Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Jul 29: Director Information and Public Relations, Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar on Wednesday said woomen entrepreneurs can further boost employment and generate attractive earnings among J&K youth.

Dr Asgar was addressing a webinar on women entrepreneurship organized by FICCI J&K today.

Dr Asgar, who was a special guest on the occasion, talked about the opportunities available for qualified young women of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of entrepreneurship and self employment.

She highlighted that entrepreneurship is seen as a channel for the highly educated young population to explore their potential and subsequently channelize their business acumen.

Dr Sehrish said that entrepreneurship interventions in particular to women entrepreneurs can further boost employment and generate attractive earnings among youth especially in regions like J&K which so far has remained untapped in terms of human resource potential.

She discussed about the managerial and administrative abilities of women. How they can overcome the challenges of finances, legal, societal biases by focusing on their innate potential. Today women need to create their own form of leadership and for that self confidence is the key.

Later, a panel discussion was also held on topics–challenges and opportunities– faced by women entrepreneurs in J&K; taking women entrepreneurship to the next level and the future of women entrepreneurship

New Delhi/Ambala, Jul 29: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday inducted a fleet of five France-made Rafale fighter jets into its stable, amid the ongoing border tension with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

The fighter jets landed at Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana at around 1500 hrs, after covering a total distance of 8,500 km from Merignac Airbase in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday, with a stopover at Al Dhafra airbase in UAE.

”The ferry was planned in two stages and was undertaken by IAF pilots. The aircraft covered a distance of nearly 8500 km from France to India,” IAF Spokesperson Wing Commander Indranil Nandi said.

The first stage of the flight covered a distance of 5800 km in seven-and-a-half hours. The French Air Force (FAF) Tanker provided dedicated Air-to-Air Refuelling support during the flight. The second stage of the flight covering over 2700 km was carried out with Air-to-Air Refuelling by IAF Tanker.

”IAF deeply appreciates the proactive support provided by the French Government and Industry in France to ensure timely delivery. The tanker support extended by French Air Force during the ferry was crucial in ensuring that the long haul flight was accomplished successfully and in a time-bound manner,” he added.

The aircraft will be a part of 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows,’ which was resurrected on September 10, 2019. The Squadron was originally raised at Ambala Air Force Station on October 1, 1951.

The 17 Squadron has many firsts to its credit; in 1955, it was equipped with first jet fighter, the legendary De Havilland Vampire.

In August 1957, the Squadron became the first to convert on to a swept wing fighter, the Hawker Hunter.

A formal induction ceremony of Rafale aircraft in 17 Squadron is scheduled to be held in the second half of August, 2020.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the landing of Rafale fighter jets in Ambala with a tweet in Sanskrit, which refers to the obligation of protecting one’s nation being supreme. The Prime Minister’s tweet came moments after the first batch of five Rafale Jets touched down in Ambala.

”There is no greater blessing than protecting the nation, protecting the nation is a virtuous deed and protecting the nation is the best Yagna. There is nothing beyond this. Touch the sky with glory. Welcome,” a rough translation of his tweet said.

‘2 spots identified for Selfie Point’

Jammu, July 29:  Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Baseer Ahmad Khan Wednesday convened a meeting to review the status of additional works at Bahu Fort to Maha Maya Ropeway Project at Civil Secretariat Jammu.

Commissioner Secretary Floriculture, Parks and Garden; Director, Tourism  Jammu; Director Floriculture  Jammu; Managing Director, J&K Cable Car Corporation were present in the meeting whereas Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma attended the meeting via video conferencing.

Threadbare discussion was held on various issues related to construction of restaurant, dedicated Hall for Children, Covered Walkway, Selfie point, Art and Murals, overall beautification of area.

Managing Director, Cable Car Corporation apprised the Advisor that the restaurant facility is being created and the ground work is already done. The Advisor directed Div Com and MD, CCCL to monitor the progress and have the restaurant started as soon as possible.

The Advisor directed the officers to create additional facilities for public at Maha-Maya with the provision for a dedicated hall for children with gaming and amusement facilities.

The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu apprised the Advisor that suitable land has been identified for the Hall at Maha-Maya. The Advisor asked him to finalise the modalities and begin the process of tendering within three days.

Baseer Khan also asked the concerned officers to construct a covered walkway at entry and exit points. He directed the MD to ensure that the design is ready within one week time.

