New Delhi, Sept 10:  The COVID-19 situation worsened in India on Thursday as highest single-day spike of 95,735 cases and 1,172 deaths was recorded as per the official data.

With the new additions, the death toll due the millennium scourge crossed the grim milestone of 75,000.The caseload and death toll stood at 44,65,863 and 75,062 respectively.

India — the world’s second worst-hit COVID nation, also received another setback as Serum Institute of India, which was conducting clinical trials of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, has put the process to hold. The Oxford vaccine phase III clinical trials were also suspended on Wednesday following a participant in UK developing an adverse reaction.

Serum Institute had in June signed a deal to produce AstraZeneca’s experimental vaccine for low and middle-income countries. Human trials of the vaccine candidate were being conducted in India in parallel to AstraZeneca’s effort.

As per the Union Home Ministry, there are as many as 9,19,018 active cases while recovered stand at 34,71,782. The recovery rate has reached 77.74 per cent while the fatality rate stands at 1.68 per cent.

Sixty per cent of the 95,735 new Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours in the country are from just five states with Maharashtra alone contributing more than 23,000 and Andhra Pradesh over 10,000.

More than 74 per cent of the total active cases were in five most affected states of which Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh together contribute a whopping 49 per cent of total active cases.

Maharashtra was leading this tally with more than 2,50,000 followed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh more than 97,000 each.

In fresh deaths, 32 per cent of deaths were reported from Maharashtra with 380 deaths followed by Karnataka with 128 deaths, and Tamil Nadu with 78 deaths.

Of the total deaths, 69 per cent were concentrated in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the past 24 hours, 11,29,756 samples were tested, taking the total tests conducted to 5,29,34,433, till date.

Globally, the US remains at the top spot with over 65 lakh cases and more than 1.95 lakh deaths. Brazil at third place, has registered over 41 lakh cases and nearly some 1.28 lakh deaths, as per Worldometer.

New Delhi, Sept 10:  India and Russia are in touch for production of COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ and clinical trials will be held this month, a senior official of the Russian Embassy here said on Thursday.

Russia will transfer ’technology to India and Indian drug manufacturers for production of the vaccine and four Indian companies have shown interest. The official, however, declined to divulge the names of the four companies saying discussions were still on.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a Russian government body which is financing research for the vaccine, for its production in India, also said clinical trials would be held this month in India, Brazil, UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.

Officials in New Delhi confirmed that Russia has been in talks with the External Affairs Ministry and some vaccine manufacturers for mass production of the vaccine in India.

The officials said India is considering conducting the third phase of the clinical trials, regulatory facilitation and manufacturing of the vaccine and various scientific bodies are looking into it. This was being done following a request from the Russian government that India consider manufacturing the vaccine by Indian pharma companies and conduct phase three trials.

There has been positive movement on both these requests, the officials said and added that four Indian companies had shown interest while discussions were on with several other companies.

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Sep 10: Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday directed SKUAST (K) to proceed with and conclude the selection process regarding appointment of Assistant Professor and Jr. Scientist in various disciplines advertised on March 7 last year.

The posts advertised included Assistant Professor and Jr. Scientist in the disciplines of Veterinary Physiology, Live Stock Production Management, Veterinary Public Health and Veterinary Biochemistry. However despite lapse of about nine months, the selection process has not made any progress beyond screening stage.

The university stated the selection process was put on hold in view of the communication of the Finance Department on 4 July 2019. Following notice to the government by the high court, the latter filed a status report, revealing that the Finance Department has issued a circular on 4th July, 2019, in terms whereof the SKUAST was required to seek financial concurrence before advertising the posts in question and that it had to route the proposal through Administrative Department i.e., Agriculture Production Department which has not been done.

The government also mentioned that the employer is otherwise within his rights to cancel any selection process by recalling the posts advertised and the advertisement issued before the selection is actually made.

“The question, therefore, for determination would be, as to whether the SKUAST was justified in issuing the advertisement notification in question without the concurrence of the Finance Department?” a bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey said.

While the Finance Department had ordered that no recruitment against the vacant posts shall be made by the public sector undertakings, autonomous bodies and societies without the prior concurrence of the Finance Department, the court observed that the University has clarified that advertisement was made prior to July 4 last year and that the order of the Finance Department has a prospective effect.

“The selection process is stalled because of the order issued by the Government which is not under challenge but as per the stand of the SKUAST the same has the prospective effect,” the court said, adding, “This Court is not inclined to go into this aspect of the case and return any finding as regards the competence and role of the Government in the case in hand as that is not the issue raised in the petition. The court, therefore, has to only settle the issue regarding completion of the process of selection against the advertised posts notwithstanding the order issued by the Government.”

