Top News of J&KJAMMU, FRIDAY, APRIL 09, 2021

RNI No. JKENG/ 2010/39369 Regd. No. JK- 435e-paper: www.topnewsjk.in

NATIONAL | 5 | 6 | 8ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS

Vol.-12 Issue-98 Pages-12 Rs.-2/-

Daily Evening Newspaper

BRIEFLY

Vaccine shortage a serious issue, not an Utsav: Rahul Gandhi slams PM’s idea

Priyanka Chopra Jonas to present at 2021 BAFTA

awards

IPL 2021: Jason Behrendorff replaces Josh Hazlewood in Chennai Super Kings Squad

Fire guts two buildings in Pulwama sub jail

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): Two single-storey buildings, one housing Vocational Training Centre and another a plumbing lab in sub-jail Pulwama, were gutted in a fire incident, officials said on Friday.

They said fire erupted in two buildings at the sub jail in Drussu and before the flames could be brought under con-trol, both the buildings were completely dam-aged.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known and police con-tinued to investigate it, a police officer told news agency.He said that computers and laptops besides other machines in these two buildings were dam-aged.

Burglars loot eight shops in Kangan

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): Burglars decamped with cash and other items from at least eight shops in Kangan area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district last night, reports said.

Quoting officials, news agency reported that a case under relevant sections has been registered in the concerned police sta-tion and that the police was investigating the details of stolen prop-erty.

The heist created an atmosphere of anger among locals who demanded a stern action against the cul-prits.

COVID-19: 7 MBBS students test positive at GMC Anantnag

ANANTNAG, Apr 9 (Agencies): At least seven MBBS students were tested Covid-19 positive at Government Medical Collage (GMC) Anantnag during a mass sampling drive on Friday.

The seven MBBS stu-dents whose samples were taken today tested positive for COVID-19, Principal of the College, Dr. Showkat Geelani said.

He said students tested positive for COVID-19 have been advised to self-isolate and convey their close contacts to get themselves tested for COVID-19, he added.

He advised people to nTurn to page 9

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): All travelers coming to Kashmir by road shall undergo corona virus tests in Kulgam district, an offi-cial said on Thursday.

Srinagar Deputy Com-missioner Mohammed Aijaz Asad chaired a meet-ing to review the corona virus situation, a spokes-person said.

Asad said the testing for travelers coming by road shall be started in Lower Munda area in a couple of days as this would help in containing the spread of virus in the Valley.

The deputy commissioner said mass vaccination of hotel staff, drivers, house-boat staff and others shall be started across all tourist destinations.

A special training pro-gramme shall be conduct-ed for the staff members to ensure that all standard operating procedures are

followed strictly while dealing with the tourists, he said.

Asad urged the tourism stakeholders to ensure proper sanitation and hygiene in all hotels.

The deputy commissioner asked the hoteliers to keep two rooms available for isolation of tourists in case they test positive.

Dr Gazalla, the incharge COVID-19 testing at Sri-nagar Airport, deliberated on the importance of vac-cination.

Various tourism stake-holders from Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg also attended the meeting.

The tourism players raised various demands, including hiring of separate hotel accommodation for isolation of infected tour-ists, permission to tourists to the valley only

Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tested Corona positive

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdul-lah has tested Corona positive on Friday.

Omar tweeted: “For a year I did my best to dodge this damn virus but it’s finally caught up with me. I tested positive for #COVID-19 this afternoon. I’m completely asymptotic. Based on medical advice I’m self-isolating at home & monitoring my parameters like oxygen saturation levels etc.”

Pertinently, Omar on Wednesday took his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at Sher-I-Kashmir Insti-tute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar.

Farooq Abdullah who tested positive

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): The National Investigative Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary charge-sheet in Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) narco-terror case in NIA Special Court in Mohali in Punjab against Amritsar resident Rajender Singh, Parminder Pal Singh and Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada.

On Thursday, NIA filed a supplementary charge-sheet in KLF Narco-Terror case in the NIA Special Court, Mohali, Punjab against Rajender Singh, Parminder Pal Singh, and Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada, (both originally residents of New Delhi but current-ly located in Dubai) under sections 120B IPC, sections 25, 27A and 29 of Narcotic

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act, 1985 and section 17 of UA (P) Act.

The case arose out of Tarsikka Police Station in Amritsar (Rural) in an FIR registered under sec-tions 21 and 29 of NDPS Act relating to seizure of 500 grams of Heroin and proceeds of drugs about Rs 1,20,000 on May 31, 2020, from accused Jajbir Singh Samra and two other accused persons. NIA had re-registered the case and taken up the investigation. Earlier, after completion of the investigation, NIA had filed a charge sheet against 10 accused persons in the case under various sections of IPC, NDPS Act and UA(P) Act.

The investigation has revealed that charge-sheet-ed accused Rajender Singh was instrumental in sell-ing the smuggled heroin in India, while Parminder Pal Singh had played impor-tant role in channelizing the proceeds through hawala from India to Dubai.

Jasmeet Singh Hakimza-da, a Dubai based interna-tional drugs smuggler and money launderer further transferred the funds to entities based in Pakistan to further the activities of banned terrorist organisa-tion KLF. He along with Harmeet Singh, Pakistan-based self-styled Chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) have been instru-mental in running

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, seven terrorists among terror outfit Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind chief were gunned down by security forces in two different encounters in south Kashmir since last evening.

In the first encounter, five terrorists were killed in Shopian encounter that started yesterday after-noon, after a joint team of J&K Police and security forces launched a search

operation on the basis of specific input about the presence of terrorists in the town.

Meanwhile, in another encounter , two terrorists among terror outfit Ansar

Gazwat-ul-Hind Chief Imtiyaz Shah have been killed at Nowbugh Tral in Awantipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama dis-trict this morning.

DGP J&K Dilbag Singh said Both the ongoing Ops at Shopian & Tral are over. 5 terrorists in first & 2 in second operation neutralised. 7 AK & 2 pis-tols recovered. With these encounters & elimination of 7 terrorists, terror group Ansar Gazwat Ul Hind wiped out in Kashmir.

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): Weather remained dry and pleas-ant in J&K on Friday as the Meteorological (MeT) department forecast fair weather in J&K during the next seven days.

“Weather remained dry in J&K and Ladakh on Friday and it is expected to stay like this during the next 7 days. We are not expecting any major change during this period”, an official of the MeT department said.

Scores of people are these days visiting the Tulip Garden in Srinagar where lakhs of tulips in bloom have added a magi-cal tinge to the pictur-esque garden situated by the banks of the Dal Lake and on the foothills of the Zabarwan mountain

range.Traffic officials are

having a tough time regu-lating the traffic of visitors to the garden these days as both tourists and locals want to visit the garden before the tulip bloom ends.

Unless the weather remains dry and fair, the tulip flower does not last more than 20 days.

Srinagar had 4.6, Pahal-gam minus 0.1 and Gul-marg minus 2.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature Friday.

Leh town of Ladakh had minus 1.2, Kargil minus 2.6 and Drass minus 7.4 as the night’s lowest tem-perature.

Jammu city had 14.7, Katra 14.1, Batote 7.5, Banihal 5.8 and

7 terrorists gunned down by security forces in two different encounters

Tourists coming to Kashmir by road will undergo tests

NIA files supplementary chargesheet in KLF narco-terror case

Dry & pleasant weather in J&K for next week: MeT

JAMMU, Apr 9 (Agencies): Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the country is capable of solving its own problems, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said here Friday, asking other nations to “confine themselves to their domestic problems” rather than giving unsolic-ited advice to India.

On his first Jammu and Kashmir visit since the August 2019 abroga-tion of Article 370, without naming any country or individual, he said some people from the neighbourhood always try to create problems and dis-turbances because they do not want India to progress.

“My advice to some friends who are trying to give unasked advice to us in between and make commentaries to confine themselves to their domestic problems. We are capable of taking care of our own problems and they

need not worry about us,” he said, addressing the 3rd and the 4th annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) here.

Union minister Jitendra Singh and J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha also attended the function, during which degrees were awarded to 148 MBA graduates who have successfully completed their courses.

“My dear youngsters, where you are

studying is an integral part of India,” the vice president told the students. “And we are of the opinion we are capable of solving our problems. No country for that matter has any busi-ness to interfere or make comments on the internal affairs of another country or any other country.”

In his nearly half-an-hour speech, he said, “We all believe in democra-cy and civilization. If you are really civilised you are not expected to inter-fere in the affairs of any other coun-try. I am very clear about it.”

He said this part of the country is very beautiful and so are the people who need to have peace.

“Peace is the prerequisite for prog-ress. If you have tension, you cannot pay attention. This has to be under-stood by one and all. That is why peace is very much required,” he said.

The

J&K integral part of country; India doesn”t need unasked for advice: Vice President Naidu

808 Covid-19 cases, 4 deaths reported in J&K

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9:

Jammu & Kashmir reported 808 new Covid-19 cases while four more people died due to the virus in the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday.

Among the fresh cases, 283 were reported from Jammu Division and 525 from Kashmir Valley, taking the total count to 136470.

‘Beats logic’: Kashmir doctors’ body says night curfew won’t stop COVID spread

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): With the imposition of night curfew in Jammu and Kashmir, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Friday said the move won’t stop the spread of Covid-19 infection.

“It beats logic to have restrictions at night when most of the crowds are during the day,” said DAK President and influ-enza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

“One wonders how night curfew will

Man held with grenade in Doda

JAMMU, Apr 9 (Agencies): Jammu and Kashmir police Friday arrested a local man alongwith a hand grenade in Doda district of Jammu region.

Officials said that the man was held during an operation in Doda. “During his search, a hand grenade was recovered from his posses-sion,” police officials said

They said that brother of the arrested man is reportedly living in Pakistan and after recovering hand grenade from his possession, he has been booked in a case under FIR number 34/2021 under rel-evant sections of law.

“We are further investigating the matter,” they said.

No Fajr, Isha prayers at Jamia Masjid Sgr in Ramadhan, says Auqaf

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): The management of Jamia Majid here in Srinagar has decided that there shall be no congregational Fajr and Isha prayers at the Masjid during the holy month of Ramad-han.

