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  • COVID-19: SoPs go for a toss in Kashmir

    Restrictions on entry of cabs into city cause overcrowding in buses, no room for social distancing in passenger vehicles, say commuters

    Srinagar, Jan 05: With the government efforts trying to contain the spread of new Covid-19 variant Omicron, on the contrary the SOPs issued by the authorities go for the toss.

    The commuters says that the authorities in the Srinagar city has turned a blind eye into the traffic overcrowding, leading to threat of mass spread of the virus.

    Commuters allege that restriction on cabs to enter in the city has led to overcrowding of local buses, where maintaining social distancing is difficult.

    Top officials of the Srinagar traffic department told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that they are following were following the orders issued by the High Court.

    “We don’t know anything about the violation of Covid-19 SOPs. We are following the court directions,” the official said.

    He said that the new order is issued to de-congest Srinagar from unnecessary traffic mess so that smooth commute is possible. Whereas Covid-19 is considered, it is everywhere.

    “Be it a small cab or big bus, we are in the grip of the virus. Rather, in buses social distancing is somehow possible than in small cabs,” he said.

    The official further said that the directions of restricting cabs in the city were issued after a well thought process by the High Court to de-congest Srinagar.

    “We will look into the requirement of transport at different places and take the necessary action as required and redresses the issues of the general public,” he said.

    The official of the Srinagar traffic department added that prior to this order, all cab drivers used to park their vehicles anywhere on the road, thus violating their contract carriage permit.

    “They have to pick up the passengers from their point of origin to the destination. They are not supposed to stop at multiple stops. It had a negative impact on our local transportation. The order was not followed as it should have been. The new order will soon bear its fruits,” the official said—(KNO)

  • Road Closure Forces Hilan Boniyar Residents to Ferry Pregnant Woman On Cot

    Uri, Jan 5: Villagers in Boniyar in frontier north Kashmir’s Baramulla district were forced to ferry an expecting woman on a cot due to closure of roads for vehicular traffic amid prevailing inclement weather conditions.

    The woman, a resident of Hillan Phalipora was carried by several men of her neighbourhood on a cot, after she complained of labour pain.

    Husband of the expecting woman Mohammad Saleem Khattana told GNS that they informed PHC Boniyar to send a vehicle to carry her however due to closure of link road they (hospital staff) could not reach to fetch her to the health facility.

    Sensing the exigency, I along with several of my neighbourhood people carried her on a cot upto five kilometres from where we boarded the hospital vehicle, he said.

    Urging the authorities to clear the snow clogged roads, Khattana seconded by several others asked for restoration of roads to avoid any difficulty to the patients and commoners alike.

    Meanwhile BMO Boniyar Dr. Pervaiz Masoodi told GNS that directions have been already passed to all officials concerned to evacuate all the women expecting deliveries’ in coming days to avert any emergency.

    Regarding the particular incident, the Medical Officer said that they even had asked (this) woman to get herself admitted, but she didn’t. (GNS)

  • Doctors Body Kashmir Says Booster dose from different vaccine offers better protection

    Srinagar, Jan 05: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Friday said booster dose from a Covid-19 vaccine that is different from the one used for initial vaccination offers better protection.

    “Booster shots from a different vaccine are highly effective in preventing Covid-19 infection,” said DAK President and Influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

    Quoting Cov-Boost study from UK, Dr Hassan said the immune response increases significantly if Novavax is used as a booster after two doses of AstraZeneca (known as Covishield in India) and a further increase is seen with the inclusion of mRNA vaccine.

    “The study showed that the booster dose of Covishied increased the antibody levels by 3.25, while a booster shot of Covavax increased the same by eight times and mRNA vaccine boosted the titers by 24 times,” he said.

    Novavax, a US-based protein vaccine which is manufactured in India under the brand name Covavax was recently approved by central drug authority, CDSCO.

    The DAK President said mixing different vaccines is called heterologous prime-boost and it trains the body’s immune system to recognize the virus in more than one way.

    “Interchangeability of vaccines could make the fight against Covid-19 stronger and help prevent and control the spread of Covid-19 in communities,” he added.

    “Of the approved vaccines, we have data for Covavax as a better booster,” said Dr Nisar.

    “So it is reasonable to change booster to Covavax to those who have received two doses of Covishield than another dose of the same vaccine,” he said.

    General Secretary DAK Dr Arshsad Ali said booster shot is the third or the additional dose of Covid-19 vaccine given to ensure the protection is maintained against the new variants.

