New Delhi, Sept 2: Taking a jibe at Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday claimed that the “ground reality” of the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir is different from the ones “manufactured by people sitting in New Delhi in Modi Sarkar-sanctioned bungalows.”
Tagging a video of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Twitter, Jairam Ramesh wrote, “This is ground reality, not reality manufactured by people sitting in New Delhi in Modi Sarkar sanctioned bungalows with huge lawns and planting fake news.”
The Jammu and Kashmir Congress tweet stated the Congress workers of all blocks of Bhallessa Sub Division held a monthly meeting on September 1 in Gandoh’s party office. The meeting is being held for more than 50 years, it further stated.
Notably, Bhalessa is the home town of former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
“Congress workers of all blocks of Sub Division Bhallessa assembled at Congress office Gandoh to hold monthly meeting which is being conducted 1st day of every month for last more than 50 years. Bhalessa is the home village of Ghulam Nabi Azad,” tweeted Jammu and Kashmir Congress.
Azad, on August 26, resigned from all posts of the party citing the “immaturity” of Rahul Gandhi whom he blamed for “demolishing the consultative mechanism” in the party.
In a hard-hitting 5 page note to party interim president Sonia Gandhi, Azad claimed that a coterie runs the party while she was just a nominal head and all the major decisions were taken by “Shri Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards and PAs”.
Earlier speaking to media persons in the national capital, Azad said, “I have been forced to leave my home on my own.”
Taking a dig at the Congress over his resignation, he said, “Modi is an excuse, they have had an issue with me since the G23 letter was written. They never wanted anyone to write to them, question them.”
“Several (Congress) meetings happened, but not even a single suggestion was taken,” added Azad.
When asked if he’ll go with BJP if needed after forming a new party, Azad said, “Congress mein anpadhon (illiterate) ki jamaat hai, especially those sitting for clerical work…Those who know Jammu and Kashmir, I can’t increase even one vote in BJP’s constituencies, they can’t do it in mine.”
Several political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir last Saturday met veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is planning to launch a new national party.
“MLAs from Jammu and Kashmir are here. A few more-some senior leaders and ex-ministers-will come in the evening. Azad Sa’ab said a national party will be formed, we’ll begin from J&K and the upcoming poll will be fought strongly. Don’t want to reply to comments, we’ll reply with a victory,” said ex-Congress leader Salman Nizami.
The meeting came within 24 hours of Azad’s resignation from all posts in Congress and it holds importance as the polls in the valley are likely to be held later this year.
“Under the leadership of Azad ji we will launch a national party and the work will begin from Jammu and Kashmir. Azad ji will go to J-K and will form an alliance with like-minded parties and leaders. All the criticism coming Azad Ji’s way will be answered by winning elections,” ex- Congress leader Salman Nizami had earlier announced.
The decision to launch a new national party came just hours after the veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, in a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi resigned from all positions of the Congress party including the primary membership. (Agencies)
Jairam Ramesh takes jibe at Ghulam Nabi Azad, shows “ground reality” of J&K Congress
15 percent increase in crime against women in J-K, reveals NCRB data
Crimes against women in Jammu and Kashmir have seen 15 percent increase in 2021, NCRB report has revealed.
The report said that J-K has recorded a 9.5 percent increase in cognizable offences and there has been a rise of 15 percent in crime cases against women.
As per report, 3,069 crime cases against women were registered in 2019, followed by 3,405 in 2020 and 3,937 in 2021.
Most prominent crime cases against women was assault on women with intention to outrage her modesty and in J-K, 1,851 such cases were reported in year 2021, reads the data adding that, the crime rate of such assaults on J-K is 28.9 per lakh of population which is highest in eight Union Territories.
As per data, 31,675 criminal cases under the IPC of the special and local laws in 2021 while as in 2020, 28,911 such cases were registered.
In overall criminal cases, J-K has reported an increase of 9.5 percent while in 2020 the increase percentage was 13.7 percent, data reads further.
2 Pairs Of Trains To Halt At Rajasthan’s Kapasan, J&K’s Manwal Railway Stations
NEW DELHI, Sep 2: For the convenience of rail commuters, the Northern Railway has decided to provide temporary stoppages to two pairs of trains at Kapasan Railway Station in Rajasthan and Manwal Railway Station in Jammu and Kashmir. This has been in response to a long-term demand for stoppages to be provided at these stations. Train No. 19615/19616 Udaipur City-Kamakhya Kaviguru Express and Train No. 14033/14034 Delhi Jn.-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Jammu Mail Express will halt at the aforementioned stations.
The commuters, who travel daily from Udhampur and Manwal to Jammu, Samba, and Kathua will benefit from these halts, according to Northern Railway. The two-minute stoppage of Mail Express 14033/14034 at Manwal Railway Station has been authorised by Railways. With this, students coming to Jammu for studies along with passengers will also be benefited.