Auqaf Jamia Masjid member told the news agency that the decision has been taken in wake of the gov-ernment’s decision about impose if night curfew

SRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies): A Territorial Army man, who was on leave and shot at by unidentified gunmen in Bijbehara area of Anant-nag, succumbed to his injuries on Friday afternoon.

Police officials said that unidenti-fied shot at a TA man identified as Mohammed Saleem Akhoon, son of Ghulam Hassan Akhoon of Jablipora Bijbehara following which he was immediately shifted to SDH Bijbh-hera in a critical condition.

The injured TA man, however, suc-

cumbed to his injuries at GMC.Medical Superintendent of GMC

Anantnag, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Sofi said that the injured was declared brought dead.

Medical Superintendent SDH Bijb-hhera, Dr MS Tulla had told KNO that the man has critical head injury and was referred to GMC Anantnag for treatment.

Pertinently, the area has been cordoned off and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the attackers.

Injured Territorial Army man succumbs

JAMMU, Apr 9 (Agencies): Union Min-ister Jitendra Singh on Friday said Jammu region has emerged as the education hub of north India over the last seven years after Narendra Modi took over as the country”s prime minister.

He said projects sanc-tioned simultaneously for Jammu and Sri-nagar have taken off in the winter capital but are languishing in the valley owing to “pecu-liar circumstances” there.

“Jammu today has virtually emerged as the education hub of north India. We have IIMs, IITs, Indian Insti-tute of Mass Commu-nication, AIIMS, three

government medical colleges within a range of 10 to 20 km as well as north India”s first ever teaching department of space technology by ISRO in central Univer-sity Jammu,” the minis-ter of state in the Prime Minister”s office said.

He was speaking at the third fourth con-vocation of the Indian Institute of Manage-ment (IIM) presided over by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu

here.Singh, who repre-

sents Udhampur-Kathua constituency of Jammu and Kashmir in parliament, said north India”s first biotech park is coming up in Kathua besides several engineering colleges.

“All this has hap-pened in the last seven years and we owe it to the central government headed by Modi,” he said, adding one the largest stadiums in the country is also coming up in Jammu region named after former finance minister Arun Jaitley besides a water sports complex at Mansar in Udhampur.

“The stadium is next to only Ahmedabad

nTurn to page 9 nTurn to page 9 nTurn to page 9

nTurn to page 9

nTurn to page 9nTurn to page 9

nTurn to page 9

Jammu has emerged as education hub of north India: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

nTurn to page 9

2 Top News of J&K

Jammu, Friday, April 09, 2021OBITUARIES

3LOCAL / ADVTTop News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Former State President BJP and Ex Minister Sat Sharma (CA) released Dogri music video “Baawe Waaliye Tere Baare Baare Jaa” portrayed on Baawe Wali Mata by ARJ productions. The song was released in the presence of production team, BJP Mandal President Raveesh Mengi, District General Secretary Karan Sharma and UT General Secretary Mahila Morcha Urvashi Gupta. Five minute song was released by BJP leader with chants of “Jai Maa Baawe Waali”. Singer Akash Ran-geela, Music Director Kumar Gourav, Camera Man Raj Kumar and Director-Editor Rahul Dutta along with the production team were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Sat Sharma congratulated

the ARJ productions and team for the launch of the music video and said that it is indeed a pious day for all of us that such a holy music video is being released and this video will definitely create a holy atmosphere and will encourage other talented youngsters to pro-mote our religion, he said. He also said that such a tal-ented team of youngsters have taken an initiative to promote the things of reli-gious importance and they must be encouraged by all so that they can take up their work to heights which will give a boost to our culture as well.

He stated that there are still some evils in our soci-ety who are trying to dete-riorate our culture but with the efforts of such people like ARJ productions and team, goodness still pre-vails and overpowers evil in

every stream. He also stated that every talent in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be boosted and he appealed to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and LG Manoj Sinha to promote the tal-ented youngsters all across UT so that youngsters in Jammu and Kashmir do not feel neglected, he added.

The production team thanked the Former BJP President for the release of the music video and also thanked Sufi singer Payal Dogra for team coor-dination. Raveesh Mengi appealed to the youngsters to place their efforts on things which can boost their talent in various streams. District President BJYM Reetiz khajuria, Mandal Presidents BJYM Lovely Singh & Aman singh Chib, Sumanyu Gupta, Balbir Singh Malheria and several others were present.

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Shiv Sena Bala Saheb Thac-keray, Jammu and Kashmir unit has demand-ed that COVID-19 vaccination be made com-pulsory for one and all irrespective of the age barriers set by the government.

Addressing a press conference here today, the Shiv Sena Bala Saheb Thackeray President Manish Sahni expressed serious concern over the rapid increase in daily count of fresh posi-tive cases of CORONA-19 infection reported not only across the nation but in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory too. While appealing to the people of Jammu to strictly follow the SOPs issued by the government, Sahni said that they must ensure that they go out of their homes only when it is necessary and in case they go anywhere outside home they must take all the necessary precautions including proper wearing of masks, using sanitizers besides maintaining the requisite social dis-tancing.

Moreover, he made a fervent appeal to the people who are eligible as per their age criteria fixed by the government to get themselves vaccinated against the deadly corona virus at their nearest vaccination centres.

However, Sahni asserted that keeping in

view the sudden surge in cases during this ongoing second wave with reportedly new strains of the virus, it has become inevitable for each and every person to get vaccinated. He appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to immediately remove the age limits fixed by the government and declare COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all irrespective of the age group to which they belong. Sahni said that this has become inevitable as once again, the people stand gripped in fear due to the upcoming crisis situation but at the same time it is a matter of great satisfaction and relief that vaccination against the dreadful infection is going on in full swing and till now adequate stocks of the vaccine are available to the people in the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory. Meanwhile, lauding the Lieutinant Governor’s significant decisions pertaining to prevention of spread of the deadly virus, the Shiv Sena President appealed to the admin-istration to act tough against those violating the COVID-19 SOPs issued by the government from time to time.

Many Shiv Sena leaders including Manish Sahni get the Covid vaccination Today. On this occasion Gen Secretary Vikas Bakshi, Sr vice President Harsh Kumar Gupta , Secretary Balwant Singh were present.

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Sam-vedna Society Chairman Keshav Chopra today Organised Ayushman Bharat (Free Health Insur-ance of 5 Lacs) Camp for The Staff of DSWO (Dis-trict Social Welfare Office) Jammu.

The Camp was Inaugu-rated By District Social Welfare Officer Jammu

Ajay Salaan (JKAS) and Tehsil Social Welfare Offi-cer Manjeet Singh.

Speaking on the Occasion DSWO Jammu Ajay Salaan (JKAS)appreciated the Work of Samvedna Soci-ety and said that Organis-ing these camps provides real service to the Staff of DSWO at their office so that they should not go outside to enroll their names to get Health Insurance benefits.

Speaking on the Occa-sion TSWO Manjeet Singh also Applauded the work of Samvedna Society for helping the staff of DSWO Jammu to get their name enrolled in Ayushman Health Insurance.

Speaking on the Occa-sion Keshav Chopra said that Social Welfare Team Of Jammu has done lot of work for the Weaker Sec-tion of the Society, DSWO Office work done During Covid 19 lockdown is Commendable,so its a little bit Contribution from Samvedna Society for the Heroes of DSWO to get Ayushman Health Card Benefits at their Door Step.

Krishanu Khajuria, Ravinder Singh, Kris-han Kumar, Gourav Suri, Randhir Singh and Sev-eral Others Were Enrolled during Camp.

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Depart-ment of horticulture block Khour under the chair-manship of director horti-culture Jammu Ram Savak (KAS) today organised farmers awareness camp at panchayat Mallah wherein large number of progres-sive farmers participated.

Present on the occasion were DDC Bushan Kumar Bral, Sarpanch Mallah Naresh paul, Panch Kris-han lal and other PRI mem-bers along with the repre-sentatives from SKUAST Jammu, NAFED and pri-vate companies.

Speaking on the occa-sion Director Horticulture discussed health benefits of fruits for healthy living that can only be achieved by following the applica-tion of proper spray sched-ules that have minimum residual effects and elabo-rated that fruits like man-goes apples grapes have harmful effects on health if such things are not taken proper care off. He stated that today’s programme is on production of qual-ity mangoes that will have minimum residual effects and safe for consumption and for that experts from different institutions like Skuast, Apeda NABARD

has been consulted. He further stated this is

start of mango season and crop is still in flowering stage and so if all farmers take care of such things right from the beginning the fruits can be exported to different states and out-side India as well.

Chief horticulture officer Jammu Sarabjeet Singh also awarded farmers that the health benefits of fruits depend on how they are ripened and the best course will be to allow them to ripen naturally and the most commonly used chemical is called eth-ephon (2-chloroethylphos-phonic acid) which is safer and ethylene production is enhanced which results in faster ripening whereas another chemical that is regularly used calcium car-bide produces acetylene, which is a substitute of

ethylene and is, however, full of harmful problems.CCI Jammu Vikas Anand also awarded farmers of schemes of department. DLSMS Entomology Dr Sanjeev Kumar also deliv-ered lecture on manage-ment of insect pest in fruit crops.

DLSMS phonology Dr Sandeep Gupta also award-ed farmers of organic cul-tural practices to be adopt-ed for production of fruits that can fetch better price to the farmers in the market. DDC and Sarpanch mallah appreciated the efforts of the horticulture depart-ment for conducting such a fruitful camp in the far-flung area of Khour block. All the SOPs for COVID-19 were followed and people were imparted awareness regarding COVID-19 Pan-demic. Vote of thanks was delivered by HDO Khour.

Sat Sharma releases Dogri Music Video on Maa Bawe Wali

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Provin-cial President Devender Singh Rana and senior National Conference lead-ers today wished speedy recovery to the party Vice President Omar Abdullah, who has tested COVID-19 positive.

“Our prayers are with with our beloved leader and wish his fast recov-ery”, senior National Conference leaders said in a joint statement issued from Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan.

They also prayed for the good health of Omar Abdullah, hoping that he will continue to guide the party and lead the people of Jammu and Kashmir with renewed vigour.

The NC leaders expressed satisfaction over the party President Dr Farooq Abdullah getting discharged from the hos-pital after successful treat-ment of COVID-19 and prayed for his complete recovery from the virus.

