Srinagar Two militants were killed in an encounter with troops in the forest area of Shalgul Srigufwara in Bijbehara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said on a specific input generated by Anantnag Police regarding presence of militants in Shalgul forest area, a joint CASO was launched by Police and 3 RR in the area in the morning.

“During the search operation, as the presence of militants was ascertained, they were given an opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately towards the joint search party, which was retaliated by troops,” he said.

“In the ensuing encounter, two unidentified militants were killed and their bodies retrieved from the site of encounter. The identification and affiliation of the slain are being ascertained,” the spokesman said.

He said in case any family claims the slain militants to be their kith or kin, they can come forward for their identification at PCR Kashmir.

“Arms and ammunition including two AK rifles and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other cases,” it reads.

Chairs separate meeting to review upgradation of Sgr Airport

Srinagar, Feb 24: Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, P K Pole Wednesday convened a meeting of officers to review status of Srinagar- Sonamarg- Gumri (SSG) road scheduled to be thrown open for civilian traffic from February 28.

On 28 February, the road is to be flagged off by the Lieutenant Governor of UT of Ladakh for traffic movement.

Among others, Chief Engineer, MED, SSP Traffic Rural were present in the meeting.

The Divisional Commissioner Ladakh, Saugat Biswas, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Deputy Commissioner Kargil, Chief Engineer BRO, officials from NIDCL and SSPs of district Ganderbal and Kargil joined the meeting through Video Conferencing.

On the occasion, the CE, BRO briefed the Div Com about the status of road clearance on the Highway- 1.

It was given out that the road stands cleared for one way traffic, however in view of weather advisory the road shall be opened for civilian traffic from 28, February.

The meeting was informed that several advisories need to be issued in view of slippery road condition and avalanche warnings including allowing plying of vehicles with chains both HMVs and LMVs and one way traffic at Zojilla pass to avoid accidents.

The Div Com said that to prevent any exigency both of these advisories shall be put in place besides there shall be proper timing to allow movement of vehicles from Sonmarg and Minamarg. The cut off time for vehicles from Sonmarg side shall be 10 am and from Minamarg, the cut off time for vehicles has been proposed as 11 am, he added.

To ensure mobile connectivity for travellers along the highway in case of any emergency, Div Com directed the BRO to provide logistic support to Bsnl and Jio networks to resume the cellular connectivity.

He also directed the CE, BRO to provide different kinds assistance including accomodation, food, petrol etc to the travellers during emergency along the highway. Besides, he directed the DC Kargil, and CE, MED to place recovery vans on road as per the past practice.

The Div Com directed for close coordination among the Dy. SPs and Collectors on both sides of the pass to ensure hassle free movement of vehicles.

He also instructed the concerned to allow smooth movement of service vehicles of telecoms along the highway.

Meanwhile, the DC Ganderbal informed the chair that all facilities for tomorrow’s opening of Sonmarg tourist destination for tourists have been put in place including restoration of power, water and telecommunication services besides opening of hotels etc.

Later, the Div Com Kashmir chaired a separate meeting of officers to review upgradation of Srinagar Airport from Category Ist to Category 2nd and 3rd.

The meeting was attended by Director Airport, Commandants of CISF and CRPF besides, Superintending Engineers of PWD and PHE.

The Deputy Commissioner, Budgam attended the meeting via video conferencing.

The meeting discussed threadbare requirements and acquisition of land for upgradation of Airport.

The Director Airport informed the meeting that Category 2nd upgradation has ILS requirement and is thus possible for this Airport while Category 3rd has huge infrastructural requirement.

On acquisition of land, DC Budgam said that the identified land can easily be acquired, there is no problem in it besides there is also no issue of habitation.

While discussing the approach road, the SE PWD informed the chair about the three possible approach roads to the airport. The Div Com directed the concerned to get the approach road marked on Google map in coordination with Budgam authorities so that the same is finalised after proper deliberation.

The meeting also discussed acquiring two types of land for CISF, one for airport deployment and another for Battalion.

Div Com directed DC Budgam to expedite acquisition of land for airport deployment.

Jammu:  Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor and Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), Nitishwar Kumar Wednesday reviewed the preparedness for the Amarnathji Yatra-2021 with the officers of the Board here at Raj Bhavan.

The CEO was briefed by Additional CEO SASB, Anup Soni about the camp-wise facilities available for the Yatris and steps being taken to further augment the same. He also apprised the CEO that the tenders  for various works on Pahalgam axis have been floated as per the approved work programme and those for Baltal axis are under process. The chair was informed that the works shall be executed once the tracks are opened by the Public Works Department on Baltal side and Pahalgam Development Authority on Pahalgam side.

