Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday said that whosoever would be found part of the ‘terror ecosystem’ will face action as per the law and that it was the prime duty of Police and Security Agencies to trace such people.

“Whosoever is found to be part of terror ecosystem will face action, none will be spared. It is the prime duty of police and security agencies to track down such people,” LG said while replying to a query whether action would be also taken against politicians, if found involved in “supporting terror or terrorism”

The LG said that almost all migrant Kashmiri Pandits have been posted at various district headquarters and there may be some whose issues are being settled down.

“We have a nodal officer who is monitoring the grievances of migrant KPs. All measures are being taken to resolve their issues,” the LG said, adding that it was not like one would sit home and enjoy salary and other perks.

He, however, said that some targeted killings of KPs took place after which migrant KP groups raised certain concerns. “The administration took swift action and resolved the issues confronting the KP employees working under PMRP,” the LG said.

The LG was addressing a press conference in Jammu, reported local news agency KNO.

To a query that there were militant threats about opening of developmental centers in J&K, the LG said that it was the J&K Administration and the Centre that takes calls on who would work, who would open offices and who would invest here.

“Who has to stay here or not will be decided by the J&K administration and Government of India,” the LG said.

Asked whether the administration would allow Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra set to enter J&K in January, he said the government believes in democratic principles and no drive or march that is held within such principles are banned or disallowed.

“As far as Covid protocol, we will see and monitor what would be Covid situation (in January),” he said, adding that only such activities that go against India’s sovereignty are banned and disallowed.

To a query that some media reports suggest investment proposals were on papers only, the LG said that he too came through such news reports.

“But the fact remains that there have been investments of Rs 100 Cr, 200 Crore and even Rs 900 Crore as well. We are facing infrastructure related issues at some places that are being addressed. I assure you all that Rs 70,000 Crore investment will be a reality soon,” he said.

The LG said that in the next five years, every town will be developed under the My town My pride program while aspirational Panchayat Developmental Programs will be launched for the development of Panchayats.

He also announced a slew of measures that his administration will be taking to promote and push the J&K’s Agriculture and its allied sectors to promote UT’s economy.

First time in the last 30 years, Kashmir gets a full academic session. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has issued an order for a uniform academic calendar. The decision was taken to streamline the academic calendar in schools with the rest of the country.

Tassaduq Hussain Mir, Director, School Education, Kashmir, calls it a great achievement. He says that they have been able to bridge learning gaps this year. Education has suffered a lot due to frequent lockdowns, strike calls, and other such situations.

The annual examinations for classes up to class 9 will now be held in March. Like other parts of the country, now in Kashmir, the class 10th and 12th examinations will also be held in March.

The schools of the two regions so far followed the practice of having summer and winter zones and had different academic calendars based on climatic conditions. The schools begin the new session in April-May in Jammu, while in the Kashmir division, students appear for final exams in October and the new session begins in November every year.

This will also affect the admissions from the next session as the department further ordered that new admissions must commence from the month of March of the calendar year. The decision primarily affects academic session in Kashmir since Jammu already adheres to a March session, barring some areas of the Pir Panjal region. Academic experts are calling it a wrong decision, while private school associations say the service providers have not been taken on board. The class 10 students, however, seemed satisfied with the decision. They said that they will now get enough time to prepare for the exams. Those who used to sit at home in winter after the exams will now prepare for the exams during that time.

Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shut due to a landslide at Dewal Bridge in Udhampur on Wednesday.
Operation is underway to clear the route.
“Jammu Srinagar National Highway is still closed. However, Mughal Road and SSG road through for traffic movement,” tweeted Jammu and Kashmir Traffic Police.

JAMMU, Dec 20: District Magistrate Jammu, Avny Lavasa, has imposed restriction on the transportation of Bovine Animals from the district except with written permission by the designated authority. The order issued today stated that “No Bovine animals such as Cow, Buffalo, Oxen, Bulls, Calves etc be transported from District Jammu to other Districts, except with written permission from undersigned or Addl. District Magistrate, Jammu under certain conditions imposed by this office, from time to time.” The order shall come into force with an immediate effect and shall remain in force for a period of two months from date of its issue or till the order is rescinded whichever be earlier.

The weather office has predicted mostly cloudy weather with chances of light snow at isolated places from December 26 over north and northwestern parts of the Kashmir valleyInterior parts of Dal Lake in Srinagar were frozen on the night of Tuesday with the weather office predicting continued dry and cold weather as Kashmir’s harshest 40-day winter period ‘Chillai Kalan’ begins on Wednesday.

The meteorological (MeT) department said the Chillai Kalan will start on a dry note. “The weather is mainly clear to partly cloudy. Dry weather is expected till December 25 evening,” MeT said in an update.

Residents said the upper water layer of Dal Lake had frozen in certain areas during the night owing to temperature dropping to minus 3.4 degrees Celsius in Srinagar.

“Interiors of the lake froze and we expect the lake to freeze fully in the coming days as the cold is getting intense,” said Abdul Rashid, a local living on the lake.

The mercury dropped below zero degrees during the night at all weather stations of Kashmir.

The MeT weather update said that the coldest place in the Valley was Pahalgam at -5.4 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam had recorded the season’s lowest of -5.6 degrees on December 7. The ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of -4 degrees Celsius against -2.5 degrees on the previous night.

In Jammu division, Banihal was the coldest at -1.2 degrees; however the Jammu district witnessed 6.7 degrees during the night. Katra recorded 7.5 degrees. Leh and Kargil in Ladakh froze at -11.8°C.

The weather office has predicted mostly cloudy weather with chances of light snow at isolated places from December 26 over north and northwestern parts of the Valley.

“Light to moderate rain and snowfall is expected at isolated places of Jammu and at scattered places of Kashmir on December 29 and 30,” the update said.

Kashmir’s winter pans out in three stages, starting with the 40-day intense period from December 21(Chillai Kalan) followed by 20 more days that are less intense (Chillai Khurd) and lastly 10 days of mild cold (Chille Bache).

The months of November and December so far for the major part were dry, recording below average rainfall or snowfall in Kashmir this year, the MeT said.

However, the rainfall during this year’s monsoon was normal after two years of deficit with Kashmir valley receiving 270mm average rainfall from June 1 to September 29, an increase of 6% than the normal of 254 mm.

Similarly, Jammu division experienced 886mm average rainfall in the four monsoon months, an increase of 7% than the normal 826 mm.