Prominent among those who prayed for the speedy recovery of Mr Omar Abdullah included Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Surjeet Singh Salathia, Sardar Harbans Singh, Rattan Lal Gupta, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed

Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Babu Ram Pal, Javed Ahmed Rana, Qazi Jalal Ud Din, Brij Mohan Sharma, Th. Kashmira Singh, Bushan Lal Bhat, Jugal Mahajan, Khalid Najeeb Suharawardy, Ajaz Jan, Haji Mohd Hussain, T.S Wazir, Jagjeevan Lal, Bimla Luthra, Deepender Kour, Vijay Laxami Dutta, Satwant Kour Dogra, Surinder Singh Bunty, Vijay Lochan, Abdul Gani Teli, Anil Dhar, Mohinder Singh, S. Gurdeep Singh Sasan, Dr. Gagan Bhagat, Sawarn Latta, Prem Sagar Aziz, Dilshad Malik, Reeta Gupta, G.H Malik, Pardeep Bali,. Dharam-veer Singh Jamwal, Som Nath Khajuria, Tanveer Ahmed Kichloo, Pyare Lal Sharma, Naresh Bittu, Mohinder Gupta, Ajeet Kumar Sharma, Romy Khajuria, Sunil Verma, Shafayat Ahmed Khan, Bhushan Uppal, Bagh Hussain Rathore, Sardar Sucha Singh, Ashok Singh Manhas, Dr Shamshad Shan, Shamima Begum, Ashok Dogra, M.K Yogi. Rashida Begum, Nar Singh, Ch. Rehmat Ali, Daljeet Sharma, Tarshem Khullar, Rajeev Gupta, Iftkhair Choudhary, Jatin Bhat, Rakesh Singh Raka, Ravi Dogra and others.

NC wishes speedy recovery to Omar Abdullah

Remove age barriers, make vaccination mandatory for all: Shiv Sena

Samvedna Organises Ayushman Camp at DSWO

Horticulture Deptt organises farmers awareness camp at Mallah

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: As spe-cial Covid- 19 vaccina-tion drive is conducted at Health & wellness centre Nandpur, tehsil Ramgarh Samba wherein first dose of covid-19 vaccination given to people is pro-vided.

As per information received from Dr. Lakh-winder Singh, Block medi-cal officer that the vacci-nation drive is going on smoothly since 3/3/2021 onwards in the area after gearing up all the medi-cal staff in this special operation. He told that as

per health guidelines age group of 45 & above per-sons being taken for vacci-nation under proper SOPs.

Around 120 persons are receiving said dose per day at nandpur health center.

A number of villages situated at international border area is being vac-cinated. “Co-operation from local people is good point”said staff in charge.

However health staff at Nandpur also doing exem-plary job round the clock working on Sundays and all geztted holidays. Santi-zation, social distancing/mask wearing is strictly followed.

Top News Report

KISHTWAR, Apr 9: A Prominent Political Leader and Social Activist of Dis-trict Kishtwar Ajeet Bhagat alleged the misappropration of funds in Public Health Engineering PHE depart-ment Division Kishtwar. humble submission to lay down the following few lines for your kind sympa-thetic consideration please. That the Public Health Engineering PHE Division Kishtwar drawn Lakhs of rupees for the maintenace of demaged at various places in town Kishtwar in particu-lar an in villages in general there is acute shortage of drinking water in the area for which the people have to fetch drinking water after covering long distance.

The funds utilized on Nehar Naigadh Nallaha water supply scheme have been misapprated which is amounting to crores rupees this bungling has caused due to the corrupt officials of Public Health Engineer-ing PHE Division District Kishtwar who are deputed

for laying of water pipes and the out going SEs/ Execu-tive Engineers, AEEs, JEs and other some high ups are involved in the Nehar Naigadh Nallaha water supply scandal which has caused huge lass to the state exchequre. that there is an acute shortage of drinking water in Kishtwar and its adjoining areas.

That the properties of all out going SEs, Executive Engineer, AEEs, JEs be checked as they have made huge property worth crores of rupees and the case may kindly be forward to Central Bureau investigation (CBI), Anti Corruption Bureau ACB and Crime Branch. it is therefore requested to kindly investigate the mater as the department concerned has also drawn Lakhs of rupees against survey heads it is further requested that all the Staff of Public Health Engineer-ing PHE Division Kishtwar/Sub Division Kishtwar be reshuffled so that the Nehar Naigadh Nallaha Water Supply Scheme could be completed at an earliest.

Covid- 19 vaccination drive conducts at Nandpur

Bhagat demands CBI inquiry of PHE Dept Kishtwar

4 OP-ED Top News of J&K

Jammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

Even though nationalism as an ideol-ogy is endowed with an immensely powerful politico-emotive passion,

as an educationist, have no hesitation in revealing its discontents. With educational philosophy, as developed through a con-stant conversation with the ideals of Tagore and Krishnamurti, see a blind attachment to the doctrine of nationalism (and simulta-neous sanctification of the border and the Army, or for that matter, the chronic sus-picion of the ‘other’ or the ‘enemy’) as a hindrance; it obstructs the flow of creative consciousness; and with some sort of group narcissism, it doesn’t allow the mind to be free, inclusive and accommodative.And feel an existential/pedagogic need

to make this point because in contempo-rary India, as the trend indicates, militant nationalism as an ideology - backed by a narcissistic state, a deeply penetrated organizational network, and loud media houses-seems to have invaded our con-sciousness. The ‘victory’ of the nation with its militaristic/unitary mission has to be celebrated; and hence schools, colleges and universities, as the recent reports from Gujarat suggest, must celebrate the aboli-tion of Article 370, and assert once again that ‘Kashmir is the integral part of India’, even if local Kashmiris are silenced, and forced to live in perpetual fear psychosis.With one-dimensional nationalist thought,

there is no other possibility of reimagining the world-the relationship between people, culture and land. Instead, all alternative voices are suspected, stigmatised and condemned as anti-national. The message is clear. Education must control the mind, and transform us into loyal/disciplined sol-diers of the nation. This is dangerous. As we internalise the collective ego of the nation, we begin to deprive ourselves of the finer faculties of learning, and appreci-ating diverse possibilities of life. Take, for instance, cricket. As we reduce cricket into some sort of war, and think that India must win at any cost, it becomes exceedingly difficult to appreciate good cricket-say, the creative skill of a Pakistani fast bowler who can somehow unsettle the likes of Virat Kohli. The fact is that we see every-thing through the prism of nationalism; we do not love cricket for its own beauty. Likewise, even techno-science becomes

some sort of possession for the mighty nation-state and its gospel of national-ism. Hence, be it the surgical strike or the spectacular space research: every-thing mustenhance the glory of the nation, and intensify the ego of its messiah. Furthermore, militant nationalism is

inseparable from militarism. To accept it blindly is to promote an aggressive / totali-tarian mind. It is like desensitising one-self. Hence, you should not bother about the agony of a Kashmiri Muslim because she/he has already been reduced to a number, an abstraction, an ‘enemy’ of the nation. The militaristic gaze has already robbed him/her of the human essence. Or for that matter, you cannot prob-lematise the militarisation of the human consciousness-the way its techniques of discipline disempower the inner self, and negate even the slightest trace of reflexivity; or the way bravery is equat-ed with hyper-masculine aggression.It is not to say that there is something

inherently wrong in one’s love for the local milieu one is born in. Yes, it is nat-ural, spontaneous and almost instinc-tive. For instance, the river that flows through my village, the vast paddy field that people have been seeing since childhood, and the people around: the language they speak, the symbols they adhere to-I evolve a natural affinity.

EDITORIAL

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

By Colonel ANIL A ATHALE (retd)

'It is time to use the Indian military's decades-long exper-

tise in fighting insurgency successfully,' advocates Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

The longest 500 metres distance in India is between North Block and South Block in Delhi.

The twins just do not meet when dealing with the menace of Left Wing Extremism.

There is no coordination or learning from each other. The home ministry and the central paramilitary forces dealing with the Naxalite threat have been living and operating in a silo that is impenetrable by common sense.

At the current rate of 'suc-cess', one wonders if we will win this war even by 2047 when we complete the centenary of Independence.

The April 4, 2021 attack by the Naxalites in the Sukma district of Chattis-gad resulted in 22 police-men being killed.

Around 400 Naxalites executed an ambush on a section of a divided police force numbering around 1,100. The ambush site was in an open area and not thick jungles.

This ought to raise several red flags.

How did such a large gathering of Naxalites escape surveillance devic-es?

Why could a numerically larger and better-equipped force not counter a smaller Naxalite unit?

The leadership failure is so obvious that it needs no repetition of an old adage, 'There are no good or bad battalions, only good or bad officers'.

In a similar incident on April 6, 2010, the Naxalites killed 73 paramilitary jawans.

This year's attack around the same time is a grim reminder that the Naxalite menace is far from over.

Such is the strength of the Indian Police Service lobby that neither that 2007 attack nor the latest one resulted in any heads rolling nor a major re-think, that is so necessary. The home ministry silo remains unbreached.

The time has come to con-duct a thorough review of our strategy to deal with the Naxalite menace.

Imagine if such an inci-dent was to take place in Kashmir. After the Uri terror attack in September 2016 and the Pulwama terror attack in Febru-ary 2019, we revised our basic strategy of defence to offence.

The resultant change saw surgical ground strikes and an airstrike on terrorist bases. It is time we remove the constraints on the use of force against the Naxalites as well.

The first logical step in this direction is to break the silos between the min-istry of defence and armed forces and the home minis-try and paramilitary forces.

Let the Naxalite problem be dealt as a 'national prob-lem' and not as a home min-istry or police monopoly.

The initiative to end the

'turf battles' must come from the very top.

It is time to use the Indian military's decades-long expertise in fighting insur-gency successfully in Naga-land, Mizoram, Kashmir and Sri Lanka.

I am well aware that a beginning was made by establishing a counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school in Kanker with the army's help. But that has not been enough.

I visited the Naxalite affected areas in Chhatis-garh in 2006 and made rec-ommendations in areas of psyops.

The first and foremost task is to establish the government's writ in the affected areas. Currently, that presence is thin and in many areas, the tribals think that the Naxalites are the government.

