New Delhi, October 8: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday called the development in Jammu and Kashmir as the biggest achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and further claimed that each sector of the Union Territory has got a common allocation.
“It is the biggest achievement of PM Modi that in 70 years, each division of J-K has a common allocation for the proposed development projects,” Union Minister Jitendra Singh said while reacting to Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) chief Farooq Abdullah’s response to the challenge of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Shah, during his public address in J-K’s Baramullah on Wednesday, took a dig at the Gupkar alliance and openly challenged the JKNC to present a ‘report card’ regarding the development projects in the Union Territory, during its tenure of governance.
Abdullah responded to Union Home Minister with a long list of the achievements of JKNC from Independence to 2014, while the party’s vice president Omar Abdullah revealed the details of the projects.
Dr Jitendra Singh further said that even before the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and declaration of J-K into two separate entities, PM Modi used to ensure that all the people’s concerns are addressed sensitively in Srinagar and Leh in Jammu, as earlier there was a complaint that either part of J-K was getting more attention.
“Ever since the government has achieved full control over the UT, people here are now free of that mentality,” Singh said.
He further added that development in the Union Territory has balanced after PM Modi resumed several development schemes and projects that had been lying pending for 50 years.
Laying down the schemes, the Union Minister said, “The restart of the project of Shahpur Kandi in Kathua near the International border by the intervention of PM Modi, which was halted for nearly 40 years, has been proven beneficial for both Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Its first phase will begin to function in a month or two.”
Alleging the JKNC of “selective development”, Jitendra Singh said that developing the regions by considering your vote bank and not prioritising the others is against the values of democracy.
“The development here is balanced since Modiji came to power as no one was asked about their caste or religion for providing the beneficial schemes before their implementation. Raising high above the politics of religion and vote bank, PM Modi has given a new shape to the work culture because of which J-K has not only become a part of mainstream India but will also contribute to the PM-led campaigns,” he said.
“No matter what the political parties in J-K say, the common man of the UT wants to get rid of stone pelting, terrorism, and fire fighting and the development to move forward under the Prime Minister’s leadership,” he added. (Agencies)
Jitendra Singh terms developments in J&K PM Modi’s biggest achievement
Creation of a weapon system branch for the officers in the IAF approved: V R Chaudhari
CHANDIGARH, Oct 8: The Central Government has approved the creation of a weapon system branch for the officers of the Indian Air Force, which would save it Rs 3,400 crore in flying training, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said here on Saturday.
This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch is being created, Chaudhari said in his speech here on the occasion of 90th anniversary celebrations of the IAF.
“On this historic occasion, it is my privilege to announce that the government has approved the creation of a weapon system branch for the officers in the IAF.
“This is the first time since Independence that a new operational branch is being created,” he said.
The weapon system branch will essentially man the specialised streams of surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air-missiles, remotely piloted aircraft, and weapon system operators in twin and multi-crew aircraft, he said.
Creation of this branch would result in savings of over Rs 3,400 crore due to the reduced expenditure on flying training, the IAF chief said.
A ceremonial parade was held at the air force station here Saturday morning on the occasion.
Chaudhari inspected the parade, which was followed by a march-past.
Air-Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command, Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran was among senior IAF officers present on the occasion. (Agencies)
Mainly dry weather likely in J&K during next 24 hrs: MeT
JAMMU, Oct 8: The Meteorological (MeT) department on Saturday forecast mainly dry weather in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours.
“Weather is likely to remain mainly in J&K during the next 24 hours”, an official of the MeT department said.
Meanwhile, Jammu recorded 22.1 degrees, Katra 19.2, Batote 14.6, Banihal 10.6 and Bhaderwah 11.
Srinagar registered 8.6 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 5.3 and Gulmarg 4 degrees as the minimum temperature this morning.
In Ladakh region, Drass town had 1.5 and Leh 1.3 as the minimum temperature. (AGENCIES)
Oil price rise in India is way below global price hikes: Hardeep Singh Puri
Washington [US], Oct 8: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that compared to fuel price hikes globally, India only raised prices by 2 per cent, which is way below that of other countries.
