Category: Union Territory

‘Continue to be non-state subjects; are issued Identity Certificates’

Srinagar: Discounting the “false and contrived impression” being created regarding the change of status of the West Pakistan Refugees (WPR), the Government today made it clear that such reports are deliberately being circulated to destabilize the situation and hit the political and economic interests of the people.

“It seems an orchestrated and misleading campaign has been launched to create an impression that the Government is changing the status of the WPR and they are being provided domicile certificates,” Minister for Education and State Government spokesman, Naeem Akhtar said in a statement.

Akhtar said the refugees who were settled in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the partition of the subcontinent, included those from PaK and West Pakistan. “While the refugees from PaK have the status of the permanent residents of the State, those from West Pakistan are not entitled to permanent residence as they are not the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said and added that given their present status, “the West Pakistan refugees are entitled to vote in the Parliamentary elections, but can’t exercise their franchise in the state assembly polls.”

He said as the WP refugees can’t apply for any job within the State because of being non-state subjects, to facilitate them to get jobs in paramilitary forces and other central government establishments, the Government has issued them “Identity Certificates which are in the same format as existing in the voter list for the Parliamentary polls.”

“Issuance of Identity Certificates does in no way change the status of the West Pakistan Refugees and they continue to be the non-state subjects,” he said.

 “Now when the situation has started improving in Kashmir with academic, tourism, developmental and economic activities slowly picking up again, unfortunately speculative reports are being passed around about the change of status of the WPRs to create confusion and once again fuel disquiet,” he said and urged the people not to give credence to such “unsubstantiated and disingenuous reports.”

SOME PEOPLE CREATING FUSS FOR NOTHING: BJP

BJP General Secretary (organization), Ashok Koul Thursday said there is no proposal of issuing domicile certificates to the West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs).

“Some people are creating unnecessary fuss over nothing. The WPRs are not be given any domicile certificates, but they are being issued identification certificates,” he told KNS.

Asked to explain the difference in identification and domicile certificates, Koul clarified that the WPRs are applying for jobs in paramilitary forces, since they have been living here for decades now, so they need a certificate for it.

“The concerned tehsildars will be issuing identification certificates to them after proper identification by concerned Numberdars. There is no case of domicile certificates. How can they be given domicile certificates when they aren’t the State subjects of this State,” Koul told KNS.

He said some people are creating unnecessary uproar over the issue the same way as they created over Sainik colony. “We weren’t going to settle non-state subject sainiks in those colonies,” he added.   KNS

Srinagar: As under the UJALA scheme launched in the state, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps are being distributed among people in Jammu and Kashmir; an American study has stated that such LEDs can adversely impact human health.
The JK Government has launched UJALA scheme under which consumers can purchase up to 5 LED bulbs at a rate of Rs. 20 each bulb by showing their electricity bill or the identity cards.
The basic aim according to government was to provide easy and efficient light energy to every household therefore. The scheme is expected to bring the electricity bill down for the consumers and saves the electricity for the state & for the nation as well.
But what is worrying that its light could have adverse impact on health.
According to a report released by the American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health after looking at LED street lighting on US roadways found that blue light it emits can be “harmful”. “The human eye perceives the large amount of blue light emitted by LEDs as white. Blue light directly affects sleep by suppressing the production of the hormone melatonin, which mediates the sleep-wake cycle in humans,” the study says.
The study has assumed significance in J&K as government launched the scheme which the power development department will distribute 80 lakh LED bulbs in the state which will help to reduce peak demand in the state by about 250 MW and will save energy consumption by 260 mKWh translating into an annual saving of about Rs 130 crore.
LEDs are semiconductors that make old-fashioned light bulbs (incandescent) and even energy savers (compact fluorescents) look incredibly inefficient.
The US report says that compared with conventional street lighting, the blue-rich white LED is five times more disruptive to sleep cycle. It has suggested that a long-term increase in the risk for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity caused by chronic sleep disruption due to exposure to blue light. “The excessive blue wavelength contributes to glare effects as a result of larger scattering in the human eye.”
Contrary to the popular notion that bright LED lighting increases road safety, the report says discomfort and disability glare caused by unshielded, bright LED lighting negatively impacts visual acuity, thus “decreasing safety and creating road hazards”.