Many so-called experts have been repeating the mantra of the WHAM strat-egy -- Winning the Hearts And Minds. There is more to it than merely building schools, providing electric-ity, roads and hospitals.

The Naxalites well under-stand this and have had no qualms in attacking and destroying the very infra-structure of development.

They have more than once made clear that their aim is not the welfare of the trib-als, but bringing about a revolution in the country to overthrow the current Constitution and State to be replaced by a Communist one-party State.

It is a gross failure on part of the political forces to be able to convey this Naxal perfidy to the tribals.

Else, how would 400 odd tribals gather together to help the Naxals in attack on the police forces!

The very first step in this exercise is to break the silo mentality and have exten-sive consultations between

army experts in counter-insurgency and the police leadership.

Will North and South Block talk to each other at least now? For on this hinges the answer to the question of how best to

defeat the Naxalites. We owe it to the victims of the Sukma massacre.

Military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) is a former Chhatrapati Shivaji Chair Fellow at the United Services Institute of India.

Enlist the army to fight the Naxalites!

Central Reserve Police Force personnel carry the coffin of a paramilitary soldier who lost his life in the April 4-5, 2021 encounter with the Naxalites.

Security personnel pay tribute to the soldiers killed by Naxalites on April 4-5, 2021

Understanding the Depsang ImbroglioBrig Veteran Anil

Gupta

The 11th round of India-China mili-tary talks to diffuse

tension in Eastern Ladakh is likely to be held soon. Ever since, the successful disengagement of troops from the Lake Area and the Kailash Range in Feb-ruary this year a stalemate exists as far as further dis-engagement is concerned from the areas of Hot Springs, Gogra, Demchok and stopping of Indian patrols in Depsang. Imme-diately after the disen-gagement was completed the 10th round of talks was held between the mil-itary commanders of the two nations but it failed to arrive at any consensus as far as further disengage-ment from the remain-ing areas was concerned though the talks were dubbed as “constructive” and both sides hoped for a fruitful outcome. A joint statement issued by the two countries after the talks positively appraised the disengagement from Lake Area terming it a significant step that would provide a good basis for resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in Western Sector.

The disengagement from the Depsang plains is believed to be the bone of contention since it is not directly related to the last year’s aggression of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in Galwan, Hot Springs, Gogra and Fingers Area in Pangong

Tso Lake and is a legacy of the past. Apart from the military commander level talks, hectic diplomatic parleys to diffuse the situation and restore nor-malcy have also continued with both sides com-mitting to “maintaining peace and tranquility and provide conditions for the progress of bilateral rela-tions.”

Not only that the foreign ministers of the two coun-tries had a telephonic talk as well in the last week of February to review the situation and asserted on restoration of peace and tranquility including establishment of a hotline to remain in touch. The Indian Foreign Minister had insisted on “early resolution of remaining issues along the LAC and disengagement at all friction points.” This was followed by a vir-tual meeting of Working Mechanism of Consulta-tion and Coordination on India China Border Affairs (WMCC) in the last week of March. It was decided in the meeting to hold 11th round of talks between the Corps Com-manders as early as pos-sible “to further ease the situation on the ground and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the border areas.” All eyes are now set on the 11th round and whether it would resolve the Depsang imbroglio? Why are the Chinese so sensitive to this area?

The Depsang plains are sandwiched between the Aksai Chin and Siachen

Glacier. Located at the heights of 16-17000 feet above sea level the area provides good mobility to the armoured vehicles. Karakoram Pass and Sasser Law Pass, both strategically important to India located within its territory, are located on its flanks. Much of these plains, unknown to us, have been under Chinese control since mid-1950s. Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) is also located adjacent to the plains. In 1962, the Chinese occupied much of the Depsang plains west of DBO with India left with a small bulge. The new road built by us to connect DBO with Shyok and beyond is under observation of the Chinese and remains vulnerable to its artillery fire. The area is strategically important because China and Paki-stan can jointly threaten India with a pincer move-ment in a strategic col-lusion and cut-off the vital area from rest of the Ladakh. Conversely, India can threaten Aksai Chin and China Pakistan Eco-nomic Corridor (CPEC) though build up for any large-scale offensive would pose serious chal-

lenges. Apart from the varying

perception of the LAC, another peculiar factor in the area is the Limit of Patrol (LOP) which is in depth from the LAC. India and China differ on the alignment of LOP as well. The Chinese perception of LOP is almost 20 km beyond our perception inside our territory. The tensions in this area are not recent. The Chinese had intruded in the area in 2013, 2015 during the visit of Xi Jinping and during 2017 Doklam crisis.

The crux of the problem lies in both sides denying each other access to the Patrolling Points (PPs) located on the LOP. Earli-er Indian patrols had been patrolling up to PP 11, 12, 12A and 13 and had not moved beyond that till the perceived LAC. But lately, the PLA has been prevent-ing Indian troops from even patrolling till these PPs and the phenomenon has become more pro-nounced after the Doklam stand-off. Unlike, the Chi-nese incursions in the Fin-gers Area (between Finger 4-8), the Chinese have not physically moved into the area. This should set at rest the shouting brigade which had claimed that the Chinese have occupied the Depsang plains along with the incursions in other areas.

The Indian patrols can move in vehicles only upto an area called “Bot-tleneck” beyond which the movement is on foot. A kilo-meter or so beyond the bottleneck is “Y-Junc-

tion” where the route bifurcates with one fork leading to PP10 to 12 and the other fork leading to PP13. When Indian patrols approach Y-Junction, the PLA troops come in vehi-cles from a nearby post and stop them from going further up to the LOP. In a quid pro quo, the Indian troops prevent the PLA troops to go ahead of the bottleneck area to their perceived LOP.

To ward off any threat in the area, India has built up a strong force in the area including armoured vehicles. The logistics sustenance of such a large force and to keep the armoured fleet functional in extreme cold weather is a herculean task. There-fore, the two sides need to resolve differences in the area that can lead to confidence building and resumption of patrolling activities. Indian army would also need to review its plan to decide the opti-mum force level needed to cater for any surprise move by the Chinese.

It is reliably learnt that Indian troops are still in possession of a feature in the Lake area that can prove as a ‘trump card” for hard bargaining with the Chinese to secure our interests in the Depsang plains.

(The writer is a Jammu based veteran, political commentator, colum-nist, security and stra-tegic analyst. The views expressed are entirely per-sonal. He can be contacted at anil5457@gmail.com)

5NATIONALTop News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

KOLKATA, Apr 9 (Agencies): In yet another attack on the Prime Minister, West Bengal Chief Minis-ter and Trinamool Congress supre-mo Mamata Banerjee has accused him of dividing people on religious lines and playing the Hindu-Mus-lim card for vote bank.

The West Bengal CM, who had got a notice from the Election Com-mission, said, “It hardly matters even if 10 show-cause notices are issued against me. I am telling everyone to vote together, there will be no division. How many complaints have been filed against Narendra Modi? He does Hindu-Muslim every day so why EC is not taking any action.?’’

She made these remarks while appealing to voters to vote for her party during a poll rally in West Bengal's Hooghly district. The TM chief also came down heavily on the Union Home Minister saying, the ECI is being run by Amit Shah.

The poll panel had on Wednes-day issued a notice to Banerjee for violating the Model Code of Con-duct, after she allegedly urged the Muslim community to vote en masse for the TMC.

The Election Commission of India asked Mamata Banerjee to explain her stand by 10th April, regard-ing her statements against central forces on 28th March & 7th April This is the second notice issued to her by Election Commission.

Election Commission of India issues notice to CM & TMC leader Mamata Banerjee asking her to explain her stand by 10th April, regarding her statements against Central Forces on 28th March & 7th April

The TMC supremo, during her campaign in Domjur assembly seat, also sought to know why no complaint has been registered

against BJP star campaigner and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he often makes refer-ences to Hindu and Muslim vote banks while delivering speeches.

"Why is that no complaint has been filed against Narendra Modi, who every day talks about Hindu and Muslim)? How many com-plaints have been lodged against those who had uttered the word 'mini Pakistan' during the Nandi-gram campaigns?" the CM said.

The TMC chief further said that even after 100 complaints against her, she will not change her stand as she only appealed to people that votes shouldn’t get divided.

Modi does ‘Hindu-Muslim’ every day: Mamata EC issues notice to

Mamat, asks her to explain Central

Forces remarkNEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agen-

cies): Mamata Banerjee has been asked today to explain comments during the Bengal campaign allegedly telling people to "gherao" central security forces, in a notice by the Election Commission, the second in two days.

She has been asked to reply by 11 am tomorrow on her speech, which, the election body said, violated several sections of the model code as well as the law. Bengal votes in the fourth round of eight-phase elections tomorrow.

The EC said prima facie, the completely false, provocative and intemperate statements by Banerjee attempted to berate and vilify central paramilitary forces during the electoral pro-cess.

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): With COVID-19 infections spreading at a faster rate in the second wave, the authorities have come up with city/district-specific lockdown-like situations. Many states have imposed a number of restrictions to curb the COVID-19 spread.

On Thursday (April 8), India recorded 1,26,789 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 1,29,28,574. As per the Health Ministry data, over 685 deaths and 59,258 dis-charges were reported in the last 24 hours on Thurs-day. The active caseload has reached 9,10,319 while the death toll stands at 1,66,862 in the country.

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while holding a meeting with Chief Minis-ters on the current COVID-19 situation, said that there will be no lockdown. He said that there is a need to work on war footing again to fight against the pan-demic.

"A challenging situation is emerging again. I request you all to give your sugges-tions to tackle the COVID-19 situation," he said.

Here's the list of cities under COVID-19 restric-tions:

DelhiThe Delhi government

on Tuesday (April 6, 2021) decided to impose a night curfew to curb the COVID-19 spread. The night

curfew has been imposed in the national capital from 10 pm to 5 am with imme-diate effect till April 30.

PunjabChief Minister Cap-

tain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday (April 7) extended the night curfew, which is in place from 9 pm to 5 am, across the state. The state has also banned political gatherings till April 30.

Uttar PradeshNight curfew has been

imposed in Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Praya-graj, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Ghaziabad, Bareilly and Meerut.

