Jammu: Pakistani troops on Monday resorted to intense shelling in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, prompting strong retaliation by the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.
The shelling from across the border in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors was “unprovoked” and in violation of the ceasefire agreement between the two sides, he said.
The spokesperson said the Pakistani troops initiated ceasefire violation around 2.30 pm in the three sectors by shelling mortars and firing from small arms.
However, there was no report of any casualty in the cross-border shelling which was continuing when last reports were received, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Opposition parties led by the Congress criticised the farm bills tabled in Rajya Sabha on Sunday, saying they will not sign on the “death warrant” of farmers
The opposition charged that the two bills are aimed at benefitting big corporates and ending the minimum price based procurement by the government.
Rajya Sabha took up the discussion on The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill that have already been passed by Lok Sabha.
Photo Credit: PTI
K K Ragesh (CPI-M), Derek O’Brien (TMC), Trichi Siva (DMK) and K C Venugopal (Congress) moved resolutions for sending the two bills to a select committee of the House for consideration before they are taken up for passage.
Initiating the discussion on these two bills, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who hails from Punjab, described the proposed laws as “ill-conceived and ill-timed” and said his party “completely rejects” them.
He said the bills are against land owners across the country, especially those of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
“We will not sign on death warrants of farmers”, he said.
With agriculture being a state subject, he said the bills are against the federal cooperative spirit.
“We do not want any tinkering in APMC and the minimum support price ( MSP),” he said, and wondered what was the need to bring these bills during COVID-19.
Bajwa said farmers are on streets to protest against these two bills. “Those whom you want to benefit are on the streets”.
The Congress leader said that the BJP’s alliance partner Akali Dal has already opposed the Bills and Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Union Cabinet.
Bajwa said the bills have been brought with an “intention of ending the MSP (minimum support price) operations”.
“Slowly, the government will come out of this and then Ambani, Adani and big corporate houses will enter (market),” he alleged.
The Congress leader said the two bills are against the economic interest of Punjab, which has contributed a lot in making India self-sufficient in foodgrain production.
Defending the two Bills, Bhupender Yadav of the BJP charged that the Congress was doing politics over this issue and misleading farmers.
He asked the Congress why the farmers’ income did not increase in the last 60-70 years even as the country become self-sufficient in farm production.
These two important bills are the biggest agriculture reform in the country and will give justice to farmers by increasing their income, Yadav said.
He rued that food processing level is still very low in India and said the new age agriculture bills will boost processing, marketing, and exports of farm produces.
Yadav said a report of working group of agriculture production in 2010 suggested similar reforms. “Today, you (Congress) is doing politics. You are doing injustice with farmers because of politics,” he said.
However, he said the country and farmers are understanding the “politics” of the Congress. Farmers are a vote bank for the Congress, he said.
He highlighted various schemes and programmes launched by the prime minister in the last six years for the growth of the agriculture and allied sectors while noting that the budget for the agriculture sector has been enhanced.
Yadav said the government will continue to purchase crops at the minimum support price (MSP), which will prove the “falsehood” spread by the Congress.
“Opposition should stop doing politics and also misleading farmers,” he said.
Yadav also said the contract farming already exist in many states including Punjab and Haryana.
“We are not taking away land of farmers,” he said, and added that the two bills are only meant to harness the huge potential of the agriculture sector.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien demanded that the Bills should be send to a select committee.
“These bills need to be debated in Parliament. You have the numbers to have your way and we have the right to have our say and to keep you on track of Parliamentary democracy. This is very very dangerous trend we are following. Select committee is not a hand break…it is there to contribute. I am going to move select committee,” he said.
The TMC leader said the States have not been consulted on these Bills and questioned the government’s tall promises and its credibility.
“The PM said the opposition is trying to mislead the farmers. Let us see what credibility you have to make these speeches. You promised to double farmers’ income by 2022. At current rate, the farmer incomes would not double till 2028. I can also give big talk,” he said.
“You gave big lecture on ‘notebandi’. what has happened? After 50 minutes of announcing ‘notebandi’, Mamata Banerjee said withdraw this draconian decision. We told you but you did not listen,” he added.
