Dealers say number of trucks with mutton livestock to Valley has decreased from 20 to 7 per day
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Dec 22: The 15-member delegation comprising traders, civil society members and media persons have found fluctuated rates of mutton in New Delhi.
The delegation was formed after government asked traders to visit New Delhi and assess the rates amid the deadlock over mutton rates in J&K.
The deadlock begun after the government issued fresh rates, asking mutton dealers to sell mutton @Rs 480 per kg, which otherwise is being sold @ Rs 600 per kg.
The 15-member delegation visited various mutton dealers in New Delhi to assess the rates. However, the committee has found fluctuated rates while the dealers have stated that nearly seven trucks mutton livestock supply are reaching J&K at present being due to the deadlock.
The dealers have said that at least 20 trucks of mutton livestock used to reach J&K before the deadlock.
As per the committee, the livestock dealers said that no monitoring system of mutton grading and quality is being done in the livestock markets.
The dealers said that in Kashmir, Grade-C is being mostly exported from Ambala while the mutton dealers in Delhi said that they only export Grade-1 mutton livestock to Kashmir.
According to the committee, the rates kept on fluctuating from one dealer to the other.
The mutton livestock organizer at Ambala livestock market, as per the committee said that before the deadlock, in an average on daily basis, around 20 trucks of mutton livestock supply used to reach for Kashmir while after impasse, only 5-7 trucks are reaching the Valley.
It is pertinent to mention here that the many of the butchers at present are selling chicken at their shops due to the impasse over the rates as the government has so far booked many mutton dealers for selling meat at exorbitant rates. (KNO)
15-member delegation finds varied mutton rates in Delhi
Electronic collection through FASTag from Jan 1 at all at Toll Plazas in JK: NHAI
Jammu, Dec 22: In order to promote the payment through digital mode and to provide a seamless passage to the fee plazas, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to strictly implement 100 percent electronic collection at Toll Plazas through FASTag from January 1, 2021.
Project Director, NHAI Jammu, Ajay Kumar Rajak here on Tuesday said that it has been decided that all the lanes shall be declared as ‘FASTag lane of fee plaza’ and user of the vehicle not fitted with FASTag entering into FASTag lane of the fee plazas shall pay a fee equivalent to two times of the fee applicable to that category of the vehicle.
The trials of 100 percent electronic collection will be conducted at Thandikhui Toll Plaza in Samba, Ban Toll Plaza in Jammu District and Lakhanpur Toll Plaza in Kathua District, he added and said that increase in use of FASTag will lead to non-stop movement across the Toll plazas in near future.
“NHAI is making every possible effort for hassle-free movement of VVIP, Defence Personnel, Ambulance and other exempted vehicles and avoiding the traffic Jams,” said Mr Rajak.
He further informed that the recharge or top-up once made in the account linked to the FASTags can be used whenever the vehicle crosses any of the toll plazas in the country.
“Non FASTag vehicles will have longer waiting time and will not be allowed to cross the toll plaza. They will have to pay double the Toll on entering the Toll Plaza and has to install the FASTag,” he said.
The vehicle fitted with FASTag will move swiftly through the toll plaza at the existing rates and even discounts like return journey monthly pass, local district discount to commercial vehicle are only available on using Fastags, the Project Director informed adding that they are distributing pamphlets at toll plazas, making use of public announcement systems, continuously interacting with media and giving advertisement in local and National Newspapers to create awareness and promote the use of FASTag so as to achieve the goal of 100 percent electronic toll collection.
Mr Rajak said, “the rule will be strictly implemented in the UT and no vehicle will be allowed to cross the Toll Plaza without FASTag and also double Toll shall be imposed without FASTag from January 1, 2021 and has requested all the stakeholders to install/activate the FASTags on their vehicles before January 1, 2021 for seamless movement across the toll plazas on the National Highways in India.”
FASTag have been made available at the toll plazas, branches of banks e.g. HDFC, ICICI, Kotak Mahindra, Paytm etc. NHAI FASTag is available at the toll plazas which can be recharged/linked with a bank account by using ‘My FASTag App’. These FASTag can also be bought from online shopping sites e.g. Amazon, Paytm, etc.
JU officials, private promoters booked in fraudulent withdrawal of funds case
Jammu, Dec 22: The Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday booked four employees of the Jammu university along with two promoters of private colleges besides some officials of J-K Bank for allegedly running a “large racket” of fake receipt for fraudulent deposit and withdrawal of examination fees.
The case was registered on a written communication for an in-depth investigation under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code against the erring officials, a spokesperson of the Crime Branch Jammu said in a statement here.
He said the Crime Branch booked the officers and staff of the Jammu University along with the promoters of private colleges and J-K Bank branch New University campus Jammu for running a large racket of fake receipts for fraudulent deposit and withdrawal of examination fees of colleges by way of fraud, criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and misuse of their official positions.