While most of the state is free from restrictions, night curfew have been imposed in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad from 10 pm to 5 am, and Lucknow Municipal Cor-poration has ordered a night curfew, starting from 9 pm to 6 am, from April 8 to April 16.

Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh Chief

Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday (April 8, 2021) announced to impose weekend lock-down in all the urban areas due to rise in COVID-19 cases. The weekend lock-down will be enforced from 6 pm on Friday to 6 am on Monday.

GujaratThe Gujarat government

on Tuesday announced a night curfew, in 20 cities and eight metros in the state, from 8 pm to 6 am.

The major events will be postponed until April 30.

OdishaThe Odisha government

on Saturday announced that night curfew would be imposed in 10 districts with effect from April 5.

Curfew has been imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in Sun-dergarh, Bargarh, Jharsu-guda, Sambalpur, Balan-gir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts.

RajasthanThe Rajasthan govern-

ment has reportedly imposed night curfew from Monday (April 5) and ordered the closure of mul-tiplexes and gymnasiums.

The night curfew will remain in force from 8 pm to 6 am, in which food delivery will be allowed while dining at restau-rants and hotels has been prohibited.

ChhattisgarhThe Chhattisgarh gov-

ernment has announced a lockdown in the Raipur district with effect from April 9 to 19 and has declared the entire district, including the state capital, as a containment zone.

Even the offices of Cen-tral, state governments, semi-government as well as private offices includ-ing banks are directed to remain closed. Hospitals and ATMs will operate as per usual in the area. Deliv-ery of commodities like milk, newspapers and LPG cylinders will be allowed from 6 am to 8 am and between 5 pm and 6:30 pm.

Night curfew, restrictions in several states, cities to curb

COVID surge in India

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): India regis-tered a record single-day spike of 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 1,30,60,542, while the death toll increased to 1,67,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day, high-est since October 18, the Union health ministry data showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 30th day in a row, the number of active COVID-19 cases increased to 9,79,608, which is 7.5 per cent of the total infec-tions, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The recovery rate in the country has further dropped to 91.22 per cent, it added.

The active COVID-19 caseload in the country was recorded at its lowest of 1,35,926 on February 12, comprising 1.25 per cent of the total infections.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28 last year, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medi-cal Research (ICMR), 25,40,41,584 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the country so far, including 13,64,205 on Thursday.

The 780 new fatalities include 376 from Maha-rashtra, 94 from Chhat-tisgarh, 56 from Punjab, 39 from Uttar Pradesh, 36 from Karnataka, 35 from Gujarat, 27 from Madhya Pradesh, 24 from Delhi, 19 from Tamil Nadu, 18 from Kerala and 11 from Hary-ana.

A total of 1,67,642 deaths due to the disease have been reported so far in the country.

The figure includes 57,028 fatalities from Maharashtra, 12,840 from Tamil Nadu, 12,767 from Karnataka, 11,157 from Delhi, 10,370 from West Bengal, 9,003 from Uttar

Pradesh, 7,334 from Punjab and 7,268 from Andhra Pradesh.

India records highest daily spike of over 1.31 lakh Covid cases

90 IIT-Roorkee students test

COVID-19 positive, 5 hostels sealedROORKEE, Apr 9

(Agencies): A total of 90 students have tested positive for COVID-19 at Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Roor-kee in the last few days, said IIT Roorkee media cell in-charge Sonika Srivastava on Thurs-day.

He further said that the Haridwar District Health Department has sealed five hostels--- Coral, Kasturba, Saro-jini, Govind Bhawan and Vigyan Kunj and declared them as con-tainment zones.

"The institute has about three thousand students, of which around 1,200 students live in these five hostels. At present, all students are being treated in hos-tels.

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agencies): mid the surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, trains at Mumbai's Lokmanya Tilak Terminus were seen packed with migrant work-ers as they feared an impending lockdown.

A migrant worker who was trav-elling in an Uttar Pradesh bound train said, "This train will go to Gorakhpur. We're leaving the city because Covid-19 cases are rising here."

Taking cognisance of the emerg-ing situation, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam talked to the offi-cials and asked the authorities to allay the fear of the migrants and monitor the Covid-19 situation. He said to the reporters, "Many of them fear that a lockdown will be imposed in the state due to rising Covid cases. However, our state

government has no such plans. We do not want businesses or small businessmen to incur losses."

Sponsored"Many of them have not even got

themselves tested for Covid-19 and have boarded the train illegally. We are looking into the situation. However, I can assure you that

none of them can return back to our state without showing a Covid negative report", he said.

Another migrant worker said, "We are leaving for our hometown in Uttar Pradesh. As of now, there is a night curfew in place. It is very likely that a lockdown will be put into place. To avoid chaos like the

previous lockdown, we are travel-ling back to our native place. Not sure when, whether we will come back here."

Due to a sharp rise in Covid cases, Mumbai's civic body, the Brihan-mumbai Municipal Corporation, on Thursday imposed a weekend lockdown in the city until further orders.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab have shown a rise in the COVID daily new cases. 84.21 per cent of the new cases are reported from these 10 states.

Maharashtra reported 56,286 new COVID-19 cases, 36,130 recover-ies, and 376 deaths in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Thursday.

Migrant labourers leave Mumbai fearing lockdown

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to address four public programmes on Friday (April 9) in poll-bound West Bengal.

Ahead of the fourth phase of the eight-phase West Bengal polls, Shah will hold a press confer-ence in Kolkata at 12 PM. After the presser, the BJP senior leader will carry out a door-to-door campaign in Bhabanipur at 2 PM.

Shah will hold a massive roadshow in Jagatdal at 4 PM. His last scheduled roadshow for the day will be held in Madhyamgram at 6 PM.

"Union Home Minister

Amit Shah`s public pro-grams in West Bengal tomorrow, 09th April 2021. 1) Press Conference in Kolkata at 12 PM 2) Door to Door Campaign in Bha-banipur at 2 PM 3) Road-show in Jagatdal at 4 PM 4) Roadshow in Madhyam-gram at 6 PM,” the Twitter handle Office of Amit Shah

tweeted. Union Home Minister

Shri @AmitShah's public programs in West Bengal tomorrow, 09th April 2021.

Meanwhile, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) JP Nadda will hold three roadshows in poll-bound West Bengal on Friday.

At 11:30 AM, Nadda will hold a roadshow from Baghupati VIP to Satgachi Jessore Road. He will then address a second roadshow which will take place from Chakdaha Chowrasta to Chakdaha Rathtala, the statue of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at 1 PM.

His third and last road-show will take place from Vijay Ram to Baje Pratap-pur at 3 PM.

The fourth phase of West Bengal assembly elections will be held in 44 assem-bly seats on April 10. The eighth and final round of elections is scheduled for April 29. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.

Amit Shah, JP Nadda to hold public rallies in poll-bound West Bengal

18-yr old man beaten to death

over Petty Quarrel in Firozabad

LUCKNOW, Apr 9 (Agencies): In yet another shocking case, an 18-year-old man was beaten to death by a group of people over a petty dispute in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad. The victim, Jabbar, had a dispute with some people at a juice stall around 11 pm on Thursday after which five of them beat him up badly, Assistant Superintendent of Police, City, Mukesh Chandra Mishra said.

Family members of the deceased alleged that he was attacked with a sharp weapon and rods, due to which he died before even reaching a hospital.

Police said the body was sent for a post-mortem examination. A probe is underway, and three people have been detained so far, they added.

19-yr old girl beheaded over

groom’s love affair with another womanPATNA, Apr 9 (Agen-

cies): In a horrific incident from Bihar, a 19-year-old girl who was about to get married was beheaded and her dead body was found in Bihar's Dwarka Bigha village.

PATNA, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): As reported by Times Now News, the victim was set to marry Azad Kumar of Neerpur Village. Her family had even given marriage gifts worth Rs. 4 lakh to the groom's family during a Saraswati Puja organized before the marriage.

The girl is believed to be killed over her fiance's love affair with another woman. Her decapitated body with hands and legs tied was found by the police.

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to a Mumbai-based television journalist accused in a rape case pro-vided he joins the investi-gation being carried out by the police.

Justice Mukta Gupta issued notices and sought responses of the Delhi Police and the complain-ant woman on journalist

Varun Hiremath's plea seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

"Petitioner be not arrested till the next date of hear-ing subject to him joining the investigation as and when directed," the high court said while listing the matter for further hearing on April 16.

H i r e m a t h h a d approached the high court after his earlier anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by

a trial court in the national capital in March.

The 22-year-old woman in her complaint alleged she was raped by Hire-math at a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri on February 20.

The counsel for the 28-year-old man claimed before the court that there had been a history of a pre-vious sexual relationship between the accused and the complainant.

Delhi HC grants interim protection to Mumbai journalist in rape case

provided he joins investigation

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that vaccine shortage is a cause for serious concern and not an occasion to celebrate, in an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a Tika Utsav [vacci-nation drive] to encourage more people to get them-selves inoculated.

“Amid surging Covid cases, vaccine shortage is a very serious matter, and not an Utsav,” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Just a

day ago, in his meeting with the chief ministers, Prime Minister Modi had proposed to hold Tika Utsav, a drive from April 11-14, so that the maximum number of eligible benefi-ciaries across states were vaccinated.

Raising questions over the exports of vaccines to other countries at a time when India itself is grap-pling with the second wave of Covid-19 infections -- the country has been logging over 100,000 daily cases for the past three days now --

Gandhi tweeted, “Is it right to export vaccines by put-ting the lives of citizens of the country at risk? The central government should help all the states without any bias. We have to work together to defeat this pan-demic.”.

India has shipped vac-cine to 85 countries, some in the form of “gifts”, others in line with com-mercial agreements signed between the vaccine makers and the recipient nations, and the rest under the Covas Scheme, led by the World Health Organ-isation.

In his meeting with the chief ministers, addressing the issue of alleged vaccine shortage, the prime min-ister had said the Centre prioritises supply as per the requirement, while suggesting to the states to avoid wastage. It was while urging the states to get maximum people vac-cinated against this deadly virus that he proposed Tika Utsav or vaccine festival on April 11-14.

