Category: Union Territory

PTI

Jammu: Pakistan on Sunday shelled mortars on forward areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing befitting retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.

There was no report of any casualty on the Indian side, he said.

The shelling from across the border in Mankote sector started at around 5.45 pm and was going on when last reports were received, he said.

The spokesperson said Pakistan initiated the ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars.

PTI

Srinagar: Militants attacked a team of security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, but there are no reports of any loss of life, police said.

“Around 5:45pm, militants fired on a party of Army’s Rashtriya Rifles at Parigam in south Kashmir’s Pulwama,” a police official said.

The security forces retaliated forcing the militants to flee, he said.

There are no reports of any loss of life or injury, he said.

The area has been cordoned off and a search operation has been launched to nab the attackers, the official said, adding details are awaited.

PTI

The two-page letter, written in Urdu on the terror group’s letter pad, was delivered by post to senior vice president of J&K Congress and former minister Raman Bhalla on Friday.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh was among the 17 leaders from various political parties named in the letter. | Photo Credit: PTI

Police have registered an FIR after a senior Congress leader received a letter from Hizbul Mujahideen threatening to target mainstream politicians of the Jammu region, including Union Minister Jitendra Singh, if they did not relinquish politics, officials said on Sunday.

The two-page letter, written in Urdu on the terror group’s letter pad, was delivered by post to senior vice president of J&K Congress and former minister Raman Bhalla on Friday, the officials said.

“We have registered a case under relevant sections of the law and further investigation is on,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Shridhar Patil told PTI.

Mr. Bhalla said he approached police soon after the receipt of the letter as a thorough investigation is required into the incident.

“We will not be cowed down by such threats from anti-national elements. We have stood against the terror unleashed at the behest of Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir over the past three decades and will continue to perform our duties to make J&K free of terrorism, peaceful and prosperous,” he said.

He said the Congress history is replete with the blood of martyrs and “I would be happy to follow the footsteps of our great leaders and sacrifice my life for the nation”.

The letter, signed by a self-styled divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, named 17 senior politicians of various national and regional parties including Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Mr. Bhalla, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina, former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan leader Choudhary Lal Singh and National Panthers Party chairman Harsh Dev Singh besides several other former ministers, legislators and RSS functionaries.

“We warn you to renounce politics and support our cause for freedom otherwise death warrants have been issued against you. No security cover will safeguard you from us,” the letter read, adding “the work has already started and those who can attack Parliament or Red Fort can kill you as well“.

“In coming days, no Indian or politician supporting India will be left alive in Kashmir. Half of Jammu is already with us but there are some politicians who are an obstacle to our cause for freedom,” the letter said.

Reacting to the threat, JKNPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh demanded a high-level probe and said it seems to be part of a conspiracy to browbeat the opposition.

“I have raised security concerns many times after receiving threats from BJP leaders in the past but instead of taking action on my complaint, I was deprived of security cover by the administration,” he said, adding he is only having one personal security officer despite being an MLA for three successive terms and a former minister while as an ordinary BJP worker is given ten security guards with accommodation and vehicle for movement.

“The probe is necessary to unravel the truth behind the threat,” he said.

PTI

Leh: The Union Territory of Ladakh recorded one more COVID-19 related death, taking the number of fatalities in the region to 39, officials said on Sunday.

A 62-year-old patient, who had recently tested positive for coronavirus, died in Leh district on Saturday and the last rights of the deceased were conducted as per the set protocol, they said.

His death was the 16th COVID-19 related fatality in Leh district, while rest of 23 deaths have taken place in Kargil district.

With detection of 66 fresh positive cases — 37 in Leh and 29 in Kargil, the virus caseload in the UT has gone up to 3,294 till Saturday evening, the officials said.

While 73 percent of the patients have recovered from the disease, the rest of 841 active cases are undergoing treatment in the twin districts. They included 465 in Leh and 376 in Kargil, the officials said.

Burglars decamp with cash, No idea how much cash has been stolen, says Sajada Nisheen Khalid, Devotees question alertness of Shrine management

Srinagar: Burglars decamped with cash from Kashmirs’ revered shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani (RA) at Khanyar area of Srinagar in the dead of the night, leaving shrine management body red faced.

Sajada Nisheen of the shrine Khalid Hussain Geelani told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that thieves entered the shrine in the dead of the night and stole cash. “I have no idea how much cash has been stolen from the (charity box),” he said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar Dr Haseeb Mughal told KNO that police have taken the cognizance of the incident and investigations have been set into motion.

Locals in Khanyar and other adjoining areas of downtown questioning the role of shrine management saying that after the security of shrines was withdrawn last year, it was the sole responsibility of the shrine management body to take care of shrines and to prevent theft and fire related incidents.

“Wasn’t there a night watchman,” said Abdur Rashid Khan, who has been a frequent visitor to the shrine since his childhood. Khan a resident of nearby Saraf Kadal, said that it was the sole responsibility of shrine management since there is no security at shrines across Kashmir especially Srinagar since April 2019. Policemen deployed at the shrines for security purpose prior to April 2019 were without weapons and it was felt that there was a security risk after which police security from majority of shrines was withdrawn.

