New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said despite dire predictions and numerous doubts, India beat all odds in the global fight against the deadly Corona virus infection and developed a Covid-specific health infrastructure.

“Last year, in February-March, a lot of experts had said the India will be the worst-affected country, there will be tsunami of cases. They predicted two million deaths in the country. But India moved ahead with a proactive public participation,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the World Economic Forum’s Davos Dialogue in virtual format.

“Today, India is among countries that have succeeded in saving the maximum lives. The country, which comprises of 18% of the world’s population, has saved the world from disaster by bringing the situation under control,’ he said.

PM Modi said India had launched the world’s biggest vaccination programme and in just 12 days, India has vaccinated more than 2.3 million healthcare workers.

“The country, by sending the vaccines to other countries, is saving lives worldwide. Right now, there are just two Made-in-India vaccines. In the coming days, there will be more,’ he added.

He also outlined steps that his government had taken to cope with the shock of Covid 19 pandemic, including ease of doing business and reforms.

The Prime Minister said that looking at the condition of countries with better health infrastructure, the world was right in worrying about India. However, India took a proactive public participation approach and developed a COVID-specific health infrastructure and trained its resources to fight COVID, Mr. Modi said. He said that technology was fully used for testing and tracking.

The Prime Minister said India is not only fulfilling its needs of PPE kits and masks, but also exporting and helping other countries. In the next few months, India would complete its target of vaccinating 300 million old people and people with co-morbidities.
PM Modi said India also has shown the world how traditional medicine, like Ayurveda, can help in improving immunity. He further stated that today, India is sending its vaccine to several countries and is helping in developing the infrastructure for successful vaccination, thus saving lives of citizens of other countries.

On the economic front, he said the situation is set to change in the post-COVID era. He added that India continued its economic activities during COVID with infrastructure work worth trillions of rupees, providing employment. He said India stressed on saving every single life and is now walking ahead to become Aatmanirbhar.He said 1.3 billion people of India have Aadhar, which is connected to their accounts. In December last year, UPI saw transactions worth Rs. 4 trillion.
PM Modi said people in the banking sector know how countries worldwide are trying to replicate the UPI system developed by India. He also said India is starting a new initiative to provide a unique health ID to 1.3 billion citizens for easy access to healthcare.

New Delhi: The total coronavirus tally in the country surged to 1,07,01,193 with 11,666 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours.

The country also witnessed 123 new fatalities, mounting the death count to 1,53,847, the Union Health Ministry data informed on Thursday.

The coronavirus case fatality rate stands at 1.44 per cent. There are 1,73,740 active Covid-19 cases in the country, which comprises 1.62 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. The coronavirus active cases remained below two lakh for the ninth consecutive day.

Also, 1,03,73,606 people have been recovered from the dreaded virus so far with 14,301 new recoveries, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.94 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that a total of 19,43,38,773 samples have been tested for Covid-19 up so far. Of these, 7,25,653 samples were tested on Wednesday.

Currently, India is conducting the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive against the deadly virus commenced on January 16, in which more than 23 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated.

The country is administering shots of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Nearly 23,55,979 have been vaccinated so far at various sessions, according to the Health Ministry. Seventy-nine of beneficiaries vaccinated on Wednesday are from five states of Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Around 123 Adverse Effect After Vaccination (AEFI) have been reported till 6 pm on the twelfth day of the Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Jammu: The Government on Thursday informed that 63 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (COVID-19), 18 from Jammu division and 45 from Kashmir division, have been reported today, thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 124297.Also  oneCOVID-19 death was reported from Jammu Division.

Moreover, 149 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals including 97 from Jammu Division and 52 from Kashmir Division.

According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 124297 positive cases, 963 are Active Positive, 121402 have recovered and 1932 have died; 720 in Jammu division and 1212 in Kashmir division.

The Bulletin further said that out of 4481723 test results available, 4357426 samples have been tested as negative till 28th January, 2021.

Till date 1101148 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 34025 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 963 in isolation and 98020 in home surveillance. Besides, 966208 persons have completed their surveillance period.

