JAMMU, Oct 26: A 13-year-old girl was among eight people were injured in an accident at Kelamorh along the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Ramban district on Thursday.
Official sources reported that there was a collision between a Passenger auto and a truck, resulting in injuries to at least eight people who were later shifted to hospital by rescuers including local volunteers and police. All but three injured were shifted to district hospital Ramban.
The injured include Fayaz Ahmed (36) son of Mohammad Ibrahim of Awantipoora, a helper of truck, Imran (35), driver of truck, also of Awantipoora, Tariq Ahmed (22) son of Abdul Gani Shah of Seri, Mubashir (19) son of Gulzar Ahmed Wani of Seri, Mangal Singh son of Hari Chand (40)of Shounda Maroog Gaam, Sonam Devi (13) daughter of Suraj Singh of Shounda Gaam, Suraj Singh (40) of Kelarh and Naseer Ahmed (30) son of Abdul Salam of Seri. Suraj Singh and Mubashir (driver of auto) have been shifted to GMC Jammu and Naser Ahmad to GMC Anantnag for advanced treatment, they added.
A police officer confirmed the accident and said a case has been registered and investigations taken up. (Agencies)
Eight Injured In Accident In J&K’s Ramban
PM Modi to address meeting of state Home Ministers, Home Secys, DGPs
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a ‘Chintan Shivir’ of Home Ministers and DGPs of states on Friday via video conferencing.
The PMO said the event is being held at Surajkund in Haryana on October 27 and 28. Home secretaries of states and director generals of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Central Police Organisations (CPOs) will also attend it.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the exercise is an endeavour to provide national perspective to policy formulation on internal security related matters in accordance with the ‘Panch Pran’ (five pledges) announced by Modi in his Independence Day speech.
The ‘shivir’ in the spirit of cooperative federalism will bring more synergy in planning and coordination between various stakeholders at Centre and state levels, it added.
Participants will deliberate on issues like modernisation of police forces, cybercrime management, increased use of IT in the criminal justice system, land border management, coastal security, women safety and drug trafficking among other issues.
The five pledges listed by Modi were working to have a developed India by 2047, erasing all traces of servitude, developing pride in India’s legacy, keeping unity and fulfilling one’s duties. (Agencies)
ABVP stages sit-in to demand withdrawal of J&K university bill
Jammu, Oct 26: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Wednesday staged a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Jammu Kashmir Public University Bill, 2022, that, it claimed, eroded the autonomy of universities in the Union Territory.
The administrative council led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently approved the bill.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said it would not tolerate the erosion of the autonomous character of universities, which are governed by University Grants Commission (UGC) rules across the country.
Led by Mukesh Manhas, the state unit secretary of the RSS-affiliated organisation, ABVP activists carrying placards staged a sit-in and raised slogans to demand revocation of the bill.
Manhas said, “The bill erodes the autonomy of all universities in Jammu and Kashmir. It should be immediately withdrawn.”
The independence of universities has been snatched and vice-chancellors have been made ineffective, he added.
The ABVP leader said the bill granted the power of recruitment to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the State Service Recruitment Board (SSRB) instead of universities, as per UGC laws.
“Now recruitment will be done by the PSC and the SSRB, which has been involved in multiple recruitment scams in recent times,” he alleged.
Questioning the Lieutenant Governor’s administration for approving the bill, Manhas asked, “Why has this bill been implemented in Jammu and Kashmir alone while all universities across the country are governed by UGC rules?”
Manhas threatened massive agitations by students and staff members of all colleges and universities across the Union Territory and demanded that immediate withdrawal of the bill.
The ABVP leader said the amendments proposed in the bill infringed on the academic domain of universities and amounted to a mala fide attempt to increase unwanted interference of the bureaucracy.