In view of the issue raised, the court said that it feels unnecessary to embark upon the powers of the government and the University qua the concurrence as the University has, on its own, accepted the order issued by the government qua requirement of concurrence before the issuance of advertisement for making selection against any post.

But the fact of the matter, the court said, is that the Government order that puts the selection process on hold is prospective in nature, therefore, the same does not have any bearing to the case in hand. “Further, in view of the stand taken by the SKUAST and the petitioners having not questioned the Government order, therefore, there is no question for consideration of this Court whether the State Government has any power to override the decision of the appropriate authority of the University when such power is not conferred directly upon the Government under the Statute or regulation framed thereunder,” the court said, adding, “This question is kept open for future consideration as and when such eventuality arises.”

Finally, the court allowed the plea to the extent of directing the University, SKUAST to proceed with and conclude the selection process after allowing all eligible candidates to participate, notwithstanding the Government order under dispute. (GNS)

Students to be permitted entry in classes only after written consent from parents

Riyaz Bhat

Srinagar, Sept 10: The Jammu and Kashmir School Education department is mulling to restart the education process at High, Secondary and Higher Secondary level amid new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines of Government of India (GoI).

Top officials of the department said that they are working on the strategy to be followed while reopening schools in Jammu and Kashmir.

An official privy to the development said “the department is working out on the strategies to be followed on reopening of the schools as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued by GoI.”

The official said that the department was frequently holding the meetings in this regard to chart out as to how they will reopen the schools.

“With the announcement of resuming the academics, the students of 10th, 11th and 12th standard will be allowed to visit their respective schools on volunteer basis with the consent of their parents followed by the prescribed SOPs,” the official said.

“The department will also contact the Head of the Institutions (HoIs) to check their strategies in this regard,” the official added.

Meanwhile, department of Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (DMRRR) of Jammu and Kashmir in its guidelines has said that 50 percent of teaching and non-teaching staff shall be permitted to be called to schools for online teaching,  Tele-counseling and related work, in areas outside containment zones only from September-21.

In an order the DMRRR said, “Students of classes 9 to 12th are permitted to visit their schools in areas outside the containment zones only on voluntary basis for taking guidance from their teachers September-21.”

“This shall however be permitted subject to written consent of their parents or guardians as per the SOP to be issued in this regard by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare subsequently,” it reads.  (KNO)

Aatif Qayoom

Srinagar, Sept 10: Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday constituted two groups of task forces for implementation of National Education Policy 2020. The groups comprised of Higher Education and School Education to be headed by KK Sharma, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor and Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Department as Chairman.

Order No. 845-JK(GAD) of 2020 dated 10.09.2020 reads, “Sanction is hereby according to the constitution of two Task Forces, comprising the following, for identifying the specific measures and initiatives required to be taken in respect of implementing the National Education Policy 2020”.

KK Sharma, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor has been appointed as Chairman for NEP 2020 Task Forces on Higher Education while Vice Chancellors of all Universities of J&K both Central and UT, Deans/Directors of other Central Institutes of Jammu and Kashmir such as IIT, IIM and NIT, Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, Higher Education Department, Three Principals each from Jammu province and Kashmir province to be nominated by the Government, Six academicians to be nominated by the Government, Director, RUSA and Director Colleges, J&K will be its members. The Task Force shall be serviced by the Higher Education Department.

Similarly, the Task Force constituted for NEP 2020 Task Force on School Education and Skill Development will be headed by Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Department who will be its Chairman, while Director School Education, Kashmir/Jammu, Director, Skill Development, J&K, Director, SCERT (Chairperson, BOSE, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, Four academicians to be nominated by the Government and Four Principals from the Government/Private Schools to be nominated by the Government will be its members. The Task Force shall be serviced by the School Education Department and Director, School Education, Jammu shall be the Member Secretary.

As per the order, the terms of reference of these Task Forces shall be to ensure the provisions of NEP 2020 and identify specific measures to be taken for implementing these in Jammu and Kashmir; to assess the academic and training requirements for its implementation;to suggest structural reforms that may be needed for its implementation; to assess manpower and financial requirements for its implementation and to suggest procedural and policy changes that need to be made in achieving the objectives of NEP 2020. (KNS)

Takes strong note of non-maintenance of PMGSY roads, directs officers to ensure adherence of maintenance clause

Precious Kashmir News

Jammu, Sept 10:  Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Thursday chaired a meeting with Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Jammu and Commissioner JMC and passed various directions to improve public utility services and infrastructure for the convenience of general public.

