Category: Union Territory

This year’s Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir Himalayas would have to be undertaken in a restricted manner due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, GC Murmu, peformed “Pratham Aarti” of the ice stalagmite at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir on Sunday morning.

He was accompanied by his principal secretary and chief executive officer of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Bipul Pathak, additional CEO AK Soni, Division Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole and other senior officials.

“The LG along with senior officials reached the cave shrine early Sunday morning and performed Pratham Aarti,” said an official of the SASB.

Prasar Bharati, India’s official broadcaster, showed the aarti live. It will do so till August 3.

“Happy to share that the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board in association with Prasar Bharati will bring the live telecast of Aarti from the Holy Cave of Shri Amarnathji on various Doordarshan channels,” Prasar Bharti CEO Shashi Shekhar had tweeted on Saturday. The aarti will be shown live at 3 am and 7 pm.

The chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday had said that this year’s Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir Himalayas would have to be undertaken in a restricted manner, so that the SOPs for Covid-19 are strictly adhered to.

“Given the constraints, a maximum of 500 yatris will be allowed per day by road from Jammu. Therefore, arrangements will have to be limited to this number,” he had said while chairing a meeting of the sub-committee constituted by the Supreme Court.

The curtailed yatra (pilgrimage) is likely to be held from July 23 to August 3 this year from the shorter Baltal route.

On June 5, the top officials of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) performed “Pratham Pooja” in the state’s winter capital Jammu on the occasion of Jayestha Purnima signifying commencement of the annual pilgrimage.

The “Pratham Pooja” at SASB’s Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Ashram was conducted by Principal secretary to J&K Lieutenant Governor and CEO of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Bipul Pathak, ACEO AK Soni.

Last year, the yatra was cut short following intelligence inputs of terror threats ahead of the Centre scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2018, the pilgrimage was held for 60 days.

Thousands of pilgrims either trek the traditional and longer 45-km-long Pahalgam route or the shorter 16-km Baltal route to the holy shrine every year.

One of the holiest pilgrimages in Hinduism, the Amarnath Yatra attracts pilgrims from India as well as across the world. There have been terror attacks on the route of the yatra in the past. The last attack took place in 2017 on a bus from Gujarat in Anantnag district that left seven pilgrims dead.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir high court has sought to know from the government about arrangements and various safety precautions on Amarnath Yatra in view of Covid-19 pandemic.

On Friday, advocate Sachin Sharma had moved an application before the high court that was heard by Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul.

The division bench issued notice to the government.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) Aseem Sawhney accepted notice on behalf of the government. Monika Kohli who is assisting the court as Amicus Curiae also accepted the notice.

The court asked the AAG to place before it the proposal and decision of the government with regard to the yatra.

With inputs from HT

Srinagar: Since the past two and a half weeks, Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing a steady rise in COVID-19 deaths, with more fatalities being reported in this period than the first three months of the pandemic.

Till June 17, in the first three months of the virus outbreak, only 64 people had died in J&K with or of COVID-19, according to official records. But then, 67 Covid-19 patients have died in the two weeks since June 18, taking the death toll in J&K to 127.

The majority of the 127 deaths have taken place in Kashmir (113). On the other hand, Jammu has recorded 14 such deaths in the past two weeks. On Thursday, as many as 10 deaths were reported in a single day, the highest spike in 24 hours.

“Now more severe cases and more symptomatic cases are coming to hospitals,” said Dr Salim Khan, the nodal officer for COVID-19, GMC Srinagar as eight deaths took place on Saturday.

“Deaths are increasing as more severe cases reporting in the hospitals,” says Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah, head of Chest Disease Hospital Srinagar, which is designated Covid-19 hospital. He said most of the people who die are admitted cases, who turn positive. “In few cases some were detected positive after death,” he added.

Health authorities insist that the majority of the people who died in the first three months of the virus outbreak, had multiple underlying co-morbidities before contracting getting infected. However, among the dead, there were 13 patients between the age group of 18 to 45 years and a 15-day-old baby.

Srinagar district has reported 30 COVID-19 deaths, the highest in any district in J&K. While Baramulla district has reported 22 deaths, Kulgam, 16; Shopian,13; Anantnag, 10; Budgam,9; Jammu, 8; Kupwara,7; Pulwama, 4; Doda, 2; one each in Ganderbal, Udhampur, Bandipora, Poonch, Rajouri, and Kathua.

