19,23,790 children from 0-5 years to be administered drops in Kashmir  

Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P K Pole today kicked off Intensive Pulse Polio Immunization programme at Lal Ded Hospital here in presence of Principal Government Medical College Dr. Samia Rasheed.

Dy Director, Directorate of Health Services Kashmir,   Dr Bashir Ahmad Chalkoo, State Immunization officer, Dr. Qazi Haroon, State Immunization Officer, Assistant Director Family Welfare, MCH& Immunization, Kashmir, Dr. Masarat Jabeen and Staff of Health & Family Welfare Department were present on the occasion.

According to the official handout, 19,23,790 children from 0-5 years will be administered polio drops during this phase of Immunization drive. It was given that  door to door visits will be conducted by the teams of health department on the 2nd and 3rd day to cover  left outs and dropouts.

According to the Director Health & Family Welfare a total of 10709 booths were established in the UT of J&K manned with 42836 trained Health Workers, Vaccinators and 2144 Supervisors besides 941   mobile and transit teams were also deployed.

He said that adequate quantity of pulse polio doses (vaccine) has been kept available at the designated booths of the Union territory.

It was further informed that at the end of the day one 1667763 children (87%) were administered polio drops  while drop outs shall be covered during the next two days of door to door campaign to achieve 100% immunization of the children across the UT.

Jammu: Several cases of Avian Flu commonly known as Bird Flu have been reported in Udhampur district among the domestic birds, officials said here.

Wildlife warden Jammu, Anil Arti told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that samples of some domestic birds were taken in Udhampur area some fifteen days ago and they have now been tested positive for bird flu.

He, however, said that there is no need to worry as cases have not been reported on major scale because bird flu has been confirmed among few domestic fowl and one peacock in Udhampur, besides in some wild crows in Poonch.

Nodal officer for Bird flu DrMushtaq Ahmad Shah also confirmed to KNO that cases of bird flu have been confirmed in some domestic birds in Jammu division, however, no case has been reported so far in the Kashmir division.

It is pertinent to mention here that Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir have confirmed the outbreak of the avian influenza in poultry birds.

Cases of bird flu have also been reported among crows, migratory and wild birds in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Bihar. (KNO)

New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will soon release guidelines for Over the Top (OTT) streaming platforms in view of a number of complaints against the content showcased by them, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday.

“We have received a lot of complaints against some serials available on OTT platforms. Films and serials released on OTT platforms and digital newspapers do not come under the purview of the Press Council Act, Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act or Censor Board. We will come up with some guidelines on it soon,” news agency ANI quoted Javadekar as saying.

Recently, makers of the web series ‘Tandav’ starring Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia received multiple FIRs in several states for hurting religious sentiments. The Supreme Court also served a notice over ‘maligning’ the Uttar Pradesh district Mirzapur’s image in the popular web series of the same name. (Agencies)

New Delhi: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday announced that 100 per cent occupancy will be allowed in Cinema halls from February 1, but all COVID-19 guidelines will have to be followed.

Javadekar released a standard operating procedure on preventive measures to contain spread of COVID-19 for cinema halls and theatres.

Announcing the decision, the Minister said now Cinema halls can operate with full capacity. He added that sanitisation and COVID protocols will have to be adhered to but people can buy food from the stalls inside the theatres.

‘Good news for Cinema lovers: Today, Issued the revised SOP for the film exhibition, 100% occupancy will be allowed in theatres from 1st February, but all @MoHFW_INDIA #COVID19 guidelines will have to be followed,’ the Minister said in a tweet.

At the onset, the SOP states that no Exhibition of Film will be allowed in containment zones and that states/UTs may consider proposing additional measures as per their field assessment.

The SOP states that hundred percent seating capacity is allowed inside cinema halls.

The SOP clarifies that all COVID related safety measures must be adhered to inside the premises.

Srinagar: With the expiration of the term of four members from Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha during the current budget session, J&K will have no representation in the Rajya Sabha after 27 years.

News agency KNS has learnt from sources that the term of 4 Rajya Sabha members belonging to Jammu and Kashmir is coming to an end during the current budget session and the appointment of new members is done only by voting of Assembly members.

In Kashmir, the Assembly has been dissolved and no notification has been issued by the Central Government regarding holding of Assembly elections.

Political observers believe that after the expiration of the term of members, representation of Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabhawill end.

