Srinagar, September 29: Police on Thrusday said that two persons were injured after two blasts took place within span of 8hrs in Udhampur district of Jammu division.
ADGP Jammu Zone Mukesh Singh said that An explosion took place in a parked bus at around 10:30PM last night near a petrol Pump at domail Chowk, Udhampur in which two people sustained minor injuries.
Another similar blast took place in another bus parked in old bus stand Udhampur at 6:00 am today wherein no casualty has been reported. Matter is being investigated, the top cop added.
“The blast occurred around 10:30 pm. Two people have been injured in the incident and vehicles parked nearby have also suffered damage. The reason for the blast is still not known. We are investigating the matter,” said Suleman Choudhary, DIG Udhampur-Reasi Range. (Agencies)
Twin Blast in Udhampur, 2 people injured, Says Matter Being Investigated: ADGP Jammu
Blast at bus stand in J&K’s Udhampur city, second one within hours; no casualty reported
Udhampur/Jammu, Sep 29: A blast in a bus parked at a stand in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur city on Thursday morning, the second within a few hours, sent security agencies in a tizzy as they sounded a high alert, sources said.
The roof and the backside of the bus were blown away by the blast that occurred around 5.30 am on Thursday but no one was injured, they said.
The incidents occurred just days ahead of the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah starting October 4. He was supposed to embark on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on September 30 and hold public meetings in Rajouri on October 1 and Baramulla on October 2. However, the visit was rescheduled.(Agencies)
Need ‘whole of nation’ approach to save youth from getting radicalised: Army official
NAGROTA, Sept 28: A ‘whole of nation’ approach is needed to save the youth of Jammu and Kashmir from getting radicalised, a senior Army official said on Wednesday.
General officer Commanding (GoC) 16 Corps Lieutenant General Manjinder Singh said it is the Government’s agenda to get youngsters into the mainstream and the Army is aligned with it to ensure peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Radicalisation is a phenomenon under which the enemy country is making efforts to dislodge youth (of Jammu and Kashmir) from the right path and take them on the wrong path. To save them (from getting radicalised), we need a whole of nation approach,” the GoC of the Jammu-based White Knight Corps told reporters here.
To get youngsters into the mainstream is the agenda of the government and the Army is aligned with it to ensure peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Gen Singh said while replying to questions about “growing radicalisation” among the youth.
Lt Gen Singh said the whole of nation approach involves participation of family, society, religious leaders, and teachers to prevent the youth from getting radicalised.
The Army is helping them, he asserted.
Lt Gen Singh said the Army identifies “hostile” profiles on social media and offers counselling to their owners.
“We remain active on this front on social media. In joint efforts with police, we identify hostile profiles and undertake counselling of several of them,” he said.
The radicalised youths are booked as overground workers (OGWs) of terrorist organisations and dealt accordingly, he added.
The GoC said, “To get the youth into the mainstream is the agenda of the government and the Army is aligned to it, because it will take the youth on the path of development and peace. The enemy will not succeed in its agenda”.
He said the Army organises educational, sports and cultural initiatives to provide opportunities to the youth so that they do not fall into the trap of radicalisation being initiated by the adversary through social media campaigns.
Attacking Pakistan, he said the country launched the “thousand cuts” plan to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s.
“They wanted to bleed India through a thousand cuts but the troops of the White Knight Corps stood up against it. Today, we see peace progress and development in Jammu region. One thousand terrorists have been killed in the region since then,” he said.
Replying to another question about the challenges that the Army is facing, he said, narcotics are being smuggled from across the border in addition to weapons and infiltration bids.
The Army is capable to stop it and has a surveillance grid, fencing and soldiers performing 24-hour duties so that the enemy is not able to infiltrate, he said.
The second challenge is the enemy using vulnerable points on the LoC for infiltration, he said.
“Pakistan is trying to infiltrate terrorists, and smuggle ammunition and narcotics. But we have a counter-terrorism grid to ensure the terrorists are eliminated,” he said, adding that it was a “good thing” that the people of the south of Pirpanchal were “anti-militants”.
“We have seen no support (for terrorists) from the population and this is a healthy sign for us. We want to encash on it,” he added.
“So far, the violence in Jammu is significantly low. We have a strong anti-infiltration grid and we are concentrating on securing the hinterlands for which we have a strong anti-terror grid,” he said.
On the issue of use of drones by Pakistan to drop weapons and narcotics here, he said the phenomenon is more common in Punjab.