Vaccine shortage a serious issue, not an Utsav: Rahul Gandhi slams PM’s idea

'Reviving stories of sacrifice for youth

to fill in new resolutions': PMNEW DELHI, Apr 9

(Agencies): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released the Hindi transla-tion of the book ‘Odisha Itihaas’. The book is writ-ten by 'Utkal Keshari' Dr Harekrushna Mahtab. He said, "Today we are reviv-ing the stories of sacrifice and sacrifice of freedom fighters so that our youth do not only know it, but experience it, fill in with new confidence and move forward with new resolu-tions to do something."

Union minister Dhar-mendra Pradhan and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP and son of Harekrushna Mahtab, Bhartruhari Mahtab were also present at the event. The Prime Minister said it is very necessary that the com-prehensive and diverse history of Odisha reached the people of the country.

6 ENTERTAINMENT Top News of J&K

Jammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Popular television actress Sayan-tani Ghosh hit back at a troll who asked her about bra size and made her uncomfortable. The telly star wrote a long post on social media smashing haters and questioning people on body-shaming.

Sayantani Ghosh captioned her post: A thread to end the “size” mentality! I found out today is #WorldHealthDay but you know “Mental Health” has now become the most important aspect of Health! Yes be FIT with your bodies but don’t forget your MIND!!! It’s high time we Normalise all body types, I am here for this change, are you? Drop a if you agree with me!

She also wrote: “Yesterday in one of my interactive sessions someone asked me my bra size! Though I gave the person a befitting reply

(which btw a lot of you appreciat-ed) still I felt there is so much more I want to talk about.. Any form of BODY SHAMING is BAD!! Period.

But particularly, I struggle to wrap my head around the fact that what is this fascination towards female BREASTS ?? As to what size it is ?? A cup, B, C or D etc ?? And it's not only the boys, even us girls have this sort of a conditioning!”

Sayantani was first seen in 2002 daily soap Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan.

She went on to star many shows like Ghar Ek Sapnaa, Naaginn, Banoo Main Teri Dulhann, Sabki Laadli Bebo, Comedy Circus 1 and 2, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3, Adaalat, Bigg Boss 6, Meri Maa, Nach Baliye 6, Mahabharat, Sanjivani 2 and Naagin 4: Bhagya Ka Zehreela Khel to name a few.

TV actress Sayantani Ghosh smashes troll who asked her 'bra size', says 'stop-bodyshaming'

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Actor-producer Pri-yanka Chopra Jonas has been announced as one of the presenters for the 74th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.

The annual award cer-emony, which has been delayed from its usual February date due to the coronavirus pandemic, is scheduled to take place on April 10 and 11 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Chopra Jonas will be joined by other present-ers, which include Phoebe Dynevor, Chiwetel Ejio-for, Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Richard E Grant, Tom Hiddleston, Felic-ity Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James McAvoy, David Oyelowo, and

Pedro Pascal, the BAFTA announced on Thursday.

The "Quantico" star had recently announced the Oscar nominations, along with her husband pop-star Nick Jonas. Chopra Jonas and other star presenters from London will be joined by additional presenters from Los Angeles includ-

ing Rose Byrne, Andra Day, Anna Kendrick and Renee Zellweger.

The 38-year-old actor's last release, "The White Tiger", is nominated in two categories at the BAFTA, including best leading actor male for Adarsh Gourav and adapted screenplay for director Ramin Bahrani.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas to present at 2021 BAFTA awards

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Rimi Sen has said that she was nothing more than 'furniture' in some of her biggest films, such as Dhoom, Phir Hera Pheri, Hungama, and Golmaal.

Actor Rimi Sen has said that had she 'struggled' for a few more years, she might have succeeded in the film industry. After a series of appearances in splashy projects in the 2000s, Rimi slipped out of public consciousness.

In an interview, she said that she was nothing more than 'furniture' in some of her biggest films, and that she was only motivated by money at the time.

"That time I wasn’t mature. I was young, aggressive, I was getting a lot of work and I used to go with the flow. I was there only for money," Rimi told IndianExpress.com. She continued, "I did Dhoom, Phir Hera Pheri, Hungama, Golmaal and I had the role of furniture in all of them. That time the film indus-

try was male dominated. Today content is the hero. Back then, hero was the only hero! OTT platforms have changed the scene today."

Rimi said that filmmak-ers are more 'fearless' today because they don't have the burden of delivering only Rs 100 crore box office hits. She said that her 'only fault' is that she didn't 'fight' more before deciding to 'quit'. She said, "Now when I watch my films after 10 years, I realise what have I achieved? Nothing."

In another interview with a leading daily, Rimi recalled how she had auditioned for Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades, and

Rajkumar Hirani's Munna Bhai MBBS, but lost out on both occasions.

"There have been several such instances and oppor-tunities that I have lost, but then such things are part and parcel of an actor’s life, one has to take it positively in their stride," she'd said.

Also read: Rimi Sen says she got ‘positive response’ for her Munna Bhai MBBS audition but lost role to Gracy Singh

Rimi was last seen on the big screen in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Shagird, which released in 2011. She also appeared as a contestant on the popular reality show, Bigg Boss 9, in 2015.

Rimi Sen says she was 'furniture' in Dhoom, Hungama: 'Have achieved nothing'

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Navya Nanda, daughter of Shweta Bach-chan, is all excited to watch her uncle Abhishek Bachchan's latest film. Abhishek's The Big Bull hit Disney+Hotstar Thursday evening.

Abhishek had shared a poster of the film and written on Instagram ear-lier, "Watch the story of The Big Bull unfold today at 7:30pm. The End will shock you." Sharing his post on her Instagram Sto-ries, Navya wrote, "Yay out today," adding, "The one and only Big Bull Abhishek Bachchan." Directed by Kookie Gulati and co-pro-duced by Anand Pandit, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Vikrant Sharma, The Big Bull was earlier scheduled to release in October 2020. However, it was delayed owing to the pandemic and

the makers then decided to go for a direct-to-digital release. The movie also stars Ileana D'Cruz, Sumit Vats, Ram Kapoor, Sohum Shah among others.

Talking about his char-acter in the film, Abhishek had recently told PTI that he identified with his aspi-rational nature. "All of us are very aspirational in life, we want to achieve, we want to fulfil our dreams and Hemant Shah (his role) is no different. His determi-nation, his doggedness to

achieve what he wants to achieve, are unique to him. I don't think it is important whether I am like that or not. I think it is important that I am convinced that Hemant should be like that," he said.

“Hemant Shah is a char-acter, who has stars in his eyes, he has big dreams for himself and how he is very determined and focused about how to achieve it. But he has his flaws and that is something that I found interesting,” he added.

Abhishek Bachchan gets best compliment from niece Navya Naveli Nanda, she calls

him 'The one and only Big Bull'

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Amit Sadh has said that 'some celeb profiles are startlingly dis-connected from reality' and that they should not rub their privi-lege in others' faces, especially at a time like this.

Actor Amit Sadh, who recent-ly announced that he would be taking a social media sabbatical amid the rise in Covid-19 cases across the country, said that his decision was his alone, and not meant as a dig at anyone else. Several celebrities in India have been sharing vacation and work-out posts on social media, during

the second wave of the pandemic.Amit said in his post that he

couldn't in good conscience con-tinue using social media as he has been, while people die around him. "My posts of gym sessions won’t heal anyone," he wrote.

In a new interview, he elaborat-ed on his decision, and said that he came to Mumbai to become an actor, and not an influencer. He was particularly 'triggered' when someone told him that he must stay relevant online. "If I don’t post for two days and the world forgets me, it means I never mat-tered to begin with," the actor told

a leading daily. Amit said that 'some celeb profiles are startlingly disconnected from reality,' and that he will continue to connect with people on social media, via direct messages. He wrote that 'the privileged lot should be more sensitive' at this time, and not rub their privilege in people's faces.

"Is Brad Pitt showing you that he is on an exotic island while the rest are battling corona? No, right?" he continued. "There’s so much suffering around and how can you pretend that it’s all okay because it hasn’t affected you? This has been on my mind

for weeks. Everything is fake, where’s the place for simplicity?”

Amit recently appeared in the Amazon Prime Video series Breathe: Into the Shadows, which

starred Abhishek Bachchan, and Avrodh: The Siege Within on SonyLIV. He also appeared in the film Shakuntala Devi, and Jeeti Ki Zid.

'Is Brad Pitt showing you he's on an exotic island?': Amit on 'celeb profiles'

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Actor Ranveer Singh has written a heartfelt note for his wife, Deepika Padu-kone, for her website. He said that she is born for greatness, and called her the most 'amazing' person he's ever met.

Ranveer Singh has writ-ten a note for his wife, Deepika Padukone, on her newly launched web-site. In his note, Ranveer mentioned how Deepika is made for 'greatness'.

"Deepika is the most amazing person I've met in my life. And I'm not just saying this because she's my wife. Deepika nurtures a universe within herself: of love, compassion, kind-ness, intelligence, beauty, grace and empathy.

These qualities make her a true and authentic artiste- she's one of the finest actors in the world. She's got inner strength, resilience, grit and an iron-will. A woman so righteous and full of virtue, that she commands respect. I some-times stop and admire her, aware that she is a special

soul, born for greatness. I am the proudest husband in the world," he wrote.

Filmmakers Kabir Khan and Farah Khan, and fash-ion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, also wrote testimonials for her. Farah wrote, "There was an innate dignity and poise that I saw in her, that I haven't seen in too many girls that age. 13 years later, these 2 very qualities, remain intact. We also often speak about her evolution as an actor and her craft, but what I truly admire about her, is how she has managed to keep her head above it all! I love her, I am proud of her and she will always be my baby." Deepika made

her Bollywood debut with Farah's Om Shanti Om.

On her website, Deepika is showcasing her work, her new YouTube channel, her photoshoots, maga-zine covers and also her mental health organisa-tion, The Live Laugh Love Foundation. Deepika has an impressive line-up of projects in the pipeline, including 83, Baiju Bawra, Fighter, Sanki, Pathan, and Indian adaptation of Nancy Meyers's 2015 hit Holly-wood film The Intern.

She has almost finished shooting for Shakun Batra's upcoming drama with Ananya Panday and Sid-dhant Chaturvedi.

Deepika's 'proud husband' Ranveer says she is 'born for greatness'

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Yesteryear diva Waheeda Rehman has a fan in veteran actor Dhar-mendra. Recently, he con-fessed that after watching Chaudhvin Ka Chand, he was smitten by her beauty.

