July 29: Vehicular traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway resumed on Friday after blockades caused by shooting stones and mudslides in Ramban district were cleared, officials said.
”Jammu-Srinagar highway is through. Many stretches are still single way open for traffic and intermittent shooting stones still going on,” a traffic advisory said.
It said stranded vehicles were being cleared and people are advised not to travel on the highway without confirmation from traffic police.
Convoys of Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu have been allowed to move towards Kashmir valley, officials said.
The important iron tunnel passage set up in the most vulnerable stretch of the highway was damaged due to intense shooting stones on Thursday evening.
According to officials, mudslides and shooting stones struck the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, at Mehaar, Cafeteria Moore and Pantiyal areas.
The work is going on to clear the highway and ensure two-way traffic on it, they said. (Agencies)
J&K highway reopened for traffic, stranded vehicles, Amarnath pilgrims allowed
‘World Is Looking At India’s Youth With Hope,’ Says PM Narendra Modi
Congratulating the students of Anna University, Chennai who are graduating today, July 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that whole world is looking at the India’s youth with hope as they are the growth engines not only of the country but as well as the world. “The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on all of you,” the prime minister said at the 42nd Convocation of the university.
The prime minister also congratulated the parents and teachers of the students who had graduated today. “You would have already built a future for yourselves in your minds. Therefore, today is not only a day of achievements but also of aspirations,” said the prime minister.
During the programme, the prime minister awarded gold medals and certificates to 69 students. “We are graduating at a unique time. Some will call it a time of uncertainty but I will call it a time of opportunity. The global pandemic tested every country. Adversities reveal what we are made of. India faced the unknown confidently, thanks to its scientists, healthcare workers and common people. Due to this India is at the forefront. Our industry is in the forefront,” he said.
The prime minister recalled former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for his association with Anna University. “May his thoughts and values always inspire you”, said PM Narendra Modi. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and Chief Minister MK Stalin were also attended the convocation ceremony.
Govt renames 18 schools after ‘martyrs, eminent persons’
The J&K administration on Thursday renamed 18 schools after names of people killed in militant attacks. The administration has directed the School Education Department to take immediate steps, including amending the records for effecting the changes.
Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Principal Secretary, said the decision to rename the schools had been taken in the Administrative Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on July 22. The formal order to grant the sanction was issued on Thursday.
The divisional commissioners of J&K have been asked to personally monitor the naming of the infrastructure assets in their respective divisions, the order reads.
At least 17 of these schools have been renamed after J&K policemen killed by militants. The Government Higher Secondary School at Soaf Shali in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district has been named after Sarwanand Koul Premi, who was a famous Kashmiri poet. He along with his young son, Verinder, was kidnapped and executed by militants in 1990.
Two pilots martyred in IAF fighter plane crash, one from Jammu
An Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter that was involved in a training mission near Rajasthan’s Barmer crashed, killing two pilots, on Thursday evening. Advitiya Bal (Flying Lieutenant) S/o Swaran Kumar Bal R/0 Village Mehlu RS Pura Jammu has been martyred in MIG 21 CRASH in Jodhpur yesterday.
Images taken at the disaster site showed the wreckage engulfed in flames and dispersed all about.
“A twin seater Mig-21 trainer aircraft of the IAF was airborne for a training sortie from Utarlai air base in Rajasthan this evening. Around 9:10 pm, the aircraft met with an accident near Barmer. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries,” the Air Force said in a statement.
“IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families,” the statement added.
Suspended MPs 50-hour long day-night protest continues in Parliament
Opposition MPs continued their 50-hour day-night sit-in protest on Friday morning in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises to mark their strong protest against their suspension and the central government which they claimed was not ready to hold discussion over key issues like price rise and increased GST rates.
A total of 27 MPs including 23 Rajya Sabha MPs and 4 Lok Sabha MPs have been suspended for “unruly behaviour” during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.
This is learnt to be the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House. The 50-hour long sit-in is likely to end around 5 pm on Friday. MPs, who were suspended for the week for their “unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings” in the Parliament, had started the sit-in protest Wednesday afternoon.
Among the MPs who spent the night outside include Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Abir Ranjan Biswas and Derek O’Brien while TMC MPs Dola Sen, Sushmita Dev, Mausam Noor, AAP MPs Sushil Gupta and Sandeep Pathak were at the protest site till midnight.
On the second night under the sky, the MPs arranged mosquito nets for themselves.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien and AAP MP Sanjay Singh shared a photo from the protest site where the MPs could be seen inside mosquito nets.
Congress leader Manickam Tagore earlier on Thursday posted a video of a mosquito sitting on a protesting MP’s hand. In that video, a mosquito coil was also seen.
