Precious Kashmir

Rapid Action Test drive held at KU

City

07/09/2020

Precious Kashmir News

Srinagar, Sept 06: In continuation to its efforts to combat the spread of COVID- 19 the District Disaster Management Authority ( DDMA) Srinagar through the Department of Health J&K conducted Rapid Antigen Test( RAT) drive at University of Kashmir ( KU).

On the request of the Varsity’s Registrar Dr Nisar A Mir, the District Administration deputed a special team comprising of officials from Health Department who conducted RAT- drive for the teaching and non-teaching employees of the University’s Main and Zakura campuses at KU’s Gandhi Bhawan Auditorium.

During the drive the health officials interacted with the University employees and urged them to extend full cooperation to the District Administration during the COVID-19 testing adding that testing will be most beneficial in curbing the community transmission of infection.

During the drive awareness was given to the University staff about how to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Meanwhile as part of the precautionary measures against the threat of COVID-19 the district administration also conducted a sanitation/ fumigation drive at several places in and around the campus including its various academic blocks and departments, administrative block, various utilities and lawns of the campus.

Garbage collection points and dustbins were sterilized and sanitized.

While expressing gratitude towards the efforts of the District administration , Registrar KU Dr Nisar A Mir said “ I am very thankful to the District Administration for this RAT drive carried at our Campus and spreading awareness about personal hygiene amongst the University staff and faculty.”

Mir said RAT- drive will continue and those employees who missed the testing earlier could present themselves for the same on Monday at the same venue.

After JEE Main, NTA gears up for medical entrance NEET

National

Precious Kashmir

06/09/2020

New Delhi, Sept 6: After JEE Main, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is now gearing up for conducting medical entrance exam NEET scheduled to be held on September 13 for which over 15 lakh candidates have registered.

The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE Main), which began on September 1 for admission to engineering colleges, will conclude on Sunday.

The crucial exams are being conducted in September after being postponed twice in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to NTA officials, 15.97 lakh candidates from across the country have registered for NEET, which is a pen-paper based test unlike JEE.

In order to maintain social distancing, the NTA has increased the number of centres from 2,546 to 3,843 for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) while the number of candidates per room has been reduced from earlier 24 to 12.

“For ensuring social distancing outside the examination hall, the entry and exit of candidates has been staggered. Adequate arrangements have also been made outside the examination centres to enable candidates stand with adequate social distancing while waiting,” a senior NTA official said.

“Candidates have also been issued an advisory guiding them about the ‘dos and don’ts’ for proper social distancing. We have also written to states governments to extend support in local movement of the candidates so that they are able to reach their examination centres on time,” the official added.

Making hand sanitisers available at the entrance of the examination centre and inside the exam hall at all times, replacing the process of checking the admit cards of candidates with barcode readers, increasing the number of examination centres, alternate seating plans, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the NTA has taken.

“While all the candidates will be asked to go to the exam centres with masks and sanitisers, once they enter the centre, they will have to use the masks provided by the examination authority.

“Each candidate will be offered a three-ply mask at the time of entry and are expected to wear the same during the examination in order to avoid any form of unfair means at the time of examination,” the official added.

While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have assured students that they will provide them transportation, a group of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni and students have also launched a portal to provide transport facilities to exam centres for the candidates in need.

The Metro Railway in Kolkata is planning to run special services for NEET candidates on September 13 to help them reach their examination centres.

“As per the plan, candidates along with guardians will be allowed to board the trains on showing their admit cards,” according to Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi.

There has been a growing chorus for postponing the exams amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the two exams amid a spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying a “precious year” of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on.

Several opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, DMK president M K Stalin and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had also demanded that the exams be postponed.

With barely days left for JEE exams to start, the issue had escalated into a full blown political battle with ministers from Rajasthan and Punjab (Congress), West Bengal (Trinamool Congress), Jharkhand (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Maharashtra (Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena) seeking postponement of the exams “in a manner that achieved the twin objectives of ensuring that the academic year of the students is not wasted and their health and safety is not compromised”.

They filed a petition in the apex court to review its order of conducting JEE and NEET UG 2020 entrance tests during the novel coronavirus crises. However, the plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

The NEET-UG was originally scheduled for May 3, but was pushed to July 26 and then scheduled for September 13.