He said universities were autonomous bodies and government interference in their functioning would disturb the working atmosphere and kill the basic spirit of autonomy at these institutions of higher learning. (Agencies)
Aqua jammers, multi-shot guns to tackle “Pak drones” on Indian borders
Jammu, Oct 26: To counter the cross-border drone activities, Indian Army has installed aqua jammers and multi-shot guns along the Line of Control in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Notably, so far, over a dozen times, drone activity has been reported from the Pakistan side with a motive to deliver weapons, sticky bombs and other logistic support to their handlers on this side of the border.
“The Indian Army has installed aqua-jammers and multi-shot guns along the border to deal with “Pakistan’s nefarious design” of using drones to smuggle drugs, weapons and other consignments,” defence sources said.
They said that the modern and hi-tech gadgets have been installed just 400 meters from the Pakistan border on the LoC, adding, “the Indian Army is prepared to give a befitting reply to the drone conspiracy of the Pakistan for which aqua-jammers and multi-shot guns will foil the attempts made by the adversaries.”
As of now, they said that the Indian troops deployed on the border this year have several times foiled Pakistan’s conspiracy and recovered sticky bombs, IEDs and explosives after they shot down the flying objects.
“The aqua jammers will not only track the drone at a distance of 4900 meters but is also capable of freezing its activity,” they said adding that all designs of Pakistan will be effectively dealt with the installation of the gadgets.
“Besides, the multi-shot gun has the ability to shoot down the drone once tracked by the aqua jammer by triggering/firing rounds,” they said.
“Drone conspiracy hatched from across the border is a new challenge for the security forces but with an installation of hi-tech gadgets, the designs of the enemies will not be allowed to succeed,” sources asserted.
“The specially designed surveillance centers are monitoring every activity across the border with state-of-the-art PTZ cameras and the thermal imagers so that taking advantage of the geographical conditions, Pakistan does not carry out any mischief,” they revealed.
“After the installation of the modern equipment on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, it is expected that similar kinds of gadgets will also be deployed all along the international border so that Pakistan’s drone conspiracy can be given a befitting reply,” they added. (AGENCIES)
PM to address ‘Chintan Shivir’ of Home Ministers of states on Friday
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address Chintan Shivir of Home Ministers of states on Friday via video conferencing. The Chintan Shivir is being held at Surajkund, Haryana on the 27th & 28th of this month.
According to the information from the prime minister’s office, ‘Chintan Shivir’ of Home Ministers is an “endeavor to provide national perspective to policy formulation on internal security related matters, in accordance with the ‘Panch Pran’ announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech. The Shivir, in the spirit of cooperative federalism, will bring more synergy in planning and coordination between various stakeholders at the center and state levels”, mentioned the release from the PMO.
The Shivir will deliberate on issues like modernization of police forces, cybercrime management, increased use of IT in the criminal justice system, land border management, coastal security, women’s safety, and drug trafficking, among other
Home Secretaries and Director Generals of Police (DGPs) of the States and Director Generals of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) & Central Police Organisations (CPOs) will also attend the Chintan Shivir.
Indian Coast Guard rescues 20 Bangladeshi fishermen post-landfall of cyclone ‘Sitrang’
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued 20 Bangladeshi fishermen while a coordinated search and rescue operation, from the sea on October 25, upon being sighted by Coast Guard Dornier aircraft which was on surveillance sortie post-landfall of cyclone “Sitrang”.
These rescued fishermen were clinging to floating debris after their fishing boat sank. They are planned to be handed over to the Bangladesh Coast Guard in accordance with MoU existing between the two Coast Guards. “In a swift co-ordinated Search & Rescue Operation @IndiaCoastGuard rescued 20 Bangladeshi fishermen post-landfall of cyclone #Sitrang. Fishermen will be handed over to #Bangladesh in accordance with the existing MoU,” ICG tweeted.
Over 18 people have died in different parts of Bangladesh since Monday night as the powerful Cyclone Sitrang completed its landfall.
The Dhak Tribune reported that Bangladesh officials closely tackling the impacts of the cyclone said that having taken up all necessary preparations, like appropriate weather forecasting and timely evacuation of people of the coastal regions.
