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Srinagar, Mar 21: An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale jolted Kashmir and several parts of the country, officials said.

Deputy Director Meteorological department (MeT) told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the epicenter of the quake, which struck at 10:17 pm IST, was the Hindukush region of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, damages caused by the earthquake couldn’t be not ascertained at this moment.
Mobile telephony was disrupted in many areas.

Reports reaching KNO said that the phone calls are getting disconnected as the services have been affected in many areas—(KNO)

Jammu, Mar 20 : Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for not conducting the assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, saying the ruling party lacks the courage to face voters as they have failed to mitigate people’s problems.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Omar while addressing the first public meeting at the Bajalta area of the outskirts of Nagrota constituency in Jammu – the first after the abrogation of Article 370 – said they (BJP) have also not been able to keep their promise of bringing large-scale investments and creating job opportunities in the Union Territory.

“They are not ready to face the people and are escaping from (assembly) elections on one pretext or the other. They used the pretext of delimitation of constituencies and revision of electoral rolls which stands completed long back. They talked about the weather not being conducive but have no justification to further delay the polls,” he said.

The NC vice president said the BJP has only two reasons for delaying the polls further: one could be the worsening security situation which they claim has improved, and the second is that they are afraid to face the voters.

The former chief minister further said that despite many differences, both Jammu and Kashmir share common sufferings. “Nobody can deny the differences between Kashmir and Jammu as far as weather and culture is concerned but what we witness today is that both the regions are having common sufferings; people are annoyed and gripped by despondency,” he said.

Referring to the anti-encroachment drives in the Union Territory, Omar Abdullah said he was surprised to see the pictures when they took out a bulldozer rally in Kashmir to frighten the public.

“Welfare governments procure ambulances, school buses, vehicles for transports and other public goods but the present regime purchases bulldozers. I was assumed by seeing the pictures of bulldozers, which are hundreds in number, procured by the government to demolish homes,” he said.

When people protested and the situation became tense, the bulldozer drive was stopped at the behest of Delhi, he claimed. He said after the demolition drive was stopped, they frightened people with the tax. “They are saying only a handful of income will be generated but if that is the case, then what is the need for imposing the tax to harass the public,” he asked.

The former chief minister said that for the first time, he is witnessing “a government which feels happiness in inflicting difficulties on the people”. “It is better to get rid of this government as soon as possible,” he said.

On Article 370

Omar said those who celebrated the abrogation of Article 370 in Ladakh and Jammu are equally sad. “We were angry from day one but there were some people who celebrated it with the hope of ‘Naya J&K’. The people in Jammu suffered economically because of the stopping of the darbar move and anti-encroachment drive, while Leh people are openly expressing that they were happy to be part of J&K,” he said.

On jobs to militants

The NC leader said that no militant was given government jobs by the previous Jammu and Kashmir dispensations and asserted that his party would not support any policy to punish the relatives of militants saying “it is against natural justice”. “No militant was given a (government) job but we did not punish people because they were relatives of militants. Is it fair for me to punish you for the crime committed by your father or a son? Tomorrow, if God forbid a close relative of (Lt Governor) Manoj Sinha Sahab commits a crime, should he be sent to jail?” he said.

The former chief minister was responding to a question on Sinha’s recent allegations that the previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir provided jobs to terrorists and their families and facilitated one lakh backdoor appointments.

“Natural justice is not that relatives are punished for the crimes of someone else. Nobody is advocating that hardcore militants should be given government jobs but it is also wrong to punish somebody just because they have the misfortune of being related to a militant,” he said, adding, “This is not the way to win the hearts and minds of the people. This is not something we will ever support.”

On Sinha’s statement that 47 employees were dismissed for anti-national activities, Omar Abdullah said, “I am not going into a war of words… If for lakhs of appointments, all you can find is a list of 47 then that is next to nothing.”

On recruitment scams

Omar accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration of playing with the future of job aspirants by engaging a tainted company to conduct recruitment examinations.

“We want an inquiry on how APTECH, which is blacklisted across the country, was given a contract and where the scams had taken place,” he said. “We heard the contract was cancelled but the youth are still not happy. You (LG) need to reassure the youth,” Omar said, alleging that the Jammu and Kashmir administration is not making any attempt to resolve the issues of the people.

On conman

Abdullah also took a dig at the administration over an alleged imposter, Kiran Patel, who was arrested in Srinagar early this month and said “the deserving are not getting their rights but the frauds are getting benefited”.

“Instead of finding the reality of Patel before treating him as a VIP, they bowed before him. My colleagues who faced (militant) attacks were not given an escort, he (Patel) was given adequate security, five-star accommodation and taken to LoC with many officers lined up to seek recommendations for transfer and promotions,” he said.

Defends Rahul Gandhi

Omar also came in defence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his ‘women are still being sexually assaulted’ remark, saying he did not say anything wrong and there is nothing unusual in his statement.