Highway Troubles Unabated

Edit

Precious Kashmir

05/09/2020

Removing troubles along the Jammu-Srinagar highway being a priority for successive governments has almost become meaningless. It is the only road-link of the Kashmir with outside. Officially the thoroughfare is all-weather road which also connects J&K’s twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu. However, it has perennially been a nightmarish experience for people. The 270-km long road remains shut for days and even weeks due to landslides, soil-erosion, frost and other weather related occurrences, not only in winter but also in other seasons. Of late shooting of stones at places and heavy traffic movement keep the thoroughfare closed. The frequent closure of the strategic road has resulted into huge economic losses in the Valley where scarcity of essential commodities including food-grains and gasoline is a usual phenomenon particularly in winter. The situation is often seized by unscrupulous traders who sell goods at exorbitant prices to the people of Kashmir.
As days progress into the season of rains and snowfall, the road is bound to see more disruptions. At the cost of repetition, the problem is not new and there has been no answer, from those who are at the helm, to the question that the people have been asking for decades now: “how long would these closures, and disruptions, happen on the highway.”
More often than not, there are also tragic accidents on the highway and they keep on repeating along the road, synonymous to lifeline for the people of the Kashmir for dependency on food and other essentials.
The strategic road has tragically, and historically too, also consumed numerous lives. The death of any person is colossal and no amount can bring back to families who lose their loved ones, their bread-earners.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no end to it as the successive governments have not taken enough measures to address the issues.
Whether there is negligence on part of the officials or could these deaths been averted is a matter of inquiry but the successive government have not taken enough measures to address the issues.
The administration has not even utilized the lockdown due to pandemic to speed up the work on highway and remove the bottlenecks. One would expect the construction work accelerated as unless the widening is complete and the defences erected at various places to disallow the landslides from blocking the thoroughfare, nothing can stop nightmarish experience for the commuters due to the pathetic condition of the road.

After demanding change in leadership, Azad goes on back foot

Anchor stories

Afaq Bhat

05/09/2020

After demanding change in leadership, Azad goes on back foot

Afaq Bhat

Srinagar, Sep 4: Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad seems to have gone on a back foot after the recently held Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi last.

It’s in place to mention here that prior to the CWC meeting last month twenty Congress leaders had written a letter to the party high command seeking the change in leadership and Azad was one of the signatories. During the CWC meeting the “letter issue” was discussed threadbare following which Azad had offered to tender his resignation from the Congress Party. After the CWC meeting ended a message was sent out that all the issues have been settled and Sonia Gandhi will continue to head the party. She too had offered to resign from the post of the party chief but the proposal was scrapped.

An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “Since the day CWC meeting has ended Azad seems to have gone into hibernation. He has neither issued any statement nor has he spoken about the political developments taking place even in Jammu and Kashmir.”

He said, “The letter written by the 20 senior leaders of the Congress Party appears to be the beginning of the revolt within the Grand Old Party of the country. After being ousted from power in 2014, the party has been struggling to regain its foothold but till date it has not succeeded. The performance of the Congress Party under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership in 2019 parliamentary polls proved to be disastrous. Since the day Congress has bitten the dust for the second time the voices within that party seeking the change in leadership have become shriller. The resentment which is brewing within the Congress Party indicates that coming days for the party are not going to be that easy.”

An observer said, “Azad going into a silent mode is an indication that he is not that happy with the recent developments. The Congress top brass reacted sharply to the letter sent by the party leaders and Rahul Gandhi led the charge against the leaders who have stood by the party during all these years. He (Rahul) questioning their integrity shocked them.”

He said, “It has been established beyond doubt that Rahul lacks the acumen to lead the Congress Party and someone else has to come forward and take the charge. Sonia Gandhi is an interim president. The suggestion put forth by the party leaders could have been discussed rather than cornering them.”

“If the Congress wants to make a comeback at least in Jammu and Kashmir then it will have to handover the charge to Azad as he is the only leader in the newly carved out Union Territory who can pull the Grand Old Party, which shared power for 12 consecutive years in J&K from 2002 to 2014, out of the prevailing mess,” the observer said.

COVID-19: For 2nd day J&K records more than 1000 cases, 11 more lose lives

Front

Precious Kashmir

05/09/2020

COVID-19: For 2nd day J&K records more than 1000 cases, 11 more lose lives

Fatality count mounts to 756, cases near 41000 mark
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Sep 4: For the second consecutive day on Friday J&K
reported over a 1000 COVID-19 infections as 1047 more tested positive for the virus, while 11 more people died across the Union Territory today.
On Thursday J&K had witnessed the highest single day spike with 1097 persons testing positive for the Coronavirus.
Officials said that of the fresh cases 554 tested positive in Kashmir and 493 in Jammu. The tally of infected persons in J&K has risen to 40990. With 11 more fatalities during the past 24-hours the death toll has mounted to 756.
The officials said that on a positive front 676 more COVID-19 patients recovered and were discharged from various hospitals; 131 from Jammu Division and 545 from Kashmir Division.

