follow the law so that the said NGO does not create any legal barrier later,” the officer said.

He said that MCP is also mulling to rebuild the new toilet blocks near the locations of old toilets which are now in very bad condition.

PM Modi warns of second wave of COVID-19

Front

United News Of India

18/03/2021

PM Modi warns of second wave of COVID-19

New Delhi: As India recorded the year’s highest single-day spike of Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday warned of a second wave of the virus transmission and asked all States and Union Territories to take decisive steps before it gets too late.

India recorded a total of 28,903 new cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, pushing the country caseload to 1,14,38,734, while the death toll soared to 1,59,044 with 188 more fatalities.

PM Modi while addressing the chief ministers of all the States and UT said India has been appreciated around the world in its fight against coronavirus and decisive steps like micro-containment and restrictions must be taken immediately to prevent the “emerging second wave”.

“If we don’t act now, there will be a nationwide outbreak,” he warned.

Of the total fresh cases, 17,864 cases came alone from Maharashtra, while more than 70 per cent of total cases are recorded from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

The Prime Minister suggested micro-zoning of an area instead of complete lockdown and appealed for increasing daily tests and contact tracing.

Meanwhile, on the vaccination front, total inoculation reached close to 3.5 crores as per the latest data from Union Health Ministry.

However, the Opposition charged the government with moving with a “slow pace” in vaccination stating that only 0.045 per cent of the population has been vaccinated so far.

In a discussion in the Lok Sabha Congress member Manish Tewari alleged that the central government was more focused on the export of Covid vaccines instead of vaccinating its own people as over five crore doses been exported to date.

“The Government is giving more importance to vaccine diplomacy and playing with the lives of the people,” Tiwari alleged.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIN) LS MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel said the government envisages vaccinating 30 crore people, but as per the estimate in one year, only 10 crore people can be reached. “Our people are dying, people are standing in queues, we are supplying vaccines to other countries,” he stated.

Responding to the criticism of the pace of vaccination, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in Lok Sabha said out of eight million people vaccinated all over the world so far, nearly three million are in India which is 36 per cent.

Dr Vardhan refuted the allegations of supplying vaccines to other countries at the expense of Indians, saying a balance has been stuck with due care.

He said in the coming days, to face any pandemic situation, integrated public health labs at block levels will to be set up. For tracing, an integrated health information portal will also be introduced, Dr Vardhan added.

The minister recalled Rs 35,000 crore has been arranged by the Finance Minister for vaccination. Pneumococcal vaccines which were available in only five States are now being supplied across the country, he stated.

On vaccine diplomacy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that India’s reputation as a pharmacy of the world has been reinforced.

“Our reputation as pharmacy of the world has been reinforced. Made-in-India vaccines supplied to 72 nations. Our ambassadors feel the warmth of people across the world,” Jaishankar said in a statement.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the average COVID-19 vaccine wastage in India is 6.5 per cent. Vaccine wastage is the sum of vaccines discarded, lost, damaged, or destroyed.

Some countries have suspended the administration of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over reports of blood clot-related complications.

COVID-19 cases rise in J&K: 126 fresh Infections, 1 death

Front

Nadeem Nadu

18/03/2021

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir registered an increase in the number of daily novel coronavirus cases with 126 of them recorded while one more person succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday.

Among the fresh cases with 31 being travelers, 20 were from Jammu Division and 106 from Kashmir Valley, taking the total case count to 127957.

Giving district-wise details, the officials told GNS, Srinagar reported 62 cases, Baramulla 23, Budgam 4, Pulwama 0, Kupwara 1, Anantnag 8, Bandipora 1, Ganderbal 1, Kulgam 2, Shopian 4, Jammu 15, Udhampur 1, Rajouri 0, Doda 4, Kathua 0, Samba 0, Kishtwar 0, Poonch 0, Ramban 0 and Reasi 0.

The lone victim belonged to Kashmir, taking the overall fatality count to 1977—731 in Jammu and 1246 in Kashmir.

Moreover, they said, 90 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals—10 from Jammu Division and 80 from Kashmir Valley. So far, 124972 people have recovered—51301 in Jammu and 73671 in Kashmir. There are 1008 active cases, 235 in Jammu and 773 in Kashmir.

Centre unveils Rs 108,621 crore J&K budget

Front

Nasir Azam

18/03/2021

Srinagar: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled Rs 1,08,621 crore budget of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha.

The budget document focuses on good governance, socio-economic development of the people, infrastructure building and generation of employment.

“The budget for 2021-22 for J&K shall again cross Rs.1 lakh crore mark, an indicator or our commitment to make J&K a model of development,” read the budget documents.

