Directors for speeding up pace of works

Asks officers to fix responsibility, take strict action for non-compliances

Jammu:  Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Thursday chaired the third High Level meeting with the team of experts from Power sector, senior officials from Jammu and Kashmir Administration, and Power Development Corporation Limited to revamp the Power Supply System in J&K, here at Raj Bhavan.

The Lt Governor directed the concerned officers to increase the pace of works undertaken to ensure mitigation of power-related issues to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

He passed strict instructions to remove all bottlenecks and hurdles that impede the timely completion of augmentation and restoration works of various power projects.

While taking a strong note of the delays in tendering and awarding of projects, Sinha asked the concerned officers to fix responsibility and take strict action for the non-compliances.

He also directed for initiating an inquiry in the erring matters and submit the report at the earliest.

In order to speed up the works on different power projects, the Lt Governor directed the concerned to come up with a policy framework for procurement of spares and inventory, and directed them to conduct an auction of the scrap and discarded items.

A detailed PowerPoint presentation was given on “Updated status & Next steps” and discussion was also held for immediate focus on Jammu division for ensuring adequate supply in the coming summers.

Pertinently, Lt Governor has been emphasizing on the need to mitigate the shortage of power supply in Jammu during summers, and in Kashmir region during winters.

It is in this context that regular meetings are being chaired by him to closely monitor the progress on power reforms and reducing Transmission & Distribution losses in J&K.

Sinha asked the Power Development Department to complete the digitization work in the power sector on priority for its smooth functioning.

The meeting also discussed the identified immediate or short-term focus areas with respect to the augmentation of existing 220kv level Grid Stations, 132kv level Grid Stations, augmentation of transfer capacity of 220kv and 132kv transmission lines, besides completion of transmission lines long delayed on account of legal, arbitration and ROW issues.

The Lt Governor was also informed that several site visits were carried out by the officers to get first-hand review of the projects taken up to revamp power sector in the region.

The meeting discussed the creation of new Sub-stations,  progress on up-gradation of old and obsolete Distribution Infrastructure, Spares & Inventory and Centrally Sponsored Projects like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, (DDUGY), PMDP, RAPDRP, RGGVY, IPDS, and other schemes undertaken in PDD sector.

The meeting was also informed about the status of restructuring and unbundling of JKPDD, JKSPDCL & JKSPTCL besides, the appointment of Administrative Secretary & Director (Finance) on the boards of JKPTCL, KPDCL, JPDCL; appointment of MD for the new corporation, etc.

The meeting was attended by BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner, Finance Department; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department; Dr. R.P. Singh, Ex. CMD, PGCIL; chairmen of KPDCL, JKPTCL, JPDCL, and other experts of power sector.

New Delhi: The Delimitation Commission, a panel for redrawing the parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, has got a one-year extension, a move indicating that the Assembly polls in the Union Territory would not be held anytime soon.

A gazette notification issued by the government on Wednesday night said the panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, will get one more year for completing its task in the Union Territory, which came into existence on October, 2019 after the Centre abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state in August that year and announced its reorganisation.

The panel was set up last year to redraw the electoral constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir and four northeastern states — Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. However, the one-year extension is only for Jammu and Kashmir.

The proceedings of the commission, which has five MPs from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as ex-officio members, have been boycotted by the National Conference (NC) that has three representatives in the panel.

Before Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act in August 2019, the effective strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was 87, including four seats from Ladakh, which is now a separate Union Territory without a legislature. The strength of the realigned Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is 107 now with 24 seats to continue to remain vacant as those fall in PaK.

The NC members, while disassociating themselves with the Delimitation Commission, had said the party has challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act in the Supreme Court and the matter is pending.

In a letter to the chairperson of the commission, the NC MPs, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and veteran politician Farooq Abdullah, had said, “In our view, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is palpably unconstitutional and has been enacted in disregard and violation of the mandate and the spirit of the Constitution of India and therefore, not to be acted upon.”

“We have thrown a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 exercise of powers whereunder the meeting in question is proposed to be held,” the letter, also signed by two other MPs — Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone — had said.

According to section 60 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, “…the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be increased from 107 to 114….”

With 24 seats in PaK, the effective strength will go up from 83 to 90.

The elections to the Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be held only after the process of delimitation is completed.

Srinagar: The government of Jammu and Kashmir has made the security clearance mandatory from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for drawing salary and allowances of new entrants into the government service.

In a circular, the government has asked all the Administrative Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Heads of the Departments and Managing Directors of all PSUs and Corporations t ensure verification of new entrants by the CID.

“Circular No.09 – JK (GAD) of 2021 Dated: 03.03.2021 In terms of Government Order No.  1918 – GAD of 1997 dated 09.12.1997, read with Government Order No.  1328 – GAD of 2016 dated 07.12.2016, security clearance from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been made mandatory for drawing salary and allowances of new entrants into Government Service,” the circular reads.

The circular states that it has, however, been observed that these instructions are not being adhered to in some Departments/ Subordinate offices, as a result of which many individuals with dubious character antecedents and conduct have been paid salaries and other allowances, without obtaining their mandatory CID verification.

“It is accordingly impressed upon all Administrative Secretaries / Divisional Commissioners / Deputy Commissioners / Heads of the Departments and Managing Directors of all PSUs / Corporations to identify such cases and ensure that their verification is completed expeditiously and no new entrant in the Government Service is paid salary/ allowances till verification by the CID,” it reads.

The circular states that further, with a view to expedite verification process, a simplified mechanism has been devised in consultation with the Criminal Investigation Department, which is enclosed as Annexure – A to this Circular and may be adopted.