According to the daily Media Bulletin, out of 40990 positive cases, 8800 are Active cases, 31435 have recovered and 755 have died; 81 in Jammu division and 674 in Kashmir division.

The Bulletin further said that out of 1031316 test results available, 990326 samples have been tested as negative till September 4.

Till date, 472900 travelers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been enlisted for observation which included 44162 persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 8800 in isolation and 48036 under home surveillance.

Besides, 371147 persons have completed their surveillance period.

11 more die in J&K, toll 756

Meanwhile, eleven more people died due to COVID-19 across Jammu and Kashmir in last 24 hours, taking the fatality count due to the virus to 756.

Among the victims, official sources told GNS that eight belonged to Kashmir and remaining three to Jammu division.

Regarding the deaths in the Valley, they said, three victims were residents of Srinagar, two each from Baramulla and Kupwara and one from Pulwama.

They said a 70-year-old man from Rangwar Baramulla who was admitted on August 3 as a case of bilateral community acquired pneumonia died at SMHS Hospital Srinagar.

An 80-year-old man from Chijhama Rafiabad, they said, died at GMC Baramulla.

Among the deaths from Srinagar, they said, includes a 53-year-old man from Ellahibagh who died at SKIMS Soura, eleven days after he was admitted to the tertiary care hospital.

They said a 65-year-old from Awantipora Pulwama, admitted on August 30 with “AKI C and bilateral CAP” died at SMHS hospital.

They said one among the victims from Kuwpara includes a 34-year-old woman from Panzgam area, who was admitted to SKIMS Soura on August 17 died today.

Regarding deaths from Jammu, they said, a 70-year-old patient from Gujjar Nagar Jammu passed away at GMC Jammu.

A 50-year-old man from Afghan Mohalla in Jammu City who was suffering from hypertension and Community Acquire Pneumonia died in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu last evening within hours of hospitalization.

With these deaths, officials said, 756 people have succumbed to the virus in Jammu and Kashmir so far. Among them, they said, 675 were from the Valley while 81 others from Jammu division.

Srinagar district with 231 deaths tops the list followed by Baramulla (103), Budgam (64), Anantnag (52), Pulwama (56), Kupwara (53), Jammu (54), Kulgam (37), Shopian (28), Bandipora (26), Ganderbal (24), Rajouri (5), Doda (5), Poonch (4), Kathua (5), Udhampur (3), Samba (2) and Ramban (1).

COVID-19: India records 83,341 cases, 1,096 deaths

Front

United News Of India

05/09/2020

COVID-19: India records 83,341 cases, 1,096 deaths

New Delhi, Sep 4: India registered 83,341 COVID-19 cases and 1,096 deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours, Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

With the new additions, the case tally zoomed to 39,36,747 while the death toll climbed to 68,472.

As per the official data, the number of active cases now stand at 8,31,124 while recovered at 30,37,151, which includes 66,659 fresh recoveries.

The recovery rate has now reached 77.15 per cent while the fatality rate stands at 1.74.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the past 24 hours, 11,69,765 samples were tested, taking the total tests conducted to 4,66,79,145.

The case tally climbed to 8,43,844 in the worst-affected Maharashtra, 4,65,730 in Tamil Nadu and 4,45,851 in Andhra Pradesh.

The death toll rose to 25,931 in Maharashtra, 7,608 in Tamil Nadu and 6,073 in Karnataka.

Globally, the United States remains the worst-infected, with more than 63 lakh cases, followed by Brazil, recording over 40 lakh infections. The US also registered the highest 1.91 lakh fatalities, while 1.24 lakh deaths were recorded in Brazil.

India, at the third spot both in terms of infections and fatalities, registered the first case and death on January 31 and March 13, respectively.

Pattan encounter: 3 militants killed, Army officer injured

Front

Precious Kashmir

05/09/2020

Pattan encounter: 3 militants killed, Army officer injured

Militants refused surrender offer, held 12 civilians including children hostage: Police

Peerzada Waseem

Pattan, Sep 4: Three unidentified militants were killed in a gunbattle at Yadipora , Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district while an army officer was also injured in the initial exchange of fire, officials said on Friday.

They said that an encounter broke out between militants and forces, after joint teams of police, 29 RR and 176 battalion CRPF laid a siege in Yadipora village late last night. “In the morning, contact with the militants was established triggering a fierce gun battle. In the first assault, a militant was killed while an army officer sustained bullet injury in his chin,” they said.

