Leh, Dec 27: Thirty-nine more people tested positive for the coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the infection count in the Union Territory to 9,394, officials said on Sunday.
Ladakh has so far recorded 126 COVID-related deaths — 83 in Leh and 43 in Kargil — while 9,050 patients or 96 per cent of the total cases have recovered from the infection in the UT.
The officials said 31 of the fresh cases were detected in Leh and eight others in Kargil during the past 24 hours.
Thirty-one patients were discharged after successful treatment in Leh during the same period, they said. According to the officials, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Ladakh stands at 218 — 192 in Leh and 26 in Kargil.
39 new COVID-19 cases in Ladakh
Need to plug loopholes in anti-defection law: Naidu
New Delhi, Dec 27: Underlining the need to make the anti-defection law more stringent, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said if loopholes in it are not plugged, “we will be making a mockery of democracy”.
He also cautioned that people will lose faith in the political class unless urgent and collective action is taken towards cleansing the system and promoting clean politics.
Delivering the 3rd Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture organised by the India Foundation in Hyderabad, Naidu lamented that the absence of value-based politics, lack of ideology, hunger for power, muscle and money power and the entry of people with a criminal background into politics were leading to violence in the political arena.
Farmers’ protest enters 32nd day
New Delhi, Dec 27: As the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s three new farm laws at Delhi’s periphery entered the 32nd day on Sunday, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) gave a call to the people, to take oath in support of the farmers on New Year.
‘AIKSCC has called for a countrywide protest on New Year by people all over the country taking a pledge to support the farmers’ struggle and demanding repeal of the three Farm Acts and the EB 2020.
‘Led by AIKSCC, the massive protest rallies are being organised on the issues of repeal of these Farm Acts, at Patna in Bihar and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu on December 29 and in Manipur and Hyderabad on December 30,’ the AIKSCC said in a statement here on Sunday.
‘At the call of farmers organisations including AIKSCC, today, at thousands of places, farmers, workers and other sections of people assembled during the airing of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ of the PM to show their protest against his indifference to farmers and service to corporates and MNCs.
‘They clanged thalis to drown the sound of the lies of the PM. This has led to massive rise of disillusionment and frustration in the rural youth,’ the statement said.
The farmers’ organisation said the present movement gives them a sense of direction for the development of rural economy, employment generation and development of the farmers.
‘While farmers demand Government investment in agriculture infrastructure and food processing, the Government refuses to help farmers’ development and plans to spend Rs one lakh crore to help the corporates and MNCs to invest in Indian agriculture. This is the path of self-destruction, not Atmanirbharta,’ it added.
Army hut gutted in fire in Gulmarg
Srinagar, Dec 27: An Army hut was gutted in fire in the world famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir district of Baramulla late on Sunday evening, official sources said.
They said fire broke out in an Army hut in Gulmarg. “Fire tenders were rushed to douse off the leaping flames, clearly visible from a distance,” they said.
They said before the fire was brought under control the hut was completely damaged though no one was injured in the incident. “The cause of the fire was not immediately known, they said, adding a case has been registered and investigation has been taken up to ascertain the cause of the incident.
BSF man commits suicide in Poonch
Jammu, Dec 27: A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan allegedly shot himself dead with his service rifle at a camp in Jammu and Kashmir”s Poonch district on Sunday, officials said.
Constable PK Dass, posted in 168th battalion, was on sentry duty when he shot himself with his rifle at Uchad camp in Mendhar area, they said.
Dass was taken to the sub-district hospital and was later referred to the Military Hospital in Udhampur where he succumbed to the injuries.
The reason behind him taking such an extreme step was not known immediately, the officials said.
Public Health Legislation
The parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in its report earlier this month called for a comprehensive Public Health Act. Among others, the report called for encompassing suitable legal provisions within its ambit to keep checks and controls over private hospitals and to curb black marketing of medicines as well as product standardisation.
Importantly also, the report flagged the initial confusion over medicines that ‘helped’ in containing the novel coronavirus and how they were sold at higher rates. The government, it said, should be proactive by holding awareness campaigns on cheaper and effective repurposed medicines to prevent people from panicking and spending huge amounts of money on expensive drugs. The report is in response to the extreme stresses caused by COVID-19 and it is a welcome call to reform a fragmented health system.
The report also comes in the backdrop a propped a bill –Health Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill 2019” by the health ministry to address the issue of assault on health care service personnel and clinical establishments.