Regarding the facility of Selfie Point, the Managing Director, apprised the Advisor that two spots have been identified for selfie point. The Advisor emphasised for safety aspects and said that the identified points should be feasible in all respects in the matter of safety standard.

The Advisor also instructed MD, CCCL that all the walls should be painted in such a way that it reflects the cultural ethos of the UT of J&K and gels with the local art and culture.

Regarding the issue of overall beautification of the area, the Advisor directed the Commissioner Secretary, Floriculture, Parks & Garden to finalise the DPR within five days in consultation with Managing Director, Cable Car Corporation Ltd and get the work started within next 15 days.

The Advisor reiterated that the ornamental plants, landscaping and attractive designing of the land should be the part of beautification.

19 new Model Schools to be developed on pattern of KVs in 3 years

Jammu, July 29: The government has introduced major reforms in the school education sector with landmark decisions to ensure quality, equity, accessibility, accountability and affordability in the system besides improving teaching and learning standards in schools of the Union Territory.

The department of School Education has achieved landmark strides so far by effectively implementing all schemes and projects envisaging a notable improvement in the existing curriculum besides embarking upon several innovative new projects and works.

The infrastructural edifice in schools of the UT has also witnessed tremendous upgradation and improvement. About 700 construction works under Samagra Shiksha, UT CAPEX budget and JKIDFC besides major works were completed including 5 Girls Hostels at a cost of Rs. 13 crore and 5 KGBVs at a cost of Rs. 1.98 crore. Also, 15 major projects were e-inaugurated by the Lieutenant Governor  in this month.

The major initiatives in pipeline are finalization of RTE rules for ensuring “Quality Education” at “doorsteps” to all school children, SCERT J&K proposed to be established by merging existing SIEs and 20 DIETs to mainstream teacher education/curriculum reforms, 626 vocational Labs being established in approved schools after prevailing COVID-19 lockdown, 3rd party evaluation of learning teaching outcomes shall be conducted in 500 schools through Quality Council of India, Akshya Patra an NGO shall be entrusted with the task of providing mid day meal to a few identified schools falling in the jurisdiction of urban local bodies of districts of Jammu and Samba. Besides, PFMS platform shall be used to bring about transparency in utilization of funds released under Mid Day Meal and Samagra Shiksha and 19 new Model Schools shall be developed on the pattern of Kendriya Vidyalayas during the next three years.

In order to strengthen Human Resource Management, the government regularized about 38000 RETs besides ensuring their capacity building under Integrated Multidisciplinary Professional Advancement Course for Teachers (IMPACT) programme.

Fulfilling its commitment towards ensuring Inclusive Education, 23,405 Children With Special Need (CWSN) were identified, of which, 16115 CWSN were enrolled students. Besides, Stipend, Escort and Reader allowance of Rs 1.20 crore was disbursed among 2838 children with special needs through DBT mode and 42 laptops were provided to Special Educators for Visually Impaired Children.  Also, 1785 Aids and Appliances were distributed among the CWSN during 2019-20.

Likewise, 12 CWSN from J&K participated in the International Anjali Festival in Orissa and bagged 3rd Position and Special Jury Award.  Also, 30,142 Gujjar/Bakerwal children were provided education in 1,417 seasonal centres by engaging 1,570 seasonal education volunteers during 2019-20 and similar arrangements were made this year.

Out of 23,857 out of school children identified in 3 districts of Budgam, Samba and Jammu, 2,765 children were enrolled in Non Resident Special Training Centres (NRSTCs) and 1,151 were enrolled and mainstreamed into regular education system.

Towards improving quality of education in schools, JK-DIKSHA and Vidya Daan Apps/Portals were launched in J&K; so far, 60,154 users downloaded DIKSHA App. Besides, virtual trainings were conducted in 2 phases through JananPrabodhini, official partner of MHRD for DIKSHA. Nearly, 2500 ICT labs for secondary schools are being established and 100% saturation of KG/Pre-schooling being attained in 1000 Government Schools with toilet, drinking water facility and electrification

The government, in its endeavor to ensure gender equity in schools, 88 Kasturiba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and 88 Girls Hostels  (Residential Schools) for 1,54,000 girls being made functional in far-flung areas to reduce gender gap and girl child dropout rate. Besides, 7 new model Secondary Schools and additional classrooms are under construction to improve GER in Government Schools.  About Rs. 1477.27 lakh were spent during 2019-20 for boarding and lodging, stipend, supplementary teaching learning material, stationery, rent, salary of staff, maintenance, capacity building etc.

