Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir will soon come up with its own web portal to counter the articulation of young youth of the Valley and to rope in parents whose children are being lured towards militancy, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar said Friday.

He also said that three militants killed in Mandoora area of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district were all locals and of them was active since August last year while two had joined militancy in January this year.
Addressing a press conference, the IGP Kumar said that police are well aware of the efforts being made across LoC through various online portals and website to instigate “young minds of Kashmir and to lure them into militancy.”

“To counter the same, we (police) will soon come up with an online portal where we will hold interactive sessions with parents and the misguided youth. Online counselling sessions will also held on the portal and it will be a useful tool to de-radicalize the youth,” the IGP said. He said that parents too must keep a close watch on their wards and ensure they don’t tread a wrong path.

About Tral encounter, the IGP said that all three militants were given ample time to surrender but they refused and instead lobbed grenades and fired indiscriminately. “After it was established that they are locals, they were repeatedly asked to surrender, but they refused. In the ensuing gunfight, all three were killed. They belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen outfit,” he said, and identified the slain as Waris Hassan of Naibugh, Tral, who was active since August 2020 and two others as Arif Ahmed Sheikh of Monhama, Tral and Ehtishaam Misger from Check, Noorpora, who had joined militancy in January this year.

He said one AK-47 riffle, two pistols and four grenades were recovered from the slain militants.

The IGP said that this year police policy is clear that ample time will be given to the local militants especially new recruits, who get trapped in the encounters. About Lawapora encounter and the repeated demand of family members of three slain that the bodies of their loved ones must be returned, the Kashmir Police chief said: “Whatever the parents of slain trio have claimed so far is totally baseless and wrong. Fact is that all three were in touch and were travelling together on the day of encounter. One among the slain (son of a policeman) was called by SoG Pulwama in 2019 and later set free after thorough counselling. Our investigation has revealed that two among the slain (from Pulwama) were talking to people across LoC. This was the IP address retrieved from their damaged phones have suggested. The third was in touch with the top commanders across the LoC. The content like the chats etc, is difficult to retrieve as their phones had got damaged. We will file a detailed report in the court with proof.”

About the recent IED explosion along the highway in Kulgam district in which one soldier was killed and three others injured, the IGP said that an advisory has been issued to all security forces not to use the abandoned buildings for shelter or any other purpose before sanitizing them. “The IED attack at Kulgam was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad militant Altaf Ahmed along with a foreign militant. Altaf is active since May 2020. Both of them will either be killed or arrested soon,” he said. (KNO)

BY: Owais Gul

Srinagar: As the cold wave conditions intensified further across the Valley, the weatherman here has predicted relief from the night chill in the Valley from January 31, saying that the minimum temperature would increase gradually in Kashmir from tomorrow.

The mercury in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir settled at minus 7.7 degree Celsius last night while in Gulmarg, a world famous ski-resort recorded night temperature of minus 11.5 degree Celsius.

In Pahalgam, the night temperature settled at minus 12.0 degree Celsius, MeT spokesman said.

However, Director Meteorological department (MeT), Sonum Lotus told KNO that there will be respite from the cold wave conditions in Kashmir from January 31st. “The night temperature will increase gradually from Jan 31,” he said.

He added that there is no forecast of heavy snowfall across Kashmir, however, there is possibility of light snowfall at scattered places in Kashmir in the first week of February.

Pertinently, the 40-day-long harshest winter period, Chila-i-Kalan will culminate on Sunday evening following which 20-day-long winter period known as Chila-i-Khurd will begin. (KNO)

New Delhi: In a veiled dig at China, President RamnathKovind on Friday said that attempts were made to break the bilateral agreements and to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but the Indian Army gave a befitting reply and successfully thwarted those intentions.

Addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament of the Budget Session in the Central Hall, President Kovind, without naming China, said, “In this pandemic period, when we were dealing with challenges arisen out of the Covid-19 in the country, attempts were made to change the status quo on our border. Attempts were made to break the peace bypassing bilateral relations and agreements on the LAC. But our security forces not only gave a befitting reply to these conspiracies and thwarted all attempts to change the status quo on the border with full vigilance, vigour and courage”.

The President further said, “the amount of restraint and valour that our soldiers have shown was highly appreciable beyond words. In June 2020, our 20 soldiers had made their supreme sacrifice in the Galvan Valley to protect the motherland. Every countryman is grateful to these martyrs”.

President Kovind also said that the Government is fully committed to protecting the interests of the country and is also cautious. Additional forces have also been deployed to protect India’s sovereignty along the LAC. Keeping eye on the needs of the future, the Government has been making all efforts to strengthen its military preparedness. Many modern equipment of the defence requirements are being indigenously manufactured now.

FICCI J&K Council delegation calls on Sinha discusses various proposals  

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, on Friday reiterated that the government is committed for the promotion of the business sector in J&K.

While interacting with a delegation of FICCI J&K Council at Raj Bhavan here, the LG said, “UT Government is making tireless efforts on various fronts to foster investment and create an encouraging ecosystem for local business.”