    “While two doses of Covid-19 vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease, the immunity begins to wane after a period of 6 months,” he said.

    Spokesperson DAK Dr Riyaz Ahmad Dagga said with the emergence of new omicron variant, booster shot becomes crucial.

    “Booster doses have been found to offer protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant,” he said.

    “While India will start administering booster shots from January 10, the government is yet to take a call on whether it will allow switching of vaccine or the third dose will continue to be the same as the primary vaccine,” he added.

  • MeT issues orange alert, predicts heavy snowfall on Jan 07, 08

    Srinagar, Jan 05: Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road link connecting Valley with the rest of the world, has been closed for traffic while nine flights have also got cancelled due to the inclement weather conditions in Jammu and Kashmir as snowfall and rains continued for the second straight day on Wednesday.

    As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), officials said that the Srinagar-Jammu highway has been thrown closed for vehicular movement as a precautionary measure after shooting stones and mudslides were reported at Karol-Jammu-Srinagar highway.

    They said that the road will be cleared once the weather condition improves.

    Moreover, nine flights have so far for cancelled at Srinagar International airport for the second straight day due to poor visibility.

    Officials informed that Indigo 137 to Delhi, Indigo 6738 to Jammu, Indigo 2015 to Delhi, Indigo 2364 to Delhi, GoFirst 358 to Delhi, Gofirst 193 to Delhi, GoFirst 267 to Delhi and Vistara 611 to Jammu got cancelled.

    In the meantime, Director Srinagar Airport, Kuldeep Singh informed KNO that two flights from Delhi and Jammu to Srinagar were operated following the improvement in visibility.

    Nonetheless, Kashmir parts continued to receive fresh snowfall and rains since January 03 evening, bringing down the temperature further across the Valley.

    A local Meteorological department here has predicted more rains and snow across Kashmir till January 09, saying that heavy snowfall in expected in Kashmir on January 07 and 08.

    Earlier, MeT has said that two successive Western Disturbances would affect J&K from January 03-January 09—(KNO)

  • Pak SC warns of summoning Imran Khan if detainee not produced

    Gull is facing an allegation of attacking the checkpost of a security force at Kandau, near the border with Afghanistan, in 2019 and since then he has been under detention at the Kohat internment centre.

    New Delhi, Jan : Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed has warned that the Supreme Court will not hesitate to summon rime Minister Imran Khan if Arif Gull, detained at an internment centre in Kohat since 2019, was not produced before it on Tuesday, Dawn news reported.
    “Should we seal the courts if Arif Gull cannot be produced?” the CJP queried during Monday’s hearing.
    Justice Gulzar headed a three-judge Supreme Court bench that had taken up a habeas corpus petition moved by a relative of Gull seeking information about his whereabouts.
    Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered production of the detainee on Monday.

    But the court accepted a statement by Shumail Butt, the advocate general for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Additional Attorney General Sajid Ilyas that it was impossible to produce Gull on Monday due to the distance between Islamabad and Kohat.
    The Supreme Court put off further hearing with a directive to produce the accused by Tuesday, the Dawn news report said.
    Gull is facing an allegation of attacking the checkpost of a security force at Kandau, near the border with Afghanistan, in 2019 and since then he has been under detention at the Kohat internment centre.
    “Would the edifice of the Supreme Court crumble if Arif Gull is produced before the court? We should lock the court if the person cannot be produced before it,” the CJP said.
    Justice Ahmed told the advocate general the judiciary had the powers to summon the “entire defence machinery” if Gull was not brought to the court.

  • Saffron blooms in Rajouri district as cultivation trial bears fruits

    Giving details, officials said that the district administration desired the project to be taken upon an experimental basis by the agriculture department in the Darhal Subdivision as the terrain and climatic conditions of that area are almost akin to that of Kishtwar.

    Jammu: The Rajouri district came upon the saffron map of Jammu and Kashmir, when a farmer Vishal Chander Sharma successfully undertook saffron cultivation in his fields in this border district, surprising people with the purple-orange flower bloom in their neighborhood.
    Influenced by the cultivation of saffron in the Kishtwar area of the Jammu region, the Rajouri administration picked up the idea of Saffron cultivation in the district.
    Apart from Kashmir valley’s Pampore belt, saffron is cultivated only in the Kishtwar district outside the valley.
    “It is a dream cum true. I never thought saffron could be cultivated here (Rajouri). But we were successful in bringing in new areas of J&K on the saffron map of the UT,” farmer Vishal Chander Sharma said.

