Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Dec 25: Christmas, birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, was on Friday celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety in the Kashmir valley.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, his advisors, leaders of different political parties greeted people, particularly members of Christian community on the occasion.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, night prayers in the Churches, were limited to only few devotees.
However, special prayers during the day were held in Churches in Srinagar and world famous ski resort of Gulmarg.
The main prayer meeting was held at Holy Family Catholic Church on Moulana Azad road church, where devotees, including women and children, from different parts of the city participated. The church was decorated with colourful buntings and balloons and wore a festive look. Among the devotees included few tourists who joined the locals on the auspicious day and prayed for peace in the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir.
Similar prayer meetings were held at other places in the valley.
Despite sub zero temperature Christmas was also celebrated at Gulmarg, where large number of devotees, including tourists participated in the prayers held during the day.Tourism department organized a number of programs at Gulmarg last evening.
The Directorate of Tourism, Kashmir, also organised Christmas Eve Celebrations here and at St Mary’s Church, Gulmarg in which the members of Christian Community, representatives of Travel trade, and tourists participated in large numbers.
In this connection, the premises of the SKICC was decorated with Merry Christmas themed buntings, flags, balloons and various kinds of banners giving a festive look on the occasion.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan who was chief guest on the occasion inaugurated the function. Secretary Tourism and Culture, Sarmad Hafeez, Director Tourism Kashmir, Nissar Ahmad Wani, Director SKICC, Bakhshi Javed Humayun, besides other officers of the Tourism department were also present on the occasion.
The members of Christian community participated in the special prayers, carols and various cultural programmes. The devotees prayed for communal harmony, love and compassion for humanity.
Speaking on the occasion, Advisor extended his greetings and wishes to the people and prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir. He said people of J&K are known for the brotherhood and value communal harmony which is evident from the large participation of the locals and the travel trade members in the celebrations of these festivals.
Advisor said the Tourism Department has lined up many activities for promotion of tourism sector and to attract a good number of travellers to J&K. He said apart from Christmas celebrations, the department has made all the preparations for mega event on New Year, winter carnival and Khelo India games which will be held at various resorts including ski resort of Gulmarg.

Advisor further announced that government is throwing open many other potential areas for tourism activities and also upgrading the infrastructure to ensure memorable stay for the travellers.
He lauded the efforts of the Tourism department and SKICC for organizing such function and hoped that large number of tourists will enjoy white Christmas celebrations at Gulmarg. He urged upon tourism players to take maximum benefit from such platforms provided by government and appealed them and all stakeholders to contribute their best for revival and promotion of tourism industry across J&K.
While stressing on importance of highlighting the measures undertaken by Tourism Department for reviving and boosting tourism related activities in J&K, Advisor said media fraternity particularly national media has pivotal role in portraying real picture of Kashmir which has abundant attractiveness and is ideal all four season tourist destination for peace and beauty lovers.

Precious Kashmir News
Gulmarg, Dec 25: Amidst the festive and colorful atmosphere and Christmas Celebrations here at Gulmarg, the Directorate of Tourism, Kashmir kick started the first batch of Ski Courses here.
Twenty young boys drawn from various districts of the J&K will undergo the 7- Day Introductory Ski Course during which the group will be introduced to the basics of Skiing. All the lodging & boarding and the Ski equipment is being provided free of cost by the Tourism Department. A four member Ski Instructors team will be imparting Skiing training to these beginners.
The Directorate of Tourism, Kashmir has drawn a weekly calender for imparting basic skiing training to as many as 6 groups this season. Among these 6 groups, two will be exclusively meant for outside J&K youth including one girls group. Another exclusive girls group will be from the UT.
At the end of their training programme, the best three among the trainees in each of the six groups will be selected for Intermediate & Advance level courses.
Apart from the Tourism Department, hundreds of boys and girls are being imparted basic Ski training this season by the Youth Services & Sports Department. The Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering has also started various Ski training courses at Gulmarg.
Gulmarg continued with its festivities and cultural programmes on Christmas to enthral the tourists who were seen enjoying the colorful folk shows and Sufi songs.
Speaking on the occasion, Assistant Director, Tourism, Dr Javed-ur Rehman said that colorful cultural events amidst Skiing activities at Gulmarg are meant to entertain the Tourists and introduce them to the rich culture of Kashmir. ” A grand function will be held here at Gulmarg on New Year’s Eve for which preparations are in full swing”, he added.