Providing district-wise breakup, the Bulletin said that Srinagar has 26126 positive cases (including 26 cases reported today) with 296 Active Positive, 25376 recovered (including 21 cases recovered today), 454 deaths; Baramulla has 8101 positive cases (including 05 cases reported today) with 38 Active Positive, 7889 recovered (including 06 cases recovered today), 174 deaths; Budgam reported 7758 positive caseswith 43 active positive cases, 7598 recovered (including 06 cases recovered today), 117 deaths; Pulwama has 5710 positive cases (including 01case reported today) with 57 Active Positive, 5565 recovered (including 04 cases recovered today)and 88 deaths; Kupwara has 5650 positive cases (including 03 cases reported today) with 32 Active Positive, 5523 recoveries (including 05 cases recovered today), 95 deaths;  Anantnag district has 4892 positive cases (including 05 cases reported today)with 57 Active Positive, 4751 recovered, 84 deaths;  Bandipora has 4688 positive cases (including 01 case reported today)with22 Active Positive and 4605 recoveries (including 01 cases recovered today), 61 deaths; Ganderbal has 4606 positive cases (including 01case reported today) with 61 Active Positive, 4499 recoveries (including 07 cases recovered today)and 46 deaths; Kulgam has 2692 positive cases with 27 Active Positive, 2611 recoveries (including 02 cases recovered today)and 54 deaths while as Shopian has 2569 positive cases (including 03cases reported today)with33 active positive cases, 2497 recoveries and 39 deaths.

Similarly, Jammu has 24938 positive cases (including 13 cases reported today) with 154 active positive cases, 24414 recoveries (including 94 cases recovered today), 370 deaths; Udhampur has 4197 positive cases24active positive cases, 4116 recovered and 57 deaths; Rajouri has 3868 positive cases (including 01 case reported today)with 05 active positive, 3808 recoveries (including 01 cases recovered today)and 55 deaths; Doda has 3428 positive cases with 03 Active positive, 3361 recovered and 64 deaths; Kathua has 3254 positive cases with 03 active positive cases, 3199 recovered and 52 deaths; Kishtwar has 2731 positive cases with 01 Active Positive, 2708 recoveries;22 deaths; Samba has 2829 positive cases (including 03 cases reported today)with 73 active positive cases, 2716 recoveries and 40 deaths; Poonch has 2491 positive cases (including 01 case reported today)with 27 active positive, 2440 recoveries (including 02 cases recovered today)and 24 deaths; Ramban has 2131 positive caseswith02 active positive, 2108 recoveries and 21 deaths while Reasi has 1638 positive with 05 active positive cases, 1618 recoveries and 15 deaths.

According to the bulletin, among the total 124297 positive cases in J&K, 11621 have been reported as travelers while 112676 as others.

Chief Secy chairs review meet; Navayuga Tunnel to be thrown open in March 2021

Jammu: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired a review meeting to take stock of work progress on various sections of the National Highway-44 being executed through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Administrative Secretaries, of departments of  Revenue, Public Works (R&B), Forest, Environment & Ecology, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir, Managing Director, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited, Deputy Commissioner, Ramban among others participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, it was informed that works on the 3 sections of the National Highway-44 namely Udhampur-Ramban, Ramban-Banihal, and Banihal- Qazigund including double tube Navayuga tunnel are in full swing and progressing smoothly.

On Udhampur-Ramban section, it was informed that 70% of physical work on the project has been completed, and the remaining work will be completed by September 2021.

Similarly, the work on the 8.4 km Navayuga Tunnel which will connect Banihal directly to Qazigund is nearing completion and the tunnel is expected to be inaugurated in the month of March 2021.

While reviewing the progress on Ramban-Banihal section of NH-44, it was informed that majority of the issues regarding land acquisition and utility shifting have been resolved and the work is progressing smoothly.  The Deputy Commissioner, Ramban was directed to handover the possession of remaining land to the executing agency by 28th February 2021 and provide active support towards timely completion of the project.

Once completed, the project will reduce the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar, besides, providing secure connectivity between the two provinces of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu: Jashn-e-Jamhuria concluded with Akhil Bhartiya Hindi Kavi Sammelan at Zorawar Singh Auditorium, University of Jammu. Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, who was the Chief Guest, felicitated the participating veteran, renowned and young poets on the occasion.

Veteran and acclaimed poets from across the country including Pratap Somvanshi, SudeepBhola, Sunil Jogi, Vishnu Saxena, Hari Narayan Harish, Jagdish Solanki, Bhuvan Mohini, and Irshad Kamil, who were the guest poets for today’s event enthralled the audience with their poetry recitation.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Principal Secretary to Lt Governor, Nitishwar Kumar reciting pieces of poetry was one of the main highlights of the evening which received a standing ovation from the audience.

While speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor said that the two-day literary festival is the beginning of a new tradition of bringing together the gems of literary art and giving a platform to the youth of J&K to share the stage with the prominent names in their respective fields.

He welcomed the renowned poets, from across the country, in the UT and hoped that the event will boost and give rise to the poetic talent in the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Lt Governor also encouraged the young found talent of J&K through his words of appreciation and asked the youth to use the powerful tool of poetry to express themselves. To provide the much-needed platform and exposure to the young rising talent, more such events would be conducted in J&K, he added.

Prominent poets from J&K including Sanjiv Bhasin, Satish Vimal, Prof. Chanchal Dogra, Nida Nawaz, Dr. Nirmal Vinod, Kanwar Shakti Singh, besides young talent of J&K- Rohit Verma, Kanchan, Madima, Zahid Mir and Sushant received praises from the audience as well as from the guest poets for their riveting poetry recitation.

As a part of the 72nd Republic Day celebrations, JKAACL, in collaboration with Radio Mirchi FM, organized Kul Hind Urdu Mushaira and Akhil Bhartiya Hindi Kavi Sammelan witnessing participation of top poets & lyricist of the country. Ten budding young poets from J&K, 5 each from Urdu and Hindi poetry category showcased their talent during the events.

Secretary, JKAACL, Munir-ul-Islam delivered the welcome address. The proceedings were conducted by Madhvi Sharma.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Prof. Manoj Kumar Dhar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu; Prof. (Dr) Ravindra Kumar Sinha, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department and Information Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Sanjeev Verma, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Sarmad Hafeez, Secretary, Tourism and Culture Department, besides prominent and renowned artists, senior officers of Civil and Police Administration,  students, and literary enthusiasts attended the evening.

Pulwama: The District Administration Pulwama has founded discrepancies in implementation of PMUY-UjjwalaYojana in the District. The preliminary scrutiny & verification for the same which was going on for last few months in the district, concluded by District Magistrate, DrRaghav Langer today ordering AD Food Civil Supplies Pulwama to lodge FIR against erring 03 LPG agencies.

The tip of this scam caught eye of the administration when last year in the month of April-May-June, 2020 entitlement for 03 free cylinders for UjjawalaYojana beneficiaries was announced by Govt of India amidst lockdown situation along with extra ration entitlement under PMGKAY.

Following this, the first LPG subsidy amount of Rs 851/- got credited into accounts of UjjwalaYojana beneficiaries. Many of the naive Ujjwala beneficiaries who had not physically received any connection; got surprised with this credit entry and some approached their Tehsil Supply Officers (TSO’s) & bank branches to know the reason for such receipts.

On further enquiry, similar reports started pouring in from other areas as well as from public representatives that many of their SECC Ujjwala beneficiaries may be receiving LPG cylinder subsidy in their accounts but have not yet received any free connection, including LPG cylinder & gas stove.

As per the initial inputs that have been shared by administration; the modus operandi in this seems to be very well crafted. UjjawalaYojana connections get online sanctioned to the entitled beneficiaries by the Oil Marketing/Gas Companies (OMC’s) based on recommendation & submission of papers by concerned LPG agencies/dealers. The same requires a filled up gas connection form, bank passbook and aadhar card copies which are arranged by the local agents of these agencies from the entitled families included in the SECC survey list. In most of the cases the Ujjwala beneficiary who is a female, doesn’t even know that a LPG connection already stands issued in her favour by the LPG agency. Since the Aadhar no & linked bank accounts are correct; the beneficiaries start receiving credit of Rs 95-200 per refill in their account. Most of the times the beneficiary is unable to understand the reason for this receipt, as it is simply reflected as a ABPS credit entry similar to quarterly/monthly receipt under other social security/pension schemes, PM-Kisan, scholarship schemes, State marriage assistance scheme etc.

Thus the gas refills keep on getting booked against the Ujjawala connections and these domestic gas cylinders go to the black market and most commonly are diverted for commercial use in hotels/restaurants/shops/dhabas/factories/heating purposes etc. The huge cost difference between domestic & commercial LPG cylinders is a natural lure for its mass diversion. While unsuspecting PMUY-Ujjwala beneficiaries feel happy to receive subsidy in their accounts on each LPG cylinder purchased against their LPG ID, the Govt exchequer loses heavily due to such diversion of domestic cylinders into black market.