The Lt Governor assured the members of the delegation that the proposals made by them during the interaction would be looked into meticulously.

The office-bearers of FICCI J&K Council comprising its Chairman, Irfan Ahmed Guju and Co-Chairman, Rajesh Sharma submitted a roadmap for the promotion of economic activities in J&K and proposed several measures including the formulation of One District One Product (ODOP) scheme for the identified products of various districts; organizing physical/ virtual fairs on FICCI platform; conducting design intervention workshops for the entrepreneurs and businesses as per requirements; holding J&K Film Makers meet and GI Integration Products Summit.

They also made suggestions for organizing J&K Bird Watchers conclave for promoting UT as a fast emerging eco-tourism destination; Youth sensitization programme in sports and entertainment sectors; J&K IT Conclave and J&K Innovation Growth programme in line with the government’s vision of ‘Startup India, Standup India’.

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today visited the family of Late Krishan Dev Sethi, former MLA and father of Law Secretary J&K, Achal Sethi.

The Lt Governor offered his heartfelt condolences to the family members on the passing away of Krishan Dev Sethi. He prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.

Late Krishan Dev Sethi was the last surviving member of the J&K Constituent Assembly.

During his visit, BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Sanjeev Verma, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Mukesh Singh, IGP Jammu; Ms. Sushma Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu;  and Shridhar Patil, SSP Jammu accompanied the Lt Governor.

‘Valley can become international film destination’

Srinagar: Mesmerised by the Kashmir’s beauty, the Bollywood film producers who are on a visit to Valley expressed their desire to shoot here for upcoming films.

A 24-member delegation from big banners of Bollywood arrived here on January 27 and visited Gulmarg yesterday to explore the locations for the film shooting.

Speaking to the media here, they said Kashmir can easily be an International film shooting destination.

Popular film producer Aashish Singh who has already shot some movies like Jab Tak Hai Jaan in Kashmir said the Valley provides a perfect backdrop for the filmmakers and has the potential of becoming the shooting destination for the world. “We have so much potential here for filmmaking that not only Bollywood but filmmaker’s from around the globe can shoot here.”

He said many filmmakers want to visit Kashmir and capture breathtaking visuals.

He further said the connection of the Bollywood with Kashmir is very old and will be long lasting.

CEO of Producers Guild Nitin Ahuja said they want to revive old relations with Kashmir when Kashmir used to be the favourite backdrop for the filmmakers.

“We visited several locations and found them absolutely stunning. We also got overwhelming responses from the locals. The food is also amazing. The place is a complete package,” he said.

CEO Ajay Devegan Productions Meena Ayer also praised the beauty of Kashmir saying the Valley possesses huge scope for the film tourism which needs to be tapped.

The popular Chef and host of the famous cookery show ‘KhanaKhazana’ Sanjeev Kapoor said Kashmir can also be promoted for food tourism.

He said Kashmir is among the top three exotic food destinations in India. “I have tasted Kashmiri exotic food and will promote it throughout the world. There is a need of having a national campaign to promote Kashmir’s delicious food.”

Many Film Production Houses have expressed their desire to shoot here in Kashmir.

Later a video conference was also held which was chaired by Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor Niteshwar Kumar. Kumar assured the visiting delegations that J&K government would provide all support and facilitate them for their upcoming films. He said the government is also making a policy which will facilitate and encourage filmmakers to shoot in Kashmir.

Secretary Tourism SarmadHafeez who was also present during the video conference assured full support to the Film Producers Guild.  Director Tourism Kashmir Dr. G N Itoo also gave a detailed presentation on the popular and upcoming destinations in Kashmir and invited the Bollywood’s attention to these locations for their upcoming films.

Senior Officers of the Tourism department were also present on the occasion.

Srinagar: The Central Government is likely to appoint the 2009 IAS topper Shah Faesal Advisor to Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory Ladakh.

Top sources in New Delhi told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that talks are going to appoint Faesal as Advisor to Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.

“Faesal does not want to serve in Kashmir for some time. He is facing resentment in Kashmir since he resigned from president of J&K Peoples Movement. He has told the authorities that he was ready to take the job but wants to serve outside Kashmir,” sources said.

“The final decision will be taken soon. Few BJP leaders want him to serve in Kashmir as he was projected as role model after topping the 2009 IAS. But he is unwilling to serve in the Valley. In future he can return to bureaucracy and serve in Kashmir,” sources said.

So far, Faesal has remained tightlipped about his future course of action after being released in June last year. But his frequent trips to New Delhi over the past few months hintat his efforts to chalk out a strategy for his future endeavours.

He resigned as president of J&K People’s Movement, a political party which he launched in 2019 after quitting as an IAS officer.

Incidentally, the Centre hasn’t yet accepted Faesal’s resignation from the IAS yet.

Faesal, an IAS topper from 2009 batch had quit the service in 2018 to form a political party J&K People’s Movement in 2019. He was also a founding member of a conglomerate of political parties—People’s United Front, along with a former legislator Engineer Rashid.