Experts also attribute the sudden rise in deaths to youths going out of their homes without taking basic precautions.

“They don’t wear masks or maintain social distancing. Unfortunately, in most of the cases these young men have become carriers of the infection to their homes, where our elderly contract the virus, develop symptoms and subsequently die,” said a doctor.

In some cases, it has been seen that even doctors don’t use masks. “If doctors are not wearing masks, if private clinicians are not using them, they should be held accountable for it. This is more criminal when doctors do it,” says a senior faculty member of the government medical college Srinagar.

If the data provided by the government is analysed, things appear to have started changing since June 7, when 620 positive cases were reported including 37 from Jammu and 583 from Kashmir. That day two persons from Kashmir died of Covid-19 taking the toll to 41.

With inputs from Outlook

New Delhi: In the past one week over 6,600 applicants — majority of them retired soldiers and officers from the Gorkha community — have got the document that allows them to buy property and apply for jobs in the Union Territory, The Times Of India (TOI) reported.

“More than 5,900 certificates have already been issued,” said Vijay Kumar Sharma, additional deputy commissioner (revenue), Jammu.

In Kashmir, about 700 certificates have been issued, many of them former Gorkha soldiers and officers, TOI added

“In my tehsil alone, there are nearly 2,500 from the Gorkha community who had served in the Indian Army and their families who got domicile (about 3,500 have applied). There are quite a few from the Valmiki community also,” said Dr Rohit Sharma, tehsildar of Bahu in Jammu.

Valmiki community members were brought to the state in 1957 from Punjab after local sanitation workers went on a strike. It was the protest mostly by four groups — Gorkha servicemen, Valmikis, West Pakistan refugees and women who had married outside J&K — that had been at the centre of the decision to expand domicile criteria in the Union Territory.

The domicile rules had been notified by the J&K administration on May 18, with a rider that issuing officers (tehsildars in this case) who did not provide certificates in 15 days would be penalised ₹50,000/=

Non-locals who had lived in J&K for 15 years, their children, officers with central government and central institutions and anyone who has studied in J&K for seven years and appeared in the Class X or XII exams became eligible.

A domicile of Prem Bahadur, 68 years old Ex-Army officer who served in Gorkha Regiment between 1968 to 1987.

The applications have kept coming in — at least 33,000 so far. “We get an average of 200 applications a day,” an official said.

TOI reported that things have slowed because of internet speed; it’s stll 2G internet service in these parts. “But we are doing all we can. It is a time-bound procedure. We have notified rules to act against any tehsildar who delays offering domicile. We will not allow the wait to be prolonged any further,” said Rohit Kansal, spokesperson of the J&K administration told TOI

With inputs from TOI

PTI

Jammu: Four people were arrested for their alleged involvement in an attempt to murder case here, police said on Sunday.

The four are criminals and had attacked Rohan Thapa alias Kallu, a resident of Gorkha Nagar, near Bahu Plaza in Gandhi Nagar area on June 27, causing life threatening injuries to him, a police spokesperson said.

He said Surjeet Singh alias Shittu of Kharian had an old enmity with the victim and conspired with his friends, Ajay Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar, to kill him.

They took the help of Manga of Valmiki Colony who observed the movement of the victim and passed the information to Singh who along with his friends attacked Thapa, the spokesperson said.

A special team was constituted which rounded up some criminal elements based on the footage of CCTV cameras and other evidence, he said.

A number of raids were also conducted in and outside the Jammu district and after hectic efforts, the team headed by SHO Gandhi Nagar Inspector Gurnam Singh Choudhary was successful in apprehending the accused.

The weapon used in the commission of the crime was recovered, the spokesperson said.

Pak has launched a strong plea—to involve a third party—in order to resolve the issue before an escalation leads to a war

Pakistan has launched an international campaign, through PaK leaders, asking the international community to refrain from terming Kashmir as a bilateral “dispute” between India and Pakistan.

It has launched a strong plea—to involve a third party—in order to resolve the issue before an escalation leads to a war between the two countries.

The campaign has been launched through webinars, in which PaK President Masood Khan stated that the United Kingdom—that ruled undivided India before the Partition in 1947—not to indulge in “diplomatic escapism” and desist from calling Kashmir a “ bilateral issue.”