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Dec 25: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha paid tributes to former Prime Minister, Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary.
“Atal Ji was a distinguished statesman, cherished leader, prolific poet, and a social reformer who deeply enriched the Indian political space and contributed immensely to our Nation’s progress. The country also remembers 25th December as Good Governance Day to honour Atal Ji. We must pledge to devote ourselves to this cause”, said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor observed that the former Prime Minister made a significant mark as a political figure in our nation’s history with his incredible intellect, fairness, and modesty. “He was a stalwart loved and respected across all sections of society. His great wisdom and faith in the power of democracy will continue to guide our future generations”, the Lt Governor added.

Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Dec 25: A ‘lull’ prevailed after a brief exchange of fire between militants and security forces in Kanigam village of Imamsahib belt in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday.
A senior police officer told KNO that after initial exchange of fire, search operation has been launched in the area. “After initial contact, no fresh contact has been established yet,” he said.
He said initial exchange took place in nearby orchards of the village and during initial exchange militants managed to run towards the residential houses.
“All entry and exits points have been sealed and lights have installed in the area, so that militants don’t flee from the spot,” the official said.
Earlier, an official said that a joint team of Police, Army’s 44 RR and CRPF launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) on specific information about the presence of militants in the area.
He said that as the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter.
Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, internet services have been snapped in Shopian district.

Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Dec 25: In a recently held District Development Council (DDC) polls, independent candidates have emerged as kingmakers as they managed to win 18 per cent of the total seats while registering a win on 50 seats in Jammu and Kashmir.
Several independent elected Block Development Councillors (BDC) said that they are being approached by various parties, however, any decision, whether to join any party or not, lies with the people who voted in their favour.
Peer Shahbaz, an independent winning candidate from Shahabad block of Anantnag district said that after bagging DDC seat various parties have been approaching him.
“I have received several calls from workers and leaders of different parties to join them. Whatever decision my voters will take, I will do the same,” he said.
Shahbaz was expelled from Congress before DDC election. He later contested the polls as an Independent candidate and defeated Naseer Ahmad Mir son of Congress chief G A Mir by 639 votes.
Another independent BDC Bilal Ahmad Deva from Vessu Qazigund also said that various parties have been approaching him, however, after consulting with his workers, he has decided not to join any party and serve people as an Independent candidate.
“I got votes for being an independent and my workers and voters are of the opinion that is should continue as an independent,” he said.

Abdul Rashid another BDC from Safapora Ganderbal also echoed the same voice and said that it is up to voters and workers and he can’t take any decision of his own to join any party.
“We have to work for the development which we can do very well as an independent. I am not desirous to join any party, however, my workers and voters have the ultimate right to take a decision in case they want me to join any party,” he said.
Notably, in the last two days, at least three independent DDCs two from Shopian and one from Srinagar have joined newly floated Altaf Bukhari led Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party. (KNO)

London, Dec 25: British epidemiologists found the new mutation in coronavirus when they were investigating the reason for the surge of cases in the southeast part of England despite the imposed restrictions that controlled the spread in other parts of the country.
The public health officials who were out searching the reason for the surge initially presumed that a superspreader event or negligent behavioral patterns like disregarding social distancing norms, illegal house parties etc, had caused the rapid rise of cases in the area, as per the Wall Street Journal.
It was on December 8 when the group of scientists, Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium(COG-UK) that collects, monitors and researches on the virus discovered the new variant with 23 mutations, in a test of a patient from Kent, near the centre of outbreak in late September, that consequently led to the world isolating the UK. The same variant was also found in a sample tested in London a day after, WSJ reported. These new mutations were found to have increased the communicability of the virus.
While researchers have said that the virus has mutated numerous times since the inception of the spread in 2019, WSJ said the variant has caused global worries specifically because of the greater number of mutations that affected the code of the amino acid responsible for producing proteins constituting the virus.
The new variant can help the virus in infecting the people more efficiently as two of the mutations affect the spike protein of the virus that makes it easy to stick to the human cell wall and enter the body.
The mutation had caused global worries at a time when the vaccines are being rolled out for emergency use in many parts of the world as scientists say that the nature and number of mutations are unprecedented.
The British officials in recent weeks have been clandestinely looking for patient zero. They have been through the contacts of two people identified early carrying the variant, neither of whom was sick including others infected earlier. The hypothesis around patient zero is that the variant must have born out of its weak immune system. Compromised and deficient immune system is mostly the best place for the virus to evolve with high mutations as it is able to survive in that environment for a longer period of time, WSJ reported.
“In an ideal situation you would know who the index case was,” Sharon Peacock, microbiologist leading the genomics team at the University of Cambridge was quoted by WSJ “We don’t know at all, if this has arisen in a patient in the UK or if it has been introduced, we categorically can’t tell at the moment.”
The concerns about the new-found virus were made public on December 14 when the Health Secretary Matt Hancock informed the lawmakers that the new variant was accountable for 1000 cases in London and southeast England. Hancock had said, “Initial analysis suggests this variant is growing faster than the existing variants”.