Stressing on enhancing public conveniences and Utility services, the Lt Governor directed the concerned officers to identify places for public utility infrastructure under Swachh Bharat Mission and plan their construction on the basis of Space specific designs with right aesthetic.

JMC will be the Nodal agency for the construction works. He further asked them to explore modalities for the fund transfer under Smart City to avoid multiple agency conflict.

The Lt Governor directed the Divisional Commissioner to identify places for similar projects in District Headquarters in other Districts as well.

He asked the Divisional Commissioner to coordinate with Konkan Railways / IRCON for funding under CSR for establishment of public utilities in places from where railways are passing through in Jammu Division.

He directed the concerned officers to adopt best practices from other States/UTs to ensure 100% coverage of sanitary pads vending machines in Girls Higher Secondary Schools, Girls High Schools and Women Colleges.

On Back to Village programme, the Lt Governor directed the Divisional Commissioner to conduct meetings with Deputy Commissioners, and sought report on the works planned under the third phase of the programme. He directed for undertaking of those works having impact in the lives of the general public.

Taking strong note of the non-maintenance of PMGSY roads, the Lt Governor said during his visits to various Districts across the UT, a large number of public delegations projected the issue of non-maintenance of PMGSY roads and this issue needs to be resolved to benefit the public at large.

He directed the concerned officers to ensure adherence of maintenance clause for PMGSY roads and further directed them to submit periodic action taken reports in this regard.

He also directed the Div Com to coordinate with various departments to remove bottlenecks in the execution of various projects.

Says media important tool to take Govt initiatives to public

Precious Kashmir News

Jammu, Sept 10:  Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha had an interaction with media fraternity from Jammu here Thursday.  This was his 2nd interaction with the media people after a delegation from Kashmir met him on 4th September in Srinagar.

Sanjeev Verma, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar; Director, Information and Public Relations Department were present on the occasion.

The Lt Governor sought the suggestions of the Media Persons to make the dissemination of information more authentic and effective.

He observed that the Government of UT is committed to development without discrimination.

He welcomed the constructive criticism for improving the functioning of the Government and make the Government’s working more responsive and accountable. Media is an important tool to take Government’s works and initiatives to the public, the Lt Governor maintained.

Pertinent to mention that the Lt Governor has desired to make the process of having interactions with media fraternity a continuous one in order to seek their support in generating awareness among masses regarding Government’s public welfare oriented schemes and getting  feedback from the people about their aspirations, besides functioning of administrative machinery.

The delegation also apprised the Lt Governor about various issues pertaining to media fraternity in Jammu.

The media delegation which interacted with the Lt Governor comprised: Sominder Koul,  Bureau Chief, ANI; Gursimran,Correspondent, Republic TV; Sunil Ji Bhat, Special Correspondent, India Today, Aaj Tak; Vinod Kumar, Bureau Chief, Gulistan News; Manoj Koul, Editor, Network 18; Ajay Bachloo, Bureau Chief, ABP News; Ravi Krishan Khajuria, Bureau Chief, Hindustan Times; Arun Joshi, Senior Resident Editor, The Tribune; Sanjay Khajuria, Correspondent, Times of India; Anil Gakkhar, Local News Editor, Jagran; Arun Sharma, Bureau Chief, The Indian Express; S.P. Sharma, Bureau Chief, The Statesman; Anil Bhat, Bureau Chief, PTI; Vishal Bharti, Bureau Chief,UNI; Vikrant, Station Head J&K, 92.7 FM; Sumit Kakkar, Station Head J&K, Radio Mirchi FM; Ashwani Kumar, President Press Club of Jammu; Neeraj Rohmetra, Editor, Daily Excelsior; Raj Daluja, Editor, State Times and Chairman Jammu Newspapers Editors Guild, Munish Gupta, Editor Early Times; Capt. Murti, Editor, Greater Jammu, Rahul Bansal, Editor, The News Now; Iqbal Hussain, Editor, Udaan; Zafar Choudhary, Executive Editor, The News Now; and Ahmad Ali Fayaz, Sr. Journalist.

‘Efforts to provide proactive governance at door-step’

Precious Kashmir News

Jammu, Sept 10:   Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam Thursday chaired a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to take stock of preparations being put in place to conduct a first of its kind proactive Government- beneficiary interface Jan Abhiyan with three fold goals of Jan Sunwai, Adhikar Abhiyan, and Unnat Gram Abhiyan.

It was informed that the 20 day-long Jan Abhiyan which will precede B2V3, will commence from 10th September, and is aimed at energising government functioning after COVID induced slow down by infusing greater enthusiasm, responsiveness and accessibility to government machinery.