According to the officials, the 19616 Kamakhya-Udaipur City Kavi Guru Express will begin travelling on September 1 at 10.35 pm, while the 19615 Udaipur City-Kamakhya Kavi Guru will begin travelling on September 5 at 05:09 pm. From September 3 through September 6, the train will stop at Kapasan Railway Station for two minutes in both directions.
14033 Delhi Jn. – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Jammu Mail will depart at 07.36 AM while Train No. 14034 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Delhi Junction. Jammu Mail will halt at Manwal station at 02.59 PM. This stoppage in both directions will be provided for a period of two minutes from August 31 to September 6. (Agencies)
J&K LG inaugurates recommencement of balance work of Tawi Barrage
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday inaugurated the recommencement of balance work of Tawi Barrage.
Sinha said that recommencement of Tawi Barrage is a significant occasion for Jammu city.
The ambitious project, which was delayed for more than a decade, will enhance scenic beauty, increase tourism potential of the city of temples and it will also ensure creation of recreational spots for people, the Lt. Governor added.
Today’s initiative is a part of the government’s endeavour to develop urban centres as engines of economic growth and make the cities ecologically and economically sustainable, he said.
The new and robust infrastructure will cater to tourists as well the local population, making the citizens partners in the conservation and development of water bodies, Sinha added.
Noting that the legacy of project delays in J&K has hampered the economy of the region and kept people away from the basic facilities, the Lt Governor asserted that project delays which were earlier considered a norm is now a thing of the past.
The Union Territory has achieved new strides in project implementation, while only 9,229 projects were completed in 2018-19, more than 50,000 projects have been completed in 2021-22, registering a substantial five-fold increase, Sinha said.
The proposed Tawi Barrage will create a pondage of 1.41 million cubic metres. It will be an auto-mechanical and manual operated gated barrage controlled through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system and the project is scheduled to be commissioned by mid-July 2023.
Two persons arrested for blackmailing girl: J&K Police
Police arrest duo from Kashmir capital Srinagar for blackmailing her, official sources said.
They said that the two accused Danish Majeed Bhat of Noorbagh and Aadil Ahmed Rather, a resident of Shunglipora Srinagar were arrested for blackmailing and extorting money from a girl (name withheld) threatening her of circulating a video on the internet.
After receiving the complaint, both the accused were arrested by police station Safakadal while a formal FIR vide number 169/2022 under section 354C, 509 IPC, & 66 E,67,67 A IT Act was registered against them.
PM Modi commissions India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
Kochi (Kerala) , September 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant in a ceremony at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi.
Ahead of the commissioning, PM Modi received the Guard of Honour at the Shipyard recieved a Guard of Honour as he arrived for the Commissioning ceremony.
Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war.
It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.
As per the Indian Navy, the 262-meter-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor.
Speaking about the specifications of IAC Vikrant, Vice Admiral Hampiholi had said: “Vikrant carries a mix of about 30 aircraft. It could fly the MiG 29k fighter aircraft in anti-air, anti-surface and land attack roles. It will be able to operate the Kamov 31 which is an early air warning helicopter, the recently inducted but yet-to-be commissioned MH-60R which is a multi-role helicopter as also our very indigenous ALH. It displaces about 45,000 tonnes which is definitely the largest warship in the Indian naval inventory.”
With Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.IAC Vikrant consist of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors and to cater to the food requirements, around 10,000 chapatis or rotis are made in the ship’s kitchen, which is called the ship’s galley.
The ship is powered by four Gas Turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of close to Rs 20,000 crores, the project has been progressed in three Phases of the contract between MoD and CSL, concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.
The ship’s keel was laid in Feb 2009, followed by launching in August 2013.
With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, IAC is a perfect example of the nation’s quest for “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat” and provides a thrust to Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.
The ship would be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft comprising of MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy). Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested Landing), the IAC is equipped with a ski- jump for launching aircraft, and a set of ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.
The ship has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country viz. BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Wartsila India etc. as well as over 100 MSMEs.The indigenisation efforts have also led to the development of ancillary industries, besides the generation of employment opportunities and bolstering plough back effect on the economy, both locally as well as pan-India.
A major spin-off of this is the development and production of indigenous warship-grade steel for the ship through a partnership between the Navy, DRDO and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which has enabled the country to become self-sufficient with respect to warship steel. Today all the warships being built in the country are being manufactured using indigenous steel, added the Navy.
Several design iterations, including the use of 3D Virtual Reality models and advanced engineering software, were used by the Directorate of Naval Design in shaping the design of the carrier. CSL had also upgraded their shipbuilding infrastructure as well as enhanced productivity skills during the building of the ship. (Agencies)
Militants open fire at non-local labourer in J&K’s Pulwama; Victim hails from West Bengal
Srinagar, September 2: Militants on Friday opened fire at a non-local labourer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a police official said.
Victim Muneerul Islam hails from West Bengal. He has been shifted to a hospital, the official said.
