Blog

Appeals people to avoid crude electric gadgets, park vehicles inside premises

Srinagar: The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Pandorang K Pole on Tuesday ordered rationing of fuel, LPG and other essential commodities as “precautionary measure” amid ongoing major snowfall across valley. He appealed people not to go panic as every major snowfall doesn’t mean a call of disaster.

Talking exclusively to KNS, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole said that order has been issued as “precautionary one” even as stocks are full. “We are not low on stocks. The order is a precautionary, a preventive one to avoid any difficulty which may arise ahead in view of harsh weather”, Pole said.

He appealed people especially living in rural area not to go panic while seeing major snowfall. “Most of the populations live in rural belts who are majorly dependent on agriculture and horticulture. They too know that snowfall is in their interest which will increase their crop production in coming season”, he said.

Pole further said that people by and large should not go panic as it is not necessary that major snowfall would be a disaster. About inconveniences facing by people on ground, he appealed people to stop use of crude electrical devices in ongoing weather so that electricity could be saved.

He appealed people to park vehicles in their premises and stay away from parking it on roads as it costs heavy toll to men and machinery while snow clearance. “I appeal people to park vehicles inside their premises as it interrupts the snow clearance work if vehicles to be parked on outside”, he said an urged people stay inside and venture outside only in case of any exigency.

Divisional Commissioner also said that his office has passed strict directions to all Deputy Commissioners and asked them to ensure alertness of essential departments, besides ensure availability of supplies. “I passed direction to all DC’s and asked them to check the presence of employees of essential department including PDD, R&B, PHE, RDD, Municipal Committees etc so that people’s issues will be attended on time. Also I urged them to ensure uninterrupted supply of essentials to people on ground.

To a query, he said that authorities had already taken strong note of violations by mutton sellers who are selling it on exorbitant rates. “We had fixed price of mutton on scientific rates while discussing it to all stake holders. Many violators had been taken into task and those will not abide instructions of Government will too be booked under relevant sections of law”, he said.

The Divisional Commissioner officer earlier issued an order about rationing of fuel, LPG and other essential commodities as “precautionary measure” amid ongoing major snowfall across valley.

The order copy which lies in the possession of KNS reads that in continuation of this office communication No: Divcom/PS/Misc/2021/2610-27 dated 04. 01. 2021, the instructions are hereby issued for strict adherence by all concerned.

“The Petrol/Diesel shall be issued to the vehicles as under: Two wheeler: 03 litres; Three wheeler: 05 litres; Four wheeler (private): 10 litres; Four wheelers (commercial): 20 litres; Heavy motor vehicles/buses/trucks: 20 litres”, order reads.

According to order copy, the LPG cylinder shall be issued to the consumer only after 21-days against proper acknowledgement and record.
“All the concerned/Line Departments shall conduct extensive market checking to crack whip on the persons indulging in overcharging/black-marketing, profiteering etc. Concerned Tehsildar & TSO shall make surprise visits and ensure implementation of these directions and report through concerned by Dy. Commissioner accordingly”, order copy reads. (KNS) 

VC Prof Talat calls it great achievement in his congratulatory message

Srinagar: Days after being elected as Fellow of the Indian Society of Geomatics, Kashmir University’s Dean of Research Prof Shakil A Romshoo has been elected as Fellow of the prestigious Indian Academy of Sciences.
Prof Romshoo is the first Fellow of the Academy from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh ever since its inception in 1934. The Academy, which plays a pivotal role in furthering the cause of science in India, has so far elected around 2000 top-notch scientists from within and outside the country as its Fellows.
Founded by Nobel Laureate Professor C V Raman, the Indian Academy of Sciences is an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Congratulating Prof Romshoo on behalf of the university for this great achievement, KU Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad said he was glad to see Prof Romshoo being recognised by the Indian Academy of Sciences for his profound and sustained contributions to the promotion of science in the country.

“We all need to work together to raise the stature of science across the country and inculcate scientific temper amongst our youth,” Prof Talat said.

Pertinently, Prof Romshoo has made remarkable contributions to the understanding of glacier systems of the sparsely instrumented Himalaya, and to the investigation of feedbacks between various environmental niches—from alpine glaciers to the depleting river flows in the Indus basin, which was a knowledge gap. His research has produced crucial information for choosing policy and management options for sustainable use of depleting water resources and for meeting the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) obligations, and to deal with impacts of climate change in the basin, the waters of which are shared between India and Pakistan.

Prof Romshoo has demonstrated use of satellite data for implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The knowledge outcomes from some of his research endeavours have fed into policymaking for disaster management, environmental management and climate change at the national level.

Prof Romshoo has obtained Ph.D in Civil Engineering with a major in Microwave Remote Sensing from the University of Tokyo, Japan and MS in Space Technology from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. With 32 years’ academic experience, he has worked, in the past, as a scientist at the Japan Space Agency Tokyo and Fellow at The Energy and Research Institute, Delhi. He has published 200 peer-reviewed articles in international journals and has mentored 19 Ph.D. students till date. He has independently handled scores of major research projects at Kashmir University and is a member of several policymaking committees and working groups on environment, water, climate change and disaster management at the UT, national and international level.