“Is this not a fact that sexual violence is prevalent in India? Do we need Rahul Gandhi to tell us that? Open any newspaper, do we not hear cases of rape so what did Rahul Gandhi say that is so unusual,” he told reporters here—(KNO)

Srinagar, Mar 20 : Former Chief Minister and founder of Democratic Progressive Azad Party on Monday said that nobody should be put in jail in Kashmir just on the basis of mere suspicion.

Addressing a workers meeting at Anantnag Gh Nabi Azad said that he and everyone is against militancy and militancy is on decline but nobody should be kept in jail on the basis of suspicion.

“If only on the basis of suspicion, the government starts putting people in jail, then they have to put 90 percent of the population in jail,” he said, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

He said due to some good steps of Union Government, militancy is on decline, there are no protests or stone pelting now but then why government isn’t allowing former legislative members and DDC, BDC and Sarpanches allowing to move freely as according to him, they are allowing to move from 11 am to 5 pm only.

Government is taking some steps due to which its good steps are also getting washed out like anti encroachment drive, property tax etc, he said, adding that we are with the government to take action against those who have misused his power but the poor must be spared.

“We are not against tax but let the elected government take call on it,” he said, adding that “PRIs and former legislative members and besides other members must be allowed to move freely.”

Notably, District Development Council member Sagam, Anantnag, MC president Achabal and some sarpanchs joined Ghulam Nabi Azad- led Democratic Progressive Azad Party in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Muhammad Saleem Parrey, who secured 2172 votes in DDC polls in 2020 and defeated his nearest rival Anees-ul- Islam of Apni Party by around 700 votes , joined the party today in presence of its president Ghulam Nabi Azad.

This is the third party Parrey has joined in his political career. In 2020, he contested DDC polls on NC ticket and won from Sagam. In 2022, he joined the Peoples Conference.

This was the second joining of a DDC member in the Azad- led party in the past 24 hours. On Sunday, DDC chairman Anantnag Muhammad Yosouf Gorsi joined Azad- led party—(KNO)

Waris Fayaz

Srinagar, Mar 20: Jammu and Kashmir’s capital city, Srinagar is all set to host the maiden two days ‘World Apple Conference’ – organized by Sarhad, a Pune based NGO and Sopore Apple Farmer Producer Company (J&K), which aims to further empower and strengthen the apple growers of Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Fayaz Ahmed Malik, Director of event – who is also a president of Asia’s second largest Fruit Mandi, Sopore said, that they are organizing the two-day conference on June 24 & 25 this year scheduled at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Center (SKICC), Srinagar.

Malik said that eminent personalities will grace the event with their presence along with experts from various fields especially from agriculture and horticulture sectors. “The event aims to empower and strengthen the apple growers of Jammu and Kashmir who have been facing huge losses due to unprecedented and untimely fall in prices of their produce over the past several years”, he said.

Malik also said, that the apple season this year fetched prices below expectations leading to losses for farmers across the Jammu and Kashmir, in a bid to provide a platform to farmers to mitigate the issues faced by them, moreover the conference would help to provide sustainable solutions to issues those faced by the people affiliated with the industry.

Similarly, Chairman Sopore Apple Producer Company (J&K), Adil Malik said, that the conference would mainly focus on the ‘Apple Tourism’ – the valley shall be opened for tourists from all parts of the world where they get to interact with apple farmers, live on the farms, experience the lifestyle.

“We propose to let tourists across India and around the world experience the orchard life, which would not only generate additional tourism revenue for the state and incomes for the farmers but could attract more investment as the tourism progresses”, Adil said.

Adil added that the potential solutions to the issues like wastage of crop both premature and post harvesting is only to strengthen the highway transport and logistics in the form of better roadways and highways, which could help mitigate the problem of produce reaching the markets on time.

Meanwhile, to make the event successful, the organizers have appealed to the people affiliated with the Apple industry to join and participate in thought-provoking discussions, engaging workshops and networking opportunities with the professionals of Apple industry—(KNO)

Srinagar, Mar 20: Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh Monday said that the youth in the UT are taking part in sports activities and the sports count has taken over militancy in J&K.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a football tournament here, DGP Singh, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that at present there is a low count of militancy as sports have taken over militancy in the UT. “Youth and Children are taking part in sports in large numbers. They are pursuing careers in studies and participating in the competent exams,” DGP said.

He said that police are working hard to provide a more peaceful atmosphere to children and youth so that they can further participate in the sports of their choice and choose their careers in the fields of their choice. The DGP said that the police will help make peace a permanent feature so that youth and children can excel in the fields of their choice.

To a query whether police will assist Punjab police in Amritpal Singh case, the DGP said J&K police will provide all possible help to Punjab police wherever they would need. “Some cases are being jointly probed by Punjab and J&K police,” he said.

LG Manoj Sinha said that the J & K administration has spent huge amounts to upgrade the sports infrastructure across the UT. On Sunday, he said that the government land retrieved will be used to build sports infrastructure including play fields so that youth can play sports in their native areas—(KNO)

Waris Fayaz

Sopore, Mar 20: An old bridge was set on fire in Chankhan area of Sopore town in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district by some miscreants, officials said here on Monday.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that miscreants during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday set the historic bridge on fire.