The MHA has opposed it and among the main reasons, it said that enacting separate legislation for prohibiting violence against doctors and other health care professionals would give rise to similar demands from other categories of professionals like media persons, advocates, bankers, charted accountants, etc. The government has not taken a clear view on the draft legislation but the call for reforms in the health sector needs a clear look, keeping in view the Health Profile 2019 data which showed that there were an estimated 0.55 government hospital beds for 1,000 people across India, not to talk of J&K. Beyond doubt there is pressing need for larger investment in the public health sector. The committee has called for a comprehensive law that will curb profiteering during crises such as the one at hand on account of the covid-19 and providing robust health insurance. Prolonged underinvestment in public health infrastructure has left many people seeking help from the private sector. The situation is even worse in rural areas. The legal reforms are imperative, especially when there is highly commercialized private sector with little regulatory oversight.
Tourism players happy as visitors return to Kashmir after 2-yrs
Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 25: Tourists returning to Kashmir have brought smiles on the faces of people associated with this vital sector.
According to the media reports hundreds of tourists have arrived in Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other places in the Valley to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
“We have been waiting for the tourists since August 5, 2019, when the Centre abrogated J&K’s special status. Tourists returning to Kashmir is a good omen. We are hoping that revival of tourism industry will help us recover the losses which we have suffered during the past 2-years,” said a hotelier.
He said that Gulmarg has received good number of tourists and we are hoping that number of tourists visiting other parts of the Valley too will increase in coming days. “Our hotels have been vacant for nearly 2-years now. Let’s hope COVID vaccine will end the pandemic and normalcy will return,” the hotelier added.
A restaurant owner said that during the past 2-years, many eateries have winded up the operations and hundreds of people have been rendered jobless. “If the COVID goes situation will improve. The restaurants that have downed their shutters may once again come back to life. Our industry has been hit very badly. We are hoping it gets revived,” he added.
A travel agent, who organizes package tours for the tourists, said, “During all these months we have been requesting the government to come for our rescue by providing us some relief. Unfortunately, nothing was done to help us out so that we could survive.”
He said, “During the past few weeks we have been receiving many enquiries and it seems that tourists want to visit the Valley. Signs of revival are there but it can take some more time. Another thing that COVID has taught is that we cannot depend on anyone for help. We have to help ourselves to stand on our own feet.”
An official of the Tourism Department said, “Our department is putting all the efforts to woo the tourists. A plan is being worked out to help the small time tourism players who have suffered during the past two years. Slowly things are falling in place. We are hopeful that coming days will be better.”
A businessman said that their fraternity is waiting for the rehabilitation package that was announced by the government. “If business has to be revived the government will have to move an extra mile to help our fraternity,” he added.
PM disburses Rs18000 cr for farmers
JK Govt extending support to farming community to achieve tangible results: LG Sinha
Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Dec 25: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi today disbursed Rs 18000 Crore as next instalment under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, benefitting 9 Crore farmer families, directly into their bank accounts at the click of a button.
“Ever since this scheme started, more than 1 lakh 10 thousand crore Rupees have reached the account of farmers”, said the Prime Minister.
To mark the occasion, a programme was held simultaneously here at Kisan Kendra, Jammu where the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha addressed the Farmers.
The Lt Governor observed that the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir have been provided with financial assistance worth around Rs 1132 crore under the scheme. He outlined that the welfare of the Farmers and betterment of their livelihood is the prime focus of the Union as well as UT Government.
The UT Government has taken comprehensive measures for the development of the Agriculture and allied sectors in J&K. 100% coverage under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi has been ensured in J&K so that no beneficiary is left behind in availing the benefits of the scheme, he added.
To achieve the tangible results, the Government is extending sustained handholding and support to the farming community facilitating the rapid growth in the agriculture and its allied sectors for improving productivity and profitability of farmers, the Lt Governor remarked.
“With an aim to promote farm mechanization and creating self-sufficient villages, in this financial year, 500 Tractors with Rs 2 lakh subsidy, besides Power Tillers, Paddy Planters and Threshers are being distributed among the farmers across J&K”, the Lt Governor maintained.
Emphasizing on better storage provisions for farm produce, the Lt Governor stressed on the need for establishing Modern storage systems in the UT. Further, Four pesticide laboratories and Soil Testing Labs are also being set up in Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
The Lt Governor said that the promotion of Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy and Poultry sectors are our priorities and the Administration is going to take every step for the development of these sectors. He also underscored the importance of launching a massive campaign to make farmers aware of land use and other facets of modern agriculture.
