Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority (DMA) has issued high, medium and low level avalanche warnings for higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir.

High danger level (Orange alert) avalanche warning has been issued for higher reaches of Poonch, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar, Anantnag, Baramulla,  Kupwara And Bandipora districts, an official said.

A medium level (yellow alert) avalanche warning has been issued for upper reaches of Rajouri, Udhampur, Kulgam, Ganderbal And Kargil Districts.

Similarly, low level (yellow alert) avalanche warning has been issued for upper reaches of Reasi and Leh districts.

Srinagar: All examinations of  Kashmir University (KU), Cluster University of Srinagar (CUS) and Board of School Education (BOSE) which were scheduled to be held on Wednesday have been postponed due to moderate to heavy snowfall in the valley, including summer capital, Srinagar.

All KU examinations which were scheduled to be held on today are postponed in view of the inclement weather conditions, officials said. The new dates for the deferred examinations will be notified separately later, they said KU had also postponed all examinations since Sunday.

The officials of CUS said examinations scheduled to be held today have been postponed due to inclement weather conditions. He said the new dates for the postponed examinations will be notified separately later.

The BOSE also postponed class 11th examination. The board also postponed examinations all examination since Sunday due to inclement weather.

The Kashmir valley, including summer capital, Srinagar, experienced moderate to heavy snowfall since Sunday.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir administration has formed committees in all the 39 departments to consider the cases of non-gazetted officials under Article 226 (2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations, 1956 which deals with compulsory retirement of the officials on completion of 22 years of qualifying service or on attaining 48 years of age, a Jammu based daily reported.

Several new provisions were incorporated by the Government in the Article in the month of October last year to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the Government servants.

Under the new provisions, a detailed mechanism to be followed for compulsory retirement of the government servants has been defined so that such cases can withstand the judicial scrutiny in case officials declared as ‘dead-wood’ knock at the doors of the court of law against the government decision.

In order to ensure utmost transparency and neutrality while considering the cases of non-gazetted officials under Article 226(2), the Government has not kept the concerned Administrative Secretary as head of the department-wise Review Committees except in case of Finance, Health and Medical Education and Home Departments.

Financial Commissioner Finance Department Dr Arun Kumar Mehta has been made Chairman of Review Committees of six departments—Administrative Reforms, Inspections, Trainings and Grievance; Higher Education; Election; Finance; Floriculture and Hospitality and Protocol.

Similarly, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education Department Atal Dullo has been made Chairman of Review Committees of nine departments namely—Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare; Animal/ Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries; Cooperative; Health and Medical Education Department; Industries and Commerce, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Geology and Mining; Revenue and Horticulture.

Principal Secretary Home Department Shaleen Kabra has been made Chairman of 24 departments—Civil Aviation; Culture; School Education; Youth Services and Sports; Skill Development; Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs; Forest, Ecology and Environment; General Administration; Home; Housing and Urban Development Department; Information; Information Technology; Labour and Employment; Planning, Development and Monitoring; Power Development; Public Works (R&B); Jal Shakti; Rural Development and Panchayati Raj; Science and Technology; Social Welfare; Tourism; Transport; Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Tribal Affairs.

“The formation of department-wise Review Committees clearly indicates that Government is interested in exercising its powers conferred under Article 226(2) to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the Government servants”, official sources said.

Article 226(2) empowers the Government to retire any Government servant other than one working on a post which is included in Schedule-II of the Rules, after he or she has completed 22 years of qualifying service or on attaining 48 years of age.

However, this power can be exercised provided that the appropriate authority gives a notice to the Government servant at least 3 months before the date on which he is required to retire or three months of pay and allowance in lieu of such notice.

As per the new Article 226(2), a register of the Government servants, who are due to attain the age of 48 years or to complete 22 years of service, has to be maintained by the Administrative Department and such a register will be scrutinized at the beginning of every year by officers to be nominated by the Administrative Department concerned.

A new clause “Subsequent Review” states that there is also no bar on the Government to review any such case again where it was decided earlier to retain the officer but the Administrative Department is of the opinion that it is expedient to undertake the review again on account of changed circumstances in public interest.

The Government servants can be recommended for compulsory retirement in case their integrity is doubtful; if found to be ineffective in work and the basic consideration in identifying such Government servants would be their fitness/competence to continue in the post held and their utility for the purpose for which they are employed.

