Naveed Ul Haq

Budgam, Apr 30: At least nine contacts of a policeman from central Kashmir’s Budgam district have so far tested positive for deadly COVID-19 in the district during past 15 days.
The policeman hailing from Rathsuna village of the district had tested positive on April 16.

The nine contacts of a cop who had direct or indirect contact with him are hospitalized while many other have been put under quarantine, creating panic among the villagers.

The cop before being declared positive by the concerned authorities was screened at Srinagar’s Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) hospital too after he was posted at a quarantine center in Karim Abad Bemina where COVID-19 suspects were quarantined and few of them later tested positive.

At least two dozen people who had come in contact with the cop were traced and were kept under administrative quarantine. The Uncle of the cop, who was tested also quarantined, was later tested positive.

Imtiyaz Maqbool Banday, Nodal Officer Beerwah said that soon after the cases started mounting from the village, they took 59 random samples from the area, which brought a fresh positive case to the fore as a pregnant lady tested positive.

He said that soon after the first case was detected in the village, the authorities sealed many areas to prevent the virus from spreading. “We took all the necessary steps and advised people to reveal their contact history,” he said.

However, he said that none from the villagers came voluntarily to reveal the contact history with the positive case, which led to the increase in the number of cases.

The total number of positive cases in the district has mounted to 20 while 11 among them are active and nine others have recovered and were discharged from the hospitals. (KNO)

Says situation demands extra watchfulness

• UT set to achieve 2000 testing capacity per day
• Thanks people for their cooperation
• Total active cases 390; 384 in Kashmir, 6 in Jammu

Precious Kashmir News

Jammu, Apr 30: Principal Secretary, Planning, Development & Monitoring and Information, Rohit Kansal, who is also the J&K government spokesperson, today said that the COVID-19 pandemic spread rate has significantly slowed down in Jammu and Kashmir, even as there is no room for complacency and the situation demands extra watchfulness.

“We continue to have a number of red zones and we need to be ever alert and watchful. Premature exuberance or celebration can cost us very dear”, Kansal told a press conference here.

He said the government will further strengthen the surveillance system and procedure. “We are conducting a 100% Health Audit for the entire J&K using Swasthya Nidhi App. and the process is likely to be completed within next few weeks.  We are strongly encouraging the use of Aarogya Setu App. and so far, more than 8 lakh users have installed the App in the UT”, he informed. However, he called for continuing self restraint and observance of  discipline.

“Our current position may appear comfortable but let me remind you that we are dealing with an unpredictable and dangerous enemy” he said and observed that many  neighbouring states have learnt the hard way when they have seen their cases show a sudden jump e.g. when many of their returning citizens tested positive. We too have a number of students and labourers stranded outside the UT who have started returning back home.
Stating that there is no that there is no room for complacency  he added that adequate precautions are being taken while allowing them inside the UT.

Giving details about general control measures, he said as of this moment, the total number of cases in J&K is 614 of which the number of active cases is 390. 384 of these are in the Kashmir Division and 6 in the Jammu division.

“As you are already aware, there have been 216 recoveries which include young children and we also have had 8 unfortunate deaths. Further, he said out of 70,000 (Sixty thousand) persons enlisted for surveillance, over 50000 (Fifty thousand) have completed the mandatory 28 days period of surveillance.

On the overall COVID situation, the UT has a good report card so far, he said and added “The daily positivity rate has shown a downward trend and the doubling rate of positive cases has decidedly slowed down.” He said a report of this morning has showed that the UT’s testing rates continue to be among the highest while our percentage rise continues to be low resulting in a high doubling rate which is over 12 days. “Our mortality is just above 1%, which is quite low given the number of cases. The most notable part  is that over 92% of the cases can be traced. All these are positive factors” he added.

He expressed gratitude to people   for the excellent cooperation in restricting the movement and helping   maintain an effective lockdown. “This has helped us to slow the spread of the virus and put in place a strong containment strategy” he said and added that it has also helped to gain valuable time for building the capacities such as 17 Standalone/ dedicated COVID Hospitals, over 20000 Isolation Beds and nearly 50000 non-hospital quarantine beds.