This is the beginning of a large scale campaign, planned by Pakistan, to drum up support for third-party mediation on J&K.

In a webinar, titled ‘Twin Lockdown in Kashmir and Global Response’ organized on Saturday by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat-UK, a pro-Pakistan lobbyist group in the UK, PaK president asked British Parliamentarians and civil society of Britain “to invoke 10 Downing Street and foreign office as also the Commonwealth office to reflect on the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.”

Tehreek-e-Hurriyat was founded by Syed Ali Shah Geelani in September 2003 after he had parted ways with the original Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Geelani had recently resigned from his faction of the Hurriyat Conference that included Tehreek-e-Hurriyat as one of the constituents.

In his resignation, Geelni had charged the APHC chapter of PaK with corruption.

Now, Pakistan is seeking to blunt his criticism and in the process is rebuffing its standpoint of resolving the issue through dialogue between Delhi and Islamabad.

Pakistani media reports quoted Labour MP Liam Byrne saying “the United Kingdom had to drop the pretence that this disputed issue must be resolved bilaterally. There should be impartial third-party mediation for the resolution of the issue in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.”

Byrne went to the extent of bringing a spectre of war between India and Pakistan. He said: “There was a risk of war if the situation escalated amongst the two neighbours.”

MP Nadia Whittome (Labour) demanded the withdrawal of troops and an end to human rights violations in ‘Occupied’ Kashmir. She said that Articles 35-A and 370 should be immediately restored.

Some British Parliamentarians, inclined to a third party resolving the issue, also took part in this webinar. The theme of the seminar was to present a picture of distress in Kashmir after August 5 last year when the Government of India had scraped the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into the two union territories.

India maintains that the only dispute is about the territories illegally occupied by Pakistan across the LoC, including PaK and Gilgit-Baltistan. India has asked Pakistan to vacate these territories.

With inputs from The Tribune

Srinagar: Kashmir Valley reported two more deaths due to covid-19, taking the fatality count due to the virus in J&K to 129, officials said on Sunday.

Among them, a 40-year-old man from Baramulla died at CD hospital, one of the exclusive facilities for the management of the covid-19 patients in Valley, while another, a 70-year-old man from Anantnag district passed away at SKIMS Soura.

Medical Superintendent CD Hospital, Dr Salim Tak, told GNS that the patient, a resident of Sangrama Sopore area of the northern Kashmir district, was suffering from bilateral pneumonia. “He was shifted from SMHS hospital to CD hospital on June 27,” he added.

Medical Superintendent SKIMS Soura, Professor Farooq Jan, told GNS that the septuagenarian was admitted in ward 2A of the hospital on July 3 with bilateral pneumonia with Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

“His sample for covid19 was collected on the same day and came out positive on July 4,” he said, adding, “The patient was on NIV support and his attendants had given negative consent for intubation. The patient expired at 10 p.m. on July 4.” The body was kept in mortuary overnight, he said.

With the deaths, 129 people have succumbed to the virus in J&K— 115 from the Valley and 14 from Jammu division.

Srinagar district with 30 deaths has the highest fatalities followed by Baramulla (23), Kulgam (16), Shopian (13), Anantnag (11), Budgam (100, Jammu(8), Kupwara (7), Pulwama (four), Doda (two) while one death each has been reported from Bandipora, Ganderbal, Poonch, Udhampur, Rajouri and Kathua. (GNS)

India Today

The stand-off between the Indian and Chinese armies in eastern Ladakh is now in its ninth week. A conversation between the two foreign ministers, three rounds of Corps Commander-level talks, other discussions at the diplomatic and military levels have failed to break the impasse. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the “enemies of India have seen the fire and fury of our forces”, and warned that “India’s commitment to peace should not be seen as its weakness”.

What options are available to India to restore status quo ante on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the region?

OPTION 1: Evict the Chinese by force, destroy what they built

The most straightforward course of action would be for Indian soldiers to push out the Chinese from the new areas that they have occupied in the last eight weeks, and destroy all the infrastructure China has built on the Indian side of the LAC.

This, however, will almost certainly lead to military escalation and in a full-blown war. Even the limited attempt to evict the Chinese from the observation post near PP14 on June 15 led to the clash in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese lost their lives.