Worthwhile to mention that each Pradhan MantriUjjawalaYojana connection comes with provision of 12 LPG refills per year linked with back ended subsidy @ Rs 1600/year. A new Ujjawala connection consists of a free cylinder and gas stove and is sanctioned in the name of females of the households enlisted in the SECC-2011 survey list. The scheme was launched in the year 2016.

During the first round of verification of sample set of PMUY connections in district Pulwama; hundreds of instances were found where the beneficiaries of the district had not till date physically received any Ujjwala connection (LPG cylinder plus stove) despite connections being shown as active since year 2017/2018/2019 and LPG refills affected against such customer ID’s. The same was corroborated by the administration through the Refill registry of the SDMS login accounts (Subscriber Dealer Management System) of concerned LPG agencies, which they were reluctant to provide in the beginning of investigation. Many beneficiaries confirmed receipt of only a free LPG cylinder without the gas stove. Also in several instances the addresses and phone nos of the beneficiaries were found incorrect in the database of the agency/dealer, most probably to make any verification process difficult.

The District Magistrate Pulwama has lauded the efforts of Asstt Director Food Civil Supplies, PulwamaMr Sheikh Enayatullah KAS for thorough investigation in the matter leading to unearthing of the scam and his zeal to streamline the PDS in the district.

Sources confirmed that following sections are likely to be invoked in the FIR that is to be lodged viz; IPC sec 120-B Criminal conspiracy, sec 403 dishonest misappropriation of property, sec 406 criminal breach of trust, sec 417/420/463/464 for forgery & cheating read with sec 34 IPC ie acts done in furtherance of common intention; sec 3/7 EC Act 1955; relevant provisions of Essential Commodities (display of prices & stocks and control of supply & distribution) Order, 1977;LPG (Regulation of supply & distribution) Order, 2000; Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016;The Aadhaar (Targeted delivery of financial & other subsidies, benefits & services) Act, 2016.

Meanwhile the administration will also be writing to the concerned OMC’s (Oil Marketing Companies), Office of Dy. Chief Controller of Explosives Chandigarh, Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organisation Faridabad, Fire & Emergency Services Dept J&K, Legal Metrology Dept J&K; for initiating necessary action in view of gross violations, flouting of safety regulations, Weights & Measures Rules and non fulfilment of agreement conditions; found during surprise inspections of various LPG godowns carried out in the district on 20th Jan, 2021.

It may be recalled that even CAG and other audit agencies in the past have continuously raised concerns vis-a-vis implementation of UjjawalaYojana in some areas pointing towards diversion of subsidized cylinders, high consumption of some Ujjwala households being reflected by agencies which is highly unlikely, large scale commercial usage of domestic cylinders, non availability of installation records & pre-installation check-ups, lack of validation checks etc.

New Delhi: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Thursday that the “Wave of Development” cannot be stopped by “Waver of Destruction”. The Government’s “Determination for Development”, which is based on “Development with Dignity” and “Development without Discrimination”, has shown revolutionary results and every section of the society has become an equal partner of mainstream development.

Addressing an orientation programme, organised by Central Waqf Council for officials of State Waqf Boards in New Delhi, Naqvi said that for the first time after the Independence, the Government has constructed infrastructure on large scale for socio-economic and educational activities and skill development projects on Waqf properties across the country. Our diligent campaign of digitisation of Waqf records has made a large number of these Waqf properties free from the clutches of vested interests and Waqf mafia, he said.

During the last about 6 years, the Government has constructed schools, colleges, ITIs, polytechnics, girls hostels, hospitals, multi-purpose community hall “SadbhavMandap”, “Hunar Hub”, common service centres, employment oriented skill development centres and other basic infrastructure on Waqf land in needy areas across the country under “Pradhanmantri Jan VikasKarykram” (PMJVK), he said.

Naqvi said that these basic infrastructure has ensured quality education for needy especially girls and employment opportunities to the youths.