He said UT is following an aggressive testing strategy and continue to be among the top few regions in the country in this regard. “While our testing capacity has expanded from 1 lab to 4 labs, the testing rate is now about 1500 per million, one of the highest in the country,” he informed.  “We have also been continuously ramping up our facilities- we started with less than 100 tests daily; a few days ago we broke the 1000 tests per day barrier, he said and added “Yesterday we conducted 1800 tests and We will shortly break the 2000 tests/day barrier”.

The Press Conference was also attended by Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner Secretary Industries; Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director NHM and Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar, Director Information and public Relations.

Asks States, UTs to follow standard protocols for movement of students, migrant labourers

Precious Kashmir News

Jammu, Apr 30: Government of India has asked all the States and Union Territories to delineate the districts as per the laid down criteria and implement the restrictions accordingly in the areas for effective containment of the virus.

This was stated by the Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gaubawho was holding a video conference interaction with the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs.

Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan and other senior officers of concerned Ministries attended the meeting.

Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, Financial Commissioner, Health, Atal Dulloo and MD NHM, Bhupinder Singh participated in the interaction with the Cabinet Secretary.

While having detailed deliberations on preparations to be made for post May 3 scenario in the country, the Cabinet Secretary asked the States/UTs to follow the categorization of the Districts into Red, Orange and Green Zones based on total active cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback. States/UTs could add Red/Orange category districts based on their assessment, the Cabinet Secretary said.

Cabinet Secretary asked for implementing the restrictions in these identified areas as per their status and follow the guidelines strictly being issued by Government of India time to time. While moving forward, we have to treat the Districts/Areas differently as per the local situation and need to do micro planning while dealing with the containment zones.

Cabinet Secretary reiterated that there should be no laxity while implementing the restrictions especially in the containment zones. The Districts which have luckily not reported any positive case so far need to remain extra alert and more cautious, because our relaxed approach can put us in difficult situation. He said that as there are active cases in both Red and Orange Zones, restrictions are to be strict and surveillance along with monitoring should be ensured effectively.

Regarding movement of students and migrant labour stranded in different states, the Cabinet Secretary asked the States/UTs to develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such people. He asked the Chief Secretaries to coordinate with their counterparts in other States so that action plan is worked out for the movement of people. Besides, he asked all to nominate Nodal Officers for the purpose.

While discussing the movement of people with the Chief Secretaries, it was decided that proper health screening of students/migrant labour will be done at the both ends before sending and at the time of reaching their native States. It was asked to plan the whole exercise in a systematic manner so as to avoid any threat of transmission of virus from one place to another.

‘Fill information on official website’

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Apr 30: Higher Education Department  has asked all students pursuing studies outside the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, who are desirous of returning home to fill up the information on the link available on official website of J&K Higher Education Department (jkhighereducation.nic.in).

Srinagar, Apr 30: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday appointed seven officers to coordinate and monitor the movement of J&K residents who are stranded in different states and Union Territories due to lockdown imposed by the government to prevent spread of deadly COVID-19.

The development comes after Ministry of Home Affairs, permitted regulated movement of the migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to the lockdown.

According to an order issued by General Administration Department Shaleen Kabra has been appointed as Nodal officer and overall in-charge for coordinating movement of stranded persons from all States and Union Territories except Punjab and Himachal Pradesh while Dheeraj Gupta and Niraj Kumar have been tasked to assist Nodal Officer for coordination with other Resident Commissioners.

Ajeet Kumar has been tasked to coordinate the movement of residents of Jammu and Kashmir stranded in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

Saurbah Bhagat has been appointed to assist nodal officer in the coordination of outward movement of migrant labourers stranded in Jammu & Kashmir while Talat Parvez Rohella has been tasked to assist Nodal officer in coordination of inward movement of students of Jammu and Kashmir in different States and UTs.

Ravinder Kumar has been tasked to asset Nodal Officer for coordinating movement of stranded persons and has been asked to remain headquartered at civil Secretariat Jammu till completion of the assignment.

