Category: Union Territory

New Delhi: China is constructing a second bridge in an area held by it around the strategically key Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh and it could help the Chinese military to quickly mobilise its troops in the region, according to satellite imagery and people familiar with the development on Wednesday.
The bridge is being built amid the lingering standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries at several friction points in eastern Ladakh for over two years.
There is no official reaction or comment by the Indian defence establishment on the new construction.
China has been focusing on strengthening its military infrastructure after Indian troops captured several strategic peaks on the southern bank of the Pangong lake in August 2020 after the Chinese PLA attempted to intimidate them in the area.
India too has been constructing bridges, roads and tunnels in the border regions as part of overall efforts to enhance military preparedness.
It is learnt that China has recently completed the construction of the first bridge in the area.
The people cited above said the new bridge is being built in an area that is over 20 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Damien Symon, a geospatial intelligence researcher, who keeps track of Chinese activities along the LAC, posted satellite images of the new construction on Twitter.
Symon, who uses the handle @detresfa_ said a “larger bridge” is being developed parallel to the first one, adding the likely aim of the construction is to “support larger/heavier movement” (of the military) over the lake.
The satellite image posted by Symon noted that the bridge is being built from both sides simultaneously.
The bridge is likely to cut the distance significantly from the depth area of Rudok to the region around the LAC in Pangong Tso.
The eastern Ladakh faceoff began on May 4-5 in 2020. India has been insisting on the restoration of the status quo ante prior to the standoff.
India and China have held 15 rounds of military talks so far to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. As a result of the talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the LAC were key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.
Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control in the sensitive sector. PTI

Transporters admit probable shortage, say Govt not allowing more vehicles to ply, commuters express resentment

Syed Nashir Ali Gillani

Srinagar, May 19 (ANH): As the huge influx of tourists have already kept the transporters engaged with visitors, the forthcoming annual Amarnath Yatra, commencing from June 30, 2022, is expected to lead to the shortage of public transport in the Valley, which would leave the local populace here to lurch at large.

During the 43-day-long pilgrimage, around eight lakh pilgrims are expected to pay obeisance at holy cave, located in Pahalgam area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

The registration for pilgrimage is taking place after a gap of two years as the annual religious practice remained suspected in wake of the deadly pandemic—Covid -19 that claimed hundreds of lives and infected thousands of people in Jammu and Kashmir like other parts of the country.

While reviewing yatra arrangements on April 11, the union Information &Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry’s Secretary, Apurva Chandra had said that this year’s yatra is expected to be much bigger than before.

“Around 6-8 lakh pilgrims are expected to pay obeisance at the holy cave. Full proof security measures are being taken for smooth conduct of the yatra,” he had added.

General Secretary of All Kashmir Taxi Maxi Cab Transporters (ATMCT), Rouf Ahmad Ahanger while talking to Asian News Hub (ANH) admitted that the shortage of transport will be cent percent felt on the ground during forthcoming annual Amarnath yatra.

“We have already approached the government many times to allow more vehicles to ply but nothing has been done in this regard. Had the permission been granted, many unemployed youth would have been earning their livelihood,” he added.

With a huge number of tourists and devotees expected to arrive in the valley this season, the shortage of public transport would likely create problems for the commuters, especially during peak hours.

“The commuters are already facing inconvenience in absence of adequate public transport. The government is doing nothing to address the grave issue. It should provide better transport facilities to the commuters,” Arif Hussain, a commuter at Amira Kadal, who travels daily from Hazratbal to Batmaloo to attend his office, said.

The majority of the population doesn’t have their own transport and thus use public transport for traveling to reach their destinations.

“We are not against anyone. Tourists, devotees as well as the local populace equally need public transport to commute. The government should not leave us at God’s mercy rather should make prior arrangements for the wellbeing of the people,” said another commuter, Arshid Ahmad at Khanyar, who travels from Khanyar to Lal Chowk to reach his shop.

Despite repeated attempts, transport commissioner of J&K, Bhupinder Kumar could not be contacted for his comments.(ANH)

Says have rescued snakes since March this year; My effort always remains no to harm animals while rescuing; Early summer pushing snakes out of hides; Urges locals not to take risk, give respect to animals; always call experts for rescue

Srinagar, May 18: Aliya Mir, 41, the lone wildlife expert from Srinagar, is earning fame and taking social media by a storm for her unique art of rescuing the dangerous wild animals like snakes, reptiles, bears, leopards in a most passionate and play-way manner.

