Celebrations will be incident free: IGP Kashmir

Srinagar, Jan 24: Asserting that security forces have been put on high alert to foil any attempts by militants to create disturbance, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar on Sunday said the Republic Day celebrations will be smooth.
“Three layer security arrangements have been made in Srinagar city and other parts of Kashmir valley to foil any attempts by militants to create disturbance during Republic Day celebrations,” Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of full dress rehearsal at S K Cricket Stadium.

He said frisking and searches have been intensified in the city and vehicles coming in Srinagar are being thoroughly checked. “Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs) are also being conducted in areas where there are inputs about presence of militants,” he added.
Answering a question, he said the situation is under control and the celebrations will be held without any incident. “Full dress rehearsals are being held in Srinagar and other districts of the Valley, where government employees and security forces are enthusiastic,” he added.

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Jan 24: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today chaired a meeting with the experts from power sector and officers of J&K Power Distribution Corporation here at Raj Bhavan.
Today’s meeting was the second in a week to assess and analyze the power scenario in the UT and propose solutions for creating a robust power supply system in J&K.

BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department and Information Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor; Raja Yaqoob Farooq, MD JKPDCL and Chief Engineers attended the meeting.
Chairperson, Board of Directors, IIT Bhubaneswar and former Chairman and MD PGCIL, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Singh led the team of experts from the power sector.
A detailed PowerPoint presentation on “Path to a Healthy and Resilient Power Supply system in Jammu” was given by Former Director General, NPTI and ED Power Grid Corporation, Dr. NS Saxena.

While discussing the issues related to streamlining the power supply system, the Lt Governor laid special emphasis on using the latest technologies and models for distribution and link strengthening in critical areas.
The Lt Governor directed the concerned officers of JKPDD and JKPDC to work on war footing to identify critical issues, their probable causes and likely mitigations in order to further improve the scenario of power supply system in J&K. “Things have improved for better but it needs to be made the best”, observed the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor also reviewed the implementation of directions and suggestions made during the previous meeting.
A threadbare discussion was held on various power related issues and short term solutions were proposed for transformer and link strengthening, augmentation of transmission and distribution system, and future course of action, besides identification of issues like pilferage, overloading, ageing of transformers and their impact on power supply.
The Lt Governor was also briefed about the series of discussions and meetings held between the team of experts with JKPDD and JKPDC officials after the last meeting held on 20th January, 2021.
Recommendations were made for focusing on immediate and short-term plans to strengthen the infrastructure to ensure improved power supply status in Jammu region to cater to peak load surge during coming summer, besides identification and aligning on critical gaps.
The chair was further informed about the extensive exploratory meetings and surveys done with the local teams on transmission sites and distribution issues.
It was informed that system strengthening is in progress under various schemes of the Government under which several 33/11 KV substations are being erected for better power supply to various under-serviced areas.

New Delhi, Jan 24: After a gap of over two-and-half months, the Indian and Chinese armies on Sunday held another round of Corps Commander-level talks with an aim to move forward on disengagement of troops from all friction points in eastern Ladakh, sources said.
The ninth round of high-level military talks began at around 10 am at Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said.
The eighth and last round of military talks had taken place on November 6 during which both sides broadly discussed disengagement of troops from specific friction points.
The Indian delegation at talks is being led by Lt Gen PGK Menon, the Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps.
India has all along been maintaining that the onus is on China to carry forward the process of disengagement and de-escalation at the friction points in the mountainous region.
The seventh round of Corps Commander-level talks had taken place on October 12 during which China was pressing for withdrawal of Indian troops from a number of strategic heights around the Southern bank of Pangong lake.
However, India insisted that the disengagement process has to start simultaneously at all the friction points.
Nearly 50,000 Indian Army troops are currently deployed in a high state of combat readiness in various mountainous locations in eastern Ladakh in sub-zero conditions as multiple rounds of talks between the two sides have not yielded concrete outcome to resolve the standoff.
China has also deployed an equal number of troops, according to officials.
Last month, India and China held another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. However, no concrete outcome emerged from the talks.
Following the sixth round of military talks, the two sides had announced a slew of decisions including not to send more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters.
This round was held with a specific agenda of exploring ways to implement a five-point agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) conclave.
The pact included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC. (Agencies)