According to experts, such a situation will occur after 27 years when Jammu and Kashmir will not be represented in the Rajya Sabha and in this regard it will be inevitable for the Central Government to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Political observers further say that when the situation in Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated in 1989 and militancy began, then the state of Jammu and Kashmir was governed by the then Governor’s Rule which was implemented in 1989.

After 27 years, the situation has arisen where the term of opposition leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Fayyaz Ahmed Mir in Rajya Sabha will end on February 10, 2021 and the term of Nazir Ahmed Laway of PDP and Shamshir Singh Manhas of BJP  will come to an end on February 15, 2021.

Jammu: Administration has on Sunday notified all Jammu and Kashmir districts as ‘Green Zone’ areas with exception to Lakhanpur containment zone besides either sides of Jawahar Tunnel.

The circular has been issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 24 of Disaster Management Act, 2005 by State Executive Committee after a ‘detailed review of the current COVID situation with the Financial Commissioner, Health; Divisional Commissioner Jammu/Kashmir.’

Citing the “trend in new cases particularly the recent fall in new cases even after significant movement of persons travelling to J&K and between provinces/districts with the risk perception of the Health Department vis-à-vis each district and the need to control further spread of COVID-19”, the circular says that, all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir provinces will fall under ‘Green Zone’ category, however with Lakhanpur containment zone on NH-44 with a buffer of 500 meters radius and Jawahar Tunnel area, on either sides as ‘Red Zone’ demarcated areas.

“The categorization of districts into Red and Green Zones/Districts will be followed for the purposes of implementation of permitted activities in the respective districts as per separate directives issued by State Executive Committee (SEC).”

The classification of the districts, as per the circular, will be reviewed periodically and any further modifications will be made by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar: The Coaching Centres Association Kashmir (CCAK) has announced closure of all the coaching centres for three days in view of harsh cold wave and scarcity of water in hostels.

“However the coaching centres having all arrangements of heating and water in hostels are exempted,” general secretary CCAK, Lateef Masoodi said.

He said the decision was taken in a meeting attended by proprietors of various coaching centres.

He said the announcement about resuming classes at the coaching centres will be made on February 3 after reviewing the weather conditions of the Valley.

“The decision has been taken keeping in view the interest of the students,” he said.

Jammu: The Government on Sunday informed that 57 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (COVID-19), 14 from Jammu division and 43 from Kashmir division, were reported today, thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 124506. No COVID death was reported across the Union Territory today.

Moreover, 70 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals including 36 from Jammu Division and 34 from Kashmir Division.

According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 124506 positive cases, 721 are Active Positive, 121822 have recovered and 1936 have died; 721 in Jammu division and 1215 in Kashmir division.

The Bulletin further said that out of 4544387 test results available, 4419881 samples have been tested as negative till 31stJanuary, 2021.

Till date 1123009 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 34203 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 748 in isolation and 97734 in home surveillance. Besides, 988388 persons have completed their surveillance period.

Providing district-wise breakup, the Bulletin said that Srinagar has 26212 positive cases (including 27 cases reported today) with 237 Active Positive, 25519 recovered (including 15 cases recovered today), 456 deaths; Baramulla has 8118 positive cases (including 03 cases reported today) with 44Active Positive, 7900 recovered (including 04 cases recovered today), 174 deaths; Budgam reported 7768 positive cases (including 02 cases reported today)with 37 active positive cases, 7614 recovered (including 05cases recovered today), 117 deaths; Pulwama has 5720 positive cases (including 01 cases reported today)with 49 Active Positive, 5583 recovered (including 02 cases recovered today)and 88 deaths; Kupwara has 5659 positive cases (including 01 cases reported today) with 31 Active Positive, 5533 recoveries (including 03 cases recovered today), 95 deaths;  Anantnag district has 4903 positive cases (including 03 cases reported today)with 56 Active Positive, 4762 recovered (including 04 cases recovered today), 85 deaths;  Bandipora has 4692 positive caseswith24 Active Positive and 4607 recoveries (including 01 cases recovered today), 61 deaths; Ganderbal has 4616 positive cases (including 05 cases reported today)with 52 Active Positive, 4518 recoveries46deaths; Kulgam has 2695 positive cases (including 01 cases reported today)with 25 Active Positive, 2616 recoveries and 54 deaths while as Shopian has 2570 positive caseswith25 active positive cases, 2506 recoveries and 39 deaths.