“In terms of petrol and diesel, if the increases in North America are 43-46 per cent, in India we allow prices to go up by only 2 per cent or so. In terms of gas, global benchmarks went up by 260-280 per cent and our own ability to contain gas price increases was something around 70 per cent,” Puri told reporters in Washington DC.
Puri on Thursday held bilateral meeting with US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and other top officials of the Biden Administration.
The minister also highlighted India’s commitment to accelerating a just and sustainable energy transition at the ministerial dialogue on India-US strategic clean energy.
During his visit, the union minister also held meetings with senior officials of the World Bank, the Presidential envoy for energy and infrastructure Amos Hochstein and senior representatives of the White House. Puri is scheduled to meet energy business leaders in Houston on Saturday.
The Union Minister said that India was “very confident” of navigating the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) decision to cut oil production from November by a steeper-than-expected two million barrels per day (bpd).
“How will this impact India? We are very confident of being able to navigate through the situation,” Puri told reporters in Washington.
“How will this navigate India? We’re very confident of being able to navigate through the situation,” said Puri.
Puri highlighted India is one of the largest oil importers and the demand is expected to rise driven by an increase in the country’s per capita consumption of energy which currently stands at one-third of the global average. Puri further stressed that the fuel demand is expected to keep rising as the country’s economy grows.
“In India, 5mn (oil) bpd is being consumed daily; it’s set to rise. Our per capita consumption compared to global averages is 1/3rd. But I see in the coming years, 25 per cent of the global increase in demand will come from India. Energy is a critical driver of economic growth,” the union minister said.
The Union Minister also said that India will buy crude oil from whichever country it wanted and that New Delhi faces no pressure from Washington to cut its energy buys from Russia.
“India will buy oil from wherever it has to for the simple reason that this kind of a discussion cannot be taken to the consuming population of India,” Puri told reporters in Washington. (Agencies)
India adds 2,797 coronavirus infections, active cases drop below 30K after 122 days
New Delhi: India on Saturday logged 2,797 fresh COVID-19 infections that pushed its tally to 4,46,09,257, while the number of active cases dropped below 30,000 after 122 days, according to Union health ministry data. The death toll climbed to 5,28,778 with 24 fatalities including 12 reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. There are 29,251 active COVID-19 cases in India which comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections.
The national recovery rate has increased to 98.75 per cent, the ministry said. A decline of 1,111 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.05 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.30 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,40,51,228, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said. So far, 218.93 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive, according to the ministry. India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore cases on May 4 last year, three crore on June 23 and four crore on January 25 this year. (Agencies)
Cadre upbeat after Amit Shah’s J&K visit, BJP says poll preparation on course
New Delhi, October 8 :
After Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent “successful” visit to Jammu and Kashmir, an upbeat BJP claimed that preparatory works were “on course” to go to the hustings alone, as the party expected the Assembly elections in the union territory to be held in the summers next year.
Sources in the Election Commission said the final electoral rolls would be published by the end of next month, as scrutiny of the voters’ list would be completed by that time. The revision of the electoral rolls of the UT began soon after submission of the report of the Delimitation Commission redrawing the Assembly segments in May this year.
What is important is the fact that the fresh electoral rolls will include migrants from PoK and erstwhile West Pakistan as well as those who had left Kashmir during height of militancy. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had earlier issued an order giving voting rights to a person residing in J&K for at least 15 years, as he or she will be treated as a domicile of the UT.
BJP leaders appeared quite enthused after seeing large turnout and the response of the crowd at Shah’s public rally in Baramulla. They claimed that such a response was indicative of the “normalised” atmosphere in the Valley, which “makes us believe that the time has come to hold elections”.
On the Home Minister’s stance of “no talks with Pakistan”, sources in the BJP said the party would not go in for any alliance with a party that demands for dialogue with Islamabad or has any links with the Hurriyat. They said the BJP would not have any poll arrangements with the newly formed Democratic Azad Party of former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad either.