Appeals all eligible citizens to come forward, get vaccinated

Jammu, March 4:  Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha took his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu on Thursday.

“I have taken the vaccine today. It was a smooth process. I urge all the eligible people to come forward and get the vaccine dose. The vaccines are safe and I congratulate all the scientists for producing the vaccine,” the Lt Governor said after taking his first dose of the vaccine.

He also appealed to people not to lower their guard and follow all COVID related SOPs even after getting vaccinated.

The Lt Governor remarked that the world has acknowledged the ingenuity of the Indian scientists. He also expressed his gratitude to all frontline workers, the doctors, and medical personnel, who lead a formidable fight against COVID-19.

Jammu:  Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 79 new Covid-19 cases and one death due to the virus.

Out of the fresh cases, 14 were from the Jammu Division and 65 from the Kashmir Division of the union territory, they said.

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 47 cases, followed by 12 in Jammu district.

While 10 districts did not report any fresh cases, eight other districts had cases in single digits.

The number of active was 883 in the union territory, while 1,23,930 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.

The death toll in the union territory due to the pandemic has reached 1,959 as one fresh death was reported from the Kashmir Valley in the union territory in the past 24 hours, they added.

New Delhi: India has confirmed 17,407 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with the total number of those infected having reached 11,156,923, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday.

The death toll from the disease has reached 157,435 people, with 89 new fatalities being recorded over the past day. More than 10.82 million people have recovered in India since the start of the outbreak.

According to the ICMR, 21,91,78,908 samples have been tested up to March 3 with 7,75,631 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 89 new fatalities include 42 from Maharashtra, 15 from Kerala and 12 from Punjab.

A total of 1,57,435 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 52,280 from Maharashtra followed by 12,504 from Tamil Nadu, 12,346 from Karnataka, 10,914 from Delhi, 10,272 from West Bengal, 8,728 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,170 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.

Meanwhile, a total of 1.66 crore beneficiaries have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in India so far, according to the Union Health Ministry’s provisional report.

On March 3, the 47th day of the immunisation drive, over 9.94 lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated, the ministry said. Of these, 8.31 lakh beneficiaries were given the first shot of the two-dose regime. About 1.62 lakh healthcare and frontline workers received the second dose, the ministry added.

India comes second in terms of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following the United States, with more than 28.78 million COVID-19 patients.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 115.17 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.55 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Jammu:  Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, Nitishwar Kumar Thursday held a meeting to review preparations for the upcoming Tulip Festival to be held at Srinagar’s Tulip Garden.

The Principal Secretary said that the festival would mark as formal opening of Tulip Garden for tourists from all over the world, and called for its large scale promotion using various online and offline means of publicity. He said that the festival would present a unique opportunity to display the diverse culture of Jammu & Kashmir.

He directed Director Information, Rahul Pandey to promote the festival on day-to-day basis and stream all the proceedings of the mega festival on the department’s social media platforms.

On the occasion, he was informed that popular local artists as well as those from Bollywood including leading music maestros are expected to perform at the festival.

Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez was asked to make a calendar of events and design promotional campaign accordingly.

It was also decided that large displays would be installed in Srinagar city for public viewing.

The Principal Secretary asked Secretary Tourism to identify the most suitable agencies for successful conduct of the festival. The festival would showcase the rich cultural heritage and traditions of J&K so that people all over the world are attracted and can enjoy the mesmerizing beauty of J&K, he maintained.

The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary Floriculture; Sheikh Fayaz Ahmad; Secretary J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Krittika Jyotsna and Director Tourism Jammu, Naseem Javid Chowdhary, besides other senior officers.

Director Floriculture Kashmir and other senior officers from Kashmir participated in the meeting via video conferencing.

Srinagar: The weatherman Thursday forecast widespread rains on March 7 even as the minimum temperatures increased in Kashmir Valley, officials said on Thursday.

A meteorological department official said Srinagar recorded a low of 3.9°C against 2.8°C on the previous night. The temperature was 1.7°C above normal for this time of the year in this summer capital, the official said.

Qazigund recorded a low of 2.2°C against 1.4°C on the previous night while the mercury settled at 2.1°C at the famous resort of Pahalgam against 0.5°C on the earlier night.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of 3.4°C against 2.5°C on the previous night.

The minimum temperature settled at 3.4°C in Kupwara against 0.2°C on the previous night, the official said.

Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.0°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night.

“Fairly widespread” rains have been predicted for March 6 while widespread rains (76-100% predictability) have been forecast on March 7. The weatherman has also issued “yellow warning” for “isolated heavy rain/snow/thunder/lightning/hail” on March 7 and said that the weather system may impact surface traffic due to landslides on Jammu-Srinagar highway, the only surface link connecting Kashmir Valley with the outside world.

“There is possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightening over plains and light to moderate  snow over higher reaches during late night of 6th March and 7th March and thereafter decrease in intensity and distribution,” the Met official said.

Possibility of heavy snow over isolated places particularly over higher reaches can’t be ruled out during March 7, the officials said.

He said that the probable Impacts include disruption of surface transport over higher reaches, possibility of landslides and shooting stones over Jammu-Srinagar Highway, possibility of hailstorm at isolated places over plains of Jammu Division and fall in maximum temperature by 4-8 degree Celsius.

There are four types colour codes signifying the level of caution: green which means no action, yellow—situation to be watched), amber –government agencies need to be prepared for severe weather and red –action needed by the agencies. (GNS)