“I have identified four issues that are being addressed on priority – Increasing productivity through Intervention of technology, ensuring best price and market support, mitigation of risks and diversification through allied activities”, observed the Lt Governor.
We are working out the prioritization and convergence wherever required to make our efforts more effective in improving the viability, profitability, and sustainability of agriculture and allied sectors, he added.
Around 70 percent of the population of Jammu & Kashmir is engaged in Agriculture and its allied sectors. It is imperative that the administration set up a large number of modern granaries, cold storages and modern agriculture equipment so that the local farmers are able to double their income in the next two years, the Lt Governor maintained.
He said that through Custom Hiring Centres which are being set for assisting small and marginal farmers, such farmers can easily borrow expensive machinery.
Highlighting the measures taken by the Government in fostering Agriculture and allied sectors, the Lt Governor said the Government is providing 50 percent subsidy for starting a fodder plant. Similarly, for setting up a dairy with 50 cows, a 50 percent subsidy is being provided by the Administration, besides 50 percent subsidy is also being provided for setting up milk chilling and processing plants, said the Lt Governor.
To increase flow of bank credit to small and marginal farmers, more focus is being given by the administration to this segment, the credit disbursal targets of Agriculture and allied sectors for the current financial year increased by 2.5 times against the last year disbursement, said the Lt Governor
The Lt Governor also termed High density plantation, intercropping and diversification in Agriculture as the need of the hour. In the near future, around 1900 hectare area is going to be brought under high density apple plantation. It would help increase income of apple growers four times, he added.
It is heartening to see that the youth is also showing interest in taking Agriculture as a career. Many of them are growing exotic vegetables which are in great demand in cities. I remember a graduate from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Isha Rasul, who with her breakthrough experiments in organic farming had helped the farmers in establishing a seed bank and is working on High-Intensity Farming. Like Isha Rasool from Kashmir Division, we also have Chaman Lal from Sunderbani, Rajouri, who have earned Rs 8 Lakhs just by growing Exotic Vegetables in mere 1.5 hectare land. There is no dearth of facilities and resources. The administration is working day and night to uplift the farmers of Jammu & Kashmir, the Lt Governor maintained.
Farmers from both divisions of the UT are being connected to the other markets of India through E-NAM at Narwal Jammu and Parimpora Srinagar. Innovative measures are being taken catering to the irrigation needs of the farmers. Jeevika Initiative, Udhampur has led to a new approach of integrated and remunerative farming, besides the number of bore-wells is being increased to benefit the farmers. In Jammu Division, work is on to install 265 bore-wells and to provide subsidy to the farmers for the Pump Sets, he said.
The agro-climatic conditions of the region are conducive for crops like basmati, saffron, kidney beans, honey, apples, cherry, walnuts, strawberry and flowers. There is a huge market waiting for our farmers in other parts of the country, he continued.
Recently, Kashmir Saffron has been given a GI tag which would help in its promotion and export throughout the world. Lulu Group from Abu Dhabi is going to set up a food processing plant in J&K. The United Arab Emirates is going to import products from Jammu & Kashmir directly. Bhaderwah Rajma, Kishtwar pear, Doda-Poonch walnut, Aamrapali and Mallika mangoes of Jammu, pecan nuts of Poonch and litchi from Reasi would also be given GI tags through the efforts of the Administration, observed the Lt Governor.
Speaking on the Agricultural Reforms, the Lt Governor said that the Agricultural Reforms by the Centre Government are for the betterment of the farmers. Under the reforms, the farmers would be free to cultivate their land and sell their produce according to their wish, he added.
“I would assure that the farmers are equally allowed to sell their produce at their own price as they are to sell at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Post implementation of the latest reforms, the trade at agriculture markets throughout the country has increased and there has been no shutdown. To dispel the fears pertaining to ‘contract farming’, I would assure that the contract is limited to exchange of goods and not the land. There is no mention of land in these reforms”, said the Lt Governor.
Later, the Lt Governor inspected the stalls installed by the Progressive Farmers showcasing their produce and interacted with the farmers.
Farooq Khan, Advisor to the Lt Governor; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production and Farmer’s Welfare Department; Prof JP Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu; Sh. Sanjeev Verma; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; R.K Srivastava, Chief General Manager, NABARD, J&K; Inder Jeet, Director Agriculture Jammu; HoDs; senior officers and scores of Farmers from across the UT were present on the occasion.
Chill prevails in Kashmir: Weatherman predicts rain, snow from today
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Dec 25: Cold conditions intensified in Kashmir as the minimum temperature dropped at most places in the valley on Friday.