“There is less sighting of drones in our (White Knight Corps) areas and we suspect the ones seen here are a reconnaissance by the enemy, hence we are soon getting an anti-drone mechanism,” he said.
“We have our plans. Equipment is coming in order to foil drone threats,” he said. (AGENCIES)
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan Organized State Level Hindi Workshop on implementation of Rajbhasha
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan has organized the State level Hindi workshop at the
conference hall of Bharat scouts and guides as a concluding day of Hindi fortnight.. The
subject of the workshop was the topic Implementation of Rajbhasha as Official
Language: How and Why. The NYK Officials and youth volunteers of different districts
had participated in this program. Prof. M.K. Mussa from Govt. P G College for women
Gandhi Nagar was the resource person in the workshop. In his address, he stated that
Centre Govt has taken initiative and made Hindi language for official work, moreover n
he also explained to the students how can they develop Hindi and make it widespread in
J&K and how can it be evolved into the main language of communication. He further
added that the Hindi which is being used now a days, lacks the purity in diction and
expression. He also insisted that we should use Hindi in its purest form so that the
language may not get corrupted by the time.
During the programme Participants namely Mr. Pummy Kumar, Ms Kanchan Bala , Ms
Ekta, Ms Anandika from Kathua, Ms Samruti Slathia, ,Ms Mamta Khajuria , Mr Sahil
Sharma , Ms Deepshikha from Jammu, and Mr. Anil Kumar from Udhampur also
composed and narrated poems in Hindi, and sung the Patriotic songs in Hindi.
Shri Nisar Ahmed Butt State Director, NYKS, J&K thanked Prof M.K.Musa for being a
resource person of this workshop and also praised his efforts to make the workshop a
real learning experience. He further added that we live in a state the Hindi was not the
official language , so many of us don’t know how to read and how write Hindi but one
thing is sure if we try whole heartedly , we can learn it and we must as it is our National
language.
Sh. Nitin Hangloo, DYO Rajouri stated that language is the backbone of the culture of
the country, as Indian our official language Hindi should be correct in writing as well as in
speaking. Sh. Khushal Gupta DYO Udhampur stated that the present govt. had taken
many initiatives for the promotion of Hindi as official language. He also explained about
the role of British’s in understating the importance of Hindi in Pre-independence era.
Mr. Sadhu Ram Salgotra, Mr Souravdeep from NYK Rajouri and NYK Udhampur also
speak on occasion.
( Nisar Ahmed Butt)
SD-J&K
Jammu Kashmir Assembly Elections in March 2023: BJP’s Ashok Koul
Jammu, Sept 28: Jammu and Kashmir BJP General Secretary Ashok Koul on Wednesday said that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to be conducted in March-April next year after the publication of final electoral rolls in November 25 this year.
Koul while talking to reporters in north Kashmir’s Bandipora said that January and February are “not suitable for elections in J&K due to weather conditions and it’s obvious that elections will be conducted in March-April next year”, news agency KNO reported.
He said that the publication of final electoral roll would be completed on November 25, following which voter list will be out and Election Commission will start the preparation for conducting the elections in J&K.
Koul visited Bandipora to take review of ongoing Seva Pakhwada program in the district. He also impressed upon the party leaders in the district to make all arrangements to make upcoming visit of union Home Minister Amit Shah’s to J&K a success.
Government extends free ration scheme for poor by three months
NEW DELHI : The Government on Wednesday extended by three months its programme to provide free rations to the poor at a cost of over Rs 44,700 crore, as it looked to ease pain from high inflation and make political gains in the upcoming Gujarat election.
The scheme to provide 5 kg of wheat and rice free of cost to 80 crore poor every month, which was ending on Friday, will now run through December 31, 2022, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was started in April 2020 to help the poor whose livelihoods were shuttered by a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the Coronavirus. (AGENCIES)
Gehlot likely to meet Sonia to end Cong prez poll crisis
After the crisis broke out in the Congress in Rajasthan, sources on Wednesday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi here and give an explanation of the happenings, including the boycott of the CLP meet in Jaipur by the MLAs loyal to him.
Sources said that he will remain in Delhi till September 30. A section of the Congress leaders was again pushing for Gehlot’s name for the post of president. The decision can be taken by this evening, the sources said, adding, “The ongoing Rajasthan crisis will also be settled in the next two days.