Dharmendra along with Shatrughan Sinha visited the sets of Dance Deewane Season 3 as special guests. Colors channel has shared a promo for the upcom-ing episode, in which host Raghav asks him to respond to Waheeda Rehman calling him a flirt. She had said, "Dharmen-draji woh dikhte hai bare seedhe saadha, woh bohut flirt hai (Dharmendraji appears to be very shy but he is a flirt)."

He replied, "Aese aarop toh roz lage hai yaar (I've faced such allegations every day)". The Sholay actor continued, "Humne Waheedaji ki film dekhi thi Chaudhvin Ka Chand. Hungama hogaya tha. Sara zamana inpe fida

tha thode hum bhi fida the. Maine Waheedaji ko ek programme me kehte huye suna tasveere unko dikhayi gayi inme aapka crush kispe tha Waheedaji ke muh se nikla ki Dhar-mendra. Toh main sochta hun yaar jab hum fida the tab kya hua tha? (I had watched Waheedaji's film Chaudhvin Ka Chand. It caused a commotion. Everyone was smitten by her and so was I. In a programme when she was shown pictures and asked 'who is your crush among these?' she replied 'Dhar-mendra', I wonder what happened when I said I had a crush on her too?)"

Waheeda Rehman had danced with Madhuri Dixit Nene, one of the judges on the show. The duo grooved to her popular song Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamarao from the 1966 movie Teesri Kasam, and Madhuri had shared the video on Insta-gram.

Waheeda looked stun-

Dharmendra reveals he was smitten by Waheeda after watching Chaudhvin Ka Chand

ning in a yellow saree, paired with a neckpiece and matching earrings. Madhuri donned a white top and red skirt. Both of them are trained clas-sical dancers and have given some of the most iconic performances in Hindi movies. Waheeda is trained in Bharatnatyam and Madhuri has learnt Kathak.

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Indian Idol 12 con-testant Nachket Lele opens up on the controversies around his eviction from the show. He also spoke on whether he was eliminated to save Sawai Bhatt.

Indian Idol contestant Nachiket Lele, who was recently eliminated from the show, has now opened up on the controversies around his eviction. Soon after his elimination last month, his fans began expressing their anger at the eviction, and their love for him.

Indian Idol fans have been also demanding "justice for Nachiket", urging makers to get him back on the sing-ing reality show. One fan tweeted, "#wewantnachik-etback #bringnachiketback #Mrversatilelele @Nachik-etlele28 We want our gem back #idolnachiket We want our gem back #idol-nachiket We want our gem back #nachiketlele."

Asked if his eviction from the singing reality show was in order to save co-contestant Sawai Bhatt, Nachiket told Bollywood Life, "There is no such thing. I was not eliminat-ed to ensure Sawai Bhat's victory or anyone else on the show. I do not think so. We must not forget that everyone is talented and they offer various flavours of the art. They are all my friends, so I will not say there is any partiality or I was voted out to ensure someone else's victory.

Fans have been saying so, but that is because they love me. There is no such partiality on the show."

Asked if he is likely to make a comeback on the show, given the fans' demands, the aspir-ing singer said, "I never expected such huge love for myself. Feels good to get all this love, well wishes and blessings. They saw it as unfair and have been trending 'justice for Nachiket' etc but I do not know if there will be a wild card entry. And, if it happens, will I be invited? I do not know as of now. However, looking at the support I am getting, I feel it will be great if I get that opportunity to be back on the show."

Nachiket Lele has worked with Ajay-Atul for many Marathi songs as part of a chorus. He had posted a long note, upon his evic-tion. The note, shared on Instagram, said, "Journey of Indian idol was dream-like! Every round here was a challenge. To be able to act and sing, being the hero and singer of the song was an amazing experience !! Although it wasn't easy as it seemed, but the zeal to try something new kept me going and I am glad I won the place in your hearts. You people never failed to recognize the efforts I have put in behind each and every get up perfor-mance!! And You have equally loved my other performances too."

Indian Idol 12's Nachiket Lele responds to rumours

of wild card entry

Mira Rajput plans detox by fasting, Shahid wonders why would she need it

MUMBAI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Shahid Kapoor cannot believe that his wife, Mira Rajput, would need any kind of cleanse. Mira had shared with her fans that she plans a "seasonal detox" by fasting, on the lines of the Hindu festival of Navratri. Shahid was among the first ones to respond to her Instagram post, wondering if she needs the detox at all.

Mira shared a video in which she talked about her ideas on detox. "Hey guys! So I am planning to do a seasonal cleanse for this season change.

7Top News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021 LOCAL / ADVT

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Talking to media persons Sunil Dimple president mission statehood and jammu west assembly movement talk-ing to media persins issued a press statement and has strongly criticized the PM NARINDER Modi state-ment to celebrate, TIKA UTSAV” from 10 April to 14 April in India & Jammu Kashmir.

Dimple made a sensa-tional disclosure that the Jammu region needs One Crore 20 twenty Lakh vac-cinations as per popula-tion.

He said the only in the Jammu districts needs 31 lakh vaccination Boils as per the population and two doses. But we have only four days stock and only two lakh fifty thou-sand (2,50,000) people of Jammu district has been

vaccinated and only four days of stock left.

Dimple said this “Teika utsav celebration, from 10th to 14 April is a mean-ingless announcement of the PM as J&K is facing acute shortage of vaccina-tions and infrastructure.

Dimple said people are dying of contagious, pan-demic and this is not time to celebrate, when there is a peak surge in this wave of pandemic. Dimple said this PANDEMIC wave has become a community spread & has created an Economic Crisis in Jammu Kashmir and the country.

He said Jammu Kashmir is already facing shortage of Corona vaccinations.

He alleged in spite of so many protest demonstra-tions the JMC Jammu, , the municipal Corporation and municipal committees of Jammu region have no sanitizers for the Spray on

Jammu city roads.Dimple said we are

demanding for one month complete lock down as this pandemic has become community spread this time and fast spreading.

He said the night curfew is meaningless as the day time crowds are more dan-gerous.

Dimple said the TEEKA Utsav cannot be celebrated as the night curfew have been announced in eight J&K Districts and all the permissions of gatherings, exhibitions, fairs in Jammu has been withdrawn.

Dimple demands one month complete lock down in Jammu Kashmir as WHO declared next forty five days critical of COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimple said the COVID-19 is fast spreading in Jammu Kashmir GGM science colleges students, judges, professors, trad-ers, transporters, doctors, corona worriers are becom-ing victims. The Teeka Utsav is a mockery.

He alleged all colleges, universities, courts have been closed but the JMC municipal corporation Jammu has not started san-itizers spray on the roads in Jammu city & mohalla wards yet.

Top News Report

KATRA, Apr 9: On the occasion of World Health Day, a bicycle rally was organized on 7th April,2021 at SMVDU campus by the Board for Sports Activities.The rally was conducted during the ongoing celebration of “AzadikaAmritMahot-sav”, a pan India festival

to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Indian independence and to create awareness on World Health Day at SMVDU. With this rally, the begin-ning of the Fit India move-ment in SMVDU was also marked. The rally wit-nessed a good participa-tion from faculty, staff and their family members. The rally was flagged off by

Dr. H.G. Mishra, Associ-ate Dean, Students Wel-fare who also joined the rally. The rally moved throughout the campus for creating awareness on the theme “A fit mind rests in a fit body”. The organizers: President BSA (Mr. Parvez Singh Slathia), Sports coaches (Mr. Sucha Singh, Mr. Balbir Singh, Mr. Sumit Sharma) along with the helping staff expressed gratitude to the Hon’ble Vice chancellor, SMVDU, for his guidance and support in conduct of the event.

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: The Final match of the ongoing 28th Annual Football Champi-onship was played on 8th April 2021 at Synthetic Turf TRC between favourites Real Kashmir FC (R) & J&K Bank XI football teams in flood lights at 6:PM. It was an amazing experience for the players & the specta-tors. The match started with an aggressive note with both the teams trying hard to retain the title. The first half seemed to be virtually dominated by Real Kashmir FC. They made certain bril-liant moves at the Goal but their attempts were foiled by Nirdoush the Goal-keeper of J&K Bank, who made some beautiful saves.

Ist half score was 0:0. After the breather J&K Bank XI players swung into action and created problems for Real Kashmir FC & tried hard to break the ice and succeeded in converting a goal through Farhan.

The excellent skill, Ball Control, & man to Man marking were the main features of the match which took the spectators by sur-prise. They appreciated both the teams & encour-aged them. Real Kashmir FC made certain brilliant attacks but came close to level the score at various occasions but the tough & solid defence line of J&K Bank denied them the opportunities. Thus J&K Bank defeated Real Kash-mir FC by a solitary Goal.

Secretary Sports Council Ms Nuzhat Gul was the Chief Guest on the occa-sion & Shri R.K Chiber Chairman J&K Bank & Nuzhat Ara, Joint Secre-tary JKSC were the Guests of Honour. Shri Sandeep Chattoo, Iftikhar Lone, Dr. Zaffer Iqbal, Presidents & Secretaries of District Foot-ball Associations & JKFA Officials were also present on the Occasion,

The Chief Guests distrib-uted Prizes to the Winners & Runners-up Teams. Nir-doush of J&K Bank was declared as Man of the Match. 50 Teams/ Clubs from All Districts of UT par-ticipated in this Champion-ship. The Championship was organized by JKFA & Sponsored by JKSC.

Dimple terms COVID Teekaa Utsav a mockery

Cycle Rally to Create Awareness on World Health Day at SMVDU

28th Annual Football Championship concludes

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Hinduist leader Raju Chandel and State President of Kolkata, Rafiq Ali Sheikh National secretary mister Subhash while speaking to reporters in Jammu in a press con-ference today said that in the rescue of CRPF’s Cobra Commando. Rakeshwar Manhas from the clutches of the Naxalites of the country.

He said that strategy of the Union Home Min-ister Amit Shah, called Chanakya, was successful, the release of the Cobra Commando Rakeshwar Manhas proves to be a milestone and Amit Shah made his point before the country due to his Chanakya policy, but you are the Naxalite.

The problem of terror-ism is very important to be dealt with.