Shah, during his three-day visit to the UT, had announced that Paharis of J&K would soon get reservation in education and jobs as ST, which is seen as a pre-election promise aimed at widening his party’s support base.
5 booked under UAPA in IED recovery case in Poonch district
Jammu, October 8:
Five persons were apprehended and booked under Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the recent recovery of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Poonch district, the police said on Friday.
The IED was smuggled in from across the Line of Control (LoC) and recovered from a woman at Parade Park in Poonch town on September 28.
Power
“The woman revealed that her husband, Mohd Azad, provided the IED to her and, accordingly, he was picked up and subjected to sustained questioning, leading to the busting of the whole module,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Poonch) Rohit Baskotra told media.
He said Azad’s maternal uncle Tika Khan, who is in Pakistan, arranged the IED. It was subsequently smuggled into India and handed over to him by Qamardin and Wajahat, both of whom have been taken into custody. The name of another person, suspected cross-border smuggler Kamaldin, also emerged during the questioning of the accused.
CS reviews progress on NH-44
Ramban, Oct : Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta along with Additional Chief Secretary Home and Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh Friday took a first-hand appraisal of the progress of four laning of the Banihal-Nashri stretch of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44) in Ramban district besides reviewing the status of traffic movement on the highway.
The chief secretary visited vulnerable spots and proposed truck holding areas at Rampadi in the Chambalwas area and directed the RO NHAI to immediately clear the debris lying at various locations alongside NH-44 on the BanihalNashri stretch to facilitate smooth double-lane vehicular traffic movement besides developing truck holding areas.
He issued directions for constituting a committee to be headed by Principal Secretary, PW (R&B) Department and comprising the Administrative Secretary, Transport Department, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, IG Traffic, Deputy Commissioner Ramban, and SSP Ramban to submit a plan to regulate the traffic movement smoothly on the NH-44 on the Banihal-Nashri stretch.
During a high-level meeting at Chanderkote, Mehta directed the IGP Traffic to implement all the directions issued regarding the holding area management at all four proposed locations on the Banihal-Ramban stretch to accommodate stranded vehicles in the event of the closure of NH-44 due to bad weather.
Directing the Regional Officer, NHAI to expedite the pace of the widening work, he asked him to ensure the macdamisation of the existing highway for smooth movement of traffic on NH-44.
The chief secretary directed the SSP Ramban and RO NHAI to fix the timing for macdamisation work to avoid inconvenience to the commuters and fruit-carrying trucks on this stretch.
He directed the RO NHAI to enhance manpower and machinery at all vulnerable slide-prone areas for immediate clearance of landslides and debris from the roads besides filling potholes and metalling of the damaged road to maintain hassle-free traffic movement.
Mehta enjoined them to install CCTV on these stretches for round-the-clock monitoring besides a fair assessment of the time for which vehicles remain stranded.
He asked them to declare these stretches no-stopping zones and ensure that no roadside parking was resorted to.
The chief secretary impressed upon them to keep cranes ready on the road for facilitating towing away of trucks that breakdown on the road.
He directed the concerned to provide a 24-hour helpline number to all the commuters for instant help.
Mehta asked them to explore the possibility of following the 12-hour cycle for the truckers to move from opposite directions instead of the alternate days currently adhered to.
He suggested they use the Mughal Road as an alternative in case of exigencies and blockages.
The chief secretary asked them to utilise the alternative Jawahar Tunnel if the main road was choked.
The RO NHAI apprised him about the section-wise progress on the four-laning of NH-44 including that on the Nashri-Ramban and Ramban-Banihal sections.
Meanwhile, the DGP directed the Traffic and Police Department to effectively regulate vehicular traffic movement and facilitate the smooth passage of fruit-laden trucks on the highway.
He also directed the Police and district administration to implement the orders in letter and spirit issued regarding the no parking zones.
The NHAI was asked to immediately restore the double-carriage traffic movement on these stretches.