Meanwhile, the situation in Assam continues to remain grim on Tuesday as nearly 1100 people from 83 villages have been affected by the deluge caused by the cyclonic storm ‘Sitrang’.
Several houses were damaged due to Cyclone Sitrang which caused heavy rainfall and a storm in Assam. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, 1146 people have been affected by the storm.
Dry weather, hazy morning likely in J&K in next 24 hrs: MeT
JAMMU, Oct 26: Weather was dry in J&K during the last 24 hours, and the MeT office said on Wednesday that dry weather with hazy morning is likely during the next 24 hours.
“Weather is likely to remain dry in J&K during the next 24 hours with hazy morning,” an official of the MeT department said.
Jammu had 14.7, Katra 13.8, Batote 7.9, Banihal 4.8 and Bhaderwah 5.5 as the minimum temperature.
Srinagar had 4.7, Pahalgam 0.3 and Gulmarg 1.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature today.
Drass in Ladakh region had minus 4.2, Kargil minus 0.3 and Leh minus 3 as the minimum temperature. (Agencies)
Kharge formally takes over as Congress president
New Delhi, Oct 26: Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as Congress president on Wednesday after he was handed over the certificate of election to the top post at a function at the AICC headquarters here.
Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years, had defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the president’s post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race.
Kharge was handed over the certificate of election as the Congress president by the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
Mistry said he hopes other parties will draw a lesson from the Congress and hold polls for party presidency by secret ballot.
Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the event which was attended by several top party leaders.
Ahead of his taking over, Kharge visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders. (Agencies)
India an important manufacturer of vaccines for world: White House
WASHINGTONOCTOBER 26: India is an important manufacturer of vaccines for the world, the White House said, acknowledging the crucial role the country played in supplying vaccines against COVID-19 globally.
“Because of its incredible manufacturing capacity, (India) has been a major exporter of vaccines,” Dr. Ashish Jha, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.
Responding to a question, Dr. Jha said the QUAD partnership – a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US — on coronavirus was important to the Joe Biden administration.
“I think India is an important manufacturer of vaccines for the world. I mean not just for India itself, this is a really important thing,” he said at the White House news conference.
Defending the Biden administration’s decision to supply vaccines to the world, Dr. Jha said the U.S. will continue making them available for every low and several low- and middle-income countries.
“There are about 100 countries that are eligible to get free vaccines through COVAX —where we donate the vaccines still available for donation,” he said. According to Dr. Jha, every major variant that hit the U.S. originated from outside the country. “So, the notion that we can somehow wall ourselves off and not be affected by what’s happening in the rest of the world is just naïve,” he said.
“It’s just not how transmissible viruses like this work. So even if you think about it from a very narrow self-interest, it’s very important that we get much of the world vaccinated, that we help build out the kind of vaccination program. But beyond self-interest, you know, America is a country that has deeply engaged in the world,” he added.
Dr. Jha claimed that Mr. Biden had restored American leadership on global health in a way which is “very different from the previous President”.
“So, for a whole set of reasons, it’s very, very important that America continues to lead, €4.02 billion is a small investment to make to better protect Americans and better protect the world,” Dr. Jha said. (Agencies)
4649 dengue cases, 7 deaths reported in J&K this year so far: Official
SRINAGAR, Oct 25: At least 3,784 dengue cases and seven deaths have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir this year so far with six from Kashmir division.
A top health official that around 15003 tests have been conducted so far and 4,649 have been tested positive.
Of 4,649 cases 90percent of cases which is 3,784 cases are from Jammu district only.
They added that cases include 154 from Samba, 64 from Kathua, 320 from Udhampur, 83 from Reasi, 47 from Rajouri, 22 from Poonch, 116 from Doda, 29 from Ramban, 13 from Kishtwar and six from Kashmir besides that 12 from other states. Also, seven people have died.
As per the data, today 37 dengue cases in two children and 35 adults were reported in J&K.
According to official data, the highest number of 1,837 cases were reported in 2013 but this year, the figure has surpassed the previous one.