Kupwara, Apr 24: An Army soldier was killed on Friday in Kupwara, when his service rifle went off accidentally in the camp he was posted at.

Sources told CNS that the soldier, belonging to 8 JAT regiment of Army, posted at headquarters of 160 Territorial Army’s Hirri camp in Kupwara district sustained bullet injury, when his service rifle accidentally went off, while he was cleaning the rifle.

The injured soldier was immediately shifted to Army’s local health facility, where from he was shifted to Military hospital in Drugmulla Baramulla, but doctors there declared him brought dead, said the officials.

United News of India
New Delhi, Apr 24: Appreciating the armed forces for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asked them to ensure their operational preparedness so that the adversary does not exploit the current situation.

While reviewing the operational preparedness as well as measures to fight COVID-19 with all the Commanders in Chief through a video conference, Singh directed the forces to initiate measures to spend the financial resources, avoiding wastage in view of the economic burden imposed by the lockdown.

Stressing on the requirement of jointness of the Armed Forces, the Minister asked the Commanders in Chief to identify and prioritise tasks that could be accomplished quickly and assist in revival of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, the defence ministry said in a statement.

During the conference, the Commanders in Chief apprised him of various measures put in place by them to prevent virus infection among the forces and assistance extended to the local civilian administration.

These include issue of SoPs on COVID-19, introduction of appropriate modifications in protocols and drills as per the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and other agencies and taking care of the Ex-Servicemen and their families residing in their respective command areas.

The Commanders appreciated recent devolution of emergency financial powers by the Ministry of Defence that has ensured timely procurement of necessary medical supplies, to bolster the health infrastructure of the hospitals, it added.

The armed forces have in a holistic manner taken upon themselves the responsibility of improving the support in dealing with COVID, by augmenting additional manpower, by providing them basic training, to deal with the epidemic.

‘The Commanders have also apprised that isolation and quarantine facilities have been set up for use of the forces as well as the local civilian administration. They have also expressed readiness to pitch in to maintain essential services locally if requested by the civilian administration,’ the Ministry added.

Besides the Minister, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Secretary Defence (Finance) Gargi Kaul participated in the Conference.

Officers from the following Commands participated in the video Conference: Northern Command, Udhampur; Eastern Command, Kolkata; Southern Naval Command, Kochi; Western Naval Command, Mumbai; Southern Command, Pune; South-Western Command, Jaipur; Western Air Command, Delhi; Eastern Naval Command, Vizag; Central Air Command, Allahabad; South-West Air Command, Gandhi Nagar; Southern Air Command, Trivandrum; Central Command, Lucknow; and Andaman & Nicobars Command, Port Blair.

Nasir Azam

Srinagar, Apr 24: The Jammu & Kashmir High Court on Friday dismissed the bail application of senior National Conference leader, Abdul Rahim Rather’s son in multi-crore bank fraud case.

A single bench of the High Court headed by Justice Puneet Gupta dismissed the bail application moved by Hilal Rather, son of former Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, on medical grounds.

“The application being without merit is dismissed. The merits of the case have not been argued by the counsels as the application for bail was mainly confined on medical grounds,” reads the High Court order.

The Court observed that bail cannot be granted on the mere asking of the accused nor can the accused claim bail as a matter of right. “Each case has to be decided on its own merits,” the court observed. It also observed that the  case of the accused is not covered by the directions of the Supreme Court for decongesting jails in the wake of outbreak of deadly coronavirus

 “The other contention of the learned counsel for the accused is that the case of the accused is covered by the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court issued in view of the spread of COVID-19 and the lockdown which is in force.

“The learned counsel for the respondent has argued that the case of the accused is not covered by the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and in any case the charges in which the accused has been booked carry the punishment for more than seven years,” reads the court order.

The court observed that the apprehension raised by counsel for the accused that the accused may contact infection or even can infect other inmates of the jail due to the prevailing conditions is not borne out from the record. “The court finds no material on record which substantiates the argument of the counsel for the accused.

“The apprehension of the accused is misplaced as of now. The Jail authorities must be otherwise taking all the measures to keep the jail in hygienic conditions keeping in view the onslaught of COVID-19. The bail cannot be granted on mere assumption that the conditions in the jail are unhygienic and that the accused will suffer for that reason,” the order states.

New Delhi, Apr 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday extended Ramzan greetings to the nation, following moon sightings in the country announced the arrival of the Islamic month considered holy among Muslims. The PM also wished for a ‘decisive victory’ in the ongoing battle against coronavirus pandemic, hoping for a healthier planet.

Taking to twitter, PM Modi wished people with a “Ramzan Mubarak” greeting and prayed for the safety, well-being and prosperity of the people.