“The formal criminal case has been registered against the erring officers/officials who have been during enquiry found to be involved in fraudulent deposit and withdrawal of nomination fee,” the spokesperson said.
The institutions are Rajiv Gandhi Memorial College of Education, Kathua, and Vivekananda College of Education, Lakhanpur, Kathua, and two of their employees, Ashwani Kumar Khajuria of Rajiv Gandhi Memorial College of Education and Vijay Kumar of Vivekananda College of Education, were booked along with the university employees — Abdul Gafoor, Yogeshwar Singh, Pardeep Kumar and Sunil Kumar, he said.
Some officials of J-K Bank branch, New University Campus, Jammu, were also booked in the case, the spokesperson said, adding further investigation is on.
Kulgam Police recovers kidnapped girl, accused arrested
Precious Kashmir News
Kulgam, Dec 22 : Police in Kulgam recovered a kidnapped girl and arrested the person involved in the crime.
On 15/12/2020, Police Station Devsar received a complaint stating that a girl has been kidnapped by one individual identified as Ishtiyaq Ahmad Wagay son of Abdul Ahad Wagay resident of Pazalpora Kounsarbal.
Accordingly, a case FIR No. 127/2020 under relevant sections of law was registered in Police Station Devsar and investigation was initiated.
During the course of investigation a special team was constituted. The special team headed by DySP PC Kulgam along with SHO PS Devdar while acting on specific leads were able to recover the kidnapped girl and arrested the kidnapper. He has been shifted to PS Devsar where he remains in custody.
After fulfilling all medico-legal formalities, the girl has been handed over to her legal heirs. Investigation into the matter is in progress. (KNT)
CB lodges FIR against officials involved in floating tender norms
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Dec 22: Crime Branch Kashmir on Tuesday registered a case against officials of Rural Development Department who found involved in floating tender norms related to procurement of plant material in block Alosa of north Kashmir’s Bandipora.
According to officials, a case under FIR No. 46/2020 U/S 420, 409, 120-B RPC r/w 5(2) PC Act. was registered. “After conducting a preliminary verification into a written complaint received from Rural Development Department J&K, prima facia indicates that procurement of plants has been done without inviting tender and subsequent distribution into the selected villages by the then BDO and other officials, which clearly shows involvement of Block Development Officer Syed Shabir Rizvi, MPW’s Mohammad Amin Shah and Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Sheikh”, officials said.
They added the supply orders were issued to particular suppliers for extraneous considerations. The investigation of the case has been set in motion accordingly. (KINS)
Man arrested in Uri
Precious Kashmir News
Baramulla, Dec 22: Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a person and recovered one packet of heroin like substance from his possession in Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In a statement, police said that during the routine checkup of vehicles at Uri Sumo stand today, one person namely Amir Aftab, son of Aftab Ahmad Magral of Sultan Daki was seen roaming in a suspicious way.
“He was asked to stop by the naka personnel but he tried to flee away, he was however caught by the prompt and quick action of the naka party,” police said, adding that during his personal search, one packet of Heroin like substance was recovered from his possession on the spot.
In this regard, police said that a case under FIR number 176/20 under section 8/21 NDPS Act stands registered in Police station Uri, adding that the accused person has been arrested and investigation has been taken up—(KNO)
Farmer unions defer decision on Centre’s letter for fresh talks
New Delhi, Dec 22: Protesting farmer unions on Tuesday said that a decision on the central government”s offer for fresh talks has been deferred to Wednesday, even as they remained adamant on the demand to repeal the three farm laws.
Addressing a press conference at Delhi”s Singhu Border, farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu said that 32 farmer unions from Punjab held a meeting and discussed the next course of action.
He said that a meeting of farmer leaders from across India would be held on Wednesday where a decision on the government”s talks offer will be taken.
Sandhu said that they would also write to Britain MPs, urging them to press their Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to attend India”s Republic Day celebrations on January 26. Johnson will be the chief guest at the event next month.
In a letter to 40 union leaders, the Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, Vivek Aggarwal, had on Sunday asked protesting farmer leaders to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks so that the ongoing agitation could end at the earliest.
The sixth round of talks on December 9 was cancelled following a deadlock with the farmer unions refusing to budge from their demand for repealing the three laws.
SCERT pays tributes to mathematician Ramanujan
Precious Kashmir News
JAMMU, DECEMBER 22: With an aim to bring awareness on the contributions made by the renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, SCERT J&K, Divisional office Jammu Tuesday celebrated National Mathematics Day.
