Srinagar, July 23: In a major boost to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration amended rules to give Block Development Council chairpersons a status equivalent to that of an Army brigadier.

According to the warrant of precedence issued by the Hospitality and Protocol Department of Jammu and Kashmir, BDC chairpersons have been placed at serial number 28.

They are placed alongside district magistrates, district and sessions judge, major heads of departments, presidents of municipal committees and municipal councils and officers of the rank of brigadier.

The precedence is meant for state and ceremonial occasions, the notification read. (KNS)

Jahangeer Ganaie

Shopian, July 23:In yet another example of communal harmony and a sign of love between the two communities, Kashmiri Muslims performed the last rights of a Kashmiri Pandit man at Zainapora area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

An aged Kashmiri Pandit Kanth Ram son of Anant Ram, passed away after a brief spell of illness at Zainapora village. Soon after the death of Kanat Ram, large number of people from the locality, all of them from the Muslim community, rushed to Ram’s residence to mourn the demise and to ensure all preparations for the last rites of deceased are done.

Witnesses told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), elders, young and children were among the villagers who flooded the deceased’s residence and ensured all preparations for the last rites were done on time.

Ajay Lal, a close relative of the deceased said that that Muslims have been part and parcel of the age old cultural ethos and a communal harmony since past so many decades. “Our bond became stronger when the majority of KPs deserted Kashmir in 1989. Though very few KPs live in Kashmir, we share a very common and a strong bond and harmony with each other,” Lal told KNO

He thanked the Muslim community members for always helping them and remaining with them in happy and sad times.

Rafiq Ahmad, a villager said that they help the KPs in conducting last rites, marriages and share joys and sorrows with each other. “This is what a neighbour is supposed to do. Today, there aren’t more than 15 relatives and friends of the deceased. Rest all are from Muslim community. We share the pain of losing Kant Ramji. He was a noble soul and gentleman,” said Rafiq.

The Muslims of the area walked along with a few relatives of deceased up to the cemetery where the body of Kanat Ram was cremated amid religious rituals.

Srinagar, July 23: Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday transferred 19 officers, 16 of them KAS, with immediate effect.

According to a government order Hashmat Ali Khan, KAS, Joint Financial Commissioner Agrarian Reforms in the office of Financial Commissioner, Revenue, J&K, has been transferred and posted as Special Secretary to the Government, ARI and Trainings Department.

Farooq Ahmad Shah, KAS, awaiting orders of adjustment in the General Administration Department, has been posted as Joint Financial Commissioner Agrarian Reforms in the office of Financial Commissioner, Revenue, J&K.

Riyaz Ahmad, KAS, Secretary, J&K Board of School Education, has been transferred and posted as Additional District Development Commissioner, Srinagar.

Leena Padha, KAS, Special Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department, has been transferred and posted as Additional Inspector General of Registration, Jammu.

Manisha Sareen, KAS, Additional Commissioner in the office of Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, has been transferred and posted as Secretary, J&K Board of School Education.

Khurshid Ahmad Sanai, KAS, awaiting orders of adjustment in the General Administration Department, has been posted as Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

Purnima Mittal, KAS, Additional District Development Commissioner, Srinagar, holding additional charge of Director, Animal Husbandry, Kashmir has been transferred and posted as Director, Animal Husbandry, Kashmir.

Arun Kumar Manhas, KAS, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, has been transferred and posted as Managing Director, J&K Housing Board, against an available vacancy.

Rishpal Singh, KAS, Additional Inspector General of Registration, Jammu, has been transferred and posted as Additional Commissioner (Central) in the office of Financial Commissioner, Revenue, J&K against an available vacancy.

Parvez Sajad Ganai, KAS, Joint Director, J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development, has been transferred and posted as Additional Deputy Commissioner, Sopore, against an available vacancy.

Subash Chander Dogra, KAS, Deputy Director, District Employment and Counselling Centre, Udhampur, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Director (Central) in the Directorate of Information, J&K. 12. Dr. Zakir Hussain, KAS, Deputy Secretary to the Government, Finance Department, is transferred and posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Thanamandi.

Priyanka Bhat, KAS, General Manager, J&K Medical Supplies Corporation, Jammu, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Director, Information, Jammu. 14. Mr. Nisar Ahmad Shad, KAS, awaiting orders of adjustment in the General Administration Department, is posted as Deputy Secretary to the Government, Labour and Employment Department.

Rakesh Dubey, KAS, awaiting orders of adjustment in the General Administration Department, has been posted as Assistant Commissioner (General), Jammu, against an available vacancy.

Surinder Pal Sharma, KAS, Deputy Secretary to the Government, Labour and Employment Department, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Secretary to the Government, Finance Department.

Mukhtar Ahmad, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Thanamandi, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Secretary to the Government, School Education Department.

Zaheer Ahmad Kaifi, Custodian Trade Facilitation Centre, Chakan Da Bagh, is transferred and posted as Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Poonch. He shall also hold the additional charge of Custodian Trade Facilitation Centre, Chakan Da Bagh, till further orders.

Shamim Wani, General Manager, JKTDC, has been transferred and posted as Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Development Authority, Yusmarg. He shall also hold the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Development Authority, Toshamaidan, till further orders.

