Srinagar: After resumption of train service, passengers are now paying triple train fare as authorities changed the nomenclature of train service to express/mail.

Passengers from different areas of Kashmir said train services are no longer cheaper as fare has been hiked three times than it was before.

Sameer Ahmad, a resident of Anantnag, said that after an abrupt charge the minimum passenger charge is now Rs 30, which he said “is a sheer injustice”.

“If someone boards train from Anantnag to Bijbehara, a passenger has to pay Rs 30 besides Rs 20 to reach the station, while bus fare from Anantnag to Bijbehara is just Rs10,” he said.

Altaf Ahmed, a resident of Pulwama, said that people were repeatedly requesting authorities to restore the train because it was cheap, however, nobody will prefer now to board the train after the fare hike.

After remaining closed for around one year due to Covid-19, the train services were resumed in the valley on Monday.

Chief Area Manager Railways Saqib Yousuf said since the trains are now running as mail/express, the fare is being charged accordingly.

Whether fare will be decreased after services will be restored fully, Yousuf said that these are policy issues and such questions can be answered at higher levels only.

Train services in Jammu and Kashmir were suspended on March 19 last year after an outbreak of Covid-19. (KNO)

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Tuesday called for replicating the success stories of innovative and progressive farmers from across the country in Jammu and Kashmir through transmission of ideas and knowledge sharing for transforming agriculture & allied sectors, and for realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ income.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a 2-day long Innovative Farmers Conference on “Farmer Led Innovations for Enhancing Farm Income” here at SKUAST Jammu organized to harness first-hand experiences of innovative farmers.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor felicitated five Padma Shri awardee farmers viz  Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, Kanwal Singh Chouhan, Sultan Singh , Ram Sharan Verma and Chander Shekhar Singh, and other innovative farmers including Major Manmohan Singh Virka, Gurpreet Singh Shergill, Ms. Krishan Yadav, Ms. Pooja Sharma, Hariman Sharma and Yogendra Kaushik.

The Lt Governor termed the innovative farmers as key change-makers in agricultural development and a motivating force for the whole farming community. He also urged them to disseminate their technical know-how for further emulation by farmers to multiply their income.

More than 100 prominent progressive farmers from J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are participating in the conference.

Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor underscored the significance of promoting best practices, sharing of innovative ideas and experiences among farmers. He said that the Conference would provide an exclusive platform to farmers to exchange ideas and gain new knowledge in farming.

“Impetus should be given to information sharing, research and extension programs by Universities for meeting the expectations of farmers and preparing them to overcome modern-day challenges like Global warming”, he added.

The Lt Governor observed that the seamless transfer of technology from universities to farmers is imperative for introducing the farmers with innovative ways of farming.

For providing a substantial increase in farmers’ income, the Lt Governor called for developing strategies and credible mechanisms for upscaling of farmers-led innovations and further strengthening the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and making J&K AatmaNirbhar in agriculture sector.

The Lt Governor also suggested a host of measures for achieving faster growth in the agriculture sector along-with providing sustainable income and livelihood to farmers.

The Lt Governor said that there are about 8000 species of medicinal and aromatic plants available in India but only 10 per cent of them are being utilized. He urged the scientific community to make dedicated efforts for exploiting the full potential of unutilized plant species.

He suggested for creating Umbrella Groups for selling local and small scale products, besides holding brainstorming sessions on the innovations happening in various categories of start-ups in agriculture such as agro-processing, artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, agricultural mechanization, waste to wealth, dairy, fisheries, and other entrepreneurship programs.

He also urged the farming community to utilize latest social media sources for updating their knowledge about agriculture and allied sectors.

Rs 5 crore earmarked for safety equipment

Jammu:  With an aim to arrest the accidental deaths and injuries to the field staff of Power Development Department and taking care of its field employees, the Department has directed its field offices to immediately focus on relevant safety measures and to ensure that there is no loss of human life. As part of this effort, the department has directed both the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporations to ensure that Isolators and earthing rods are provided on every 11 KV feeder in the UT. This shall ensure that the field workers shall remain safe even if there is accidental touching of live lines or equipment and due to accidental charging of lines or equipment during shut down activity.

These directions were passed by the Principal Secretary, Power Development Department, Rohit Kansal while discussing the steps being taken by the Department for ensuring safety and security of the field staff while performing duties in the field.

In another first, it is for the first time that the Power Development Department has set aside nearly Rs 5 crore for the procurement of Personal Protective equipment (PPE) and other Safety Devices to be used by the field staff working round the clock to ensure that uninterrupted power supply is provided to all of its consumers.

