Srinagar:  Vice president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr. Abdul Majid Mir today died in a road accident in New Delhi.

A 72- year old resident of Rawalpora Srinagar was in New Delhi from last few days.

Mir, a resident of Rawalpora Srinagar, was associated with textile business and owned a weaving factory at Industrial Estate Rangreith Srinagar outskirts.

President KCC&I, Sheikh Ashiq termed demise of Mir as a great loss to the business community. He said Mir worked in the interest of business community in Kashmir and occupied various posts at KCC&I.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry also condoled the demise of Mir.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Dr Mir who died in a tragic accident in Delhi where he had gone few days ago, a KCCI spokesperson said in a statement.

He said Dr Mir had always worked for the upliftment of business community and had great understanding of the economic scenario of Kashmir. Dr Mir always extended helping hand to our youth and guided them on economic front. He will be truly missed, the spokesman added.

Jammu:  Incessant downpour threw life out of gear during the last three days in Jammu with the city on Wednesday recording 50.1 mm rainfall in a 24-hour period, its second-highest for the month of January in 20 years, Meteorological department officials said here.

The showers, however, stopped on Wednesday morning, bringing some relief to residents.

“Jammu recorded 50.1 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours. This was the second-highest in the past two decades as the city had recorded the all-time high of 81.4 mm rainfall on January 13, 2000,” a spokesperson of the department said.

He said the city had recorded 47.7 mm rainfall on January 26, 2017.

The spokesperson said the minimum temperature in the city settled at 12.1 degrees Celsius, which is 4.7 notches above normal for this part of the season.

Triggered by heavy rainfall, the river Tawi went into spate but it was flowing below the danger level.

Banihal town along the Jammu-Srinagar highway was recorded as the coldest place in the Jammu region at a low of 0.2 degree Celsius. The highway town witnessed 80.4 mm of rain and snow during a 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am, the spokesperson said.

Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district, recorded 47.9 mm rainfall and a minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius, he said.

“Weather improving gradually, significant improvement expected from today (Wednesday) afternoon onwards but light rain or snow will occur at scattered places in the next 24 hours,” the official said, adding that there is no forecast of any major snowfall, and the weather is likely to remain mainly dry in Jammu and Kashmir till January 14.

DC Srinagar monitoring restoration work of essential services, clearance of snow from roads

Srinagar:  Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and other concerned officers of Kashmir division have been asked to carry out regular market checking in their respective jurisdictions and ensure that no hoarding or profiteering is exercised by any trader, especially under prevailing circumstances.

The DCs have been asked to put all available resources in service to restore all the affected services like roads, transport, power and water supplies besides hospital supplies in their respective districts.

The continuous snowing for the past two days has affected normal life throughout the Kashmir Valley, however, the district administrations had started on war footing snow clearance from inter-district and main roads since yesterday morning, which was still going on today.

To take on the spot assessment of the situation arisen in South Kashmir, which witnessed heavy snowfall measuring from 1 ft to 6 ft since past two days, the Div Com, P K Pole, along with senior officers of divisional administration, today, visited Kulgam and Anantnag districts.

On the occasion, he received a brief from district administrations about the steps taken for the restoration of essential services like roads,  power and water supply besides other medicare facilities in the health institutions of both the districts.

Meanwhile in Srinagar, the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary, is personally monitoring the restoration work of essential services including lifting of snow from main as well as inner links of the district including old city areas by Mechanical Engineering Department (MED) and Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC).

He asked the authorities of PDD and PHE Department to expedite the restoration work and ensure early restoration of  power and water supply in affected areas of the district. He also, along with a team of officers, visited various parts of the district and took stock of the restoration operation going on in these areas.

The market checking teams have also been asked to intensify the checking in order to check that no hoarding and profiteering is resorted by the traders in the district.

Srinagar:  Traffic to dozens of far-flung and remote villages — including border towns of Keran, Karnah, Machil and Tanghdar — remained suspended for the third successive day on Wednesday due accumulation of about two to five feet of snow.

Meanwhile, traffic to the border town of Gurez and dozens of other far-flung villages, including those near the Line of Control (LOC), remained suspended for the fourth successive day, as these regions remained cut off from the rest of the valley due to slippery road conditions and fresh snowfall.

“Dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including Kernah, Machil, Keran and Tanghdar, remained cutoff due to accumulation of several feet of snow,” an official of Police Control Room (PCR), Kupwara, told UNI.

He said Sadhna top received about five feet of fresh snowfall while Phirkiyan pass and Z-gali received about two to three feet of snowfall since Sunday.

“Snow clearance operation has not been started due to bad weather conditions,” he said, adding that traffic will be resumed only after getting a green signal from officials deployed on the ground and improvement in the weather.

An official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Bandipora told UNI that Gurez remained closed for traffic for the fourth successive day on Wednesday. “Razdan pass, connecting Gurez, Neeru and dozens of other areas near LoC with district headquarters Bandipora, received over 2.5 feet of fresh snowfall since Sunday,” he said.

He said Tulail valley received about 2 feet of fresh snow while Dabar also received over a foot of snow since Sunday.

Jammu:  PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti spent nearly Rs 82 lakh in six months from January to June 2018 on the refurbishment of her official residence in Srinagar`s Gupkar Road, when she was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The expenditure was all paid by the Government of India, an RTI reply has revealed. The RTI application was filed by Jammu and Kashmir-based activist, Inam-un-Nabi Soudagar.

The response to his RTI query revealed that between January -June 2018, Mehbooba spent nearly Rs 82 lakh on bedsheets, furniture, TVs and other items. The RTI response also shows that on March 28, 2018, Mehbooba spent Rs 28 lakh in a single-day for buying carpets.

In June 2018 alone, she spent more than Rs 25 lakh on various items, including LED TVs worth Rs 22 lakh.

The reply also showed expenses worth Rs 14 lakh on January 30, 2017. The item included a garden umbrella worth Rs 2,94,314.

The RTI response further reveals that bedsheets worth Rs 11,62,000 were purchased on February 22, 2018.

In March 2018, Mehbooba spent nearly Rs 56 lakh , including Rs 25 lakh on furniture and nearly Rs 28 lakh on the carpets.

The purchases also involved cutlery items worth Rs 40 lakh in a period of two years, from August 2016 to July 2018.

Srinagar: With several states reporting outbreak of bird flu, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Wednesday said it is safe to eat properly cooked poultry meat.

“There is no risk to catch the disease from eating poultry or poultry products,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

“Bird flu is not transmitted through cooked food,” he said.

“To date, there is no evidence that people have become infected after eating contaminated poultry meat that has been properly cooked.”

DAK President said in areas free from the disease, poultry can be prepared and consumed as usual.

“In areas experiencing outbreaks, poultry and poultry products can also be safely consumed provided these items are properly cooked and properly handled,” he added.

“Consumers need to be sure that all parts of the poultry are fully cooked (no “pink” parts) and that eggs, too are properly cooked (no “runny” yolks),” Dr Nisar said adding that “normal temperature used for cooking (70 degree Celsius in all parts of the food) kills the virus.”

“However, slaughtering, defeathering and eviscerating of diseased birds pose a risk to humans,” he said.

 “Recently, the samples of dead migratory birds in Himachal Pradesh were tested positive for H5N1and another strain of bird flu H5N8 has been reported in Ducks in two districts of Kerala.”

Nisar said the viruses usually do not infect humans, but there are chances.

The veterinarians must get activated for active surveillance, stockpile logistics like PPE and Tamiflu and prepare for worst, just in case, added DAK president.