Srinagar, Aug 20: A 25-year-old girl died due to drowning in a power canal at Gutlibagh in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district late Friday evening.
The body of the girl identified as Shagufta was retrieved from power canal by SDRF team late last night after hectic efforts, news agency KNO reported.
A pall of gloom descended over the village due to the incident.
JAMMU, Aug 20: Amid a row over the inclusion of non-local voters in Jammu and Kashmir electoral rolls, the administration on Saturday clarified that no change has been made in the special provisions for Kashmiri migrants for their enrolment in the electoral rolls of their original native constituencies.
An order issued by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said that Kashmiri migrants will continue to be given option of voting at their place of enrolment or through postal ballot or through specially-setup polling stations at Jammu, Udhampur, Delhi, etc.
It further clarified that there is no change in rules regarding buying of property and jobs in the government of Union territory of J&K and have no link to representation of voters or otherwise.
The order stated that summary revision of electoral rolls are undertaken by Election Commission from time to time according to laid down process. “This is to enable young persons who become eligible to register themselves as voters. Besides, it also allows a person who has changed his ordinary place of residence to enrol at new location by getting himself deleted at the old location,” it read.
It further said that the number of electors as published in special summary revision of J&K in 2011 was 66,00,921 and it has now increased to 76,02,397. “This increase is mainly due to the new voters, who attained the age of 18 years.”
The administration refuted media reports which claimed that more than 25 lakh additions will be there in the electoral rolls once the process of electoral roll revision starts.
“This is a misrepresentation of facts, which is being spread by the vested interests. This revision of electoral rolls will cover existing residents of the UT of J&K and increase in numbers will be of the voters who have attained the age of 18 years as on 1.10.2022 or earlier,” it stressed.
JAMMU, Aug 20: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Saturday carried out multiple raids including at an Islamic seminary in Poonch district in connection with the recovery of Rs 10 lakh cash from a local resident two days ago.
Sources said that a team of SIA team raided Jamia Zia Uloom Madrasah Poonch on Saturday morning. Later, the team also raided the houses of the administrators of the Jamia.
The raid is said to have been carried out in connection with recovery of Rs 10 lakh worth cash from one Abdul Hamid, a resident of Poonch at bus stand Jammu on Thursday.
Police suspect the case to be that of terror financing. (Agencies)
Shimla, Aug 20: One person was killed and 13 others were feared dead in a landslide and a flash flood triggered by heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district, officials said on Saturday.
Three people were also killed after their house collapsed following a landslide triggered by rains in the state’s Chamba district on Saturday morning, officials said.
In Mandi, the body of a girl was recovered about half a km away from her house in Baghi Nullah on Mandi-Katola-Prashar road on Friday night, while five members of her family were washed away, state disaster management department officials said.
Several families left their houses located between Baghi to Old Katola areas after cloud burst and took shelter at safe places, the department added.
Besides, eight members of another family are also feared buried under the debris of their house following a landslide at Kashan village in Gohar development block, the department added.
However, the bodies have not been retrieved yet, it said.
Several roads in Mandi district have also been blocked after flash floods and multiple landslides.
Several vehicles were damaged and a number of villagers were stuck in their houses as water entered their houses and shops at Balh, Sadar, Thunag, Mandi and Lamathach after a flash flood. (AGENCIES)
Indian Youth Congress (IYC) will organise a programme on the occasion of ‘Sadbhavna Diwas’, the 78th birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, at the Talkatora Stadium in the national capital on Saturday.
IYC President Srinivas B.V. said, “Rajiv Gandhi was the architect of modern India, who worked towards making a strong and self-reliant India. The country is still reaping the benefits of his vision. It was his foresight that has put India in the ranks of strong, modern nations.”
The Congress’ youth wing, which will highlight the works of the late Prime Minister at the event, called him the “architect of Digital India” and the “father of information technology and telecommunication revolution”.
The Youth Congress will also highlight the works done by the former Prime Minister in the field of science and technology and his efforts towards bringing about a computer revolution in the country.
“Rajiv Gandhi had strengthened the Panchayati Raj system in the country. He believed that if the panchayat system is not strong, democracy cannot reach the ground level,” Srinivas said.
The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas were set up with the idea that children living in the villages should get world-class education, he said.
At present, more than 1.8 lakh students are studying in 551 Navodaya Vidyalayas opened in the country.
JAMMU, Aug 20: The Meteorological (MeT) department on Saturday forecast mainly dry weather with rain at isolated places in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours.
“Mainly dry weather with light rain at isolated places is likely to occur during the next 24 hours in J&K”, an official of the MeT department said.
Meanwhile, Jammu registered 26.7 degrees, Katra 23.8, Batote 19.6, Banihal 20.8 and Bhaderwah 18.8 as the minimum temperature.
Srinagar recorded 21.4 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam and Gulmarg — 16.3 and 11.5 degrees respectively — as the minimum temperature this morning.
Drass town in Ladakh clocked 10 degrees, Leh 13.5 and Kargil 16. (Agencies)
New Delhi, Aug 20: India on Saturday logged 13,272 fresh coronavirus infections that pushed its tally to 4,43,27,890, while the number of active cases came down to 1,01,166, according to Union health ministry data.
The toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 5,27,289 with 36 fatalities, including six deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.58 per cent, the ministry said.
A decline of 664 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.21 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.87 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,36,99,435, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 per cent, it said.
So far, 209.40 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive, it added.
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.
The 30 new deaths include five each from Maharashtra and West Bengal; three each from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka; two each from Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan; and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. (Agencies)
JAMMU, Aug 20: A mud house collapsed due to a landslide in Samole village in Muttal area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district. Two children were killed after being buried beneath the rubble. After obtaining the information, the rescue team arrived at the scene and extracted the bodies from the rubble of the house.
Katra, August 20: The movement of pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra town in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir resumed on Saturday, after a temporary suspension due to flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall in the region.
“In the wake of heavy rainfall, upward movement of pilgrims to Vaishno Devi temple has been stopped from Katra. Priority is given to pilgrims coming downwards. Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed, The situation is being monitored. No untoward incident reported so far,” the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said late on Friday.
However, the movement of devotees resumed on Saturday morning after the situation became normal.
Earlier in July, a cloudburst struck the holy cave area of Amarnath which resulted in a heavy discharge of water in the ‘Nallah’, adjoining the holy cave, following which the route to Amarnath was damaged, it the yatra was on halt for some time.
Four Mi-17V5 and four Cheetal helicopters of the Indian Air Force were also deployed for rescue and relief efforts at the Amarnath shrine.
The Yatra began on June 29, from Jammu amid tight security arrangements made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the army and the local police.
The Amarnath shrine pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal. (Agencies)
Hanley, August 19: An earthquake of magnitude 3.1 on the Ritcher Scale hit South Southwest of Jammu and Kashmir’s Hanley on Friday, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) informed.
“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.1, Occurred on 19-08-2022, 12:02:14 IST, Lat: 31.89 & Long: 78.67, Depth: 5 Km ,Location: 92km SSW of Hanley, Jammu & Kashmir, India,” NCS tweeted. (Agencies)