New Delhi: Corporate houses from across the country are keen to invest in the Jammu & Kashmir Health sector and have been seeking further details and inputs about how best to go about with it.

This was disclosed here today by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh after he was approached by veteren Cardiologist of national repute Dr Upendra Kaul, popularly known as Dr U. Kaul, with a proposal to set up two Cardiology Clinics in Srinagar and Jammu respectively.

Dr Jitendra Singh forwarded his proposal to the Union Territory government of Jammu & Kashmir and said that similar offers are also coming from other renowned Corporate Hospital Chains like Apollo, Medanta, Hindujas, etc who are feeling encouraged to come forward to invest in Jammu & Kashmir following the new constitutional arrangement brought in after 5th of August, 2019. Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and his officers are also quite cooperative in their response, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh noted that Jammu & Kashmir is in dire need of optimum super speciality medical services, which could provide timely treatment to the needy patients and at the same time hold back the mass exodus of patients to other places like Chandigarh, Delhi and Amritsar. He said, particularly after 1990, with the migration of a large number of Specialist Doctors to metros outside Jammu & Kashmir, the deficiency of specialized medical care has been increasingly realised.

Later, revealing his plans for Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Upendra Kaul, who is also a son of the soil and Director of Gauri Heart Project, said that to begin with, a state-of-the-art Cardiac Out Patient Service will soon be started in two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar. He said, while land has been acquired at Srinagar and the specialized Cardiac Clinic is scheduled to become operational from 10th of April this year, a similar Clinic is also planned for Jammu after the requisite piece of land becomes available.

Giving details, Dr Kaul said, the Heart Clinics set up by his Group will be manned by full-time Cardiologists who would provide the facility of ECG, Tread Mill Test(TMT) Echocardiology, Doppler Studies, Holter Monitoring, Extended Recording of Rhythm, 24 hrs blood Pressure Monitoring, Head Uptilt test, etc. Wherever required, the Cardiologists stationed there will also have the option to seek superior consultancy from senior cardiologists at Delhi and other places through telemedicine. The charges from the patients will be very economical and cost-effective, he said.

At the same time, Dr Kaul said, his Group has started holding regular free heart treatment health camps will full fledged management facilities, ever-ready Ambulance service and tele-medicine contact with some of the leading Cardiologists across the country. So far, such camps have already been held at Jagti township Nagrota Jammu and in districts Ramban, Kupwara, Budgam, etc. (Agencies)

Jammu: A day after Lashker-e-Mustafa (LeM) chief and his aide were arrested in two separate operations here, police on Sunday arrested two house owners who had rented their premises without verification to them, officials said.

Hidayatullah Malik alias Hasnain, an ”A” category militant from Shopian district, was arrested from a private car from the Kunjwani area on the outskirts of Jammu on Saturday. Later his associate Nazir Ahmad, also a resident of Shopian, was arrested from Bathindi area of the city. A police team conducted verification of tenants (Malik) and Ahmed who were staying in the houses of Nazir Bhat and Farooq Ahmed at Sanjwan, respectively. Both the owners have neither informed police nor conducted any verification in police station (before providing them accommodation in their homes),” a police spokesperson said.

He said the owners have violated a notification issued by the District Magistrate Jammu on September 24, 2019, wherein it was made mandatory to inform police station concerned about a tenant.

“Both the accused were arrested and booked separately,” he said, adding further investigation is on.

‘Non- compliance will invite action’

Srinagar:  Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang Kondbarao Pole has said that the details of annual property returns of all revenue employees of the Valley have been made public.

Div Com Pole said that the details of property returns of all employees of the Finance Department for the year 2020 have been uploaded on the Kashmirdivision.nic.in website.

“Access to these details is available at the Employees Corner link, where scanned copies of the property returns of all employees are available district-wise,” he said.

In this regard, the Divisional Commissioner issued necessary instructions to the concerned persons to ensure that employees submit details of their movable and immovable property. “Instructions were issued to all tehsildars and the Home Department who will present the details of the annual returns of the employees of the Revenue Department including the Deputy Tehsildars, Girdwaras, Patwaris, Junior Assistants and all other officials to the offices of the concerned Deputy Commissioners,” officials said.
“Details should be submitted to the Divisional Office and uploaded on the official website accordingly,” he said.
Pole said that any employee who fails to submit the details would be considered as non-compliance with the government orders and action will be taken. (KNS)

Moscow: The Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine only offers limited protection against the South African strain of the coronavirus, a study due to be released on Monday shows.

“A two-dose regimen of [the vaccine] did not show protection against mild-moderate Covid-19 due to [the South African variant]”, the study says, as quoted by The Financial Times.

