Bandipora: J&K Police on Thursday said that it arrested an activeJaish militant in Putshay area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district and recovered ammunition from his possession.

Addressing a press conference here Senior Superintendent of Bandipora Police (SSP), Bandipora Rahul Malik said that based on a specific input regarding movement of militant towards Bandipora following which a joint naka was established by security forces at Putshay.

He said during checking, a militant identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad Khan son of Fayaz Ahmad Khan a resident of PanzigamBandipora aged around 24 years, who was missing from 12 days and had joined Jaish outfit was apprehended.

The SSP said incriminating material along with a pistol, five live grenades and ten rounds were recovered from his possession.

He also said based on specific inputs, he had moved towards Sopore on 26 January, after joint Cordon that day, the militant had managed to escape.

The militant according to the SSP was influenced by his militant friend Umar Shaban who was killed in Sopore.

Malik said, from one year he was being misguided and was counselled too but he was determined and took the extreme path

A case has been registered and further investigation has been initiated, he added.

Poonch: A teenage boy was injured on Thursday in cross-border shelling and firing on the villages along the Line of Control (loC0 in Poonch sector.

The officials identified the injured boy as Ikhlaq, son of Farooq Hussain of Poonch’sShahpur village.

Officials said that the boy received multiple splinter injuries in Pak shelling on Thursday evening and was hospitalized in civil district hospital in Poonch.

They said that team of doctors is treating the injured boy, whose condition is stated to be stable—(KNO)

Death widely condoled

Jammu: Krishan Dev Sethi, the last surviving member of J&K constituent Assembly, passed away at his Jammu residence after brief illness on Thursday morning.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), KrishanSethi’s son, AchalSethi, who is Secretary to government, department of Law and Parliamentary Affairs said that he passed away at his Jammu resident at around 4 am in the morning after a brief illness.

AchalSethi said that he was not keeping well for the past 2-3 months, however, his health condition worsened a couple of days ago and today he breathed his last.

The 93- year-old Sethiwas the last surviving member of the constituent Assembly, which framed the constitution of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He also represented Nowshera Assembly segment of Jammu and Kashmir. He is survived by his son, AchalSethi and daughter Dr. Poonam.

Sethi was born in Mirpur, now in Pakistan controlled Kashmir, in 1927 and was now presently residing in TalpathriMohalla in Jammu.

AchalSethi said that he moved to Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 and initially associated with the National Conference when the “Quit Kashmir” movement was launched.

He said that Sethi was associated with politics since 1938-39 and he was also jailed during the “Quit Kashmir Movement” during the regime of Hari Singh.

He said that when Sethi moved to Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 he was appointed as Rehabilitation officer for rehabilitation of population in Rajouri and Poonch districts.

AchalSethi said that he was the first member of the constituent assembly and in fact he was the only surviving members of Jammu and Kashmir constituent assembly.

He said that Sethi was also the member of the first legislative assembly. “Basically he was left-leaning, a communist and there after he left the Sheikh Abdullah led NC and initially he was the first member of the politburo of CPI (then united). Thereafter he was extreme leftist movement,” AchalSethi said.

He said that thereafter Sethi started writing articles and he has his own Urdu newspaper also known as “Judojahat” and he just stopped writing 6 or 7 months back.

He said that Sethi has also written his autobiography “Yaad-e-Rafta” and he was widely respected in Azad Kashmir also and in fact, he was the only leader who was widely respected here and there also.

Sethi was cremated at Jogi Gate cremation ground in Gujjar Nagar area of Jammu in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Sethi’s death was widely condoled across political and social spectrum.

Former chief minister and National Conference vice-president, Omar Abdullah in Tweet said; “Sorry to hear about the demise of JbKrishan Dev Sethi. He was the last surviving member of the Constituent Assembly of J&K and a former MLA. My condolences to his family & prayers for the eternal rest of his soul.”

Former chief minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti also condoled the demise of Krishan Dev Sethi.