Early Times Report

Srinagar freezes at minus 6.5 degree Celsius

Srinagar: On its arrival, ChillaiKalaan, the harshest 40-day period of winter in Kashmir, brought the coldest night of the season with temperature dipping below minus 6.5 degree Celsius.

“Mercury in Srinagar plunged further to settle at minus 6.5 degrees Celsius – a degree below the previous night’s minimum of minus 5.5 degrees Celsius,” an official of local Meteorological Department told Greater Kashmir.

The official informed that it was the coldest night of the season so far in Srinagar, adding, “In recent past, Srinagar had recorded minus 6.6 degrees Celsius on December 27, 2010. The all-time low recorded in December in Srinagar is minus 12.8 degrees Celsius on December 13, 1934.”

The cold wave forced most of the commuters who use two wheelers to travel to use alternative mode of transportation on Wednesday. Some water bodies, including the fringes of the Dal Lake and water supply pipes were frozen.

Leh recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury settled at a low of minus 14.9 degrees Celsius.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today said there is “no truth” in former PDP MP Tariq Hamid Karra’s claims that he was offered the Chief Minister’s post by the BJP and the statement was made to create “confusion” in the coalition government.

“There is no truth in it (his remarks claiming that BJP had offered him Chief Minister’s post thrice),” he told reporters here.

Singh was replying to a volley of questions about the remarks of Karra, who had resigned from PDP and the Lok Sabha over the government’s handling of the recent unrest in Kashmir  that he was offered the CM’s chair by BJP for ensuring that PDP-BJP government in J&K continued uninterrupted.

“He is resorting to such statements after leaving the party. There is nothing of such nature,” the Deputy Chief Minister said, adding this is being done to create “confusion” in the coalition government.

Replying to another question about advancing the Budget Session to January 2, he said this has been done to facilitate better spending of expenditure and increasing the working season in this northern state.

Asked whether the Budget Session would be stormy in view of Winter Session of Parliament getting washed away due to Opposition’s protest, he said, “We are ready to face Opposition in the House with our report card and the issues that were raised during the previous sessions have been addressed”.

“The Opposition had also made an attempt to make issues out of non-issues during the previous sessions and to polarise the situation and create regional rifts. We hope that Opposition will not create such situation this time,” he said.

“We hope that the session passes off peacefully and people’s issues are raised as there is short working season here. We are opened to criticism and suggestions. “Mainstream should not talk like separatists and if they do it on the floor of the House it would be unfortunate. There should be no such issues in the Assembly,” he said.

“We will accept if we have faulted but criticism should be positive and aimed to help the people,” Singh said.

On the Supreme Court’s judgement on Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act), he said the judgment is within the constitution of India and Jammu and Kashmir and the state government has already given its point of view on it through its spokesman earlier.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) is going to declare the results of the 10th and 12th class annual examinations for Kashmir valley next month.

“We have asked the Board authorities to fast-track the evaluation process so that the results are declared at the earliest,” Minister for Education, Mr Naeem Akhtar said.  He said hopefully the result of 12th class will be out by 20 January 2017 while the result of the 10th class will be declared by 22 January 2017.

The Minister said that the practical examination of 12th class is still going on and the process would be completed by 28 December 2016.

He said to help students make up for the precious academic time lost because of the disturbances during the summers, the Education Department has already started the process of organizing free tuitions and coaching under CM’s Super-50 programme.

“Around 6000 students appeared in the screening test for CM’s Super-50 Coaching at various centres in the Valley yesterday and the results of the test would be declared on December 24,” he said and added that the coaching would begin on December 26.

The Minister said that on the basis of their performance in the screening test, 1200 students will be short-listed for regular tuitions and free coaching for JKCET, NEET, JEE, AIIMS, AMU and other competitive examinations at the Srinagar centre while 50 students each will be shortlisted for coaching at district centres.

He said the guest lectures are also being arranged by the faculty from higher education department, medicos, professionals and IITians with regular counseling sessions and test series to check the progress of the students.

Pertinently, several students from the CM’s Super-50 Coaching programme had last year cracked the prestigious competitive examinations including JEE for admission to IITs and NITs.