The PPE which shall be provided to field workers shall include Safety Helmets to prevent head injuries due to accidental fall or falling objects or impact with other objects,  Insulating Gloves  shall be provided to prevent electrical shock due to operating rods and operating handles, Safety harness / Belt to be provided for fall protection equipment, while working on elevated electrical lines and other equipment and Safety Shoes shall also be provided to prevent foot injury and to provide electrical shock resistance.

In addition, the Power Department has also issued “Standard operating Procedures (SoP) for safe working besides designating Safety Officers. Set guidelines too have been framed for the field staff to follow while working in the field. Further, mock safety drill of SoP by the field staff under the proper supervision by safety officers would be made a regular feature in all the field offices of Power Department.

It was also decided to observe Safety Day every month to make the field workers aware about safety issues by conducting mock safety drills and use of PPE and Field Safety Devices.

By: Wahid Rafeeqi

Saderkoot: The Bandipora district on Tuesday reported its first case of avian influenza as samples taken from dead domestic geese returned positive for the disease.

Dc Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad said samples from dead domestic geese have returned positive for H5N8 from Saderkoot Payeen village of Bandipora.

“This is a first positive case in Bandipora district but there is no need to panic. A rapid response team has been deployed in the area and the department has taken necessary measures in accordance with the government guidelines to prevent the spread of the infection,” he said.

The DC said an avian influenza case has been detected in the district.

“Habituation within 1 km radius from the epicentre viz Khar Mohalla, Hajam Mohalla & Gojjerpatti village of Saderkoot Payeen are declared as “infected zone”. Villages within 10Kms radius from epicentre viz Saderkoot Bala, Ajas, Check Sadunara, Garoora and Nadihal are declared as ‘Surveillance Zone’,” he said. (KNS)

Srinagar: Senior medico in Kashmir on Tuesday said that as of now there are no indications of second wave of Covid-19 in J&K, but people must follow Covid SOPs in letter and spirit.

Dr Naved Nazir, Head of the Department Chest Diseases, said that as of now he can’t say whether vaccine will be effective against new Covid strains as research on the issue is going on.

“At the same we don’t have any indication of second Covid wave but Covid-19 outbreak started in India, the cases were found in Kerala and Maharashtra first and then it reached here and second wave has also started and there are chances it may reach here but there is no surety,” he said.

Naved said that Covid is not going to “leave us so soon and there is need to adhere to protocols for our benefit along with the benefit of our others.”

“Virus can change gene structure and can emerge in new form anytime so we have to remain cautious,” he said, adding that to check whether is it its mutated form, “we send samples of high risk patients and persons with a travel history of such countries where mutations have been found, their samples are being sent for gene sequencing along with some random samples to keep continuous check on mutations.”

Asked about re-opening of schools, he said that children have been safe always and no complex case of Covid-19 was found among children and if school authorities, parents and children will follow advisories, then there is nothing wrong in opening schools.

About the efficiency of the vaccine, he said the drive has just begun and “we can’t say anything about its efficacy yet, however, no major case of side effect of the vaccine has been found as of now.”

He said that if every single person will get a vaccine shot, there are still chances that new strains may emerge. “So people must follow advisories in letter and spirit,” Naveed added. (KNO)

Kharagpur:  Warning against the dangers of climate change and natural disasters like the one in Uttarakhand recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday asked the IITs to develop disaster resilient infrastructure that can withstand their effects.

Addressing the 66th convocation of IIT (Kharagpur), the oldest of Indian Institutes of Technology, he gave the students the mantra of “Self-3” – “self-awareness, self- confidence and selflessness” – in order to become startups for bringing about a change in the lives of people.

He also spoke of the need for making available safe, affordable and environment-friendly energy to people through initiatives like the International Solar Alliance.

“Climate change is a major challenge as natural disasters destroy infrastructure. India drew the attention of the world to the issue of disaster management.

“You can see what happened recently in Uttarakhand. We should focus on developing disaster resilient infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters,” he said.

The prime minister referred to the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), which he announced at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019.

The CDRI envisages partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks, financing mechanisms, private sector, and knowledge institutions to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks to ensure sustainable development.

Modi said, “Disaster management is a subject which the world has looked up to India. During major disasters, along with life, infrastructure is the most affected. Realizing this two years ago, India took the initiative of establishing Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure in the United Nations.”

He hailed the role played by the IITs in developing technology to battle COVID-19 and said the hallowed institutes should now work fast on finding futuristic solutions to other health care problems.

“You represent the aspirations of 130 crore people of India,” he said while addressing the convocation virtually.

Noting that the needs and aspirations of 21st century India have changed, Modi said IITs need to be taken to the next level from Indian Institutes of Technology to Institutes of Indigenous Technologies to meet the changing demands and aspirations of New India.