J&K Govt creating robust ecosystem for growth, empowerment of young entrepreneurs: LG

Jammu: J&K Government is focusing on creating a robust ecosystem for growth and empowerment of entrepreneurs of J&K, besides paving a strong foundation to nurture the entrepreneurship abilities and skills of the youth.

Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha made these remarks while chairing a meeting with the officers of Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad at the Civil Secretariat.

With the intervention of Lt Governor, the EDII will play a significant role in implementation of Entrepreneurship initiatives in J&K, including ATAL J&K Yojana. It will also provide area specific technical expertise, handholding for Entrepreneurship Development Solutions for the Youth of J&K in Talent, Tradition, Tourism, Trade and Technology.

The Lt Governor asked the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Ahmedabad to work in close coordination with Mission Youth J&K to provide sustained handholding to the young and budding entrepreneurs for their inclusive growth and development.

The Lt Governor observed that the UT Government is working with a vision for engaging and empowering the youth of J&K by creating sustainable livelihood avenues for them.

Laying special emphasis on promoting self-employment for the skilled youth, the Lt Governor asked the concerned officers to identify potential sectors for growth and expansion in entrepreneurship.

He further asked them to lay special focus on the development and entrepreneurship training of SC & ST Candidates and prioritizing SC & ST majority districts for entrepreneur skill development of the youth.

Explicitly help SC & ST candidates and give consistent hand holding to them. Workout the modalities for integrating the programme with Mission Youth, said the Lt Governor.

With the expertise EDII will bring to the table, the development of entrepreneurship in J&K would get a determined push to achieve desired results on ground, he maintained.

During the meeting, a detailed presentation was given on ATAL J&K Yojana (Accelerated Transformation of Aspirations & Livelihoods for Youth in- J&K).

The chair was informed that the duration of the project is from the year 2021-24 covering 20 Districts with more than 35,000 youth to be oriented, creating 10,000 Conventional Tiny Enterprises (CTE) and more than 1000 Impact Making Enterprises (IME) to generate around One lakh direct/indirect employment.

On  EDII & JKEDI approach in the initiative, it was informed that they are going to play major role in identifying location specific business on terms of Vocal for Local with the use of available resources and local skills; growth of existing business by providing handholding, business development services, branding & networking; focusing on sectors and sub sectors; mentoring and counseling in Compliances, Technology sourcing, Business plan & Credit Linkages;  to focus on Startups under Incubation, Statutory requirements, Linking to Startup India Mission etc.

The project would have great impact in mainstreaming entrepreneurship among local youth; wealth creation; balanced regional growth; increased competition among existing entrepreneurs; community development; employment generation; boost in economic growth by introducing new technologies, innovation and services.

Proposed interventions in J&K include Entrepreneurship orientation cum awareness program; Skill-Preneurship programs on various products/ Enterprises; training of Trainers programs on entrepreneurship development and capacity building of stakeholders and NGOs; innovation based entrepreneurship certificate program; technology based incubation support for new start-ups and interface with commercial technology support organizations; need based research and policy action recommendation; project M&E, dossier and online tools are the primary responsibility of JKEDI and EDII, it was informed.

BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner/Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department; Prof Sunil Shukla, DG EDII; H K Mittal, Advisor, EDII; Raman Gujral, Director, Projects, EDII and G. M. Dar, Director, JKEDI attended the meeting.

Advisories issued to contain further spread: Centre

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday said Avian Influenza, or the bird flu outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states — Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh — and advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds.

In a statement, the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said that other states have been asked to keep a vigil on any unusual mortality amongst birds.

The current bird flu outbreak is reported barely a few months after India in September 30, 2020 declared the country free from the disease. India notified the first outbreak of Avian Influenza in 2006.

 “After confirmation of positive samples from ICAR-NIHSAD (National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases), Avian Influenza has been reported at 12 epicenters,” the ministry said.

Of the 12 epicenters, the bird flu has been reported in crows in Baran, Kota, Jhalawar region of Rajasthan as well as Mandsaur, Indore, Malwa areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Whereas in Himachal Pradesh, the infection was found in migratory birds in Kangra region and in poultry ducks in Kottayam, Alappuzha (4 epicentres) in Kerala, it added.