In a Tweet, she said; “Deeply saddened to know of Sethisahab’s demise. I was hoping to see him in Jammu. He treated me like a daughter & will always be an integral part of my childhood. Will miss his wisdom & guidance.”

People’s Conference president, Sajad Lone in his Tweet said; “One of pioneers of leftist politics in J & K, a loved leader and a passionate speaker Mr KD Sethi passed away. Will be greatly missed. A liberal to the core. RIP.” Meanwhile, Apni Party chairman Syed Altaf Bukhari also condoled the demise of Sethi stating that the deceased was a visionary and his contribution will be remembered for ever.

Jammu: The Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today during a condolence meeting, expressed grief on the demise of Shri Krishan Dev Sethi, father of AchalSethi, Secretary, Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs Department. He offered condolences to the bereaved family, and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.

The condolence meeting was attended by administrative secretaries of all the departments.

Madrid: The coronavirus crisis cost the global tourism sector $1.3 trillion in lost revenue in 2020 as the number of people travelling plunged, the UN said Tuesday, calling it “the worst year in tourism history”.

Revenue lost last year amounted to “more than 11 times the loss recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis,” the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization said in a statement, warning that between 100 and 120 million direct tourism jobs were at risk.

International tourist arrivals fell by one billion, or 74 percent, in 2020 with Asia, the first region to feel the impact of Covid-19, seeing the steepest decline, it added.

“While much has been made in making safe international travel a possibility, we are aware that the crisis is far from over,” WTO head ZurabPololikashvili said in the statement.

While the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines is expected to “slowly normalise travel” in 2021, many countries are reintroducing stricter travel restrictions such as quarantines, mandatory testing and complete border closures “due to the evolving nature of the pandemic”, the UN body said.

International tourism arrivals rose by four percent in 2019 to 1.5 billion, with France the world’s most visited country, followed by Spain and the United States.

The last time international tourist arrivals posted an annual decline was in 2009 when the global economic crisis led to a four percent drop.

The WTO said most experts do not to see a return to pre-pandemic levels of tourism activity happening before 2023.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Wednesday informed that 77 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (18 from Jammu division and 59 from Kashmir division), have been reported thus taking the total number of positive cases in the union territory to 124234.

Also one death has been reported from Kashmir Division.

Moreover, 129 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals including 55 from Jammu Division and 74 from Kashmir Division.

According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 124234 positive cases, 1050 are Active Positive, 121253 have recovered and 1931 have died; 719 in Jammu division and 1212 in Kashmir division.

The Bulletin further said that out of 4461439 test results available, 4337205 samples have been tested as negative till January 27.

Till date 1092532 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 34151 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 1050 in isolation and 93163 in home surveillance.

Besides, 962237 persons have completed their surveillance period.

Delhi: Tentative signs of recovery are emerging in global labour markets, following unprecedented disruption in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, says the International LabourOganisation.

The ILO, in a report, says the latest figures show that 8.8 per cent of global working hours were lost for the whole of last year (relative to the fourth quarter of 2019), equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs.

This is approximately four times greater than the number lost during the 2009 global financial crisis.

These lost working hours are accounted for either by reduced working hours for those in employment or “unprecedented” levels of employment loss, hitting 114 million people.

Significantly, 71 per cent of these employment losses — 81 million people came in the form of inactivity, rather than unemployment, meaning that people left the labour market because they were unable to work, perhaps because of pandemic restrictions, or simply ceased to look for work.

Looking at unemployment alone drastically understates the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market,these massive losses, according to the Geneva-based organization, resulted in an 8.3 per cent decline in global labour income (before support measures are included), equivalent to US$3.7 trillion or 4.4 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The emergence of safe and effective vaccines has raised hopes that countries would soon be able to rein in the pandemic.

But the prospects for a global labour market recovery in 2021, the ILO cautions, are “slow, uneven and uncertain.