Similarly, Jammu has 24964 positive cases (including 07 cases reported today) with 83 active positive cases, 24510 recoveries (including 27 cases recovered today), 371 deaths; Udhampur has 4203 positive cases (including 02 cases reported today)24active positive cases, 4122 recovered (including 05 cases recovered today)and 57 deaths; Rajouri has 3868 positive cases with 04 active positive, 3809 recoveries (including 01 cases recovered today)and 55 deaths; Doda has 3432 positive cases with (including 03 cases reported today)04 Active positive, 3364 recovered and 64 deaths; Kathua has 3254 positive caseswith 03 active positive cases, 3199 recovered and 52 deaths; Kishtwar has 2732 positive cases (including 01 case reported today)with 01 Active Positive, 2709 recoveries (including 01 case recovered today);22 deaths; Samba has 2830 positive cases with 14 active positive cases, 2776 recoveries and 40 deaths; Poonch has 2500positive cases with 32 active positive, 2444recoveries (including 01 cases recovered today)and 24 deaths; Ramban has 2132 positive cases (including 01 cases reported today)with02 active positive, 2109 recoveries (including 01 case recovered today)and 21 deaths while Reasi has 1638 positive with 01 active positive cases, 1622 recoveries and 15 deaths.

According to the bulletin, among the total 124506 positive cases in J&K, 11693 have been reported as travelers while 112813 as others.

The Bulletin said that the breakup represents districts from which the patients have been traced or are ordinarily residing.

Srinagar: Comrade Krishan Dev Sethi is no more, however, his eyes, which saw so much—Dogra rule, the partition, riots of 1947, drafting of J&K constitution, political upheavals, 1975 accord and abrogation of Article 370—will continue to see.

Families sources told KNOthat the 93- year- old Sethi, who was the last surviving member of J&K’s constituent Assembly, had pledged to donate his eyes.

“Within hours of his death on January 28, his corneas were removed and successfully transplanted to two persons suffering from corneal blindness,” they said adding that the corneal transplant took place a day after his death.

BY: Firdous Qadri

Srinagar: Inspired by what she says an ‘oldest’ Kashmiri folktale, a Srinagar girl has published her maiden fiction titled ‘Two And A Half’ in her bid to make us relive those good olden days when we would go on listening those fairy and spooky tales from our grandparents, only to find oneself asleep with everything still and calm.

Nida Noor, 24 a Mechanical Engineering Graduate from a Srinagar locality  maintains that the inspiration for the title ‘Two And A Half – The Knock of Chillai Kalan’, comes from an oldest folktale of our land which we often get to hear from our parents and grandparents.

The story, as per the young author, unfolds on the fateful night of December 21, when the protagonist, Rehmat loses her beloved uncle to a massive fire killing him on the spot. ‘Devastated by the loss it becomes hard for Rehmat to come in terms with the uncle’s untimely demise. It is when one day she discovers the web of lies engulfing the death of her uncle Saleem. Thus begins her search to seek the truth which will open the chambers of past about which nobody talks.’

In the deserted magical land of Kashmir called Wanhaar, the author says, begins the countdown. ‘The deeds are to be balanced and this time nobody can stop the woman with a dead soul and throbbing heart.’

This is a story where the (d)evil will speak for itself, the author leaving a hint to go for the gripping tale.

Nida says that she has remained an avid reader for years now and believes that books have much power to influence ones’ mind.

Nida remarks that “We get to hear stories of demons and fairies from the land we didn’t belong to and read about magic and dream about those princesses and fairies, which we never saw. The children are told of ugly doings of Lady Tremaine, Mother Gothel which somehow end with morals on victory of good over bad or to put it Virtues over Vices.”

However what the author feels is that amid all this we forget to tell stories of our own, and it where she has felt urge to pick up the pen and tell the story of our own.

“My book is firstly a tribute to our heritage and rich culture and is for the older folks of my land, who always found a great meaning in the fictional tales to shape the young minds”, Nida says.

Nonetheless the book is evenly an asset for the young generation, for what Nida feels, have spent most of their lives behind virtual screens, oblivious of their future.

“As a reader and more about being myself a Kashmiri, it is my duty to share the stories which will anytime make my denizens proud about this land and its people” she says.

“The story of my book revolves around a fantasy fiction and falls in the genre of speculative fiction set in a fictional universe, often inspired by real world myth and folklore” Nida says.

The maiden publication of the young author hss been printed by ‘Lieper Publication’ under ISBN 9788193867877. (GNS)