In the areas where the Chinese have come over to the Indian side of the LAC, the Indian Army may not be well disposed, due to constraints of terrain or infrastructure, to execute such a precisely targeted operation successfully. Also, some of the areas that the Chinese have entered are claimed by both countries, with no agreement over the alignment of the LAC. This will make it difficult for New Delhi to garner international support for its move.

A map of the Ladakh region. (Express)

OPTION 2: ‘Quid pro quo’ tactic

There are areas on the LAC that are not strongly defended by the Chinese, where Indian soldiers can move in and occupy a swathe of Chinese territory. At the negotiating table, the two sides can then exchange the occupied territories, and restore status quo ante. This option has been discussed at the highest levels — most noticeably in the 2012 policy document ‘Non-alignment 2.0’ — and is believed to have also been war-gamed by the military. According to strategic affairs analyst Ashley Tellis, the 2013 Chinese incursion in Depsang was reversed within three weeks after the Indian Army moved to the Chinese side in Chumar, and did some construction of their own. In the negotiations that followed, the two sides agreed to return to their earlier positions.

The ‘QPQ’ option exists even now, as the entire LAC from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh cannot be physically defended by the Chinese army. But such proactive options have a certain window of opportunity, which may have been lost after eight weeks of tensions. Also, it carries the risk of military escalation, as the Chinese may misread it as a larger military attack, or see it as a provocation.

PROBABILITY: Unlikely, but possible.

OPTION 3: Hold the line and negotiate

In this scenario, the Indian Army “holds the line” by deploying in strength along the LAC to ensure that the Chinese do not ingress deeper. This stops the Chinese at their current positions, while preparing Indian defences and allowing for a buildup of troops for any eventuality that may arise. The forces also get time to build up arsenal and stocks through import of critical material.

Talks are held simultaneously, including, if required, at the highest political level, to ensure the Chinese side returns to status quo ante. These are backed up by non-military moves against the Chinese, in the economic and trade domains, as has been witnessed recently. It allows New Delhi to demonstrate its resolve to the Chinese, while signalling to the world that it is a responsible power that would not be reckless.

With inputs from India Today

PTI

Jammu: The J&K ACB on Saturday indicted four government officials, including an SDM, for allegedly extracting a bribe of Rs 60,000 for clearing a private individual’s claim for compensation against damages to trees on public land in a road construction work.

The ACB made the indictment in a charge-sheet filed in an anti-corruption court of a special judge.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau filed the charge-sheet after the completion of the probe and other relevant formalities, an ACB spokesperson said.

He said the accused in the 2011 case include former Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Mahore, Mohammad Hanief Malik, erstwhile Forester Abdul Majid Bhat, Arnas’ ex-Naib Tehsildar Vijay Kumar Sharma and ex-Patwari Abdul Rashid.

The spokesman said the case was registered in 2011 on the complaint of Dansal-Mahore resident Ghulam Nabi of Reasi district.

He had claimed that Rashid and Malik had demanded and accepted Rs 60,000 and other gods from him for the release of compensation amount for the damage caused to the trees in their land during the construction of an approach road from Duga Dansal by Konkan Railways during 2006-07.

He had also alleged that the officials were demanding another sum of Rs one lakh for the release of the compensation amount.

The spokesperson said during the probe it transpired that Ghulam Nabi and his father Hussaina had claimed the compensation for damage to some trees caused during the construction of the approach road.

The probe, however, further revealed that the land belonged to the Forest Department and was in illegal possession of Nabi and his three brothers, he said.

During the probe, it was established that the then Patwari had prepared a fake assessment report in favour of Hussaina and his sons Jamal Din and Bag Hussain regarding the damage to the trees due to the construction of the road by Konkan Railways, despite the actual loss being that of the government.

Rashid had then demanded and accepted Rs 60,000 and other edible items from the complainant, while the ex-Naib Tehsildar countersigned and authenticated the fake assessment report prepared by the Patwari, the spokesperson said.

He said Majid being the employee of the Forest Department and in-charge of the block knew that the loss was caused to the government but prepared the assessment report and facilitated the processing of the fake compensation case.

He said Malik, the then SDM, Mahore as supervisory officer forwarded the fake assessment report for the release of compensation without ascertaining the facts regarding actual damage, thereby becoming instrumental in fraud.