Further, the ministry said it has set up a “control room” in New Delhi to keep a watch on the situation and to take stock on a daily basis the preventive and control measures undertaken by the state authorities.

According to the reports received from the states, control measures are being taken in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as per the guidelines of National Action Plan of Avian Influenza.

Kerala has already initiated control and containment operations from January 5 at epicenters, and the culling process is in operation. In the case of Himachal Pradesh, another advisory was issued on Tuesday to avoid further spread of the infection, it added.

In India, the ministry said that the disease spreads mainly by migratory birds coming into India during winter months from September-October to February-March. The secondary spread by human handling (through fomites) cannot be ruled out.

 “Infection in humans is not yet reported in India though the disease is zoonotic. There is no direct evidence that AI viruses can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated poultry products,” it noted.

As per the action plan on Avian Influenza, the ministry has suggested the affected states for strengthening the biosecurity of poultry farms, disinfection of affected areas, proper disposal of dead birds/carcasses, timely collection and submission of samples for confirmation and further surveillance, intensification of surveillance plan as well as the general guidelines for prevention of disease spread from affected birds to poultry and human.

The ministry has also suggested the states for coordination with the forest department for reporting any unusual mortality of birds.

Reviews post snowfall situation, directs for early restoration of essential services

Anantnag: Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, P K Pole today visited Anantnag and Kulgam districts of South Kashmir to review ground situation and response of the authorities in context of the heavy snowfall and inclement weather here.

The Div Com on the occasion enquired from the concerned authorities about the various measures being taken for snow clearance, restoration of electricity and water supplies besides availability of essential commodities including ration, vegetables and LPG etc.

Later on, Pole held a virtual meeting with IGP Kashmir, Chief Engineer KPDCL, DCs of Kashmir division, Commissioner SMC, Directors of Horticulture, FCS&CA, ULB, Principal GMC Sgr, etc and reviewed the response of their respective departments for the restoration of normal services post snowfall in the valley.

The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag, K K Siddha informed the meeting that the road connectivity has been restored in most parts of the district including the remote areas. Moreover, more than 90 feeders of PDD are functioning normally. Water supply schemes are also running properly in the district.

The Divisional Commissioneralso visited district Kulgam and convened a high-level meeting of the concerned officers to take first hand appraisal of the post snowfall situation and the steps taken to restore essential services.

During the meeting, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kulgam, Showkat Aijaz Bhat informed the chair that above seventy percent of the priority first roads have been cleared by various engineering agencies besides snow clearance operations on other major and inner links is also going-on smoothly throughout the district besides control rooms are working round the clock at all levels to mitigate public grievances.

He also informed that the health care institutions are functioning normally with ample medicare facilities and patients are being attended by the doctors and paramedics at District Hospital and other associated hospitals.

The Div Com on the occasion took a detailed review of stock position and it was informed that there is sufficient stock of essential commodities available in the district.

He also directed the concerned to work throughout day and night and press all men and machinery on the job to ensure snow clearance and early restoration of essential services in all areas.

The concerned officers from KPDCL were directed to ensure timely lifting of damaged transformers and their repairment besides the disaster centres were asked to remain fully functional to meet any exigency during winters.

To curb black marketing, profiteering and hoarding,  the Div Com directed the concerned to conduct regular market checking and take strict action against the offenders.

The meeting was attended by  Chief Engineer PWD, Showkat Jeelani, SSP Kulgam, Gurindar Paul Singh, ACR, ACD, Ex. Engineers of R&B, MED and PDD besides CMO and other officers.

Later, the Divisional Commissioner visited several villages of the district to monitor snow clearance measures that have been put in place by district administration.

New Delhi: There is a steady decline in the number of daily COVID-19 deaths in the country with less than 300 fatalities being recorded from the last 12 days, the Union Health Ministry update said on Wednesday.

A total of 264 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, pushing the pandemic toll to 1,50,114.

‘Only one new death per million population is reported in India in the last 7 days. This new achievement is a testament of effective COVID management and response policy of the Central Government,’ the Ministry said.

In another achievement, the trajectory of contraction in India’s total active cases continues unabated.

While the active caseload stands at 2,27,546, the share of active cases has further shrunken below 2.2 per cent.