    Sharma is highly thankful to the district administration of Rajouri and the department of agriculture for motivating him to cultivate saffron in this area.
    He was previously dependent on subsistence agriculture and was cultivating wheat and maize but now he is keen to cultivate saffron crops in his fields to earn more income and to improve his socio-economic status, officials of the agriculture department said.
    Giving details, officials said that the district administration desired the project to be taken upon an experimental basis by the agriculture department in the Darhal Subdivision as the terrain and climatic conditions of that area are almost akin to that of Kishtwar.
    “The Department selected one farmer Vishal Chander Sharma of panchayat Kot Dhara, block Dhangri, zone Fatehpur. The farmer possesses only 15 Kanal un-irrigated land in which he has been growing wheat and maize crops,” a senior official said

  • Three JeM militants killed in Pulwama Gunfight

    Srinagar, January 05:Three militants belonging to Jash-e-Mohammad outfit were killed after an encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Changam of area of Pulwama on Wednesday.

    A senior police officer while confirming to GNS that the three JeM militants were killed in a gunfight. However their identity has not been yet ascertained.

    Earlier, a joint team of Police and army launched a cordon and search operation in Chandgam on a specific input generated by police.

    As the joint team of forces intensified searches towards the targeted spot, the hiding militants fired upon the search party triggering of an encounter.

    Pertinently on Tuesday two local TRF militants were killed in Kulgam Gunfight.(GNS)

  • ‘One Umrah Every 10 Days’: Hajj Ministry

    MAKKAH: The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has restricted the issuance of Umrah permits to one permit every 10 days.

    An official source told Haramain Sharifain, that this measure was taken to control crowds and re-apply the precautionary measures including Social and Physical Distancing during Tawaaf and Prayers in the Mataaf

    The Precautionary measures were tightened in the Two Holy Mosques after an increase in COVID-19 cases were reported driven by the Omicron Variant.

    Earlier the Ministry had removed all capacity restrictions and visitors could obtain permits without any waiting period.

  • Rain/Snow set to make a comeback tonight: Weather forecaster Faizan Arif

    Says, light to heavy rain/ snow expected across J&K from tonight, with main activity tomorrow

    Srinagar, Jan 04: Jammu and Kashmir is all set to get another round of rain and snow from tonight, however with stronger intensity this time.

    Faizan Arif, an independent weather forecaster while taking to KB — Kashmir Bulletin said that, “Widespread light to heavy rain and snowfall is expected across Jammu and Kashmir from tonight onwards.”

    “Higher reaches along with plains of Kashmir are likely to witness light to heavy snowfall. Most activity of the weather system will be during tomorrow.
    Some places in higher reaches can get more than 2 feet of snow. In plains, it can vary between 1 inch and 8 inches,” he said.

    He added, “Day temperature at most places tomorrow in the Valley will stay below 3.5°C.”

    “Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in Jammu region along with snowfall in higher reaches. This may affect surface traffic movement on national highway,” the forecaster further added.

    Meanwhile, Srinagar today recorded a maximum temperature of 4.3°C.

    Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kokernag recorded high temperatures of 2.6°C, 1.6°C and 2.4°C respectively.

    Kupwara and Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, recorded maximum temperatures of 3.8°C and minus 0.4°C respectively. (KB)

  • 42 Flights Cancelled Due To Poor Visibility At Srinagar Int’l Airport: AAI

    Says All To Be Rescheduled In Next Available Flight Of Concerend Airlines

    Srinagar, Jan 4: 42 flights which were scheduled to operate to and fro Srinagar ‘international’ airport here were cancelled due to poor visibility amid rains and snowfall in Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.

    “Continuous snowfall and poor visibility resulted in 42 cancellations today across all airlines. The visibility has now improved and the flights are operating,” AAI said in a tweet. “The passengers of the cancelled flights shall be rescheduled in the next available flight of the concerend airlines. There will be no extra charges for rescheduling. The passengers may also opt for full refund at their convenience,” it said.

    “All the passengers of the cancelled flights shall be rescheduled in the next available flight of the concerend airlines,” it said, adding, “There will be no extra charges for rescheduling. The passengers may also opt for full refund at their convenience.”

    Among those cancelled include all Indigo flights (13), Spicejet (6) and Vistara(3), officials told GNS.