Washington, Dec 25: US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna expects that its COVID-19 vaccine would be effective against the new strains of the coronavirus that have discovered in the United Kingdom.
In an official statement, Moderna said, “Based on the data to date, Moderna expects that the vaccine-induced immunity from the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine would be protective against the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus recently described in the UK. We will be performing additional tests of the vaccine in the coming weeks to confirm this expectation.”
London confirmed that a new strain of coronavirus has been detected in the country, adding that the new variant is 70 per cent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 variants.
After this declaration many countries suspended travel to and from the UK. However, there is no evidence that the new strain is more pathogenic.
On Wednesday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that a second new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 allegedly originating from South Africa was found in the country. On Thursday, the United Kingdom banned entry for passengers traveling from South Africa .

New Delhi, Dec 25: Domestic violence against women remained a prime cause of concern for the Ministry of Woman and Child Development in 2020 with over 5,000 such complaints received in the year.

The National Commission for Women was flooded with complaints of domestic violence in March as the lockdown, imposed in view of the coronavirus outbreak, forced women to remain confined in their homes with their abusers.

The number of complaints went on increasing through the months and in July, a record number of 660 such complaints were received.

Over 5,000 complaints of domestic violence were received by the NCW in 2020.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma has attributed the rise in complaints to factors like economic insecurity, financial instability and isolation among others.

“Victims of domestic violence are distanced from their regular support systems making it difficult for them to call out for help. The series of COVID-19 lockdowns in India reduced the opportunities of reporting of domestic violence cases,” Ms Sharma told PTI.

She said the lockdown incapacitated women by preventing them from moving to safer places in cases of violence and abuse, reduced contact with the natal family which is usually the first point of contact for the victim.

“The machinery under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act had not been identified as an essential service during the lockdown. Hence, protection officers and NGOs were not able to visit households of victims, and police officers being at the frontline to tackle COVID-19 were overstretched to help victims effectively,” she said.

Sharma said the NCW launched a WhatsApp helpline number for emergency response during the lockdown to deal with the increased number of complaints of domestic violence.

According to her, the NCW’s audio-visual media outreach program aims to create awareness about legal provisions for protection of women and to apprise women to approach the government through various helplines and institutional support.

Speaking about how the year 2020 has been for children, apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said education posed as the biggest problem for children in the country.

“We were not in the habit of educating our children online but when COVID-19 came it was a challenge. We, however, started overcoming it by different means and now the situation is improving. We succeeded in ensuring that children kept in touch with their schools whether it was private or government schools,” he said.

“The most important role played by teachers and anganwadis was to deliver midday meal at the doorsteps of children which was tremendous work done by them,” he told PTI.

On concerns that there may be a rise in the dropout rate of schoolchildren due to the pandemic, Kanoongo said having such apprehension even before the schools reopen is “not correct”.

“Once the schools reopen, we will bring the children to schools. And in fact online education has kept all children in touch with schools,” he said.

The NCPCR also came out with family-centric recommendations to combat child trafficking at “source, transit and destination hotspots” amid concerns over its rise post the COVID-19 lockdown.

The government developed a new standard operating procedure for care and protection of street children to strengthen the processes and interventions so that there should not be any child in a street situation and they should be with their families.

Srinagar, Dec 25: Traffic was on Friday suspended on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, for maintenance work while the historic 86-kms-long Mughal road remained closed due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions.
However, one-way traffic continued on the 270-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway, the only road linking Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with Kashmir despite accumulation of snow on the road, particularly at Zojila.
No traffic will be allowed on 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway today in view of maintenance and repair of the road, a traffic police official told UNI.
The UT administration had announced the suspension of traffic on Friday to allow National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to undertake necessary maintenance and repair work on the road.
He said the Mughal road, which is seen as alternative to Srinagar-Jammu national highway, remained closed due to accumulation of snow and slippery conditions. There is very less chances of resumption of traffic in near future on the road, which connects Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.
Meanwhile the Srinagar-Leh national highway remained functional as traffic was allowed on it was through for traffic, he said, adding that today vehicles will ply from Kargil in Ladakh to Srinagar.
However, Kashmir-bound vehicles had to cross Minamarg between 0900 hrs to 1400 hrs, he said, adding that no vehicle will be allowed after cut off timing.
He said vehicles are advised to carry anti skid chain to gain more grip on the slippery road conditions. However, night travel between 1800 hrs to 0900 hrs next morning will remain banned due to slippery conditions.