“Non-stop day-night 50 hr dharna still on. About 6 hours to go. Revoke suspension of 27 MPs suspended for seeking a discussion on #PriceRise. Opposition fighting to save sanctity of Parliament from dictators,” tweeted TMC MP Derek O’Brien.
Some of the media reports also claimed that the suspended Rajya Sabha MPs who are protesting in the Parliament had consumed “tandoori chicken” in front of Mahatama Gandhi’s statue.
Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to share several pictures of the protest and said that the Chief Minister of Gujarat should resign as many children lost their parents because of the spurious liquor.
“These innocent children were made orphans by the poisonous liquor of Gujarat. Is it a crime to raise their issue in the House? Should the CM of Gujarat not resign? The night has passed, it is morning. The protest in the Parliament premises continued for the third day,” he said in a tweet.
Singh also shared a video on Twitter and said today the protest has entered the third and they will continue till the government discusses the spurious liquor tragedy in Gujarat.
“Today is the third day of protest and today I am sitting in front of the Gandhi statue inside the parliament premises. The issue because we are protesting is to hold a discussion in Parliament over the death of 75 people by consuming spurious liquor in Gujarat. In the state where the BJP is in power for the last 27 years and where liquor is banned, their small children are orphaned because of spurious liquor. This is the matter we want to raise in Parliament but we were suspended. But I am still in the Parliament premises and will continue to protest,” said AAP MP.
Earlier, Singh told ANI that all the 20 suspended MPs from Rajya Sabha would continue their 50-hour long sit-in till Friday afternoon and that the Modi government should apologize to the people of Gujarat over the spurious liquor tragedy.
MPs who were suspended on Tuesday over ‘unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings’ include Sushmita Dev, Santanu Sen, Dola Sen, Mausam Noor, Shanta Chhetri, Abhi Ranjan Biswar and Mohd Nadidul Haque.
On July 27, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of this week for “throwing paper on the Chair” during the proceedings. Singh was the 20th MP from the Upper House who was suspended for disrupting proceedings in this session. This is the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House.
On July 25, four Congress MPs including Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, Jothimani and TN Prathapan were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the entire Monsoon session for their ‘unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings.’
The Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced on July 18 and will continue till August 12. There will be 18 sittings during the Session.
Jammu-Srinagar highway blocked for 2nd consecutive day
July 29: Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained blocked on Friday for the second consecutive day because of shooting stones in Ramban district.
Traffic department officials said shooting stones in Panthyal stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar highway continue to block the road as restoration work could not be started because of incessant rain.
“No vehicular traffic will be allowed on the highway today. Restoration work will be started immediately after the weather improves,” traffic department officials said.
Shooting stones, mudslides and landslides triggered by rain often result in closure of the nearly 300 kms long Jammu-Srinagar highway.
In addition to being the supplies lifeline of the landlocked Valley, the highway is these days used by the Amarnath pilgrims to reach both the south Kashmir Pahalgam and the north Kashmir Baltal base camps.
Suspend Yatra Till Weather Improves: MeT Advises Authorities
Srinagar, July 28 (GNS): Weatherman on Thursday urged authorities to suspend Amarnath Yatra till weather improves further.
A meteorological department official said that widespread light to moderate rain was expected in Jammu and Kashmir. The weather would be cloudy with light rain at some places on Baltal-Holy Cave, Pahalgam-Holycave, the official said.
“For next 3 hours, light to moderate rain may continue over many places of J&K including Pahalgam-Holycave, Baltal-HolyCave axis ,” the MeT official said in a statement to GNS and advised the authorities to “suspend yatra from Baltal-Holy Cave, Pahalgam-Holycave till weather improves further.” (GNS)
Rains Continue In J&K, MeT Cautions People Against Flash Floods, Landslides
Srinagar Receives Highest Rainfall In Last 24 Hours, Minimum Temp Drops At Most Places
Srinagar, July 28 (GNS): As rains continued to lash Jammu and Kashmir, the weatherman on Thursday cautioned people against flash floods, mudslides and landslides at vulnerable places.
The weatherman also forecast more light to moderate rain at scattered places of Jammu and Kashmir in next 24 hours.
“Advisory: Rainfall on upper reaches may lead to flash flood, mudslide and landslide at vulnerable places. Please remain cautious and prepared as these events often occurs suddenly,” a meteorological department official said in a statement to GNS.
In last 24 hours till 08:30 a.m. today, he said, Srinagar received highest rainfall of 43.9mm followed by Katra (34.8mm), Batote (33.2mm), Kathua (32.4mm), Qazigund (30.6mm), Bhaderwah (27.3 mm), Gulmarg (22.8mm), Jammu & Pahalgam (5.2mm), Banihal(4.8mm), Kokernag(1.8mm) and Kupwara(0.4mm).
Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures recorded a decrease at most places in Kashmir Valley and Jammu division.
The MeT official said that Srinagar recorded a low of 19.4°C against 21.8°C on the previous night. However the temperature was 0.7°C above normal during this time of the year for the summer capital, the official said.
Qazigund recorded a low of 18.6°C against 20.7°C on the previous night. The temperature was 1.6°C above normal there, he said.
In Pahalgam, the mercury settled at 17.1°C against 17.8°C on the previous night and it was 3.8°C above normal for the south Kashmir resort.
Kokernag recorded a low of 18.7°C against 18.8°C last night and it was 2.3°C above normal for the place, he said.
World famous Gulmarg resort recorded a low of 12.6°C against 13.2°C and it was 0.2°C above normal for the north Kashmir place.
Kupwara town saw a low of 19.2°C against 19.0°C on previous night and it was 1.8°C above normal for the place during this time of the season, the official told Global News Service.
Jammu recorded a low of 25.3°C against 25.8°C on the previous night. However, it was 0.1°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal recorded a low of 19.4°C, Batote 18.5°C, Katra 22.2°C and Bhadarwah 19.1°C, the official said. (GNS)
India logs 20409 new infections, 32 deaths in last 24 hours
Jul 29: India logged 20,409 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,39,79,730, while the active cases declined to 1,43,988, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 5,26,258 with 32 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 per cent, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,335 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.12 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.82 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,33,09,484, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent.
According to the ministry, 203.60 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 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.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.
The 32 new fatalities include seven from West Bengal, three each from Karnataka and Maharashtra, two each from Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Uttarakhand and one each from Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. (Agencies)
Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya Power @2047 Bijli Mahotsav held in Bhadarwah
By King RJ
Bhadarwah, July 28: As a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence, District Administration, NHPC and JPDCL organized a ‘Bijli Mahotsav’ under Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya Power @2047 at Community Hall Bhadarwah on Thursday.
On the occasion DDC Chairman Doda Dhananter Singh Kotwal was the chief guest, while Sangeeta Bhagat Vice-Chairperson Doda was the guest of honour. DDC Doda Vikas Sharma presided over the programme. Cheif guest along with guest of honour and other dignitaries inaugurated the event in presence of large number of people.
ADC Bhadarwah Dil Mir Choudhary, ADC Doda Dr R K Bharti, Kamlesh Kumar, Asst. Rajbhasha Officer, NHPC Kishtwar and General Manager (Electrical) NHPC Kishtwar Mithilesh Dinkar were also present on the occasion.
BDC Chairpersons, DDC Councillors, Senior Manager NHPC (HR) Ashok Dhanwal, Officials of NHPC Kishtiwar and JPDCL and public representatives were also present.
Various cultural programmes, Nukkad nataks and screening of short films on the power sector were held at the venue. The events also witnessed several beneficiaries sharing their experiences.
During the Mahotsav, the dignitaries highlighted the benefits of electricity and the unprecedented growth achieved by the power sector over the past few years.
On this occasion, Dhananter Singh Kotwal and Sangeeta Bhagat while addressing the gathering said that the government is doing remarkable work in the field of electricity. The local administration is implementing various schemes, and the public is getting benefited. He urged upon the public to install smart meters, use the electricity judiciously and Cooperate with the electricity department to have uninterrupted power supply.
SE JPDCL Kishtiwar Circle has given detailed information about the programs being run for the public. Numerous dignitaries graced the occasion which saw large turnouts of crowd from nearby villages and other far off areas including school students.
The Bijli Mahotsav programmes are being used as a platform to celebrate the collaboration between the state and the Centre Governments and to highlight the key achievements in the power sector.
Some of the key highlights in the sector as informed during the programme have been, 169 GW of generation capacity added which transformed our country from power deficit to power surplus.
1.6 lakh CKM of transmission lines added, which connected entire country into one grid running on one frequency, emerging as largest integrated grid in the world.
India achieved 100% village electrification (18,374) and 100% household electrification (2.86 Cr).
Rs 2.02 Lakh Cr outlay for system strengthening, has increased duration of power supply in rural areas from 12 hours in 2015 to average 22.5 hours at present.
Fastest growing Renewable Energy (RE) capacity which has doubled from ~76 GW in 2014 to ~160 GW at present. India has also achieved 40% RE Generation capacity in 2021 and India stands 4th globally.
The Bijli Mahotsav is being celebrated all over the country under the umbrella of Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @2047 for more public participation and getting across the developments in the power sector to the citizens at large.