“You have to become startups to bring about a change in the lives of people. You have to work on Self 3– self- awareness, self-confidence and selflessness. You should recognise your potential and move forward, move ahead with full confidence, move ahead with selflessness,” he told the students.

“There is no place for hastiness in the field of science and technology. You may not get complete success in the innovation you are working on. But that failure of yours will also be considered a success because you will learn something from that as well,” he said.

Underscoring the need for clean and affordable energy, the prime minister said India presented to the world the concept of the International Solar Alliance.

He said the cost per unit of solar power was very little in India. However, it was still a great challenge to take it to people’s homes.

Srinagar: Government has decided to open the schools on March Ist in a phased manner.

Director School Education Muhammad Yonus Malik said that Schools from 9-12 class shall open from 1 march and the elementary schools will open from March 8th.

“We are continuously monitoring the situation. All the walks of life are gradually returning back to work, and the administration has reached to decision to throw open the schools as well. An order has been issued yesterday that Schools from 9-12 standard shall open from 1 march and the elementary schools will open from March 8^th,” he said.

However, he said that teachers of elementary classes shall attend the schools from March 1, and students shall physically attend classes from March 08, 2021.

“We have set guidelines to have safe schooling. We have already started cleanliness and sanitation drive and the situation will be continuously monitored, so that parents shall feel that their wards are in safe hands,” he said.

There will be no compromise on SOPs, wearing mask, social distancing and frequent hand sanitizing is necessary to have safe schooling, he said.

“We have around 13 thousand schools including private ones with admission of 13 lac students, and we have given them guidelines that wearing mask, social distancing and hand sanitizing is very important,” Malik said.

“We have also given direction to schools heads to plan as per prevailing situation. The schooling will be staggered manner, like the school heads can ask students to avoid morning assembly and other co-curricular activities. We can maintain distance whatever way we can, he said.

“However we have sufficient space, in case there is any space crunch at any institution, there will be segregation, stagger or odd even process, the school heads will take care of it,” he saisd.

With the improvement in weather, we can have open classes again.

The parents should feel that their wards are in safe hands, we are continuously monitoring the situation, there is no need to worry, we are hopeful schools will open on a good note, he added.

Jammu:  A meeting was Tuesday held between Jammu & Kashmir Government and GeM (Government E-Marketing) authorities to expedite its implementation in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

It was informed that Local filters shall become operational on GeM w.e.f. 25th of this month enabling the departments to procure Goods and Services from the local manufacturers. It was one of the important components of economic package announced recently for giving boost to local entrepreneurship.

The GeM team was headed by Talleen Kumar, CEO GeM, Gol and Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner, Finance headed the team from J&K. Special Secretary (Finance), Director General (Codes) and Director, Industries & Commerce ,Jammu also attended the meeting, amongst others.

The Local filters and MSME filters can be used together for procurements madeup to Rs. 5.00 lacs from local manufacturers. For purchases above Rs. 5.00 lacs additional terms and conditions clause can be used by the departments for restricting procurement within a geographical limit, through the process of bidding on the GeM.

For creating ample awareness in this regard Finance Department in collaboration with Industries & Commerce Deportment will be organising series of workshops from 26th of the month to train traders/manufacturers regarding steps to be followed for registration on GeM.

It was also given in the meeting that a special work shop shall also be held on 3rd and 4th of March, 2021 with participation of Experts from GeM. It is expected that these steps will go a long way in addressing demands of local manufacturers made from time to time.

Srinagar: Body of a 40-year-old man was found at Bonadialgam Anantnag in south Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

They said some locals found the body in a small lane situated on Dialgam Anantnag road near sports stadium Bona-Dialgam.

As per eyewitness the body is decomposed. Meanwhile locals informed the police station Anantnag. Later a police team reached the spot and took it into the custody. Subsequently, the police identified him as Javid Ahmad Pathan (40) son of Mohammad Shafi of Ashajiporapora. A police official said he had gone missing on February 3. (GNS)

Jammu: The Centre Government on Tuesday appointed Dr Shakti Gupta as first Director of upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Vijaypur in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.

As per order issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Shakti Kumar Gupta, Medical Superintendent, Dr R P Centre for Opthalmic Sciences, AIIMS, New Delhi has been appointed as new Director of AIIMS, Vijaypur, Samba in Jammu region.

Union MoS in Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra in his tweet said, “Congratulations Dr Shakti Gupta for being appointed as the first Director of AIIMS, #Jammu.”

“I am sure, you have the capacity to live up to this prestigious responsibility assigned to you,” Dr Singh Tweeted.

AIIMS is located around 30-Kms from Jammu along the Srinagar-Jammu highway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of AIIMS on February 3, which will be completed in 2023.