The weather office has forecast the possibility of light rain and snow over a few days from Saturday.
The night temperature dropped across Kashmir, except in Gulmarg, MET officials said.
The weather has remained dry and cold across Kashmir since the snowfall on December 12, with the night temperature staying several degrees below the freezing point, they said.
The officials said Srinagar — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir — recorded a low of minus 4.3 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night’s minus 3.8 degrees Celsius.
They said the mercury in Pahalgam tourist resort in south Kashmir went down from the previous night’s low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 5.9 degrees Celsius.
The resort was the coldest recorded place in the valley.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, same as on Wednesday night, the officials said.
Qazigund — the gateway town to the valley — recorded a minimum of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, in the north, registered a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, in the south, minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, the officials said.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ — the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies including the famous Dal Lake here as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.
The chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum during this period and most areas, especially in the higher reaches, receive heavy snowfall, the officials said.
While ‘Chillai-Kalan’ – which began on December 21 — will end on January 31, the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir with a 20-day-long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
The MET Office has said there is a possibility of light rains and snowfall in the valley for a few days from Saturday.
There is no forecast of any major snowfall activity till the end of this month, it added.
Centre gears up for roll out of COVID-19 vaccine
New Delhi, Dec 25: The Central government is gearing up for the roll out of COVID19 vaccine across the country. As the vaccine administrators will play an important role in the vaccination process, training of trainers and those who shall administer the vaccine has been taken up across various States.
To strengthen the capacity of our human resource for COVID-19 vaccine introduction and roll-out, detailed training modules have been developed for different categories of vaccine handlers and administrators including medical officers, vaccinators, alternate vaccinators, cold chain handlers, supervisors, data managers, ASHA coordinators and all others involved in the implementation process at different levels.
According to an official statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the training includes all operational aspects of training like organization of vaccination sessions, use of Co-WIN IT platform for management of the entire vaccination process, deployment of HR Cold chain preparedness, Management of adverse events, communications and intersectoral coordination, biomedical waste management, infection prevention protocols etc.
2,360 participants were trained during national level Training of Trainers which comprised state immunization officers, cold chain officers, IEC officials, development partners etc. As on date, the State level trainings had been completed in all States/UTs with participation of more than 7000 district level trainees, except Lakshadweep which will conduct it soon (29th Dec). Cascading down, 681 districts (49,604 trainees) have completed the training of Medical Officers on operational guidelines. Vaccination team trainings have been completed in 1399 out of 17831 blocks/ planning units. It is on going in the other blocks.
To facilitate redressal of queries on COVID-19 vaccination and Co-WIN portal related queries, national 1075 and state 104 Helpline capacity has also been strengthened to address queries beyond their routine support.
As a step to prep up for administration of COVID-19 vaccine, and to assess the readiness of the planned activities, a dry run has been planned in four states to start with, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Punjab considering the geographical locations. Each State will plan it in two districts and preferably in different (five) session type settings e.g. district hospital, CHC/PHC, urban site, private health facility, rural outreach etc. This will exercise enable end-to-end mobilisation and testing of COVID-19 vaccination process (except the vaccine) and check the usage of Co-WIN in field environment, the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms and identify challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation including improvements that may be required in the envisaged process. This will also provide a hands-on experience to programme managers at various levels. This two-day activity is planned on 28th & 29th December 2020, and will include activities from the necessary data entries in Co-WIN to vaccine receipt & allocation to deployment of team members, mock drill of session sites with test beneficiaries to reporting and evening meeting. This will also include testing for cold storage and transportation arrangements for COVID19 vaccine, management of crowd at the session sites with proper physical distancing.
An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). In addition, adherence and management of infection control practices at the session site, to prevent disease transmission. The mock drill will include concurrent monitoring and review at the block and district levels, and preparation of feedback to be shared with the State and Union Health Ministry.
Detailed checklist has been prepared by the Union health Ministry and shared with the four States to guide them in the dry run.
The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 (NEGVAC) has recommended three prioritised population groups including Healthcare Workers (HCWs) (about 1 crore), Frontline Workers (FLWs) (about 2 crore), and Prioritized Age Group (about 27 crore). As vaccines are temperature sensitive and need to be stored in specific temperature, the present cold chain system consisting of 85,634 equipment for storage of vaccine at about 28,947 cold chain points across the country will be used for the cold chain administration. The current cold chain is capable of storing additional quantity of Covid-19 vaccine required for the first 3 Crore prioritised population i.e Health Care Workers and Front Line Workers.