He was also part of Gupkar Declaration of August 4, 2019, when political parties in Kashmir joined hands to defend special status of J&K, Article 370.

The former bureaucrat was detained on August 14, 2019 at Delhi’s international airport. A day before his arrest in 2019, Faesal had tweeted that Kashmir would need a long, sustained, non-violent political mass movement for restoration of the political rights. “Abolition of Article 370 has finished the mainstream. Constitutionalists are gone. So you can either be a stooge or a separatist now. No shades of grey,” he had tweeted.

After six months of preventive detention, Faesal was slapped with the Public Safety Act in February last year for advancing the separatist ideology and challenging the decision of the central government to scrap the special status of J&K.

Moscow: Brazilian researches have detected patients infected with two different strains of COVID-19 at the same time, media reported, citing research by the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC).

According to EFE news agency, at least two patients were confirmed to have been simultaneously infected with two different strains of the infection, including the mutation previously discovered in South Africa.

At the same time, these patients showed mild or moderate symptoms of the disease and they recovered in November 2020 without a necessity of being hospitalized, the publication said.

The survey revealed that at least five different strains of COVID-19 are circulating in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, including the previously unknown strain dubbed VUI-NP13L.

Brazil has confirmed a total of over 10 million cases of COVID-19 in the country, including over 221,000 fatalities.(Sputnik)

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded one more death due to COVID-19 taking the death toll to 1,933 in the Union Territory while as 76 positive cases were reported taking the tally of positive cases to 124,373 in J&K.

Of the exact number of 124,373 cases, 72,852 are from Kashmir and 51,521 from Jammu division. Officials said that among 76 new cases, 60 belong to Kashmir division while as 16 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir division have reached to 72,852 including 71,014 recoveries and 1,213 deaths while as total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 51,521 including 50,603 recoveries and 720 deaths.

The officials said that total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 823 including 625 from Kashmir division and 198 from Jammu division.

With 215 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached to 121,617 which is 97.78 percent of the total cases.

“Cases tested positive in J&K include 32 from Srinagar, 10 from Baramulla, 05 from Budgam, 00 from Pulwama,   07 from Kupwara, 04 from Anantnag, 01 from Bandipora, 00 from Ganderbal, 01 from Kulgam and 00 from Shopian in Kashmir division while as 16 from Jammu division include 11 from Jammu, 03 from Udhampur, 00 from Rajouri, 00 from Doda, 00 from Kathua, 01 from Samba, 00 from Kishtwar, 01 from Poonch, 00 from Ramban and 00 from Reasi,” officials disclosed.

Notably, in the last 24 hours one person belonging to Kashmir division who was tested positive for COVID-19 has died.

As per officials figures, 26,158 positive cases including 454 deaths and 25,434 recoveries are from Srinagar, 8,111 including 174 deaths and 7,893 recoveries are from Baramulla, 7,763 including 7,605 recoveries and 117 deaths are from Budgam, 5,710 including 5,565 recoveries and 88 deaths are from Pulwama, 5,657 including 95 deaths and 5,527 recoveries are from Kupwara, 4,896 including 4,756 recoveries and 85 deaths are from Anantnag, 4,689 cases including 4,606 and 61 deaths are from Bandipora, 4,606 including 4,509 recoveries and 46 deaths are from Ganderbal, 2,693 including 2,613 recoveries and 54 deaths are from Kulgam and 2,569 including 2,506 recoveries and 39 deaths are from Shopian.

In Jammu division, 24,949 including 24,462 recoveries and 370 deaths are from Jammu district, 4,200 including 4,117 recoveries and 57 deaths are from Udhampur, 3,868 including 3,808 recoveries and 55 deaths are from Rajouri, 3,428 including 3,364 recoveries and 64 deaths are from Doda, 3,254 including 3,199 recoveries and 52 deaths are from Kathua, 2,830 including 2,776 recoveries and 40 deaths are from Samba, 2,731 including 2,708 recoveries and 22 deaths are from Kishtwar, 2,492 including 2,443 recoveries and 24 deaths are from Poonch, 2,131 including 2,108 recoveries and 21 deaths are from Ramban and 1,638 including 1,618 recoveries and 15 deaths are from Reasi.

Bijbehara: Two youth from Bijbehara town of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, who had gone missing from their homes earlier this month, were on Friday arrested in Doda region of Jammu.

Officials told KNOthat the duo had gone missing earlier this month following which their families had filed missing complaint on 25 January for the help to trace their sons.

Today, both the missing persons were arrested by Doda Police and accordingly handed over to Bijbehara Police Station, they said while identifying the duo as UmaqMushtaqZargar, son of Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar of Karewah Colony and UfaidPeerzada, son of Peer Wakeel Ur Rehman of Baba Mohalla, who as per the officials had gone missing on January 24, 2021 in afternoon.

Officials added that further investigation in this regard is going on.