According to the newspaper, the study involved 2,025 participants, with a median age of 31. Half of them were given placebo, while the other half got at least one dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. None of the participants died or was hospitalized.

“We do believe our vaccine could protect against severe disease, as neutralising antibody activity is equivalent to that of other Covid-19 vaccines that have demonstrated activity against more severe disease, particularly when the dosing interval is optimised to 8-12 weeks,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said as quoted by The Financial Times, adding that other immune responses, such as T-cells, “may remain intact” against the South African variant.

According to the spokesperson, AstraZeneca has already started adapting its vaccine to the South African strain, so that it is ready for fall deliveries, if needed.

Earlier this month, the University of Oxford said that the AstraZeneca vaccine had proven its effectiveness against the UK coronavirus variant. (Sputnik)

Srinagar: People in Gurez, which is surrounded by Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) from three sides, continued to suffer as the border town remained cutoff from rest of Kashmir valley since January 1.

Meanwhile, two critically ill patients were airlifted from Gurez valley to a hospital in district headquarter Bandipora for treatment by authorities.

An official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Bandipora said Gurez and adjoining border villages remained closed for traffic since January 1.

“Razdan pass, connecting Gurez, Neeru and dozens of other areas near LoC with district headquarters Bandipora, which is already covered over several feet of snow, received fresh snowfall earlier this week,” he said.

The border town remains closed during six winter months every year due to accumulation of several feet of snow.

Meanwhile, people have been demanded for a tunnel at Razdan pass to make Bandipora-Gurez road an all weather road.

“We have been demanding from successive governments to construct a tunnel at Razdan pass so that Gurez remains connected with rest of the valley throughout the year. People face a lot of problems during winter months as they remain cutoff from rest of the valley for about six winter months,” Shabir Ahmad, a resident of Gurez, said.

However, traffic was plying normally to dozens of far-flung and remote villages — including border towns of Karnah, Machil, Keran and Tanghdar – in north Kashmir district of Kupwara.

An official spokesperson said on the directions of Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmad, two critically ill patients were airlifted from snowbound Tulail area of Gurez valley to Bandipora for immediate medical relief on Saturday.

“The district administration received an SOS from the family for evacuation of two patients- 80-year-old patient Mohammad Sultan and Khateeja of Neeru Tulail who were in need of immediate evucation for treatment,” he said.

He said the Deputy Commissioner immediately directed to arrange a special chopper to airlift the patient and also personally monitored the operation until the evacuation was completed.

Jammu: The Crime Branch of J&K Police on Sunday registered a criminal case against two brothers for allegedly running fraudulent finance companies here to dupe investors.

“Crime Branch Jammu booked Managing Director/Directors of Finance Company viz Vikas Mahajan & Lokesh Mahajan both sons of Late Bal Krishan Mahajan R/O Gurha Bakshi Nagar, Jammu by registering a formal criminal case against them under relevant provisions of law for their involvement in running fraudulent companies i.e. M/S Samridhi Finance Limited, S.K. Business Corp and Mahajan Co. and after hatching criminal conspiracy duping the gullible investors by fraudulent means of their hard earned money,” a Crime Branch spokesman said.

A written complaint was lodged by D. K Gupta S/O Late Krishan Lal Gupta R/O Tara Vihar Plot No. 13, Lane No.  1, Behind Soap Factory, Paloura, Jammu in Crime Branch Jammu through Reserve Bank of India (RBI) against Managing Director/Directors of Finance companies  i.e., Samridhi Finance Limited , S. K Business Corp. and Mahajan & Co., alleging therein that they are running these companies by fraudulent means and were duped of large sum of money.

The Reserve Bank of India  said out of three companies only M/S Samridhi Finance Ltd was previously registered with Reserve Bank of India, the company was not entitled to accept public deposits, the registration Certificate of the company was subsequently cancelled. Moreover S.K Business Corporation and Mahajan & Company are not registered with the Reserve Bank of India and are not authorized by the Reserve Bank of India for accepting public deposits.

The spokesman said as per procedure a preliminary verification was initiated by Crime Branch Jammu.

“During the course of enquiry record/information was obtained from the concerned quarters and it has been prima-facie substantiated that the suspects Vikas Mahajan and Lokesh Mahajan have hatched criminal conspiracy in connivance with each other and created M/S Samridhi Finance and S.K Gupta Company in order to dupe the hard earned money of the complainant for their personal wrongful gain and corresponding wrongful loss to complainant. The omissions and commissions, therefore, on the part of Managing Directors of the above named Finance Companies prima facie, constitute offences punishable U/S 420, 120 RPC and a formal case is registered in P/S Crime Branch, Jammu against the above mentioned accused persons for in depth investigation,” he added.

