Jammu & Kashmir

A 48-year-old man, who had sustained severe burn injuries in a fire incident on January 20, 2022 at Jamalata area of Nawakadal Srinagar, has succumbed to his injuries on Monday at SMHS hospital here, taking the toll of deaths to two.

Official sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that Abdul Majeed Gujri, son of Ghulam Rasool Gujri, who was undergoing treatment at SMHS here since January 20, succumbed to his injuries today.

Majeed and two others had sustained severe burn injuries in a massive blaze at Jamalata area of Srinagar in which four houses were completely gutted and one lady had died of burn injuries as well. The incident took place on January 20, 2021.

However, after battling with life for 18 days, the injured man has succumbed to his injuries, descending the entire area in a pall of gloom yet again.

The injured as per the officials had a deep wound on upper head due to LPG cylinder explosion—(KNO)

As third wave of the covid-19 ebbed, J&K government on Sunday lifted weekend restrictions and also allowed coaching centres to resume offline teaching with a rider.

However, according to an order by State Executive Committee headed by Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, the night curfew shall continue across Jammu and Kashmir as well as there shall be full adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).

As regards the education institutions, the SEC ordered that all Colleges, Schools, Polytechnics, ITIs, etc shall continue to adopt “online” medium of teaching. “There shall be no in-person teaching,” the order, a copy of which lies with GNS reads.

“Coaching Centres for Civil Services/Engineering/NEET etc. are permitted to adopt offline medium of teaching at 50% of their capacity subject to condition that both faculty members as well as students are fully vaccinated and the Head of the centre ensures due precautions such as CAB and adherence to SOP,” the order reads further, adding, “Educational institutions shall be permitted to direct attendance of vaccinated staff for administrative purposes only.” The Head of the institution, it said, must ensure that guidelines related to social distancing and Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) are strictly followed.

“Night Curfew shall continue to remain in force in all Districts from 10 pm to 6 am with complete restriction on non-essential movement,” the order adds further.

All the Government Department(s)/Office(s) have been asked to minimise conducting in-person meetings or interactions etc. “All Administrative Secretaries/ Head of the Department(s)/ Institution^) shall ensure optimal use of virtual mode for conducting official meetings etc.”

To reduce the rate of transmission within J&K, it said, all efforts shall be made by Authorities through active involvement of PRIs, Community Leaders, Market Associations and Federations.

“IEC campaign for containing surge in Covid cases/3rd Wave shall be undertaken immediately by all District Magistrates (Chairperson, District Disaster Management Authorities) in their respective jurisdictions highlighting the necessity of Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB),” the order reads, adding, “The Department of Health and Medical Education, Jammu and Kashmir shall sensitise people about the Variants of Concern/Variants of Interest (VoC/Vol) of Covid-19 including the new Variant B.1.1.529 (Omicron)”.

The State Executive Committee also reiterated that all the offices should regulate the attendance of its employees in such a manner so as to ensure that appropriate Social Distancing Norms are maintained.

“Pregnant Women Employees will be exempted from Physical attendance. They shall be allowed to work from home,” it said, adding, “Employees with disabilities shall also be given option to work from home.”

The maximum number of people permitted to attend any indoor gathering shall be strictly restricted to 25, it said.

Banquet Halls in all the Districts of J&K are permitted to allow gathering up to 25% of the authorised capacity (with verifiable RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen Test for Covid19 not older than 72 hours), in open spaces only, it said.

“Cinema halls, theatres, multiplexes, restaurants, clubs, gymnasiums and swimming pools are permitted to function at 25% of the authorised capacity with due precautions such as CAB and adherence to SOP,” he said, adding, “All Deputy Commissioners shall intensify testing and ensure full utilisation of available RT-PCR and RAT capacities. There shall be no drop in testing levels.”

Chief Medical Officers of all districts have been asked to submit a daily report regarding the utilisation of available RT-PCR capacities to the District Magistrates concerned. “Besides, District Magistrates shall also go for capacity expansion of the RT-PCR testing as per the requirement.”

The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to focus on the positivity rates of the Medical-Blocks under their jurisdictions. “Intensified measures related to Covid management and restriction of activities shall be undertaken in these Blocks.” (GNS)

The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to shift the acid attack survivor to Chennai hospital tomorrow for eye treatment and four tickets have already been provided to the victim’s family on Sunday.

Official sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the administration on the advice of doctors has decided to shift the acid attack victim to Chennai hospital for specialized eye treatment.

They said the government has provided four tickets to the family and they are scheduled to leave for Chennai hospital at 09:00 AM from Srinagar Airport.

The official sources said that a doctor will be accompanying the victim to Chennai hospital.

It is worth mentioning that Apni Party led by Syed Altaf Bukhari has also provided one ticket to the victim family.

It has been learnt that besides the victim, her parents, younger sister and paternal cousin will leave for Chennai hospital tomorrow.

Pertinently, a 24-year-old acid attack survivor has suffered severe burn injuries while the doctors have said that she is unlikely to regain her eyesight as the cornea of her eye has got damaged—(KNO)

Jammu and Kahsmir recorded 1148 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday— the lowest in the past 26 days. Nine persons also succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, the officials told GNS.

511 of the fresh cases, they said, were reported from Jammu Division and 640 from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall tally to 446648. J&K had reported 1148 cases on January 11.