The CEO was also briefed about the enhancement of carrying capacity of Lower cave and Brarimarg camp; prepaid system for hiring of ponies/palki services; Radio-Frequency based tracking and surveillance of the Yatris, registration arrangements for Yatris and Service providers; Heli service arrangements and installation of Langars in the Yatra area.

The CEO directed the officers to complete the tendering process at the earliest and provide improved facilities to the Yatris. He asked the officers to explore the possibility of running battery-operated cars in the Yatra area.  He further instructed that main stress should be given to hygiene and sanitation of the camps and tracks en-route.

The CEO impressed upon the concerned officers to ensure that advance action is taken to complete registration of Ponies, Pony-wallas, Dandi-wallas and Palki-wallas and to ensure that no person embarks on the Yatra tracks unauthorized.

Calling for synergized efforts for providing best facilities to the Yatris, the CEO also directed to ensure that both the Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal districts issue timely permissions for pitching of Tents and Shops.

1200 athletes, guests to participate in 5-day winter games

Gulmarg: Around 1200 athletes and guests from across the country will participate in the Second edition of Khelo India Winter Games here at world famous ski resort starting from February 26.

Meanwhile, all arrangements are in place to hold the games successfully.

An official spokesman said Wednesday evening that the second edition of the games will start from February 26 and culminate on March 2 .

Around 1200 athletes and guests from across the country are scheduled to participate in the event, he added.

The mega sports event is one of the many efforts aimed at engaging the youth in positive and constructive activities.

He said athletes from 27 states and Union Territories (UTs) will converge on the snow-bound slopes of Gulmarg during the event to compete in different categories of sports.

The prominent sports activities, which will be the hallmark of the winter games, include snow shoe race, ice skating, ice hockey, skiing, Nordic ski, snowboarding, ski mountaineering and ice stock etc.

Athletes from the Indian Army and the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports will also participate in the event, besides the athletes from different states and UTs.

On the occasion, a number of cultural programmes shall also be organised, besides setting up of stalls of ethnic food and local crafts.

The event is being organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the J&K Sports Council and the Winter Games Association of J&K.

The J&K administration has made all arrangements and put in place all facilities in advance. A special team of doctors and ambulances have been directed to be kept available round the clock.

A special team of the State Disaster Response Fund shall remain deployed for relief and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Baramulla, Mohammad Aijaz Asad accompanied by various concerned officers today paid visit to the famous tourist destination Gulmarg, to take stock of arrangements put in place for smooth conduct of winter games under Khelo-India sports initiative.

On the occasion, DC conducted on-spot inspection of several locations where he took the first hand appraisal of various necessities required for conducting the event smoothly.

He also reviewed several other related aspects wherein he deliberated upon various officers for adopting a coordinated approach for making the event a grand success. He emphasized making all necessary arrangements including accommodation, lodging and other facilities well in advance and in a hassle free manner.

The DC directed the PDD and PHE departments to provide uninterrupted power and water supply respectively so that the concerned stakeholders may not face any inconvenience. He also directed the Mechanical Division to keep men and machinery ready so as to avert any kind of exigency that may arise due to snowfall. Moreover, Municipal authorities were directed to maintain hygiene in the surrounding.

It was informed that sufficient accommodation for the dignitaries as well for the athletes had been facilitated in different hotels and in other resting places.

New Delhi:  The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination in India will begin from March ,1 in which people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday.

Address a press conference after the Union Cabinet meeting, the minister said that those who would take the vaccine at private centres will have to pay from their own pocket.

“The second phase of vaccination from March 1 in which people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres. The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centres,” Javadekar said.

“Those who would take the vaccine at private centres will have to pay. The amount will be decided by the health ministry within the next 3-4 days as they are in discussion with manufacturers and hospitals,” he said.

The Union Minister 1,07,67,000 people have vaccinated against COVID-19 so far in the first phase of vaccination which began on January 16.

“14 lakh people have received a second dose as well. In the first phase, healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated, and the expenditure was borne by the government,” Javadekar said.

India has reported 13,742 new cases of coronavirus and 104 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India stands at 1,10,30,176 and the active cases tally is 1,46,907.

While as many as 1,56,567 deaths have been reported, a total of 1,07,26,702 people have been discharged.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 74 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally to 1,26,093, even as no fresh death due to the virus was reported in the past 24 hours, officials said.

Out of the fresh cases, 20 were from the Jammu division and 54 from the Kashmir division of the Union Territory, they said.

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 19 cases followed by 14 in Baramulla district and 11 in Udhampur district.

While eight districts did not report any fresh case, nine districts had cases in single digits.

The number of active has risen to 771 in the Union Territory, while 1,23,367 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.

The death toll in the UT due to the disease is 1,955 as no fresh death was reported from Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours, they added.