Mir believes that every wild animal deserves respect and no one should harm them. Her video while rescuing a 6-feet reptile stuck in a scooty outside civil secretariat evoked tremendous response on the social media with netizens praising her work. As per Mir, she has been in the field of wildlife since past 15 years and has an expertise of dealing with all kinds of wild animals.

Since March this year, Mir has rescued 50 snakes/reptiles from various parts of Kashmir including Srinagar. She says as Kashmir too is witnessing early summer, snakes, reptiles and other wild animals are coming out of their hides early. At present Mir is Project Manager at Wildlife SoS that works in collaboration with the Kashmir Wildlife department.

“This indeed is a tough job which needs courage and art. My endeavour always has been to rescue animals including snakes etc without harming them. The recent case outside Civil Secretariat was a tough job as the reptile had coiled itself and if I would have pulled it, that would have caused harm to it,” Mir told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), in an exclusive interview. “Applying all my mind and art I have learned over the years, I finally succeeded in pulling the reptile without causing any harm to it.”

The 41-year-old Mathematician-turned wild life expert, said her effort always remains to reach the spot as early as possible to ensure locals don’t cause harm to the animal. Mir started working as a volunteer with Wildlife SOS in 2007 and later joined as a project manager. She underwent some on-campus training besides certificate courses on handling man-animal conflict.

She says that her job does not merely involve catching or rescuing animals or reptiles, but also rehabilitating them. “I don’t remember the exact number, but over the years I have rescued snakes, bears, turtles, birds, bears and leopards from various residential areas in the Srinagar district,” she says.

Mir’s most famous operations include rescuing poisonous snakes from the residences of former Jammu Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

Wildlife SOS is a conservation non-profit organisation that has been rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals since 1995, helping in biodiversity conservation. Mir is being praised on the internet for her bravery. “Not easy to deal with snakes… salute to you,” wrote a netizen. Another one wrote, “This needs courage… you have that… God bless.” Mir urges locals not to harm or attack wild animals and instead call her for the timely rescue. “Every wild animal deserves respect and love. We have no right to harm them,” she said—(KNO)

Srinagar, May 18: At least 5 percent women and nine percent men in Jammu and Kashmir are getting married before attaining the minimum legal age required for getting married.

As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the National Health and Family Survey (NHFS) data says that one percent of women in the 15-19 years of age group have started bearing child which rises from one percent at 18 years of age to 4 percent among women 19 years of age.

“In Jammu & Kashmir, the median age at first marriage is 23.6 years among women aged 25-49 years and twenty-seven percent of women aged 20-49 years have never married, compared with 35  percent of men aged 20-49,” it adds.

“Five percent of women aged 20-24 years got married before attaining the legal minimum age of 18 years,  down from 9 percent in NFHS-4 and nine percent of men aged 25-29 years were married before the legal minimum age of 21 years,” it said.

The survey divulging details about teenage pregnancy among women in age group 15-19 said that one percent of women in the 15-19 year age group have already begun bearing children. That is, they have already had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child, down from 3 percent in NFHS-4.

“The proportion of women who have started childbearing rises sharply from 1 percent at age 18 years to 4 percent among women age 19 years and the proportion who have begun childbearing is much higher among young women who had no schooling (6%) than those with 1 or more years of schooling (0.6%),” it added—(KNO)

Says service related issues of KP employees to be resolved soon, place of duties to be ensured close to towns, district headquarters; 2100 backlog surgeries conducted in week-long medical camp organized in unison with Rotary Int’l; F&ES deptt to conduct safety audit of all main offices of Govt deptt

Srinagar, May 18: Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P K Pole on Wednesday that the inquiry into the killing of two civilians in Pulwama was on and if the slain duo is found innocent, the government will provide jobs to the next of kin of both the civilians under SRO 43.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), he also said that the service related issues of the agitating Kashmiri Pandit employees will be resolved soon and that nearly 2100 backlog surgeries have been conducted in the past one week during the medical camp organized by the Rotary International in northern and central Kashmir districts.