The Chief Secretary asked the Administrative Secretaries to sensitize field functionaries and ensure their full participation in various public outreach activities as envisaged under the three pillars of the Abhiyan. “Efforts should be afoot to kick-start all pending works approved under 14th Finance Commission, District Plan and State Plan, besides accelerating works at various stages of completion in order to complete them in a timely manner”, he added.

Administrative Secretaries were asked to depute their officers on field assignments as per a duty roster so as to ensure that all bottlenecks in the hassle-free delivery of services are resolved and due benefit reaches the targeted beneficiaries.

The Chief Secretary impressed upon the Administrative Secretaries to visit their allotted districts and monitor the progress made under the Jan Abhiyan. They were advised to resolve the hurdles and guide the respective district administrations towards outcome oriented functioning.

The Chief Secretary enjoined upon the officers to focus on time-bound delivery of documents like domicile, SC/ST/RBA/ALC/OBC certificates, besides ensuring 100% saturation under all individual beneficiary oriented schemes and issuance of certificates by various departments.

It was informed that for carrying out B2V specific works, Rs 10 Lakh per Panchayat is being released in addition to the grants under 14th Finance Commission.

Precious Kashmir News

Srinagar, Sept 10:  As the Jammu and Kashmir Government has set off the  process  for implementation of phase III of ambitious Back to Village (B2V) program, it’s being widely construed as an odyssey from governance to responsive governance.

An official spokesman said the achievements of previous two chapters undoubtedly reflect that the program has received tremendous public acceptance for its people centric model of implementation.

The underlying thrust on attempting to make visible difference in the people’s life with a healing touch greatly helped to attract the masses. The unique program received tremendous respect from the people when 4000 Gazetted Officers including top notch functionaries from J&K administration visited each and every Panchayat of J&K.

The Phase-I of B2V was an introductory and interactive program to understand the people’s grievances and demands. While Phase-II focused on the devolution of powers to panchayats and attempted to understand how these panchayats are functioning and what are their grievances and demands.

The spokesman said in the backdrop of past phases recording great successes, the government has opted for further improvisation in its run up to Phase 3. This time the program will be precluded by a 3 week massive mass campaign (Jan Abhiyan) with a wide spectrum of activities.

The three-week Pre-Back to Village Jan Abhiyan, which started  from today (September 10) has been devised to focus on  the redressal of public grievances (Jan Sunvaiyee), public service delivery (Adhikar Abhiyan) and delivery of development at Gram Panchayat level (Unat Gram Abhiyan).

To give public a feel of doorstep governance, the Adhikar Abhiyan or the Muhim Barai-e-Haqooq provisions that the district administration shall identify the target population for every service, individual beneficiary schemes and various certificates in order to ensure that the targeted population is widely covered.

For the development being the fundamental objective, Unnat  Gram  Abhiyan/Dehi  Taraqiyati   Muhim  aims for a mega push towards development activities by taking up of maximum possible MGNREGA works on ground, commencement of works already approved under the 14th FC plan, execution of District & UT plan works and also implementation of other Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

While Jan Abhiyan will conclude on September 30, B2V-3 will start from October 2 and last till October 12. It is during this period when the works would be analyzed, re-verified and rechecked.

The phase III thus will be an action program giving the taste of responsive administration to the hitherto unattended populace.

Srinagar, Sept 10:  Two militants, who were arrested on Srinagar-Jammu highway on Tuesday, had brought weapons from Samba after loading essentials in Punjab, a defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

He said initial investigations reveal that militants were in constant contact with active militants in Pakistan during their during entire journey.

He said the militants had hatched a conspiracy to transport weapons and ammunition from Samba in Jammu region to Kashmir.

He said on September  4 and 5, the militants travelled by truck number JK22B1737 to Pathankot in Punjab and collected normal stores.

However, they were in constant contact with the militant handlers in Pakistan through online apps, spokesman said.

He said on September 5 and 6, the militants collected arms and ammunition from Samba and moved towards Kashmir Valley.

However, on September 8 at around midnight, the militant accomplices were apprehended after discovery of weapons during a search of the truck based on @JmuKmrPoliceinputs at Jawahar Tunnel, near Kulgam.

A senior police officer on Wednesday said at Anantnag that weapons for new militant recruits to cause disturbance in south Kashmir. However, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate where the militants were heading with arms and ammunition.

The driver and co-driver of a truck were arrested after a cache of arms and ammunition, including one AK rifle with two magazines, one M4 US Carbine with 3 magazines and six Chinese Pistols with 12 magazines was recovered from the truck.

Director General of Police (DGP) and other senior police and Army officers have said that militants are facing shortage of weapons in the Kashmir valley.