He said that for the first time since the Independence, Government has provided 100 per cent funding to develop schools, colleges, ITIs, polytechnics, girls hostels, hospitals, multi-purpose community hall “SadbhavMandap”, “Hunar Hub”, common service centres, employment oriented skill development centres and other basic infrastructure on Waqf land under “Pradhanmantri Jan VikasKarykram” in those backward areas across the country which had been deprived of these basic facilities.

Naqvi said that while only 90 districts of the country had been identified for Minority communities’ development earlier; Government has expanded development programmes for Minorities in 308 districts, 870 blocks, 331 towns and thousands of the villages of the country.

He said that during last about 6 years, the Government has developed socio-economic-educational and employment oriented infrastructure across the country in Minority concentrated areas.

“These projects include: 1527 New School Buildings; 22877 Additional Class Rooms; 646 Hostels; 163 Residential Schools, 9217 Smart Class Rooms (including those in KendriyaVidyalayas); 32 Colleges; 95 ITIs; 13 Polytechnics; 6 NavodayaVidyalayas; 404 Multi-purpose community centre “SadbhavMandap; 574 Market Sheds; 5330 toilet and water facilities; 143 Common Service Centres; 22 Working Women Hostels; 1926 Health Projects; 5 Hospitals; 8 Hunar Hub; 14 various sports facilities, 6014 AnganwadiCentres,” he said.

Naqvi said that about 6 lakh 64,000 registered waqf properties are there across the country. Digitisation of all the state Waqf boards has been completed. Geo Tagging/GPS Mapping of Waqf properties is being done on war footing by prominent institutions of the country. All the State Waqf Boards have been provided video conferencing facilities.

The Minister said that the process has been started to establish Waqf Boards in Jammu-Kashmir and Leh-Kargil. “Waqf Boards will ensure proper utilisation of Waqf properties in Jammu-Kashmir and Leh-Kargil for welfare of the society. The Central Government will provide adequate financial assistance to construct infrastructure for socio-economic and educational activities on Waqf properties in Jammu-Kashmir and Leh-Kargil under “Pradhanmantri Jan VikasKarykram” (PMJVK). There are thousands of Waqf properties in Jammu-Kashmir and Leh-Kargil and the process has been started to register these Waqf properties. Digitisation, Geo Tagging/GPS Mapping of these Waqf properties has also been initiated and the work will be completed soon,” he said.

Naqvi further said that, while taking a serious note of bungling and encroachment of Waqf properties by Waqf Mafias in several states, the state governments have been asked to take strict action against such Waqf mafias. A team of Central Waqf Council will visit these states in this regard.

On the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs P K Das; Additional Secretary S K Dev Varman; Secretary, Central Waqf Council SAS Naqvi, Central Waqf Council Members and other senior officials were present.

The one-day orientation programme was organised by the Central Waqf Council for the officials of the State Waqf Boards under “QaumiWaqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme”.

Govt issues COVID-19 guidelines for across J&K

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Government today issued several guidelines with respect to the re-opening of Higher Education Institutions  (Universities and Government Degree Colleges) for academic activities.

The higher education institutions in Summer Zone areas of Jammu Division will re-open from  February 01, 2021.

While as in Kashmir Division and Winter Zone areas of Jammu Division, the institutions will open on 15th February, 2021 after winter vacations.

The order issued here by the Higher Education Department has urged the institutions, staff and students alike to follow all Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) in letter and spirit, in addition to suggestions of District Disaster Management Authorities and SOPs for safety and health protocol issued by the UGC.

According to the guidelines for the ownership of the initiative, an Advisory Committee needs to be framed by the Registrar/Principal of the University/College including members from Municipal Bodies, Health and few parents for monitoring and support of the Universities/ Colleges.

The guidelines asked to avoid the risk of transmission, the students, faculty and staff should be screened and symptomatic ones be advised to get clinically assessed before allowing them entry into the campus. In this regard, adequate arrangements of thermal scanners, sanitizers, face masks should be made available at all entry and exit points including the reception area.

It said that all students, Professors and other staff should wear face masks compulsorily and have their own sanitizer also with them.

Besides, the Students shall sit almost 2 meters apart from each other.

In case of non-availability of such space, staggered schedule/shift timings and students rotation can be an option to be devised by Registrar/Principal concerned, according to the guidelines issued as per UGC norms.

It added that sufficient hand washing points with proper soap should be made available for the students and Staff at suitable locations within the premises of HEIs. Everybody should wash hands frequently maintaining proper physical distance. Safe water, cleaning supplies and sufficient segregated toilets shall be kept operational.