Noting hat the government promised two crore jobs every year, he said: “Now you have the highest unemployment. You credibility is low to make promises.”
SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav said there seems to be some compulsion that the ruling party does not want to discuss the bills and is in a hurry to pass them.
He asked how farmers would find corporations to sell their produce.
“It appears that this bill has not been drafted by you. A son of a farmer cannot draft such a bill. When you go back to your native place, the youth would ask you what were you doing when our death warrants were being issued in Parliament,” he asked.
With inputs from PTI
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed anguish at the loss of lives in a building collapse at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra
Seven children were among ten people killed and 11 others rescued after a three-storeyed building collapsed in Bhiwandi town on Monday, police said.
“Saddened by the building collapse in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for a quick recovery of those injured. Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being provided to the affected,” Modi said.
With inputs from PTI
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court will have arbitration centres in both regions of the union territory to provide an institutionalised framework for speedy and expeditious resolution of disputes through an alternate dispute resolution mechanism.
The court has accorded approval to setting up of high court annexed arbitration centres at Srinagar and Jammu, an official spokesman said here on late Saturday evening.
The centres will be called The Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC)
For securing fair, speedy and inexpensive justice to the litigants and being sensitive to the fact that the object of the Section 89, in absence of detailed modalities, has remained somewhat dormant in Jammu and Kashmir, the court has set up these arbitration centres, the spokesman said.
He said to ensure that the constitution of such centres is smooth and effective, the high court has also framed The Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC) (International Management Rules, 2020) .
As per these rules, he said, the chief justice of the high court of Jammu and Kashmir shall be the patron-in-chief of the Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (JKIAC).
To monitor and oversee the centres, an arbitration committee consisting of three judges of the high court, advocate general, assistant solicitor general attached to the high court and three members to be nominated by the Chief Justice of the Common High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh out of whom at least one shall be designated senior advocate, while the others may be any arbitration expert, in India or abroad has to be established, the spokesman said.
He said to supervise and manage the JKIAC, a secretariat consisting of coordinator who shall be a member of higher judicial service and two additional coordinators who shall be members of Judicial Service, have to be appointed by the chief justice.
The spokesman said the rules further envisage appointment of Chief Counsel and Deputy Counsel amongst advocates having experience in the field of arbitration.
As per the rules, the JKIAC has to prepare and maintain a panel of arbitrators as approved by the arbitration committee from time to time from amongst the persons who are suitable and willing to serve as arbitrators provided that their suitability shall be determined by the arbitration committee, he said.
The empanelment of the arbitrators shall consist of former judges, former judicial officers, chartered accountants, bureaucrats, engineers, architects, professors etc, he added.
Similarly for dealing with arbitration proceedings in such centres, Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2020 have also been framed by the high court, the spokesman said.
For regulating the administrative fee of the centre and arbitrator’s fee, The Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre (Administration Pass and Arbitrator’s Fee) Rules, 2020 have been framed by the High Court.
The setting up of Jammu and Kashmir International Arbitration Centre would go a long way in achieving the object behind enactment of Section 89 Civil Procedure Code and at the same time shall ensure that arbitration proceedings remain inexpensive and are carried out within the shortest possible time, the spokesman said.
He said courts-annexed arbitration centres are successfully functioning at Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Chennai (Madras) and Cuttack (Orrisa).
President says the most encouraging feature of the policy is that it adheres to cultural ethos of each region
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said the National Education Policy (NEP) would help Jammu and Kashmir youth “to realise their true potential and make their dreams come true.”
“My dream is to see Jammu and Kashmir emerge as a centre of knowledge, enterprise, innovation and skill development. In the field of education and scholarly pursuits, the region has set unmatchable milestones. Many of the core ideas and concepts that have shaped the Indian mind over the centuries have emanated from this region,” President Kovind said in his address during a conference on the implementation of the NEP in the region.
3-language formula
He said the most encouraging feature of the policy was that it adhered to the cultural ethos of each region. “The three-language formula which is envisioned in this policy is of immense significance and can promote multilingualism as well as national unity. However, there will be greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any State or union territory,” he said.