Srinagar: Hailing from Budgam, Adil Ahmad, whose father is suffering from liver disease, had to see a doctor in Srinagar. He had 12th number and was told to reach the clinic at 7 in the morning in Srinagar. Knowing that it was not possible to reach early in the morning, he stayed at a relative’s house in Srinagar.

“We are forced to visit private clinics despite there being a selective ban on doctors in Kashmir,” he said, who is a carpenter by profession.
He said that there was no accountability on doctors. “Doctors in Kashmir prefer private practice over government hospitals,” he told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

There are scores of doctors who see patients at the private clinics and write prescriptions on plain papers to avoid trouble, which don’t carry their names and other details.

“If a doctor entertains a huge number of patients at his private clinic, with his tired mind what justice can he deliver to patients at hospital,” a retired SKIMS doctor questioned.

The government has banned private practise of principals, medical superintendents, deputy medical superintendents, CMOs and HoDs in government medical colleges, govt dental colleges, and associated hospitals in J&K.

According to the norms they are supposed to be stationed at their respective places. In contrary, some of them bluntly violate the norms.

A senior faculty in one of the hospitals writes prescriptions on plain papers. “He can’t do private practice as per the rules. Despite that he indulges in private practice,” an official said.

The private practice stands banned for SKIMS doctors since they get monthly non practicing allowances. The government had imposed a blanket ban on the private practice of doctors at SKIMS after the latter launched an agitation during 2003-2004 demanding they should be treated at par with their counterparts from AIIMS, New Delhi, vis-a-vis salary and other benefits.

These doctors had given sworn affidavits at the time of joining the hospital that they accept the SKIMS rules and will not indulge in private practice. Despite that a good number of doctors resort to private practice.

A strong lobby of the doctors was stopping the government from taking action against them despite authorities being well aware of the medicos who do private practice.

Government has told doctors several times that they have to choose either between keeping their job or private practice and any violation of the directions will be viewed seriously.

In 2011, former chief minister Omar Abdullah had also warned the SKIMS doctors to shun private practise.

“I know who you are; I know your names and the addresses of your clinics. Please, don’t force me to issue an advertisement in the newspaper and seize your clinics,” Omar had warned.

However, till date there seem no visible results on the ground as these medicos are openly running their private clinics and some even work in private hospitals.

In 2017, the government framed a committee for banning private practice of doctors. Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department was appointed as chairman of the committee while Director Health Services Kashmir, Director AIDS Control Society, and Additional Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, its members.

Earlier, a Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly panel in 2012 called for imposition of ban on private practice of government doctors, particularly those posted in the government medical colleges and their associated hospitals.
A Committee of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 2015 also asked the government to ensure complete ban on private practice of doctors during office hours and closure of all unregistered medical shops and illegal sex determination centres in J&K.

It has been learnt that some of these doctors are using hospital premises and facilities to treat their private patients.(KINS)

Our men on job, norm violators facing law: RTO Kashmir

Srinagar: The transporters who have resumed their work amid COVID-19 pandemic are taking the passengers for a ride in the Valley.

Pertinently, the Jammu and Kashmir government raised the passenger fare in public transport by 30 per cent.

However, the local passengers from different parts of the Valley told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the Sumo drivers who have resumed their work are charging exorbitant fare to them.

The passengers said that the public transporters have been giving different reasons for charging the exorbitant rates, adding that most of the time fare varies between Rs 20 to Rs 40.

“We can’t deny the fact that transporters have suffered huge losses. But, the public transporters should not compensate their losses by taking the common people on ride,” Ali Muhammad, a local residents from Srinagar said.

It is worth to mention here that the transporters resumed their activities after almost eleven months here. The transporters have suffered huge losses due to the shutdown and subsequent lockdown since August 5, 2019 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The passengers here have appealed the concerned authorities to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir, Ikramullah Tak told KNO that the complainant (passenger) should at least forward the registration number of the particular transporter so that action will be initiated.

“Our teams on the ground have been taking strict action against the norm violators while driving licenses of many drivers were also seized after they were found violating the norms,” Tak said, adding that any person having a complaint should contact the office directly and action will be taken immediately.

“People can even WhatsApp us their complaints vis-à-vis exorbitant charges,” he said—(KNO)