In order to minimize drop-out rate and improve students health, 5823 MT dry ration (Rice) was provided to 8.29 lakh students at their homes during COVID Lockdown Phase-I and Rs 14.47 crore was released as Cooking Cost through DBT to beneficiary students and parents. During Phase-II from June to July 2020; dry ration was distributed among 84,000 students till date besides 2814 school nutrition vegetable gardens were established to supplement mid-day meals.

For monitoring health of students and assessing impact of MDM; about 7 lakh Student Health Cards were delivered in 11 districts.

The government launched special initiatives to ensure education of students do not suffer during COVID-19 Lockdown. These initiatives inter alia included assignments to all the students by SIEs/DIETs, Radio Classrooms, Tele Classes on DD Kashir and Local Cable Network, Video Lectures Repository using JK Knowledge Network and its telecast and up-loaded on cloud platforms besides online Virtual Classes are being promoted during the lockdown period and teachers were trained in use of digital platforms for online education” through DIETs. So far, 7302 schools were covered and 41,214 teachers linked 2,52,310 students.

Additionally, National Educational Portals like e-Paathshala and DIKSHA were promoted and special WhatsApp Groups were created to interact with Children with Special needs through Special Educators. Besides, different Online Capacity Building Programs and Webinars were organised for students and teachers during the period.  About 3659 computer tabs were distributed among the students for online classes.

Meets many deputations, listens to their grievances

Srinagar, July 29: Several deputations hailing from different areas of Kashmir on Wednesday called on Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan here and apprised him about various demands and issues.

A deputation of supervisors from Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) put forth the demand of finalization of seniority lists, conducting of DPCs and other service related matters.

Similarly, another deputation of Anganwadi workers of ICDS demanded the release of their months’ long pending salaries, regularization and other issues.

A deputation of Rehbar-e-Janglat also called on Advisor Khan and apprised him about the issue of their regularization and other service related matters.

Likewise, a deputation of Rehbar-e-Khel met the Advisor and put forth their demands including the future prospects of their services and other service related issues.

Similarly, several other deputations hailing from different areas of Kashmir apprised the Advisor about various issues pertaining to potable water, drainage, roads, sanitation, electricity and other developmental issues in their respective areas.

Advisor Khan gave patient hearing to all the visiting deputations and assured them that all their genuine issues would be taken up at the appropriate level for speedy redressal.

Meanwhile, Advisor Khan also sanctioned a financial assistance worth Rs one crore in favour of construction workers and dependents under Death-cum-Funeral Assistance and Chronic Diseases Financial Assistance Scheme.

Under the Death-cum-Funeral Assistance Scheme, Advisor Khan gave approval to 55 cases including 40 death cases and 15 for chronic diseases and injury cases.

Srinagar, July 29: In view of surge in COVID-19 cases, the University of Kashmir is mulling to hold the entrance test examinations of various Postgraduate courses at respective district headquarters.

Top University officials said the administration is working on the number of applicant’s district wise.

The official said if number of aspiring PG students will be less, then the varsity may begin with holding the entrance test at district headquarters.

“As of now, we are still working and counting the number of aspiring PG students’ district wise,” he said.

The official said normally there are 200 to 500 applicants in one respective subject or a department but in Zoology and Botany subjects, the applicants are over 2000 to 2500.

He said as of now KU has received 26,000 application forms for 2020 PG admissions. “Applicants may be less than the number of applications as some students are applying for multiple subjects”.

Asked whether KU will hold exams online or offline, the officials said it depends upon the number of applicants and the space available for holding the exams.

“If the number of applicants will be huge from the respective districts, then we will hold the entrance test on different schedules,” he said.

He further said the entrance test won’t conclude in one day if the number of the students from various districts will be huge in number.

Pertinently, from past many years, the academic year of KU was commencing in August-September. This year, the administration was considering to start the session from March but due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the schedule of holding the entrance test and commencing the academic year from March couldn’t take place.

KU’s Registrar Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir said the decision pertaining to the matter will be taken after August 1.

“We are working on it and as of now we have not decided anything as to how and when we will hold the entrance test,” Mir said.  (KNO)