The President said Jammu and Kashmir was a reservoir of extremely intelligent, talented and innovative children. “The implementation of the education policy will produce students with ‘ignited minds’, if I borrow the phrase of my illustrious predecessor Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The unfolding of India’s growth story rests on the talent and energy of its youth. In this regard, the NEP will prove to be a milestone,” Mr. Kovind said.
Referring to the Kashmiri historian, scholar and poet Kalhana, Mr. Kovind said, “From Hinduism to Buddhism to Sufi Islam, all faiths and beliefs have found home in the cultural ethos of this land. This peaceful and shared coexistence manifests in the lives of its people. We should always remember that education brings people together; it is ignorance that divides,” he added.
“Today, when we are seeing a new dawn in Jammu and Kashmir, we want the youth of this land to be the harbinger of change by excelling in their respective fields,” the President said.
In ‘trami’, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate.
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley’s centuries-old culinary tradition of ‘trami’ — eating together from one plate during weddings. But Kashmiris have learnt to adapt to the situation, understanding what social distancing means.
Changing times: People eating from separate vessels at a wedding in Srinagar | Photo Credit: Peerzada Ashiq (TH)
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley’s centuries-old culinary tradition of ‘trami’ — eating together from one plate during weddings. But Kashmiris have learnt to adapt to the situation, understanding what social distancing means.
In ‘trami’, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate.
Zahoor Zargar, a resident of Srinagar’s Lal Bazaar area, was in a fix about his daughter’s wedding in August as COVID-19 cases peaked in the Valley.
“I had already postponed the marriage twice since August last year due to the tumultuous situation. This time, the challenge was COVID-19. We decided to go ahead and ensure that the guests maintain social distancing,” he said.
And replacing ‘trami’ with individual copper utensils was the only option, he noted. “It was praised by the guests as it reduced their close contact with each other,” he added.
The trend seems to be picking up fast.
Nazeer Shah, a resident of Peerbagh, ensured that the invitation card of his son’s wedding had a line on serving the lunch: “No ‘trami’, the lunch will be served separately on copper plates,” it said.
“There were instances where guests would enquire about how the food will be served. If it was a ‘trami’, people would avoid the function for obvious reasons,” Mr. Shah said.
Azi Aziza, a college student, finds the new trend more comfortable. “A guest is bound by the ‘trami’ culture to start at a particular time. Anyone who misses a ‘trami’ is supposed to wait. However, the copper utensil gives flexibility. In COVID-19 crisis, it is a healthy alternative too,” Ms. Aziza said.
Rare scenes
In rare scenes in Kashmiri weddings this year, the ‘dastarkhan’ (long cloth spread on the floor), saw guests with face-shields and masks holding their own copper utensils around three metres away, as seven dishes were served by ‘Wazas’ (chef) from one utensil to another.
Many feel the new culture forced by the pandemic poses a threat to the ancient ‘Trami’.
“Affluence attained by locals during the Sultan period, especially during eighth Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, between 1418 and 1470, saw popularization of ‘Trami’. Since then, it has become central to weddings, with very minor changes in the sequencing of dishes over the centuries,” Zareef Ahmad Zareef, 73, the Valley’s well-known poet and writer, told The Hindu.
Serving of ‘Wazwan’ (array of meat dishes) on ‘Trami’ during weddings was adopted increasingly by the local population during the Sultan period in the 14th century and it became a unique feature.
Mr. Zareef fears that the pandemic may wipe off this slice of culture from Kashmir.
“During the Afghan rule, people of Kashmir saw Muslims switching from daytime weddings to late-night weddings to escape raids by the unbridled sepoys of the rulers. Eventually, weddings became a silent late-night affair. This pandemic is now threatening to take off ‘Trami’ from the ‘dastarkhan’,’’ he said.
“This prolonged pandemic in fact has threatened cultural moorings across the globe and Kashmir is not immune,” he pointed out.
For Mr. Zareef, ‘Trami’ epitomised a unique space, which brought down the walls of class and caste divide in society.