The order states that nodal officer will coordinate with his counterparts of other states and guide/monitor the district administration in respect of the movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded. (KNO)

Precious Kashmir News
Jammu, Apr 30: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu has extended heartiest greetings to the people of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly to the working class on the significant occasion of International Workers’ Day, popularly known as Labour Day.

In his message, the Lt Governor wished prosperity to the working class and hoped that the occasion would instill a renewed zeal and sense of responsibility towards work culture, and enthusiasm amongst the members of the work force, who are the engine of our development and growth and main strength of the economy.

“Labour Day, which is also known as May Day throughout the World, commemorates the struggle for fair labour practices and reminds all of us to strengthen this important section of our society”, he maintained.

The Lt Governor observed that the government is always putting a focused attention towards the welfare of the workers’ community and preserving their rights as development of any region highly depends on its work force

United News of India
Srinagar, Apr 30: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested an alleged militant in connection with a case involving former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh, who was caught while transporting two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants out of Kashmir.

Official sources said that a militant, identified as Tariq Ahmad Mir, was arrested by NIA. ‘Mir was allegedly providing logistic support to militants and was in touch with Singh, who is being probed for his relationship with militants,’ they said.
They said that Mir is being questioned and more arrests could happen in coming days.
The NIA has been very active in the valley since the arrest of Singh. The DySP was arrested by J&K police on the 280-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National highway while transporting three people, including two Hizb commanders Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmed, to Jammu on January 11.
Multiple raids were conducted by J&K police at his residences in the valley after his arrest. But, after initial investigations by the J&K police, the case was handed over to the NIA. The investigation agency has so far conducted several raids across the valley and seized incriminating materials. The NIA has arrested over a dozen people, including a father-daughter duo and a father-son, in Kashmir valley so far.
The national agency has also conducted several dozen raids in J&K, including the residences of Singh in Indranagar and Pulwama, in this case. During a raid on March 18, the NIA seized a Santro car, which was parked in the courtyard of the residence at Indranagar in Srinagar.

Singh was an officer in Anti-hijacking wing of J&K police at Srinagar International Airport, and was part of the security staff that received a group of foreign ambassadors, including the US ambassador, who visited Kashmir in February.

Nasir Azam

Srinagar, Apr 30: The Board of Governors has recommended to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to increase 50 seats in PG courses in Government Medical Colleges and SKIMS Soura in J&K under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota for 2020-21.

The recommendation reveals that BOG has proposed to increase 25 seats in GMC Jammu, 19 in GMC Srinagar and six in SKIMS Soura. According to communique, the total number of seats to be required for implementation of 10 percent EWS quota in Jammu and Kashmir is 76.

Of which, 17 have been granted under section 10A and 50 to be granted under EWS quota. The move comes after Jammu & Kashmir government submitted a proposal for increasing seat intake capacity in PG courses in GMCs and SKIMS, Soura.

The MCI sought the proposal from J&K government after observing that the seats increased under 10A and /or after conversion of diplomas to degree for the annual year 2020-21 was less than the number of seats needed to be enhanced for implementing EWS quota. (KNO)

United News of India
New Delhi, Apr 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a comprehensive meeting to discuss strategies to attract more foreign investments into India as well as to promote local investments in order to give a boost to the economy, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was discussed that a scheme should be developed to promote more plug and play infrastructure in the existing industrial lands/plots/estates in the country and provide necessary financing support.

During the meeting, the PM directed that the action should be taken for a more proactive approach to handhold the investors, to look into their problems and help them in getting all the necessary Central and State clearances in a time-bound manner.

Various strategies to bring investments into India in a fast-track mode and to promote Indian domestic sectors were discussed.

Detailed discussions were held on guiding states to evolve their strategies and be more proactive in attracting investments.

It was also discussed that the reform initiatives undertaken by the various Ministries should continue unabated and action should be taken in a time-bound manner to remove any obstacles which impede promotion of investment and industrial growth.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Amit Shah, the Minister for Commerce & Industries Piyush Goyal, MoS (Finance) Anurag Thakur along with senior officials of the Government.