Precious Kashmir news
Jammu, Jan 24: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Sunday informed that 73 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (31 from Jammu division and 42 from Kashmir division), have been reported, thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 124019.
Also, no COVID-19 death has been reported from any part of Jammu and Kashmir.
Moreover, 73 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from various hospitals including 30 from Jammu Division and 43 from Kashmir Division.
According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 124019 positive cases, 1103 are Active Positive, 120987 have recovered and 1929 have died; 719 in Jammu division and 1210 in Kashmir division.
The Bulletin further said that out of 4402248 test results available, 4278229 samples have been tested as negative till 24th January, 2021.
Till date 1081042 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 34955 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 1103 in isolation and 96535 in home surveillance.
Besides, 946520 persons have completed their surveillance period.

New Delhi, Jan 24: As vaccination drive across the globe has started to gather pace and India has administered the first dose of the vaccine to over 1 million people in six days, experts have asked the people to follow COVID-19 rules in letter and spirit.
The cautionary statements have been made due to the fact that almost all vaccines that are being administered require at least two doses for the immunity to kick in. The interval between the jabs varies between 12 to 28 days.

Even after getting the second dose, the effectiveness of the vaccine would begin to show only after 14 days.
“Hence it is imperative to maintain COVID-19 appropriate behaviour even after receiving the coronavirus vaccine,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.
One of England’s leading medical officers has also urged people to follow the strict lockdown rules because any vaccine-related immunity from Covid-19 takes at least three weeks to kick in.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, also warned that there is no clear evidence yet to show that vaccinated people cannot transmit the deadly virus on to others.
“Regardless of whether someone has had their vaccination or not, it is vital that everyone follows the national restrictions and public health advice, as protection takes up to three weeks to kick in and we don’t yet know the impact of vaccines on transmission,” said Van-Tam.
“The vaccine is rightly something to celebrate – let’s stay patient, stay at home and support the NHS as it continues to roll out the vaccine,” he added.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock backed the statement and asked people to not drop their guards against the virus. “While the vaccine can prevent severe disease, we do not know if it stops you from passing on the virus to others, and it takes time to develop immunity after a jab, so for now everyone must continue to stay at home to help bring down infections and protect the NHS,” he said.
The warnings come even as Britain’s Covid-19 vaccination push gathered pace on Saturday, with 5.9 million people now having had the first dose.
Currently, the UK government is leaving a gap of 12 weeks between the first and the second dose allowing Britain’s vaccine programme to proceed quickly. This is against the advisory of the vaccine Pfizer and BioNTech.
The British government is looking to stretch out the gap between first and second shots as it seeks to ensure as many people as possible can be given some protection from an initial vaccine dose.

Closer at home, India has administered the first dose of the vaccine to over 1 million people in six days. The number of beneficiaries who have received the anti-coronavirus shots is inching close to 16 lakh.
This count is higher than that of countries like the US and the UK, the Union Health Ministry said.

New Delhi, Jan 24: As many as 15,82,201 lakh people have been vaccinated in 27,920 sessions since January 16, with 1,91,609 people inoculated on Saturday in 3,512 sessions, Union Health Ministry informed.

A total of 1,238 adverse events have been recorded so far which is 0.08 per cent of the total vaccinations, the government said, adding that 11 persons or 0.0007 per cent of the people who were vaccinated have been hospitalised.

Six healthcare workers, who were inoculated, have died so far but added that none of these deaths were related to the Covid vaccinations, according to the Ministry.

The national capital vaccinated 6,957 of its intended beneficiaries or 86 per cent of state’s daily target of 8,100 beneficiaries at 81 vaccination sites on the day.

There was 100 per cent vaccination in four big hospitals of Delhi government. Hundred beneficiaries were vaccinated at each of these sites- LNJP, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, GTB Hospital and Delhi State Cancer Institute.

Meanwhile, India recorded 14,849 fresh cases, 155 more fatalities in the past 24 hrs, taking the overall infection tally to 1,06,55,435 and death toll to 1,53,339.

The number of fresh infections reported on Sunday were 4 per cent higher than the previous day.