Jammu: Director General of Police Dilbag Singh Sunday said militants are planning to set up their hideouts in Jammu to receive arms and ammunition from across the border and smuggle it to Kashmir.

“Jammu has always remained a target of Pakistan, its sponsored militant outfits, ISI and the agencies running militancy in J&K. In the past, religious places were repeatedly targeted and a grenade attack had taken place on a temple in Rajouri in the recent past. Police have got inputs and are taking action (to foil any attempt to disturb peace and harm the communal harmony),” Singh reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He said the recently floated Lashkar-e-Mustafa is an offshoot of the Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit and majority of its members were arrested in Kashmir or Jammu.

“The questioning of its commander arrested in Jammu city yesterday is going on and his disclosure suggests that they wanted to spread militancy to Jammu and set up hideouts so that they can dump the arms and ammunition received from Pakistan before smuggling to Kashmir or any other place,” he said.

The DGP said the militant was arrested on time and the plan was thwarted.

“The Jammu as well as Kashmir police are working in coordination and are ready to face any challenge with determination…We have a cent percent success rate in the cases where police seized arms and ammunition and drugs which were airdropped by drones or smuggled by other means,” he said.

Singh said Pakistan is playing with the lives of the youth by luring them into militancy, using drugs to ruin their lives and also smuggling contraband to use the money for terrorism.

“All these three things are happening together from Pakistan. The menace of drugs is a major challenge as it is well organised with the support and sponsorship of Pakistan,” he said.

The DGP said both Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab share borders with Pakistan and remain the target for drug trafficking.

Jammu:  Nearly 84 per cent of the total 3,141 underground bunkers for the protection of border residents during cross-border Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) have been completed in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman said on Sunday.

The work on the majority of the remaining 505 bunkers is at different stages of completion, he said.

Rajouri District Development Commissioner Rajesh K Shavan on Saturday reviewed the progress of the construction of the border bunkers in the district.

During a meeting, he was informed that a total of 2,636 bunkers have been completed by the Rural Development Department (RDD) and the Public Works Department (PWD) so far.

“Out of 1,892 bunkers, including 1,745 individual and 147 community bunkers, being constructed by the RDD, the work on 1,497 bunkers is complete in all respects,” the spokesman said.

“The work on 93 bunkers is at foundation level, 195 at superstructure level, 82 at slab level, while construction of 25 bunkers is yet to start due to some local issues,” he said.

Out of 1,241 bunkers, including 1,116 in Nowshera and 125 in Rajouri being executed by the PWD, the work on 1,139 bunkers is complete and rest are at different phases of execution, while work on 24 bunkers is yet to be started, the spokesman added.

Addressing the meeting, the district development commissioner directed the concerned officers to ensure that the bunkers are provided to all the border inhabitants so that their lives are saved from the cross border shelling.

He also asked for double shifts to complete the work on rest of the bunkers in a time bound manner, the spokesman said.

Srinagar: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable died of heart attack in north Kashmir district of Kupwara, official sources said here on Sunday.

They said the CRPF constable, identified as Netakar Dinesh of 162nd battalion, who was posted in Kupwara, suffered a massive heart attack while on duty on Saturday evening. “Dinesh was immediately taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead,” they said.

They said after completing all the legal and medical formalities, the body of the deceased will be sent to his native state for last rites.

Bandipora: Abdu Haseeb , a physical challenged boy of Bandipora says determination and courage helped him to face challenges to clear National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Haseeb said despite all odds he went ahead to succeed in his dream with the unrelenting support of his family and his unshackling resolve.

Narrating the ordeal he has to go while clearing NEET, Haseeb said, “Our entire savings were spent in my treatment as I underwent twenty surgeries. I am now able to walk with the help of crutches.”

Haseeb has always been determined to continue studies.

“After Class 10th, my parents enrolled me in a Government school and I continued with my studies, with the unrelenting support of my family especially my father, who himself served as a teacher,” he said.

Overcoming all the challenges Haseeb believes that “being physically challenged is not a curse but a challenge which should be faced with determination and confidence”.

He said initially he got demotivated to study  but the faculty members motivated him to realise his goal.

To ensure Haseeb continues studies, an auto was arranged for him by his parents to ensure he reaches his school daily on time.

“I used to study for four to five hours daily to realise my dream. I want to give a message to all my fellow friends- have strong determination and you shall definitely succeed in life,” Haseeb said.

He said that he faced many problems in life which he overcame with determination in life.” (KNS)