The guidelines stated that touching of surfaces by the students, Professors and other staff members in and around    the area of college should be cautioned against and prohibited.

Disinfecting, sanitizing and cleaning the learning spaces, laboratories to be ensured as per protocol in all the Institutions.

While coming and leaving colleges, it said, students and staff should maintain physical distance of at least one meter from each other and no student or staff member should breach this distance rule either during the colleges/universities or while coming or leaving the institute. In all cases gathering or grouping should be avoided and everybody should come and leave college/university individually.

In addition to above advisories, the guidelines said that continuous monitoring of the students and faculty to be ensured and also the Isolation facilities shall be put in place in the campuses for symptomatic persons and quarantine facilities for those who were in contact with the positive tested persons and Rapid tests for Covid 19 be got conducted for such cases.

Besides, the guidelines called for avoiding all such programmes and extracurricular activities where physical distancing is not possible.

Universities/Colleges should ensure there is space to temporarily separate sick students and staff without creating stigma. Share procedures with staff, parents and students, including advising all sick students and staff to remain home.

Colleges/Universities authorities should limit any non essential visitors, volunteers and activities involving external groups in the Colleges/Universities.

Hostels may be opened only in such cases where it is necessary while strictly observing the safety and health preventive measures as per instructions of the University Grants Commission.

Director Colleges/Registrars of all Universities and Nodal Principals Jammu/Kashmir shall strengthen counseling facilities for 24×7 for needy students and faculty.

Jammu: The Himayat Mission Management Unit (HMMU) today signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with as many leading companies at Panchayat Bhawan Jammu for placement and industrial tie-ups.

The MoU between HMMU and Multi-National Companies like Sodexo India Services Pvt Ltd, ISS Facility Services India Pvt Ltd and ISS SDB Security Services Pvt Ltd was signed in presence of Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sheetal Nanda, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Kapil Sharma, Vice President and Head HR Operations of ISS and Sodexo respectively.

Sodexo is a leading company offering a bouquet of services to Corporates, Health Care Institutions and Universities while ISS is one of the world’s leading workplace services companies operating in over 74 countries and is a significant player in Facility Management and Professional Services industry in India.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary said, “The objective of these MoUs is to create more opportunities of employment for the youth of J&K who are undergoing training or have completed their training under Himayat. These two leading companies will help the PIAs to understand the requirements and demands of the Corporate sector.” She also stated that these companies have committed to secure placement of as many as 30000 candidates trained under Himayat.

Earlier, Secretary chaired a meeting to review the performance of 13 Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) of HMMU. She directed the implementing agencies to speed up the training and placement of youth enrolled under Himayatprogramme. She asked the PIAs to devise a strategy for timely achievement of targets. She stressed that PIAs should reach out to youth of J&K for providing them employment opportunities and career in the private sector.

Secretary stressed on expediting the mobilization activities, counseling sessions, filling up of the training centre by 50 per cent following the social distancing norms.

Himayat is Skill Development-cum-Placement programme for unemployed youth especially school and college drop-outs in Jammu and Kashmir with focus on placement of youth in a befitting manner commensurate with the level of education and aspiration of youth.

The COO highlighted achievements of the programme saying that more than 18000 candidates have been trained while about 7600 have been provided employment in the Corporate sector in various companies.

Srinagar: The heavy snowfall experienced in Kashmir during the period of January 3to January 9 was on Thursday declared a State-Specific Natural Disaster under SDRF norms.

An order under number 02-JK (DMRRR) of 2021, dated 28-01-2021, issued by Secretary to the Government, Simrandeep Singh, reads that “Sanction is hereby accorded to the:-Declaration of the spell of heavy/very heavy snowfall during the period 3rd to 9th Jan-2021, as ‘State Specific Calamity’ in- terms of para 3 (ii) of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) guidelines  issued by MHA, GoI, vide No. 33-512015-NDM-I dated 30.07.2015; for purposes of providing relief to the affected families and Departments from SDRF.”

Pertinently, Kashmir received heavy snowfall from January 03, which paralyzed the normal life for almost five days and caused extensive damage to the people as over 70 structures including residential houses got damaged across the Valley.

The heavy snowfall also claimed two lives in the Valley. One among the deceased was a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) man while another was a lady from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. (KNO)