The incident took place in Ugergund area in the morning. An inquiry is being carried out, he added. (Agencies)
Mainly dry weather to continue in Jammu and Kashmir: MeT
JAMMU, Sep 2: Dry weather is likely to continue in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours, the Meteorological (MeT) department said on Friday.
“Weather is likely to remain dry in J&K during the next 24 hours”, an official of the MeT office said.
Jammu had 26.3 degrees, Katra 23, Batote 17.5, Banihal 17.2 and Bhaderwah 16.7 as the minimum temperature.
Srinagar recorded 17.2 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 11.8 and Gulmarg 10.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature this morning.
Drass town in Ladakh clocked 6.7 degrees, while Leh registered 10.8 degrees. (Agencies)
India sees over 6,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours; active caseload declines
New Delhi, Sep2: With 6,168 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,44,42,507, while the active cases declined to 59,210, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,27,932 with 21 new fatalities that include two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 a.m. stated.
The active cases comprise 0.13% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.68%, the Health Ministry said.
There has been a decline of 3,538 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94% while the weekly positivity rate was 2.51%, the Health Ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,55,365 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%.
According to the Ministry, 212.75 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had 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 on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.(Agencies)
Three days Historic Mela Patt begins with religious fervor in Bhadarwah
By King RJ
Bhadarwah, Sept 01:- Three-day annual holy Mela Patt, devoted to Lord Vasuki Nag, the presiding deity of Bhadarwah valley, began on Thursday evening with full religious fervor and gaiety after two years of pandemic restrictions.
To commemorate the historic meet between Mughal emperor Akbar and King Nag Pal of Bhadarwah, three day historic Mela Pat started at ancient Mohalla Khakhal of Bhadarwah.
Mela Pat- a symbol of Nag culture, is celebrated every year on Nagpanchmi and hundreds of people converge at Khakhal Mohallah to pay obeisance to the bravery and spiritual power of Raja Nag Pal.
After two years of pandemic restrictions in which only necessary rituals were performed, this year hundreds of people from different parts of the UT of J&K irrespective of cast and religion are participating in the festival.
The festival was first celebrated in 16th century by King Nag Pal, the ruler of small principality then called Bhadarkashi presently known as Bhadarwah.
The historic festival is being organized after 7 days of conclusion of the Kailash Yatra in which thousands of people drawn from different parts of the state and elsewhere participated to take blessings of Vasuki Nag. 
DDC Chairman Doda Dhananter Singh Kotwal, Vice-Chairperson Sangeeta Bhagat, Chairman Organizing Committee Advocate Naresh Gupta, President Sanatan Dharam Sabha Bhadarwah Virendar Razdan, DDC Councillor Yudhvir Thakur, Mast Nath Yogi, Advocate Chanderkant Gupta and Neeraj Manhas were also present on the occasion.
The traditional Dikko Dance, a unique folk dance, was also performed, which is a regular feature of the festival and people irrespective of religion, cast and gender participate in it, which makes this festival a symbol of Peace, Pride and communal harmony.
Main organiser of the festival, Advocate Naresh Gupta said that this festival is not only the symbol of religion but also depicts our proud historical background and mutual brotherhood. Perhaps this is the only festival of India which is being celebrated since last more than 600 years without any untoward or ugly incident, which clearly shows communal harmony of this area and respect for Raja Nag Pal irrespective of religion.While expressing his resentment over the attitude of Tourism department especially Bhadarwah Development Authority (BDA) for their failure to promote this annual event, Naresh Gupta said that we were expecting from BDA that they will promote this festival to attract tourists but they are in deep slumber and there is dire need to wake up them.
He applead LG Administration to announce this festival as heritage festival and get this featured in tourism’s annual calendar.
On the occasion, display of 'Patt' was performed with complete the rituals. The royal robbing that was presented by King Akbar to Raja Nagpal of Bhadarwah in his honour was also displayed during the ‘Mela Patt’.On the occasion, people also installed many stalls of eatables, toys, religious books and others at the venue.
Vice Chairperson DDC Doda Sangeeta Bhagat said that I was mesmerized and had goosebumps after participated in the unique rituals of this ancient culture, this fair which is a symbol of Nag Culture has got all the ingredients to be showcased to the outer world and surely attract national and international visitors.
Sangeeta Bhagat said that this is an indication of post modernism that's why young generation is returning to its roots. I enjoyed our tradition and this is one of the most enjoyable experience of my life and I simply loved it. We hope all people get blessings of Lord Vasuki Nag during this auspicious festival. “We will try to bring it on the pilgrimage tourism, so that outer world can also experience this unique culture and tradition, ” Sangeeta added.
Meanwhile elaborate security arrangements were made in and around the venue of festival to thwart any untoward incident.
SHO Bhadarwah Jatinder Singh Rakwal was present along with his team at the venue to supervise the security arrangements.
SHO Bhadarwah Jatinder Singh Rakwal said that the elaborate security arrangements has been made in and around the venue of festival.