He said soon after the incident the fire was put off and teams and police and civil admin reached to the spot. Meanwhile, police have taken cognisance of the incident.

An official of Roads and Buildings department said that the remains of the bridge will be auctioned within 2 days.

Notably, the bridge was declared unsafe for traffic in 1999 and was being used for pedestrian movement only. However, the movement was halted in 2019 when the bridge developed some cracks and one of its pillars collapsed—(KNO)

At least three persons were killed after a bus they were travelling in turned turtle in Awantipora area of Pulwama district on Saturday morning, Kashmirscroll reported.

They said that a bus turned turtle on National Highway near bridge in Gooripora Awantipora in which several persons received injuries.

They said injured were shifted to hospital for treatment, however, three among injured succumbed on way to hospital, identified as Nasrudin Ansari, Raj Karan, and Saleem Ali all residents of Bihar.

Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance.

Srinagar, Mar 18: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) is carrying out raids at multiple locations in central and south Kashmir districts as part of investigation with regard to a case registered at SIA.

Sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the sleuths of the investigating agency with the assistance of the local police and the CRPF carried out raids in summer capital Srinagar, Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and other districts.

He said the SIA raided the residence of Sarjan Ahmed Wagay @Barkati son of Abdul Raziq Wagay, a resident of Reben Zainapora in Shopian district.

He said raids are being conducted in connection with a case already registered at the SIA. “The details of the case will be shared later,” he said—(KNO)

Waris Fayaz

Sopore, Mar 17: Residents of Zaingeer in north Kashmir’s Sopore have accused the Jal Shakhti department of providing them unfiltered drinking water from Marbal Nallah. They also said that the water filtration plant has been defunct for years.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), locals alleged, “We are being forced to consume the raw water from the nallah whose source is polluted, thereby posing health risks. The heaps of garbage are a common scene on the banks of nallah. We use dirty water for years due to which several viral diseases break out here from time to time.”

Ghulam Mohi ud Din Kar, a senior citizen told KNO that every time it rains in the area, the open-source spring and the nallah get polluted and the locals are forced to use the contaminated water. “A water filtration plant at Hardshiva has never functioned. This useless filtration plant has been inaugurated several times by people affiliated with various political organisations; however it is good for nothing,” he said.

Instead of providing us with water from the Marbal Nallah, the department should work on Pahiwar Nallah which is far better than those from which the Zaingeer villages including Hardshiva, Shiva, Dooru, and Dangerpora are getting water supply, Kar added.

The residents have urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Deputy Commissioner Baramulla and the concerned department to look into the matter.

Notably, days ago, a test report of the water sample came, which indicated that the supplied water supply to the residents is not suitable for drinking. People were advised to boil the water before consumption.

Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, AEE Jal Shakhti (PHE), division Watlab could not be reached as the official didn’t receive phone calls from this correspondent—(KNO)

Baramulla, March 16: Valedictory function of Two Days State Level Management Development Programme (MDP) for Doctors / Nursing Professionals, Tutors of Nursing Colleges from Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts Organized By Academy of Hospital Administration (AHA), India in Collaboration with Government Medical College Baramulla today concluded at GMC Baramulla.

The Valedictory function was presided over by Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar as the chief guest while as Principal Government Medical College Baramulla, Dr (Prof) Iffat Hussain, Joint Director Planning, Mohammad Yousuf Rather, Chief Medical officer Baramulla, Dr Bashir Ahmad Malik, Medical Superintendent Gandhi Nagar Hospital Jammu, Medical superintendent GMC Baramulla, Dr Parvaiz Masoodi, Doctors, Nurses besides a large number of participants including students were present in the funtion.

Topics of Two Days State Level Management Development Programme (MDP) for Nursing Professionals and Tutors of Nursing Colleges include Medical Negligence, Communication & Soft Skills, Role of Nursing In Prevention of Hospital Infection, Ethical & Legal Issues Related to Nursing Management in Hospitals, Challenges in Management Clinical Services (Accident and Emergency Services Operation Theater), HR & Conflict Management, Disaster Management Role of Nursing Staff, Skilled Based Methods of Teaching and Learning & Bridging the Theory and Clinical Gap, Quality Assurance in nursing.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sehrish Asgar advised the doctors and nurses to adopt the humble approach while dealing with the patients. She said that the Development of trust enables the patient to comply with the doctor’s guidance, which consequently results in improvement of health.

Dr Sehrish emphasized the
importance of MDP
programmes as it trains the doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff to deal with the patients.

She impressed upon on all
nurses and doctors to further
forward whatever they have
learned to many other in
there down lines and become
master trainers to spread the
message of AHA, which is
continuing education
programme, first of its kind
in Health & Medical
education department.

Other speakers also highlighted the importance of organizing the programme and expressed hope that the programme will benefit the Nursing Professionals and Tutors to a large extent in all the relevant matters.

Meanwhile, the DC distributed the momentos and certificates among the Mangement team members and delegates, besides honouring the speakers and moderators.