It also directed the installation of crash barriers and signboards at all vulnerable spots to provide real-time information to commuters and transporters regarding traffic movement.
Earlier, IGP Traffic gave a PowerPoint presentation and briefed the meeting about vehicular traffic movement on NH-44 besides highlighting the bottlenecks hindering the flow of smooth movement of vehicular traffic.
CNG, piped cooking gas prices hiked by Rs 3
New Delhi, Oct 8: The prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens in the national capital on Saturday hiked by Rs 3 each in step with rise in input natural gas prices.
The Rs 3 per kg increase in CNG price is the first hike in rates in over four months, while a Rs 3 per standard cubic metres increase in piped natural gas (PNG) was the first raise in two months.
CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi now costs Rs 78.61 per kg, up from Rs 75.61 per kg, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) — the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital and adjoining cities.
This is the 14th increase in price since March 7. Rates were last increased by Rs 2 per kg on May 21. In all, the CNG price has risen by Rs 22.60 per kg during this period. Since April 2021, CNG prices have increased by Rs 35.21 per kg or 80 per cent, according to data compiled by PTI.
Simultaneously, the rates of gas piped to household kitchens, called piped natural gas (PNG), was increased to Rs 53.59 per standard cubic metre in Delhi from Rs 50.59 per scm, according to IGL.
It is the 10th increase in PNG rates since August 2021. In all prices have gone up by Rs 29.93 per scm, or almost 91 per cent.
IGL said rates of CNG and PNG have also been increased in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram as well as other cities where it operates such as Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Ajmer in Rajasthan.
The price increase follows the government raising natural gas prices by 40 per cent to a record USD 8.57 per million British thermal unit from October 1.
Natural gas, which is extracted from below earth’s surface, is converted to compressed natural gas (CNG) for running automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking. It is also used to generate electricity and manufacture fertilizer.
Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) – the city gas operator in Mumbai and adjoining areas – earlier this week announced a Rs 6 per kg hike in CNG price to Rs 86 per kg and a Rs 4 per scm increase in PNG price to Rs 52.50 per scm.
Analysts anticipate that CNG prices are likely to be hiked by Rs 8-12 per kg and PNG rates by over Rs 6, but in tranches, to account for the rise in input natural gas prices. Natural gas prices are up nearly 5x in just a year – from USD 1.79 per mmBtu till September 2021 to USD 8.57 now.
For each USD per mmBtu gas price rise, city gas distribution (CGD) entities need to raise the CNG price by Rs 4.7-4.9 per kg.
Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT. (Agencies)
Workers meeting of Democratic Azad Party held in Doda West Assembly Constituency
Doda West: Gearing up for the forthcoming Assembly Elections a workers meeting of Democratic Azad Party was held a Village Pranoo of Doda West Assembly Constituency.
The meeting was organised under the leadership of Ashraf Ali Sheikh, Senior Leader of Democratic Azad Party. While addressing the workers Ashraf said Ghulam Nabi Azad enjoys unbridled popularity in Jammu & Kashmir and after the decision of Azad Sahib to float his own party the workers at the grass root level are joyous & jubiliant.
He added only Azad Sahib has the vision for peace and prosperity of Jammu & Kashmir & only if the Democratic Azad Party comes to poor the general issues of public will be redressed.
He added that as stated by our beloved Leader Azad Sahib The DAP will be based on the principles of democracy. It will not be influenced by any outside leader or other party. It will have independent thinking and will stay independent in its decisions. It will not be autocratic and power will not be in one hand,”
While explaining about the flag, Ashraf said “Our party flag has three colours, mustard, white and blue.
The mustard colour indicates creativity and unity in diversity, white indicates peace and blue indicates freedom, open space, imagination and limits from the depths of the ocean to the heights of the sky,”.
Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion include, Rakesh Kotwal ( Ex-Sarpanch), Surinder Pandit (Ex-Sarpanch), Ghulam Ali (Ex-Sarpanch), Advocate Naseer Babar (PRI Member), Sanjeev Parihar.