National Mathematics Day was celebrated under the directions of Prof.Veena Pandita, Director SCERT J&K and overall supervision of Joint Director, H.R.Pakhroo, wherein members on faculty paid tributes to the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Earlier, Surinder Kumar, Field Advisor (Mathematics), SCERT Jammu, J&K highlighted & discussed about life, struggles and achievements of Ramanujan as the day emphasizes the necessity to carry out the legacy of the world-famous mathematician forward and to promote and cultivate the magnificent tradition of Indian Mathematics.
Faculty members commemorated the legendary Indian mathematician and remembered him for his extraordinary contribution to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series & continued fractions which will remain memorable forever.
Those present in the commemoration included Irvinder Kour (HoD), Research officers, Deepak Sharma, Tapsaya Sharma, Nahida Anjum, Dr Sabeta Kohli, Arun Dutta, Dr Meenakshi Chandan, Ravinder Verma, Manju Chowdhary, Avinakshi Kargotra, Ruchi Mohan, Pratibha Jamwal, Akash Khajuria, Pallavi Joshi and Satpal Sharma.
Protecting Past
Amar Singh College, Srinagar has been awarded the prestigious Award of Merit in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
The award was announced last week by a jury, comprising nine international conservation experts.
As per the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Jammu and Kashmir chapter, the restoration of the Amar Singh College brought back one of the most prominent institutional buildings in Kashmir to its former glory.
The award, the jury said, is recognition to a high level of technical proficiency that led to reversing major deterioration, resulting from years of inappropriate additions, poor maintenance, and catastrophic events such as the once in a century flooding in 2014. The award also serves as a noteworthy model for safeguarding a unique 20th-century architectural asset in the Victorian neighborhood of the old city of Srinagar, the jury added.
The ward is significant in the sense as it signifies that such structures of importance in terms of heritage can be restored.
The original conservation plan for Amar Singh College was prepared a year before the 2014 floods and the “new approach and budget” allowed the restoration only as the building was robust. Apart from making the building excessively dirty and wet, the floods did no major damage to it. Put in another way, the structure stood the devastating floods. It has been said that living in harmony with heritage enhances the quality of life, and it is the duty of every citizen as per the Constitution of India.
There are many buildings of the era which were affected but not destroyed by floods. Also, there are buildings of importance in terms of heritage which were spared by floods but damaged over the years due to neglect.
All these buildings need to be restored and properly retrofitted. Much of the damage could be still prevented. There is a need to constitute a committee comprising conservation experts to study the condition of the building based on scientific analysis. There is a need for a comprehensive plan to highlight the heritage value of the buildings and plan accordingly.
Hope has been generated by the partnership of INTACH, J&K Chapter and UNESCO in the restoration of the heritage building like Amar Singh. It should set a good precedent and must show the way for the restoration of the other buildings.
‘DDC poll results will decide fate of politics in Kashmir’
Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 21: The results of the recently held District Development Council elections are all set to be declared on Tuesday.
The DDC polls were a litmus test for Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)—an amalgam of Kashmir based parties comprising of National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Peoples Conference and other parties. “Results of these elections will decide how politics will shape up in coming days in Jammu and Kashmir. If the PAGD wins good number of seats, it would set the tone and tenor for the forthcoming elections that would be held in J&K,” an analyst told Precious Kashmir.
He said that the DDC elections were not that big polls but these were important as these were maiden elections after the abrogation of Article 370. “Participation of people have made these polls very interesting. Many parties don’t know whom the people have voted for. The results of these elections are likely to throw many surprises,” the analyst added.
A politician said, “Participation of the people in the DDC polls is a hint that they want to become a part of the development process and are keen on getting their day to day issues resolved.”
He said, “People coming out to vote is a signal for the political parties that they will have to come forward with an agenda which is acceptable to the masses. These parties cannot keep on beating around the bush and whosoever wins will be left with no other option other than to deliver. Hollow promises won’t work.”
An analyst said, “ The DDC elections were just a beginning parties will face the real test in assembly elections after the delimitation exercise is completed. We can have a situation like Jammu versus Kashmir. There are many aspects which the Kashmir based politicians will have to consider in coming days.”
He said, “The results of the DDC elections will draw the battle lines between Kashmir and Jammu based parties. If the PAGD is able to keep the flock together then it can have some say in the future but if the constituents of the amalgam keep on locking-horns then there is every possibility about the PAGD crumbling under its own weight.”
During the election campaign it was evident that the parties that have got a strong foothold in Jammu were claiming that they will turn the tables on the Valley based parties but these parties seem to be unaware of the fact that there are many regions in Jammu where Kashmir based parties have been holding the fort for the past many years. “Results of the DDC elections will make the picture clearer. We will come to know who stands where after votes are counted. Political parties in Kashmir are anxious and are hoping that they don’t get jolted,” said an observer.