‘He kept her body in a shop for 5 days, before throwing it in River Sindh’

Ganderbal, July 23: Police have arrested a man for the murder of his wife whose body was retrieved from river Sindh near Najwan Kangan area in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on July 15.

Police said that a team headed by SDPO Kangan and SHO Kangan was constituted by SSP Ganderbal Khalil Ahmed Poswal (JKPS) for speedy investigation.

“During the course of investigation, the team arrested the accused Abdul Majeed Khan (husband of the deceased lady) who confessed that he was suspecting infidelity from his wife of having multiple love affairs and she wanted to go back to his maternal home in West Bengal,” a police officer told GNS. “This led to heated arguments between the couple and the husband strangulated her to death.”

The accused, the officer said, also disclosed that he kept her body in his shop for 5 days.

“Later with the assistance of his brother Nissar Ahmad Khan threw the body in River Sindh from Akhal Bridge,” he said, adding, “On his confession and instance, rope used for strangulation, clothes of the victim, blood stained cardboard and hair were recovered with the assistance from FSL unit. Further investigation into the matter is going on.”

Hyderabad, July 22: The wife of Colonel Santosh Babu, who was killed in a violent clash with the Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley last month, has been appointed Deputy Collector.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao handed over the appointment letter to Santoshi Babu at a lunch attended by senior officers and state ministers on Wednesday.

Collector Shweta Mohanty also handed over documents for a 711 sq yard house site in Hyderabad’s high-end Banjara Hills.

Chief Minister Rao said Ms Santoshi, who has a four-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, must be posted only in Hyderabad and its surrounding areas. Chief Minister’s Secretary, Smita Sabharwal, has been instructed to assist Ms Santoshi till the time she is properly trained for her new job.

Rao also assured that the government will always stand with Col Babu’s family.

Earlier in June, Rao had appointed Ms Santoshi a Group-I service officer in the state government when he visited the family at their home in Suryapet town, about 130 km from Hyderabad. The family was also given financial support of Rs 5 crore by the state government.

The 39-year old Colonel was among the 20 soldiers who died for India in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15 during a clash with Chinese troops in the biggest military confrontation between the nations in over five decades.

Santosh Babu was in the 16 Bihar regiment as Commanding Officer. He joined the Army in 2004 and was first posted in Jammu and Kashmir, according to his father.

New Delhi, July 23: With the Rafale jets arriving in the country in the middle of a dispute with China, the Indian Air Force is further boosting the capabilities of the combat aircraft by equipping it with the HAMMER missiles from France.

The order for the HAMMER standoff missiles with the capability to take out any types of targets at the range of around 60-70 km is being processed under the emergency powers for acquisition given to the armed forces by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

“The order for the HAMMER missiles is being processed and the French authorities have agreed to supply them to us at a short notice for our Rafale combat aircraft,” government sources told a wire agency

In view of the urgent requirement for these missiles by the Air Force, the French authorities would be delivering the systems to India from the existing stock meant for some other customer, they said.

HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a medium-range air-to-ground weapon designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy initially.

The HAMMERs would give India the capability to take out any bunkers or hardened shelters in any type of terrain including the mountainous locations such as Eastern Ladakh, the sources said.

An IAF spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the developments related to the new acquisition.

Five Rafale jets would be arriving in India from France on July 29 and their advanced weaponry including the long-range SCALP and Meteor missiles would have reached India before their touchdown.

The first five Rafale fighter aircraft would start arriving in India by July 29 flown by pilots of the 17 Golden Arrows commanding officer.

The delivery of the aircraft was earlier supposed to have been done by May end but this was postponed by two months in view of the COVID-19 outbreak in India and France.

The trainers will have the tail numbers of the RB series in honour of the Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria who played a pivotal role in finalising India’s largest-ever defence deal for 36 Rafale combat aircraft.

The aircraft on their way from France to India would be refuelled by a French Air Force tanker aircraft in the air around Israel or Greece before they make a stopover in the Middle East. India had signed a deal worth over Rs 60,000 crore with France in September 2016 for 36 Rafales to meet the emergency requirements of the Indian Air Force.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria was the Deputy Chief of Air Staff at that time and headed the Indian negotiation team for the deal which is the biggest ever in monetary terms in India. Armed with the long-range Meteor air-to-air missiles and SCALP, the Rafale jets would give India an edge over both Pakistan and China in terms of air strike capability.

Sources said the air-to-air and the air-to-ground strike capabilities of the Rafale cannot be matched by both China and Pakistan and the aircraft would give India an edge over both the countries.

New Delhi, July 23: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the plea filed by Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom, challenging J&K High Court order which had dismissed his habeas corpus petition and upheld his detention under J&K Public Safety Act.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul agreed to adjourn the hearing of the case when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Mian Qayoom’s case was being considered and would soon respond on behalf of the officer concerned will come.

The Apex Court then adjourned the hearing till July 27.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, advocate Vrinda Grover and Sautik Banerjee pleaded on behalf of the petitioner.

Mian Qayoom, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association, is lodged in Tihar Jail since August 7 last year after the abolition of Article 370 and 35A with special provisions for Jammu and Kashmir.