Addressing a news conference, Pole, who was accompanied by Director Health Services, Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad and Dr Rajiv Pradhan¸ Chief, Rotary Club here said that the magisterial enquiry into the civilian killings in Pulwama is already underway. “The civilian involvement is being probed and if their involvement is not found, all the relief measures and SRO43 benefits will be provided to their families,” Pole said.

About the Kashmiri Pandit employees, he said that he chaired a meeting today with HoDs, Chief Engineers and Directors and they were asked that the positing of these employees should be given close to the towns and district headquarters so that the vulnerable areas will be avoided and the sense of security is ensured to the Kashmiri Pandits.

“All the service related issues including duties in far-off places, transfers of couples at the same place and other related issues falling under my jurisdiction will be completed soon and implemented on the ground,” Pole said.

Asked about the fire incident at the Traffic headquarters building in the midnight, Pole said that these incidents occur especially due to the wooden roof. “Fire and Emergency Service department will visit all the major offices of government departments and conduct a fire audit there. The fire extinguishers will be made available to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.

Sharing details of a medical health camp organized by Rotary International, Pole said that the backlog surgeries that were postponed due to the three Covid waves were conducted. “Nearly 2100 surgeries have been conducted at almost 14-15 operation theatres, working from the last one week, which start functioning from morning 7 am to evening 8 pm,” he said.

The surgeries were conducted in northern and central districts of Kashmir, he said, adding that on the request of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, the camp will be organized in South Kashmir as well.

Dr Rajeev Pradhan, International Rotary Governor, said that the club has been working in different countries to ensure better health to the people. After northern and central Kashmir, the camp will be organized in South Kashmir on the request by Lieutenant Governor in coming days,” he said.

Director Health Services, Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad said that there were nearly 8000 backlog surgeries due to the third wave of Covid-19 and in the last one week, over 2100 major surgeries were conducted.

“We have already received directions from the Divisional Commissioner to clear the backlog surgeries. We will do that at earliest,” he said, as per KNO correspondent.

About the heart transplantation surgeries, he said that a survey will be conduct to identify the patients, whose registration will be done following which the procedure will be carried out—(KNO)

Accused persons arrested: Official

Anantnag, May 18: A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and later raped in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, official said on Wednesday.

An official told local news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that while conducting routine track clearance, a team of railway police spotted a girl along with two boys in a railway hut.

While investigating the matter, the girl (name withheld) alleged that she was kidnapped by two boys when she was on way to her home on Tuesday, official said.

He added that minor alleged that two youth namely Danish Ahmad Rather son of Basheer Ahmad Rather and Mukhtar Ahmad Rather son of Mohammad Shafi Rather both residents of Hassanpora Tavela kidnapped her. A case in this regard has been registered and further investigations have been taken up.

The girl is was handed over to family after medico—legal examination. The accused duo are under custody in Police station Wanpoh and further investigation is going on—(KNO)

Farooq Abdullah’s partnership with Ikhwan would put a third grade Bollywood villain to shame: PC

Srinagar, May 18: A day after senior National Conference leader and former MLA Javed Rana dubbed Sajad Lone as a “former militant”, Peoples Conference on Wednesday said that NC president and former CM Dr. Farooq Abdullah’s “partnership” with Ikhwan and what he got them to do under the table would put a third grade Bollywood villain to shame.

In a series of tweets, according to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), PC lashed out at NC for dubbing Sajad Lone as a “militant”. “This is typical of them. They call us a New Delhi man in Kashmir; they call us a militant in Jammu; And when in Delhi they call us a Pakistani man,” PC tweeted

The PC’s remarks came a day after NC leader Javed Rana called Sajad Lone a “former militant” in Omar Abdullah’s presence.

The PC alleged that NC has got hundreds of Kashmiris killed or jailed through slander campaign

The PC asked NC was not it Dr. Farooq Abdullah who held a joint rally with Ikhwan founder Kuka Parrey.

“If the NC wants a debate on who has killed who, we are ready for it. Was it not Dr. Farooq Abdullah who held a joint rally with an Ikhwani by the name of Kuka Parray. Is it not the same Kuka Parray who has dozens and dozens of murders to his name,” the party tweeted.