Budget figures:

The total budget estimates for the next fiscal is Rs 1,08,621 crore. Of which Rs. 39,817 are earmarked for capital expenditure and Rs 68,804 crore for revenue expenditure.

This means 37 % of the earmarked budget shall be spent on development and infrastructure projects.

Key announcements:

For the first time, the government has earmarked development funds for district development councils and block development councils.

According to the budget document, Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for DDCs in the budget. This means each DDC will get Rs 10 crore each in 2021-22.

Similarly, Rs 71.25 crore have been proposed as ‘development fund’ for 285 block development councils. This means each BDC will get Rs 25 lakh as development.

The government has also proposed to spend Rs 30 crore for establishment of DDCs/BDCs offices in 2021-22. Around Rs 1313 crore have been provisioned for PRIs/ULBs for rural and urban infrastructure, the documents reveal.

In the budget, Rs 400 crore has been provisioned for GST reimbursement to ensure timely reimbursement of the claims. Around Rs 200 crore has been set aside for the “Mission Youth programme”.

The government has also kept a budgetary provision of Rs 800 for capitalization of the J&K Bank Limited.

The budget also proposes to earmark Rs 300 crore for CRIF roads, Rs 1500 crore for PMGSY roads and Rs 500 crore for NABARD scheme and Rs 28 crore for maintenance of Mughal Road.

According to the document, Rs 227.73 crore have been allocated for establishment of 37 oxygen generation plants in all medical colleges, associated hospitals and district Hospitals of UT of J&K to cope up with additional requirement of medical oxygen due to COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the budget, Rs 40 crore has been earmarked as ex-gratia relief for COVID warriors. The budget document also states that two new medical colleges at Udhampur and Handwara (District Kupwara) have been approved at a cost of Rs 325 crore each.

The other key announcement vis-à-vis health sector is establishment of cancer institute at Srinagar & Jammu at a cost of Rs 120 crore each.

The budget document also states that 723 ICT labs will be established in equal number of Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools at a cost of Rs 46.27 crore.

According to the document, 245 works would be completed during 2021-22 which include construction of model schools, additional classrooms, lavatory facilities, smart class rooms.

In the budget, Rs 200 crore has been provisioned for development of new industrial estates in UT during 2021-22. (KNO)

Significant decrease in militancy in 3 years in Kashmir: GoI

Front

Precious Kashmir

18/03/2021

New Delhi: There has been a significant decrease in militancy-related incidents and attempts of infiltration from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir in last three years, centre said on Wednesday.

Responding to a query by parliamentarian Harnath Singh Yadav in Rajya Sabha whether it is a fact that incidents of militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, infiltration and continued shelling from across the border in bordering areas in the recent past have increased in which large number of security personnel and civilians lost their lives, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said there were 614 incidents in2018, 594 in 2019, 244 in 2020 and 15 this year so far till February 28.

He said killings of civilians have come down from 39 in 2018 to 37 in 2020 and deaths of security personnel from 91 in 2018 to 62 in 2020.

However, the minister said, instances of shelling from Pakistan increased from 2,140 in 2018 to 5,133 in 2020. In a written reply the junior minister said that four security personnel were killed in “ceasefire violations” this year.

Regarding the question about the details of steps being taken by Government to improve the safety and security in the sensitive locations of that State and to protect the lives of security forces and common man, Reddy said: “The steps taken include proactive operations to seek and arrest/neutralize the (militants), identification and arrest of over ground workers/supporters of (militancy), action against members of banned organisations, intensified night patrolling and checking at Nakas, security arrangements through appropriate deployment, coordination meetings amongst intelligence agencies, high level of alertness maintained by the security forces and legal action in cases of militant funding etc.”

MHA to use hi-tech equipment to monitor drones from Pak

Front

Precious Kashmir

18/03/2021

New Delhi: Several steps including round-the-clock effective surveillance, streamlining the intelligence set up and use of modern, hi-tech surveillance equipment, are being taken by the Centre to combat instances of supply of weapons via drones from across the Pakistan border.
“Certain instances of supply of weapons via drones from across the Pakistan border have come to the notice of security and law enforcement agencies. The government has been taking various steps to meet such challenges, which include round the clock effective surveillance, streamlining the intelligence set up, capacity building of forces, patrolling on the borders,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in Rajya Sabha regarding Pakistan using drones to supply weapons.
The local population in the border areas will also be sensitized, along with the establishment of observation posts, border fencing, floodlighting, deployment and use of modern and hi-tech surveillance equipment, etc, it added. (Agencies)

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