Similarly, many women devotees who came to Dastgeer sahib shrine after coming to know the theft incident, expressed serious concern as to why nobody was awake from the shrine management to prevent the theft incident. “Shrine management is solely responsible for the theft. Thousands of people pay charity in lakhs in both cash and kind every year at the shrine. There should be accountability. Why shrine management is not able to hire two watchmen for night duty out of the charity money,” asked a young devotee.

A member of shrine management Dasteer sahib (RA), wishing not to be named, said that nobody was awake when the incident took place. “There is no idea how much was in the charity box/donation box when theft took place,” he said. Police team from Khanyar police station rushed to the spot, collected details, and registered a case—(KNO)

PTI

Jammu: Security forces on Saturday recovered a cache of arms and ammunition along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, scuttling an attempt by anti-national elements to carry out subversive activities in the border district.

The recoveries made during the operation included three Chinese pistols with six magazines and 70 rounds, 11 hand grenades, a wireless set, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), two batteries, two flags, a mobile phone, a charger and a pen drive, a police officer said.

Two overground workers of militants were arrested during the operation carried out jointly by Special Operations Group (SOG) of local police and the Army in Mendhar sector, the official said.

He said the operation was launched on a specific information to intercept the couriers of arms, ammunitions and explosives along with other subversive material which was smuggled from Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK).

The material was supposed to be carried from forward area to hinterland for subversive activities, the officials said.

He added that a case was registered against the arrested duo and further investigation is on.

Can tackle middle level deluge easily, 2014 like situation can’t be accommodated at present: CE I&FC

Srinagar: Even after elapsing six years since the 2014 deluge hit Kashmir Valley in the month of September, the government has failed to complete the requisite process to prevent such a catastrophe in the future.

As per the sources, the second phase of the much-hyped dredging process has also not been started yet, thus putting the lives and properties of people here at risk again.

It is pertinent to mention here that, as per the reports at least 280 people were killed in the 2014 floods across the state, and property worth crores was also damaged.

Sources in the Irrigation and flood Control (I&FC) department told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the dredging process that was started nearly a year after 2014 floods has not been completed yet as the second phase of the process is yet to be initiated.

They said that it was planned that the dredging and de-silting of River Jhelum will be completed by March 2019. However, he said that the second and the main phase of the process has not been started, which would increase the capacity of the river Jhelum.

As per the official details available, the second phase of the process is expected to improve the Jhelum’s water carrying capacity “to its maximum capacity of 60,000 cusecs [cubic feet per second] in South Kashmir”.

In Srinagar, this capacity is to be increased to 35,000 cusecs. The remaining 25,000 cusecs is to be diverted through the flood spill channel, whose discharge capacity is also proposed to be increased, the figure revealed.

Talking to KNO, Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) said that the second phase of the dredging was not started yet. “The phase-II of the process will be started in this year only,” he said.

Asked whether the department is ready to prevent the 2014 like deluge in future, he said the department is ready to tackle middle level deluge, but was not yet capable to tackle the 2014 like situation.

“We are trying to reach there in stages. At present, the department is not ready to accommodate that level of flood. But, we are gradually moving towards that,” he said. “It will take more time to reach to stage where we can accommodate 2014 like flood,” he said.

Earlier, in January 2018, reports quoting the officials had said that the dredg­ing process in river Jhelum started as flood preventive measure will be completed under the deadline set by the state government.

The Rs-280 crore project for phase-I was awarded to Kolkata based company to clear the excessive siltation that had accumulated and drastically reduced the carrying-capacity of river Jhelum.

Reach Dredging Private Limited, the Kolkata-based firm had also assured that the pending work will be completed under the dead­line set by the then state government.

However, later in 2018, the department of Irrigation and Flood Control (I& FC) had asked the Kolkata based dredging firm to wind up operations here after it failed to the meet the 31st March deadline—(KNO)

Srinagar: In a major concern, glaciers are melting at a rapid pace in Jammu and Kashmir with the government seeming least bothered to take any preventive measures.

The climatic change has become a global phenomenon and it has a significant impact on the ecosystem of Jammu and Kashmir. The melting of glaciers has become a serious issue in Jammu and Kashmir with government seems least interesting in protecting them.

“Kolahoi glacier has rapidly receded due to climatic changes prevalent over the Kashmir region. The glacier has lost 23% area since 1962 (from 13.73 sq km in 1962 to 10.49 sq km in 2018) and has fragmented into smaller parts.

The snout retreat rates also suggest that the glacier has been in an imbalanced state between 1962 and 2018 and is not approaching equilibrium,” a recent research paper has revealed.

Earth scientist and prominent glaciologist, Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, who heads the department of Earth Sciences at University of Kashmir has been one of the authors of the paper.

An official of the Environment Department said that the government has failed to monitor or conduct any research on glaciers in the UT.

“We are yet to know the number of glaciers in Jammu and Kashmir since there are many untapped glaciers and the government is not concerned about their preservation,” the official told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service.