The party said that Farooq Abdullah’s partnership with Ikhwan would put a third grade Bollywood villain to shame.

“What Dr. Farooq Abdullah ordered as a CM and how many Kashmiri Muslims he killed is a different matter. But his partnership with the Ikhwan and what he got to do under the table would put a third grade Bollywood villain to shame,” the party tweeted.

The PC said that they are part of the mass tortured Kashmiri and have condemned violence in all its forms and manifestations—(KNO)

Jammu: The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Tuesday passed a resolution for the removal of loudspeakers and public address systems operating without permission from religious and public places, evoking criticism from the rival Congress.
This decision comes after Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra implemented a similar order.
Narotam Sharma, corporator of Ward 3, introduced a resolution in the House meeting of JMC seeking directions to the district magistrate to remove loudspeakers and public address systems that are being operated in banquet and community halls, mosques, temples, gurdwaras, churches and other religious shrines without permission.
As per the resolution, the Jammu district magistrate is required to ensure that no such devices are played within the JMC Jurisdiction between 10 pm to 6 am.
“Our corporator brought the resolution on illegal loudspeakers. It was tabled here in the House and passed,” Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta told reporters, adding that the administration will act on it.
As the Congress opposed the resolution, Gupta said, “There was no need for any opposition on this as it pertains to all religions.”
He was of the opinion that only those public address systems with requisite permissions should be allowed within a permissible decibel. PTI

Srinagar, May 18: Traffic headquarters office was partially gutted in a pre-dawn fire at Molana Azad (MA) road in Kashmir capital Srinagar on Wednesday, officials said.

They told news agency Kashmir Dot Com that a fire broke out on the last floor of the Traffic headquarters office this morning. Fire engines were rushed to spot immediately after receiving the information about the blaze.

Last storey of the building was completely damaged in this blaze which was contained after hectic efforts by the fire and emergency men besides teams from SDRF without causing further damage to the office building.

A police official told KDC that the cause of the fire was not immediately known, however a case is being registered and further investigation have been set into motion. Various records lying in the last floor of the traffic department were gutted completely in this mishap, he said, adding that there was no injury to any person in this mishap. (KDC)

Burka clad militant hurled grenade inside shop through porthole window: Police

Baramulla, May 17: A 52-year-old man was killed while three others sustained injuries after militants lobbed a grenade inside a Wine shop, located at Dewan Bagh area in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday evening.

Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, however, one among them identified as Ranjit Singh, son of Krishan Lal (52), of Rajouri has succumbed to his injuries.

The injured have been identified as Govinder Singh of Kathua, Ravi Kumar son of Kartar Chand of Khatua and Govind Singh from Rajouri district of Jammu division.

They said that the condition of one among the three injured persons, Govind Singh, is stated to be critical and has been referred to Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment.

Meanwhile, the search operation has been launched in the area to nab the attackers.

Moreover, police in a tweet also confirmed the death of one injured, saying that the militants lobbed a hand grenade inside a newly opened wine shop in Baramulla and said that the area has been cordoned.

“Terrorists lobbed hand grenade inside a newly opened wine shop in Baramulla. O4 employees got injured. One among them succumbed to his injuries. All are from Jammu division. Area cordoned and search started to nab culprits,” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

Police in a statement issued to KNO said that two militants riding on a bike stopped near the newly opened wine shop at Dewan Bagh Baramulla. “The pillion rider wearing a Burka walked to the window of the said wine shop and dropped a grenade inside the said wine shop through the porthole window and thereafter fled away on the bike from the spot.”

“In this incident, four employees of the said shop received splinter injuries. All the injured were immediately shifted to nearby hospital however, one among the injured identified as Ranjit Singh son of Kishan Lal resident of Bakra Rajouri succumbed to his injuries. The other injured employees have been identified as Govardhan Singh son of Bijendra Singh, Ravi Kumar son of Kartar Singh, both residents of Billawar Kathua and Govind Singh son of Gurdev Singh resident of Kangra Rajouri. Among the injured Govind Singh has been referred to Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment,” the statement said.

Senior police officers immediately reached at the spot while the area has been cordoned and search in the area is going on, police said, adding that a case has been registered in this regard under relevant sections of law and investigation is in progress. “Officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances of the incident,”—(KNO)