Army’s Srinagar based spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told KNO that an army officer was injured in the firing “but he is stable.”

A police spokesman said during the cordon and search operation as the presence of hiding militants got ascertained, they were given the opportunity to surrender. “However, they refused to surrender and instead held two families comprising of 12 members including children hostage. It was therefore after strenuous efforts of joint forces that all the family members were rescued and evacuated,” he said.

The spokesman said that in the ensuing encounter, three unidentified militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site encounter. “The identification and affiliation of the killed and retrieved from the site of encounter. The identification and affiliation of the slain militants is being ascertained,” he added.

The police spokesman said that incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. “The last rites of the slain militants will be performed after conducting their medico-legal formalities including collection of DNA. In case any family claims their kith of kin, they can come forward for their identification and participation in the last rites to PCR Baramulla. “People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials if any,” the police spokesman said.

Firing stops, search operation on in Pulwama

Front

Jahangeer Ganaie

05/09/2020

Jehangeer Ganai

Pulwama, Sep 4: Firing has stopped after initial exchange of firing between security forces and militants at Babhara area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, while the cordon has been kept intact, officials said Friday.

They said that after the initial exchange of firing between militants and security forces at Babhara, there was a lull in the village and firing stopped from both sides. “Lights are on and the cordon is intact. Due to the dark, operation has been halted and is expected to resume with the first light of the day tomorrow,” officials told KNO.
They said all the escape routes have been sealed and troops have laid a multi-layer cordon in the area to ensure militants don’t flee.

Ladakh Standoff:Maintain high order of operational readiness: Army Chief to soldiers at LAC

Front

United News Of India

05/09/2020

Leh, Sep 4 (UNI) Appreciating high morale and standards of professionalism exhibited by soldiers in safeguarding Indian territorial integrity, Army chief General MM Naravane on Friday asked all ranks to remain vigilant and maintain a high order of operational readiness at Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

The Chief of the Army Staff said this during his two-day visit to Ladakh which concluded on Friday.

The visit of the Army Chief to Ladakh holds significance as it comes at a time when tensions have once again spiked at the LAC, with the Army saying that the provocative military movements have been carried out by Chinese troops on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake on Saturday night.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that the COAS arrived at Leh on Thursday and proceeded to forward areas to undertake a firsthand assessment of the situation along the LAC.

“The COAS interacted with soldiers and local commanders deployed in difficult High Altitude forward areas,” he said.

The Army Chief appreciated their high morale and standards of professionalism exhibited by the units in safeguarding own territorial integrity. The COAS urged all ranks to remain vigilant and maintain a high order of operational readiness.

Later, at Leh, Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command and Lt General Harinder Singh, GOC, Fire and Fury Corps briefed him on the state of operational preparedness and on the logistics arrangements for sustenance of forces in winters.

The COAS expressed satisfaction on the efforts being made to ensure operational effectiveness and capability enhancement of the forces.

Peace demands trust: Rajnath Singh in Presence of Chinese counterpart

Front

Precious Kashmir

05/09/2020

New Delhi, Sep 4: Trust, non-aggression, respect for international rules and peaceful resolution of differences are key to maintaining peace and security in the region whose nations are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said today. Both India and China are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO, an eight-nation regional grouping that primarily focuses on security and defence issues.

“Peaceful stable and secure region of SCO member states, which is home to over 40 per cent of the global population, demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms, sensitivity to each other’s interest and peaceful resolution of differences,” Singh said at the ministerial meet of the SCO in Moscow, where his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe was also in attendance.

Indian and Chinese soldiers are engaged in a stand-off along the mountainous Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. Tension between the two nations has been simmering for months. Matters escalated fast after a violent face-off in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley led to 20 soldiers giving their lives for India. Over 40 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured.

Tension also flared up in the region after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake five days ago. Since then, there has been a major force build-up of Chinese tanks and infantry forces in the south Pangong region of eastern Ladakh after the Indian Army seized the initiative and gained control of several key heights in the area on August 30, sources have said.

Given the range of their guns, Chinese artillery would be located in “depth” positions, more than 20 km away from the LAC.

Referring to World War II, Singh said memories of that war teach the world the “follies of aggression” of one state upon another, which eventually brings “destruction” to all.

“This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War as well as the formation of the United Nations, which underpins a peaceful world, where international laws and sovereignty of states are respected and states refrain from unilateral aggression on another,” Singh said.

1...4,7054,7064,707...5,095 Page 4,706 of 5,095