The official said that current glacial extents are out of balance with current climatic conditions. “It indicates that glaciers will continue to shrink in the future even without further temperature increase,” the official said.

Former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had said there was a need for more scientific studies to conclusively establish the link between climate change and shrinking glaciers. “Government has taken no steps to conduct any research and know the reasons for the receding of glaciers,” the official said.

The official said that government has paid “no attention” towards environment. “Not only glaciers, every environmental aspect has been ignored here,” he said.

Experts have expressed serious concern over the melting of glaciers in the Valley especially the Thajwas and Kalohai glaciers.

The preservation of glaciers comes under the domain of the Ecology and Environment Department.

In the action plan on climatic changes of the earth science department, it says the climate change cell mentions the annual temperature is projected to increase from 0.9 +/- 0.6 degree Celsius to 2.6 +/- 0.7degree Celsius by 2030.

It has recommended the government to ban the fuel driven vehicles in environment fragile places to restrict melting of glaciers. The action plan has called for the promotion of battery operated (charged from solar power) transport systems in places falling in the vicinity of the glaciers.(KINS)

Srinagar: The Lieutenant Governor Manooj Sinha led administration has directed authorities involved in review of corruption cases to examine a list of deadwood and dishonest officers to increase trust and transparency in the system.

The direction comes amid LG Manoj Sinha’s promise over the fixing accountability of government officers.

Highly placed sources told news agency KINS that the details of officials with dubious integrity is likely to be taken up and the government will examine vigilance reports, data available about the officers in the departments for the legal action.

“A strong directive will be issued to all the departments to carry out a review of deadwood and corrupt officers,” sources maintained.
LG Manoj Sinha recently in a message had said that “emphasis must be on putting in place effective preventive measures and spreading awareness to eradicate corruption.

Meanwhile one of the top officials in the Anti-Corruption wing Kashmir told KINS that they have clear instructions from the higher-ups to ensure that investigation into all the corruption cases as well as other pending FIRs is completed as expeditiously as possible so as to pave the way for presentation of challans in the Anti-Corruption Courts and securing maximum conviction,”

Sources said in the coming months the focus of the investigating agencies will also shift on the officials, who have amassed huge wealth through illegal means.

“Even the former officers involved in corrupt practices will not be spared and they will be thoroughly investigated,” sources revealed.
Sources said that after the abrogation of Article 370, there has been a sharp rise in registration of corruption cases against higher officials involved in alleged malpractices.

Sources reveal that around 150 FIRs have been registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) since July, 2019 against officials, which include, some chief engineers, superintendent and executive engineers, and senior officers of forest, health, rural development and other departments.

Sources said that fresh cases were registered against those officers, who were of the opinion that they will never be touched after committing huge frauds due to their close proximity with the then ruling class of the erstwhile state.

The allegations against officers, which formed the basis for registration of FIRs, include misuse of official position, demand and acceptance of bribe, illegal appointments, embezzlement of funds, allowing of illegal constructions by obtaining pecuniary benefits, possessing disproportionate assets, tampering of official records, facilitating encroachment of government land, use of sub-standard construction material, vesting of ownership rights of land illegally and forgery etc.

It is to be mentioned here that the Centre’s Prevention of Corruption Act in Jammu and Kashmir has stringent provisions to combat corruption.

Anti-graft bodies were working under Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006, which has been replaced by Centre’s Prevention of Corruption Act.

There are certain provisions under this newly implemented Act which empowers anti-graft bodies to fight with corruption in the new Union Territory.

“In order to influence a public servant, by corrupt or illegal means, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than three year but may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine”.

Under this Act, abetment by a public servant of offences shall be punishable with imprisonment not less than six months but which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine.

“Any public servant, who commits criminal misconduct, shall be punishable with imprisonment not less than one year but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine,” the Act reads.(KINS)

Srinagar: Welcoming the move by administration to conduct Covid-19 test for shopkeepers and traders, Kashmir Trade Alliance (KTA) on Saturday said that the initiative will create a sense of security among shopkeepers and consumers.

According to statement issued to KNS, Kashmir Trade Alliance (KTA) President Ajaz Shahdhar said that for past four days, the administration in Srinagar has carried out a comprehensive drive to investigate the Covid-19 among traders on war footing with positive and far reaching results. He said that if the initiative had been launched earlier, it would have yielded significant achievements so far, but it would also have been helpful in preventing the spread of pandemic now.

“It is not too late, but if the scope of these tests is seriously expanded and they are conducted in the markets of towns and other areas, the drive will be helpful”, he said.

President KTA said that there will be a sense of security among shopkeepers and traders and it can be profitable for businesses as well.

He hoped that Divisional Commissioner would reconsider its policy of reopening shops and other business establishments in alternative days, so that traders and business community could come out of the damage they suffered from last six months.

“Shopkeepers have been tested for Covid-19, there is no reason to keep these markets closed on alternate days, but they should be allowed to continue trading in these markets for a full week”, Shahdhar said. (KNS)