The daily recoveries exceeding the daily new cases have ensured a total net reduction of the active caseload. As many as 21,314 new recoveries were registered during the last 24 hours.

A net decline of 3,490 cases has been recorded in the total active cases in last 24 hours.

The daily cases have been below 20,000 in the recent days and 18,088 fresh infections were registered in the last 24 hours.

The cumulative recoveries has moved further close to 1 crore and stand at 99,97,272 on Wednesday.

New recoveries outnumbering the daily new cases has also improved the recovery rate to 96.36 per cent

New Delhi: With 13 more people testing positive for the new variant of Novel Coronavirus, the total number of such cases in the country rose to 71, the Union Health Ministry said here on Wednesday.

‘The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel Coronavirus first reported in the

UK now stands at 71,’ the Ministry said.

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was found in the UK, which according to experts, was said to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible. Several countries, including India, have suspended flights with the UK and launched screening of the UK returnees, to prevent the spread of the new mutant.

The samples for the UK strain are being tested at designated 10 Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG) labs for genome sequencing.

All the infected persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Health Care facilities by respective State Governments, while their close contacts are under quarantine, the Ministry added.

The Ministry further said that the infected patients’ close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, it said.

126 test positive, total cases at 122049

Srinagar, Jan 6: Three more persons died due to COVID-19 during the last 24, taking the fatality count due to the pestilence in Jammu and Kashmir to 1900, officials said on Wednesday.

They said that all the victims belonged to Kashmir—a 60-year-old man from Urpash Ganderbal, a 75-year-old man from Sangam Anantnag and a 50-year-old man from Magam Handwara in Kupwara.

With these deaths, the total fatality count reached 1194 in the Valley while 706 have succumbed to the virus in Jammu region.

Srinagar district with 450 deaths tops the list followed by Jammu (361), Baramulla (172), Budgam (110), Kupwara (93), Pulwama (88), Anantnag (84), Doda (64), Bandipora (60), Udhampur (57), Kulgam (53), Rajouri (54), Kathua (49), Ganderbal (45), Shopian (39), Samba (39), Poonch (24), Ramban (21), Kishtwar(22), and Reasi (15).

126 fresh cases in J&K, tally at 122049

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir reported 126 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 122049, officials said.

Among the fresh cases, they said, 73 cases were from Jammu Division while 55 from Kashmir Valley. There was no traveler among the fresh cases.

Giving district-wise details, they said, Srinagar reported 23 cases, Baramulla 2, Budgam 3, Kupwara 3,

Pulwama 4, Anantnag 0, Bandipora 3, Ganderbal 13, Kulgam 0, Shopian 2, Jammu 48, Udhampur 3, Rajouri 1, Doda 4, Kathua 6, Kishtwar 2, Samba 6, Poonch 2, Ramban 1and Reasi 0.

Moreover, they said 264 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals— 144 from Jammu Division and 120 from Kashmir Division.

Srinagar: An 18-year-old girl died on Wednesday at SKIMS Soura, a week after she suffered grievous injuries in a road accident in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The family said that the hospital authorities refused them an ambulance to carry the body to Kupwara amid massive snowfall.

“We went several times to the transport section of the hospital but they said that there is no ambulance available and kept us waiting,” Naseer Ahmad, brother of the deceased girl told GNS over the phone.

When GNS called the transport section, an official there said that the hospital does not provide ambulance for carrying the dead body. An officer of the administration told GNS that preference is given to live patients and ambulance(s) are kept available for them especially when the situation is difficult due to snowfall. “Situation due to snowfall is very difficult and if ambulance carrying dead body gets stuck in any far off area it could prove detrimental for live patients,” he said.

The family after struggling from early morning to around 1 p.m., finally managed to get a private vehicle to carry the body to Kupwara.

The girl, Shabeen Bano (18) daughter of Abdul Khaiq Khan of Chepora Lalab had suffered serious injuries on December 29 in an accident and succumbed to the wounds at the tertiary care hospital in the wee hours today.

The accident had taken place in Potushie near JNV when a vehicle (JK09B-3517) she and three other members of her family were traveling in fell into a nallah after the driver lost control allegedly due to slippery road condition. Girl’s mother— Zoona Begum— had died on the spot while she and two other family members were injured.