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)
Mainly dry weather with rain at isolated places likely in J&K: MeT
India Logs 13,272 Fresh COVID-19 Cases, 36 Fatalities In 24 Hours; Positivity Rate At 4.21 %
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)
2 children died after mudhouse collapses due to landslide in J&K’s Udhampur
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.
Vaishno Devi Yatra resumes after being suspended due to flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall
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)
Earthquake of magnitude 3.1 hit J&K’s Hanley
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)
Lalu Yadav’s son-in-law attends official meeting, BJP guns for ‘Parivarvad’ in Bihar
Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the newly formed government in Bihar of promoting ‘Parivarvad’ after Lalu Yadav son in law Shailesh Kumar attended the government officials’ meeting of the Pollution Control Board.
The controversy errupted when newly appointed Bihar’s Forest and Environment Minister Tej Pratap Yadav took his brother-in-law Shailesh along to the government meeting. BJP is targeting Tej Pratap for violating the due official protocols.
Lalu Yadav’s elder son-in-law, Shailesh Kumar, attended the government meeting sitting right next to the chairman of the Pollution Control Board.
Tej Pratap Yadav took oath as minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet on August 16 and took charge of the environment, forest and climate change department on the same day.
Yadav chaired a review meeting of the environment, forest, and climate change department at Aranya Bhawan on 17th August. Tej Pratap’s brother-in-law was seen sitting in this meeting with department officials.
On 18th August, Tej Pratap reviewed another meeting with officials of the Bihar Pollution Control Board, where Shailesh Kumar was once again seen attending the meeting. He was seen sitting along with the chairman of the Pollution Control Board.
Shailesh Kumar is the elder son-in-law of Lalu Yadav and husband of Misa Bharti.
Targeting Nitish Kumar, Bihar Former Deputy CM Sushil Modi said, “Has Nitish Ji given permission that now brother-in-law will not only participate in government meetings but will also conduct.”
Kashmiri Pandits celebrate Janmashtami
Srinagar, Aug 19: Kashmiri Pandits on Friday took out Shoba Yatra here on the occasion of Janmashtami.
The marchers, which included children dressed in traditional attire, started from Kathleshwar temple in Tankipora area and passed through Habbakadal, Ganpathyar, Barbar Shah, Regal Chowk, Lal Chowk, Hari Singh High Street and Jahangir Chowk amid tight security.
Chanting religious slogans, a good number of Pandits took part in the event.
The President of the Hindu Welfare Society of Kashmir, Chunni Lal, prayed for peace and prosperity of the whole humanity. He said the traditional brotherhood among the people of Kashmir should flourish for centuries peacefully.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha greeted the devout on the occasion. (Agencies)
IAF deploys Cheetal helicopter to rescue Italian mountaineer stranded in Kargil sector
New Delhi, August 19: The Indian Air Force on Friday deployed its Cheetal helicopter to rescue an Italian mountaineer stranded on a mountain top in the Kargil sector, the sources informed.
The operations are in progress and all required logistics have been deployed.
It is likely that the operations may take some time due to the terrain. (Agencies)
Weapons dropping case: Accused dies in J&K jail
Jammu, Aug 19: A suspected member of a terrorist module involved in collection and ferrying of weapons and explosives dropped via drones along the International Border in Jammu frontier died after suffering a heart attack in the Kotbalwal jail here, officials said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the module involved in the May 29 explosive dropping case in Kathua, had arrested the accused earlier this month.
“Undertrial Muni Mohmmad was offering ‘namaz’ along with the rest of the prisoners when he suddenly collapsed. He was shifted to a hospital where he was declared dead”, an officer said, adding that he suffered a heart attack.
The 36-year old Muni, who belonged to Rampura village of Kathua district, was slapped with charges 121 (Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war against the Government of India), 121a (conspiracy) /122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India) of IPC, Explosive Substance Act, 16 (recruits any person or persons for commission of a terrorist act), 18 (hatching conspiracy) and 20 (being member of terrorist organisation) of UAPA and sent to Kotbalwal jail on August 10.
The case was initially registered at the Rajbagh police station in Kathua on May 29 and was re-registered by the NIA on July 30.
The NIA on Thursday carried out searches in five districts of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with its investigation into the dropping of weapons by Pakistani drones along the International Border, an official said.
According to police, the module was in operation for over two years and was involved in collection and ferrying of weapons and explosives dropped via drones from the Pakistani side along the International Border. (Agencies)
Sixth ‘Deepotsav’ edition in Ayodhya, 14.5 lakh diyas to be lit
The sixth edition of ‘Deepotsav’ will be held in Ayodhya on October 23. According to official sources, nearly 14.5 lakh diyas will be lit on the Ghats this year, creating a new record.
Last year, a record had been created by lighting 7.5 lakh diyas (earthen lamps) at Ram Ki Paidi ghat on the banks of river Saryu.
Official sources said that the scale of ‘Deepotsav’ is being increased in view of greater public participation that is expected this year.
In the past two years, due to the pandemic, people had largely kept away from participating in the event.
The Deepotsav event had been started by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2017 and has grown bigger in scale ever since.