“In a wedding, ‘Trami’ sees people sitting around and eating from one plate irrespective of their class and caste. It symbolised brotherhood and sharing. It also created intimate spaces where people discussed politics, social issues and religion as the ‘Waza’ served the elaborate dishes,” Mr. Zareef said.
Minister says only strict adherence to the norms will help defeat pandemic
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said in the absence of a vaccine, only strict adherence to the norms of wearing masks, social distancing and maintaining personal hygiene could help in putting up an effective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He appealed to all the Lok Sabha MPs to ensure that people in their constituencies followed the norms.
Worldwide, 145 vaccine candidates are at the pre-clinical evaluation stage and 35 are undergoing clinical trials. In all, 30 candidates are being supported in India, of which three are at the advanced stages of phase-I, phase-II and phase-III trials, and four are at the pre-clinical trial advanced stages, said Dr. Vardhan, adding that a detailed strategy on vaccine production, storage, distribution and usage had already been prepared.
The Minister said in the past nine months, all the Chief Ministers, officials, non-government and religious organisations and the general public had come together to face the situation, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided the leadership.
He said, in his statements in February and March, he had shared the details of the measures taken by the government. Stating the lockdown period was utilised to create the necessary infrastructure, the Minister said against just one laboratory, there were now 1,773 units across the country and as a result, 6.37 crore tests had been conducted so far.
During the pandemic, the government had brought in over 12 lakh people stranded abroad. It provided ₹50 lakh insurance to more than 22 lakh healthcare and frontline workers. About 64 lakh workers and their family members were ferried. The PM CARES Fund was used to buy 50,000 ventilators. Local industries were encouraged to ramp up production of testing kits, PPEs and masks.
To enhance preparedness for future challenges, Dr. Vardhan said genome sequencing of 2,000 viruses had been done and 15 repositories of 40,000 virus had been created to encourage research works.
Earlier, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government was still not accepting that there was a community transmission. The epidemic could not be prevented but its intensity could have been mitigated by timely and well laid-out strategy, he said. He raised suspicion about under reporting of deaths. He also suggested a separate ministry for migrant labourers.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the Centre did not listen to his party leader Rahul Gandhi’s warning and that it did not make much effort to consult with the State governments and the Opposition, and rather, appeared more interested in toppling the then Madhya Pradesh government.
Mr. Tharoor said the government’s ₹20-lakh crore financial package inspired little confidence. He also raised the issue of mass exodus of workers and job losses. His party colleague Karti Chidambaram also criticised the government’s handling of the situation.
BJP MP Kirit Premjibhai Solanki listed the measures taken by the Centre on the distribution of free food grain, gas cylinders and direct cash transfers to widows, women, senior citizens and farmers, besides relief to migrant labourers and relaxation in taxes and fund infusions for developing health infrastructure and intervention.
Party leader Nishikant Dubey said the House should send a message that everyone — cutting across all parties, ideologies and religions — came together to help each other in addressing the situations arising out of the outbreak. He also requested that the definition of migrant workers be revisited, given that they could not be termed as migrants just because they worked in other States. The same view was expressed by JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh.
YSRCP’s B.V. Satyavathi appreciated the Centre’s post-lockdown efforts in balancing the need for saving lives and livelihoods.
However, DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran said the government woke up late and failed to effectively utilise the lockdown period.
“We realised on the 3rd of February that the first case of coronavirus was reported in Kerala. We should have woken up. We should have closed our borders. We should have started the checking. But what did we do? We had ‘Namaste Trump’ event because Trump was coming,” he said.
TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee shared details of the work done by the West Bengal government and raised the issue of GST arrears due to the States. Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant also sought necessary assistance to the States.
Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD), P. Raveendranath Kumar (AIADMK), Nama Nageswara Rao (TRS), Amol Ramsingh Kolhe of CPI(M), A.M. Ariff and Hasnain Masoodi (J&KNC), E.T. Mohammed Basheer (IUML), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal), Syed Imtiaz Jaleel (AIMIM), Locket Chatterjee (BJP) and Pradyut Bordoloi (Congress) also participated in the discussion.