They said five deaths were reported from Jammu Division and for from Kashmir Valley, taking the overall toll to 4715—2307 in Jammu and 2408 in Kashmir.

Regarding the district wise details of the fresh cases, they said, Srinagar reported 197 cases, Baramulla 54, Budgam 116, Pulwama 38, Kupwara 62, Anantnag 63, Bandipora 22, Ganderbal 28, Kulgam 48, Shopian 12, Jammu 168, Udhampur 63, Rajouri 11, Doda 117, Kathua 32, Samba 25, Kishtwar 1, Poonch 6, Ramban 36 and Reasi 52.

Besides, they said, 4393 Covid-19 patients recovered during the time— 1378 from Jammu Division and 3015 from Kashmir. So far 424521 people have recovered, leaving the active case tally at 17412—5698 in Jammu and 11714 in Kashmir.

They said there was no new confirmed case of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported today. So far 51 black fungus cases have been confirmed in J&K, the officials said. They also informed that 21158 doses of covid-19 vaccine were administered during the time in J&K. (GNS)

As a part of Public outreach programme, a Police Community Partnership Group (PCPG) meeting was facilitated by Ganderbal Police at Police Station Sonamarg. The meeting was held while following social distancing norms and other protocols.

The meeting was conducted on the directions of SSP Ganderbal Shri Nikhil Borkar-IPS and was chaired by SHO PS Sonamarg. The meeting was attended by Snow-bike owners, Transporters and respectable citizens of Sonamarg.

During the meeting, the chairing officer discussed various issues with the participants including fair pricing for transportation & snow biking, besides maintenance & cleanliness in and around the areas of tourist hotspots. They were also requested to cooperate with the Police on every front so that the crime is eradicated within the society. The chairing officer also briefed the participants about the apprehensions of spread of Covid-19 and were requested to spread awareness among masses to follow Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).

The chairing officer also requested them to co-operate with Police in maintaining law & order in the area and in identifying anti-national & anti-social elements.

The participants in the meeting assured their full co-operation to Police in tackling social evils and also appreciated the efforts of Police in facilitating community interaction meets where participants express their opinions freely.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has declared two days of state mourning as a mark of respect for singer Kumari Lata Mangeshkar – who passed away in Mumbai this morning.

“As a mark of respect to Kumari Lata Mangeshkar, who has passed away, the Government of India has decided that there shall be two days State Mourning on 06.02.2022 to 07.02.2022 throughout the country. It has been decided that: a) The National Flag shall fly at half-mast during the mourning on all buildings and places where it is flown regularly; and b) There shall be no official entertainment during the mourning”, reads a notification as per GNS.

These decisions are brought into notice of all the concerned for information and necessary action, it reads further. (GNS)

Police Saturday said that it busted a narco-militancy module by arresting two persons along with contraband worth Rupees 18 crore in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Police issued a statement that reads: “today on 5th Feb police party of Police Station Uri and Police Post Kamalkote headed by SHO Police station Uri were patrolling the area from Dachi towards Basgran. During the patrolling two vehicles Celero-X bearing registration No. JK09C-1584 and Alto bearing registration No. JK05G-0247 was found on a link road towards Dachi in a suspicious condition. The police patrolling party moved towards the vehicles, but the drivers of both the vehicles saw the Police patrolling party and tried to flee away from the spot however due to the timely action of the Police party, both the persons were apprehended tactfully.”

“Both the vehicles were searched accordingly. During the search three packets of contraband apparently, Heroine was recovered from Celerio vehicle and five packets of contraband apparently Heroin was recovered from Alto vehicle. In total 08 packets of contraband weighing approximately about 09 Kgs were recovered. The cost of the contraband in the black market is above rupees 18 Crores.”

Police said that both the persons were questioned on the spot. During questioning the driver of the alto car revealed his name as Muhammad Sabir Barwal son of Faqeer Ali resident of Jabda Kamalkote Tehsil Uri and Driver of the Celerio car revealed his name as Parvaiz Ahmad Tantray son of Ghulam Nabi Tantray resident of Reban Rafiabad Sopore, they said.

During their personal search mobile phones, one cheque to the tune of rupees five lacs and one Adhaar Card was recovered from the possession of Sabir Barwal.

Seven cheques amounting to Rs 9,79,500 two blank cheques, 01 cheque book containing 22 leaves, one Adhaar card, one cell phone, pan card, e-Sharam card, 02 ATM cards, 01 Kisan Card,01 Debit Card, and other documents were recovered from the possession of Parvaiz Ahmad Tantary.

Police said in this regard an FIR vide

Border Security Forces on Sunday killed three “Pak smugglers” along International Border in Samba district of Jammu division, officials said.

PRO BSF Jammu, S P S Sandhu (DIG) in a statement to GNS also claimed recovery of 36 packets of narcotics “likely to be heroin” weighing 36 kilograms.

“In the early hours of 6 Feb, the alert troops of BSF Jammu neutralized 03 Pak smugglers who were trying to smuggle Narcotics through Samba International border and recovered 36 Packets (Approx 36 Kgs) of Narcotics, likely to be Heroin and thwarted a big smuggling attempt,” he said, adding, “The search of the area is in progress.” (GNS)