Of the 155 fresh fatalities, 56 were reported from Maharashtra, followed by 23 from Kerala and 10 each from Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal.

Of the total 1,53,339 COVID-19 deaths reported so far in the country, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 50,740, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,309), Karnataka (12,193), Delhi (10,799), West Bengal (10,107), Uttar Pradesh (8,609) and Andhra Pradesh (7,147).

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths in the country occurred due to comorbidities.

Country’s load of active cases stand at 1,84,408. Its share of active cases in the total positive cases has further shrunk to 1.73 per cent, the health ministry said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 19,17,66,871 samples have so far been tested in the country for the viral disease, including 7,81,752 on January 23.

The total number of global coronavirus cases has reached 99,333,881, while the deaths have surged to 21,30,527, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Jammu, Jan 24: Army’s non-commissioned officer injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district succumbed to his injuries.

Defence spokesman here said that Pakistan Army had resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation on the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani Sector, which was responded to strongly by own troops.
“In the incident, Naik Nishant Sharma of 10 JAK RIF was critically injured and was under treatment at Command Hospital,” he said adding that the NCO succumbed to his injuries.
Nk Nishant Sharma was a brave, highly motivated and a sincere soldier.
The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty.

Issues directions to undertake preparations for 6 lakh yatris this year

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Dec 24: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired the 10th meeting of the High-Level Committee (HLC) of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) to review the preparations being made for a safe and hassle-free Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2021.
The Chief Secretary reviewed in detail the facilities for safe, smooth, and secure movement of pilgrims particularly along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Baltal and Chandanwari yatra tracks up to the Holy Cave.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the status of track up-gradation works on Baltal & Chandanwari routes, improvements at the access control gates, establishment of temporary camps, shelter sheds, health/medical camps and Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) at various locations, provisions of drinking water supply, lighting, LPG, ration, Medicine and mobile connectivity besides establishment of Joint Control Rooms as per NDMA suggestion.
He enjoined upon the administration to undertake preparations for an expected footfall of 6 lakh yatris this year. To further ensure secure passage of pilgrims, directions were issued to appropriately widen walking tracks, install railings, and construct retaining walls with special focus on laying down pre-fabricated cement tiles on tracks from Baltal.
He directed the Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir to closely monitor the arrangements being put in place in transit camps along the Yatra route particularly at Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban, Baltal, and Chandanwari. He further asked them to work out a plan for regulating passage of Yatries throughout the route from Lakhanpur to the Holy Cave and back, giving due consideration to the local traffic and movement of Kashmir-bound load carriers/ trucks especially in the event of weather-induced blockade of the National Highway.
Arrangements related to scientific disposal of solid and liquid waste by Sonmarg and Pahalgam Development Authorities and the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) were also discussed. The agencies were asked to install bio-toilets, waste specific garbage bins, mechanical segregator, auto-composter, and electromagnetic disintegrator at suitable locations on both yatra routes.
Arrangements with regard to registration and medical screening of ponies against Glander’s disease, establishment of pony sheds and veterinary camps, and rollout of pre-paid system for hiring of pony services were also reviewed.
To ensure timely completion of various works and arrangements to be put in place, it was impressed upon /concerned departments to initiate the respective financial and administrative processes well in advance.

Disaster Management Department was asked to tie-up with the Information department to ensure that regular weather reports are broadcasted on the national media for information of Yatris.
Financial Commissioner, Health & Medical Education Department, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor/CEO, SASB, Administrative Secretaries of departments of, Home, Power Development, Information, Public Works, Industries and Commerce, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Jal Shakti, and Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction besides Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Divisional Commissioners of Jammu & Kashmir, concerned Deputy Commissioners, and Additional CEO SASB participated in the meeting.

New Delhi, Jan 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday saluted the daughters of the nation on National Girl Child Day.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said, ‘On National Girl Child Day, we salute our #DeshKiBeti and the accomplishments in various fields. The Central Government has undertaken many initiatives that focus on empowering the girl child, including access to education, better healthcare and improving gender sensitivity.’
In another tweet, Mr Modi said, ‘Today is also a day to specially appreciate all those working towards empowering the girl child and ensuring she leads a life of dignity and opportunity.’