Prof Romshoo is a recipient of a dozen national and international awards and has also been elected as Fellow of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing and, recently, the Indian Society of Geomatics too. (KNS)

Altaf Bukhari demands re-examination of candidates who missed Banking Associate exams because of snowfall

Srinagar: Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Tuesday demanded re-examination for the Banking Associates aspirants who failed to reach the examination centres across Kashmir division due to heavy snowfall.

In a statement issued “Kashmir News Service”, Bukhari urged the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha to intervene into the matter and get the JK Bank recruitment examination rescheduled for such aspirants who were stranded because of the inclement weather and could not appear at the examination centres.

“Conducting an important examination in a hostile weather condition, smacks of non-application of mind by the Bank’s recruitment authorities! When the Universities and other government recruitment agencies postponed examinations in view of the snowfall, why didn’t the JK Bank rescheduled its exams for the convenience of the aspirants and its examination staff?” Bukhari asked.

He said that hundreds of candidates from different parts of the Valley were eagerly waiting for the JK Bank examination for the last few years and many such candidates were unable to reach the examination venues because most of the roads are snowbound.

“A heavy spell of snowfall was expected and predicted by the MET department a week ago. This unprecedented situation left scores of banking associate aspirants and students, appearing in examinations, stranded. I appeal to Lt. Governor to intervene into the matter on humanitarian grounds so that these stranded candidates are not deprived of this golden opportunity,” he pleaded.(KNS)

Admin appeals people to coperate

Srinagar: As the complaints pour in about non-clearance of accumulated snow on the roads, the district administration Srinagar Tuesday said that the efforts are on to clear the road and appealed the people to cooperate with the departments on the ground.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the men and machinery has already been pressed to clear the roads.

“The vehicles on the roads delayed the process. The roads would have been cleared much time ago in case there could have been no traffic for some early hours,” he said.

He further stated that all the roads will be cleared within a shortest possible time. “It would take a few hours to clear the roads as the people now have cooperated with the administration on the ground,” he said.

Meanwhile, Srinagar administration in a tweet appealed to the residents for continued cooperation and assured round-the-clock efforts to ease disruptions resulting from the prevailing weather situation.

“We would like to request our residents for continued cooperation while our departments are out on the ground clearing the snow and restoring the affected services. We can assure of round-the-clock efforts to ease disruptions resulting from the prevailing weather situation,” Srinagar district administration tweeted—(KNO)

Further details awaited

Srinagar: Meteorological department on Tuesday said that present weather conditions are likely to continue till late night of early tomorrow and thereafter forecast “significant” improvement.

At present, heavy snowfall is going on in entire Kashmir, crippling normal life across the Valley. Most people have preferred to stay indoors even as a very minimal traffic movement was seen on road with commuters struggling to make the way.

“Present weather conditions are likely to continue till late tonight or early tomorrow,” an official of the weatherman said as per GNS. “We expect significant improvement in weather from tomorrow (January 6) in jammu and Kashmir,” he said, adding, “With that, cold wave will return from January 7th onwards with warmer days and colder night.” (GNS)

Baramulla: Three members of a family were found dead under mysterious conditions in Nehalpora area of Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday morning.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that three members of a family were found dead under mysterious conditions at their home in Nehalpora.

He said that soon after locals found their bodies, they informed the police, who reached the spot immediately.

The official said that head of the family Mohammad Maqbool Lone along with his wife and son were found dead at their home and may have died of suffocation.

Meanwhile, a senior police official told KNO that a police party had reached the spot and they were ascertaining the cause of their death.

“The bodies will be taken to hospital for autopsy and further probe has been initiated regarding the same,” he said—(KNO)

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Bank had put the hard work of hundreds of aspirants of Banking Associates in waste and their career in jeopardy by holding the exams on schedule today despite heavy snowfall which has disrupted road connectivity in Kashmir valley.

While the University of Kashmir and JK Board of School Education have postponed today’s scheduled examination due snowfall, the Bank has gone ahead with the exam.

According to news agency Kashmir Dot Com- (KDC) hundreds of aspirants from Kashmir valley are aghast at the bank for going ahead with the exams despite disruption in road connectivity due to snowfall.

The Valley has been receiving heavy snowfall since Monday which has closed highways and other internal roads of the districts.

The government has also sounded alert in hilly districts.

Aspirants said that this is callousness of the bank authorities to go ahead with the exam and it seems a way to facilitate exams of one region and deprive Valley aspirants of the opportunity.

“How can we reach exam centers on time when there is no transport due to heavy snowfall? We won’t be able to avail this opportunity despite us having spent months for preparation. It seems JK Bank is depriving Kashmiri aspirants of this job opportunity. There is a design in it,” several aspirants told Kashmir Dot Com.

The aspirants have urged LG administration to intervene and immediately defer the exams till weather improves in Kashmir. (KDC)

SNOW STORM POSSIBILITY

As predicted earlier, heavy to very heavy snowfall/rain most likely in Jammu and Kashmir from tonight till 6th Forenoon.

May affect surface and Air Transportation.

Avoid venturing out, if avoidable.

Significant improvement from 6th onwards.

Regards (IMD J&K)

For details Pls Contact: 0194-2430112