The initiative is a comprehensive free tuition program for 10th and 12th class students of Jammu and Kashmir who are tutored by top faculty drawn from the Education Department. 

Srinagar: Kashmir University (KU) today appointed Faheem Aslam as public relations officer (PRO) to its Vice-Chancellor Khurshid Iqbal Andrabi.Aslam is holding the charge of the PRO of the varsity and has been assigned the additional charge as the PRO to the VC. In 2011, Aslam was appointed as the PRO in Convocation Complex of the varsity. In 2015, he was appointed as the full-fledged PRO of the university.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday directed the government not to restrict movement of JKLF Chairman Yaseen Malik, in keeping with the law.

Hearing a petition by Malik, a bench of Justice MuzaffarHussain Attar directed the government to follow the provisions of law with regard to movement of the petitioner.

“Follow the mandate contained in Article 19 (1) (d) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the court said 

“The respondents (authorities) however, will not be prevented from proceeding in accordance with law if they feel that any action in terms of law is required to be taken,” the court said, asking the authorities to inform the court if Malik was put under surveillance, if so for what reason.

The directions followed after Malik’s counsel Mian Abdul Qayoom submitted that the government breaches without any right or reason right of personal liberty of the petitioner guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (d) and Article 21 of the Constitution to move freely throughout the territory of India.

He submitted that without any legal justification Malik is being kept under surveillance by the police. The respondents, he argued, have no authority to impede the liberty of the petitioner.

Malik has approached the court seeking directions not to cause any kind of interference with the right of movement of the petitioner and not to keep any police personnel for the surveillance of the petitioner outside his residence.

He also sought directions that no police personnel should follow him, on motorcycle or on any other conveyance, while he is travelling from one place to another.

Additional Advocate General B A Dar, who was present, accepted notice on behalf of government after the court asked for it. The government has been directed to file objections to the petition by the next week.

Srinagar: Cold wave tightened its grip on Kashmir Valley ahead of the onset of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ the 40-day harshest winter period – with the summer capital Srinagar and Leh town recording the coldest night of the season.

Chillai-Kalan, considered the harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum, has begun from today.

As per Srinagar based MeT department, minimum temperature was minus 6.2 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam and minus 3.0 degrees Celsius in Gulmarg. Qazigund – the gateway town to Kashmir valley – is another place which experienced the coldest night of the season with minus 7 degree temperature. Leh, in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, also recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 14 degrees Celsius- down from the previous night`s minus 13.8 degrees Celsius. The MeT department has suggested that it is going to continue like this for the next few days as the weather is likely to be dry and cold. The Dal lake has already frozen partially, halting shikara activities at places.

The MeT department has suggested that it is going to continue like this for the next few days as the weather is likely to be dry and cold. The Dal lake has already frozen partially, halting shikara activities at places. As per Srinagar based MeT department, minimum temperature was minus 6.2 degrees Celsius in Pahalgam and minus 3.0 degrees Celsius in Gulmarg. Leh, in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, also recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 14 degrees Celsius- down from the previous night`s minus 13.8 degrees Celsius. Qazigund – the gateway town to Kashmir valley – is another place which experienced the coldest night of the season with minus 7 degree temperature.

The weather usually remains cold during this period with the mercury remaining several degrees below freezing point, which often leads to freezing of water supply lines as well as water bodies, including the famous Dal Lake.

Leh, in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, also recorded the coldest night of the season as the mercury there settled at a low of minus 14 degrees Celsius- down from the previous night’s minus 13.8 degrees Celsius.

He said Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state.

Qazigund the gateway town to Kashmir Valley was another place which experienced the coldest night of the season, the official said.

He said the mercury in the town settled at a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius compared to minus 3.8 degrees Celsius on Monday.

He said the north Kashmir town of Kupwara recorded a low minus 4.8 degrees Celsius, against minus 4.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.

The official said Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir which serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra recorded a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius nearly a degree down from minus 5.3 degrees Celsius 24 hours earlier.

He said the resort was the coldest place in the Valley.

The mercury at the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius half a degree up from yesterday s low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Kokernag town of south Kashmir settled at a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.