Sachin Pilot, who is facing stiff opposition from the Gehlot camp for the post of CM, is already in Delhi. So far Pilot has been maintaining a silence, which is being considered serious. According to sources, the decision regarding the post of CM can also be taken soon.
The Congress on Tuesday served show-cause notices to Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, party chief whip Mahesh Joshi and RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore for holding a parallel meeting of party legislators in Jaipur.
The notice issued to Dhariwal said that he, being Parliamentary Affairs Minister, has committed “grave indiscipline” by hosting a parallel MLAs meeting at his residence and thus “pressuring MLAs not to attend the official meeting”.
“As Parliamentary Affairs Minister, hosting the unofficial meeting confused the Congress MLAs as to which one was convened officially,” the notice reads.
The notice that has sought response within 10 days also noted that Dhariwal’s action (parallel meeting) came even when senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken repeatedly clarified that they have come to speak to each MLA “individually and impartially” to make a report to be submitted to Sonia Gandhi.
Similarly, the notice addressed to Joshi stated that he, as Chief Whip, has conducted a “grave indiscipline” by boycotting the official CLP (Congress Legislature Party) meeting and by participating and convening parallel meeting of the MLAs at the time when officially appointed observers were waiting for the official meeting to start.
“As Chief Whip your presence at the unofficial and illegal meeting confused the MLAs as to which one was convened officially,” added the notice.
The observers have not named Gehlot in their reports and notices. According to sources, the high command is trying to settle the situation and avoid further controversies.
Along with this, the high command is on a strategy to keep all possibilities open. The name for the nomination for the president’s post is likely to be finalised on Wednesday.
Setback for Mamata as Calcutta HC asks Bengal govt to stop Duare Ration scheme
In a big blow to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered to stop her government’s Duare Ration scheme.
“In view of our discussion supra we are constrained to hold, in fine, that Duare Ration Scheme is ultra vires the National Food Security Act, 2013 and is therefore a nullity in the eye of law,” the high court said in its order.
The scheme, launched in November 2021, was part of the Trinamool Congress’s election manifesto in the West Bengal Assembly election last year.
The order also mentioned that if the NFS Act is amended by the Parliament for doorstep delivery of food grains, only then such a state can bring such a scheme.
Just after the implementation of the election manifesto by TMC government, a petition was filed against the Duare Ration scheme at Calcutta High Court in 2021, terming it to be illegal. However, a single bench had found nothing to be illegal in the scheme and let it continue. The order was challenged.
Under the scheme, vehicles carrying rations reach people’s neighbourhoods and are stationed 500 metres from their residences. The people could collect their rations from these vehicles.
J&K shifts SSP after fruit sellers protest
SRINAGAR : Amid outrage over the halting of apple trucks along the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the Jammu and Kashmir Government on Wednesday transferred Senior Superintendent of Police Shabir Ahmad Malik.
The Government gave no a reason for the transfer of Malik. It said Ramban Senior Superintendent of Police Mohita Sharma will hold additional charge of the post till further orders.
In the interest of administration, Shabir Ahmad Malik is hereby transferred and attached with the Police Headquarters,” it said.
Fruit growers have been up in arms against the halting of fruit trucks along the highway and alleged it was a deliberate attempt to hurt them.
The growers closed all the fruit markets across Kashmir for two days to protest against the government’s failure to ensure smooth movement of apple trucks to other parts of the country.
Fruit growers said the Government on Tuesday allowed all stranded vehicles to move towards Jammu.
On Tuesday, the police said 17,631 apple trucks have moved from Srinagar to Jammu since September 1. (Agencies)
Bharat Jodo Yatra resumes with massive turnout
Malappuram (Kerala) : The 21st day of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ resumed from Pandikkad here with massive turnout in this district on Wednesday.
The 18th day of Kerala leg of Yatra will halt at Wandoor at 10.30 am and resume at 5 pm to reach Nilambur in Malappuram at 7 pm.
While speaking at a public meeting on Tuesday evening, Rahul said “India’s women are our biggest strength. But they are being treated as ‘objects’ by the BJP. A most disgusting example is the murder of Ankita in Uttarakhand. BJP’s CM bulldozed all evidence to protect the accused. We will not allow BJP to treat women as second-class citizens.”
Over 19 days in the state, the Yatra will cover 7 districts over 450 kms, before it commences in Karnataka on October 1.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five month, over 3,500 km-long foot march from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. It is part of the party’s national mass outreach program aimed at highlighting social polarisation, economic inequalities and political centralisation.
(agencies)