The death of 23 CRPF COBRA commandos who have been martyred by the Naxal terrorists is yet to be avenged.

Chandel has demanded that by entering the house of these Naxalite terrorists They should be completely destroyed.

He said that today ter-rorism in three parts of the country is towards com-plete elimination. First, Jammu and Kashmir is counting terrorism and ter-rorists last. Violence arson terrorist incidents are large

In which many Bharatiya Janata Party workers have been killed, they have been attacked with bullets with bombs with deadly weap-ons, today the govern-ment is going to change its

power and the BJP is going to have a strong govern-ment. Soon this terrorism of West Bengal Kolkata is also going to end, while the talk of the Naxalite ter-rorist, the Prime Minister of the state Mr. Narendra Modi and the Defense Minister of the country, Mr. Rajnath Singh ji and the Union Home Minister of the country Amit Shah ji have given many Time was given to join the main-stream of the country, but it does not creep on their ears. Today, the CRPF’s 23 cobra commandos were ambushed to death and it proves that it is cannibalis-tic, not a Naxalite. It is very important to have Hina’s annihilation and complete The country will see the whole world; Naxal ter-rorism will be completely eradicated from India soon. Today, the whole world knows this Naxal-ism that our neighboring country is giving thou-sands of rupees of ammu-nition to China to destroy India because the evil of China in Pakistan. Actions just straight India There is no strength to mess with this, that’s why these people are creating sepa-rate terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, giving their support, giving arms, giving ammunition and giving their support to the Naxalite terrorists in the northeast areas and today So, these people are too much engaged in spread-ing the same anarchy ter-rorism inside West Bengal Kolkata. The Prime Min-ister of our country will never let Pakistan succeed in their plans in China.

Top News Report

SRINAGAR, Apr 9: The field executives of Legal Metrology department today booked two deliv-ery boys in downtown Srinagar for overcharging on cooking gas refills and a penal sum of Rs 5000 was also collected from them on the spot.

As per a statement issued here it was informed that the Oil Marketing Com-panies (OMC) has fixed a rate of Rs 925 (inclu-sive of subsidy) for refill cooking gas cylinders for district Srinagar whereas the delivery-boys were found charging more than the amount fixed by the authorities.

Chanakya Shah’s strategy managed to bring in Cobra Commando Rakeshwar Manhas: Chandel

LMD books two delivery boys for overcharging on cooking Gas

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: When non-NACs (Non- Asymp-tomatic carriers)are vac-cinated, it results in an increase in viral infectious-ness among NACs warns Dr.Bossche a vaccine Scien-tist. Stated in another way, when mass vaccination is carried out and people who don’t show symptoms, we are creating population-wide viral adaptation pres-sure that result in increased viral pathogenicity among carriers who show symp-toms. This drives the Pan-demic into high gear with more dangerous strains that are increasingly infec-tious. Thus the resulting immune escape variants

are now resistant to the vaccine. “This renders the vaccine worse than useless..is the outcome of study by vaccinologist said vijay Sharma chair-man Team Mask Force in a press release here this afternoon. Director of AIIMS Dr.Guleria in a televised interview admit-ted that vaccine in India are only 80% safe and that 20%

of the total country’s popu-lation is still at stake and what to speak of variants and resultant super strains and its after affects .Dr.Guleria warned that vac-cination drive was meant to reduce fatality rate from Covid but even after vac-cination if Covid Appropri-ate behavioral is not adapt-ed one can get reinfected. In nut shul Preventive measures needs to be taken care of rather to ceremonies festivities as proclaimed by PM while addressing the Heads of different states & UTs of the country.We got to be more aware than beating drums & thallies. Rallies need to be curved to have escape from Covid-19 Pandemic.

People who get “fully vaccinated” are breeders for “super strains” of even more deadly Covid Pathogens -Experts says TMF

Top News Report

GANDERBAL, Apr 9: As part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ celebra-tions, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj today held Pad Yatra at Gander-bal and Kangan blocks of the district. The Pad Yatra was organized by the Rural Development Department Ganderbal in which staff members of the department and local Panchayat mem-bers participated.

Amid chanting slogans for social causes like Nasha Mukt Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Communal har-

mony, unity and integrity of the country and carrying national flag, banners and placards the Pad Yatra went through the lanes and roads of these blocks with strict adherence to precautionary measures against Covid-19. Assistant Commissioner Development Ganderbal, Bilal Mukhtar said that to celebrate the 15th August 2022 (Independence Day) that marks 75 years of free-dom of India from the Brit-ish rule, the Government has proposed several pro-grammes at Block levels under the aegis of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav’.

Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav: RDD Gbl held Pad Yatra

Top News Report

KUPWARA, Apr 9: Chairman, District Development Council (DDC), Irfan Sultan Panditpuri and Vice Chairman, District Development Council, Haji Farooq Ahmad Mir today assumed their offices for func-tioning of the District Development Coun-cil at Rural Development Complex here.

The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kup-wara, Imam Din, DDC member Mawar, Khurshid Ahmad, DDC member Kalaroos,

Ghulam Mustafa Deedad, DDC member Karnah, Najma, ADC Kupwara, Nazir Ahmad Lone, District Panchayat Officer and other concerned were present on the occasion. The DDC Chairman and Deputy Commissioner said that both the institu-tions viz. Administration and Council will together work for overall development of the district. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner congratulated DDC Chairman and Vice Chairman for assuming the charge of their respective offices.

Chairman, Vice Chairman, DD Council Kupwara assume offices

8 SPORTS Top News of J&K

Jammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

KOLKATA KNIGHT Riders pace spearhead Pat Cummins is a big fan

of Shubman Gill and said he likes the way the young India opening batsman stays relaxed while taking the game on.

"He's good, he's young. He wants to take the game on and is really relaxed," the star Aussie pacer said in an Instagram live by KKR in the build-up to their opening IPL match against Sunrisers Hyder-abad here on Sunday.

"He doesn't take cricket or life too seriously. So it's good fun to be with him," the world's no 1 Test pacer added, hailing the India youngster as the duo would be seen playing together, months after their thrilling duel in the Test series Down Under.

The 21-year-old was one of the

architects of India's epic Test series win Down Under, in what was his debut outing.

Gill hit a counter-attacking 91 in the second innings of the fourth

and final Test in Brisbane, some-thing that set up India's epic chase of 328 at the Gabba en route to their 2-1 series triumph.

"I get along really well with Shub-

man. It was a great debut for him last summer in Australia. We had some good contests out in the field. I really feel happy for him, he had a great start to his Test career," Cum-mins said.

Amid the COVID-19 scare, IPL will follow a caravan format and for the first time the franchises will be deprived of home advantage as KKR too would miss playing at the iconic Eden Gardens.

"Just looking forward to playing for you guys this season. I know, unfortunately, we're not going to get up to Kolkata and see you in person but yeah give us all the love on social media.

"We see it all and we absolutely love it, and we'll be trying our best for you, so stick with us and yeah hopefully see you all soon," Cum-mins said in a message to the fans.

Pat Cummins praises Shubman Gill ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders' opening IPL 2021 match Vs Hyderabad

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner on Friday said the return of senior India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will strengthen his side which is already quite balanced in all departments.)

Bhuvneshwar played just four games in last year's IPL in the UAE after sus-taining a hip injury but he is currently in top form after an excellent show for the country during the white-ball leg of the Eng-land series at home.

"Our team is pretty bal-anced and there are going to be some selection head-aches which is always good," Warner said on the twitter handle of SRH.

SRH play their first match

on Sunday against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai.

"It is great that Bhuvi is back. He has had a fantas-tic series against England. We have a lot of depth in bowling and firepower in batting."

The swashbuckling Aus-tralia opener said the slow pitches in Chennai and Delhi will suit his team.

"We are playing in Chen-nai in Delhi in our first 8 or 9 games. The wickets there ill be tad slow which will suit our style of play," said Warner who has come out of a mandatory quarantine.

He said he did some run-ning inside his hotel room during quarantine to keep himself fit. "They gave me a big enough room and I had a little bit of running

inside it."SRH reached the play-

offs in the last edition in the UAE where they lost to eventual runners-up in the Qualifier 2.

Bhuvneshwar, on his part, said he was looking to feature in a full season this time.

"It's good to be out of quarantine. Feels that the last IPL was just a few days back. I am not thinking of any new things but will just focus on the simple things and use my experi-ence and bowl my varia-tions, like that," he said.

"I was not there for almost the whole IPL last year and looking forward to play the whole season this time and hopefully contribute for the team."

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner feels Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return has

strengthen his side for IPL 2021

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Chennai Super Kings have signed Austra-lian fast bowler Jason Beh-rendorff, 30, as a replace-ment for Josh Hazlewood for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

The left-arm quick has featured in 11 ODIs and seven T20Is so far. This will be Behrendorff’s second IPL stint having repre-sented Mumbai Indians in 2019 where he played five matches and picked as many wickets.

MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings start their IPL 2021 campaign against Delhi Capitals on April 10 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Hazlewood had decided to withdraw from Indian Premier League in order

to stay fresh for upcoming Ashes and hectic interna-tional schedule.

Hazlewood, who was part of CSK’s forgetful campaign in IPL 2020 in UAE, has been in-and-out of quarantine and bio-bub-ble since August last year. The 30-year-old pacer said bio-bubble fatigue was the biggest concern for him as he decided to stay

back and spend time with family and stay fresh for the upcoming international commitments.

"It's been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months," Hazlewood had told cricket.com.au.

IPL 2021: Jason Behrendorff replaces Josh Hazlewood in Chennai Super Kings Squad

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman on Thursday revealed that he had used a bat gifted by senior teammate Muham-mad Hafeez to power his way to two successive hun-dreds in the just conclud-ed One-day series against South Africa.

Pakistan won the series 2-1, only their second ODI series win on South African soil since 2013 with Zaman smashing 193 and 102 in the last two ODIs.

"The bat that I used in the series was gifted to me by Muhammad Hafeez," Zaman said at a virtual press conference on Thurs-

day.Hafeez, a former captain

and senior most player in the side gifted the bat after Fakhar felt uncomfortable with the ones he had.

Named the player of the series, Zaman however said that he is still not sure whether he would play in the coming T20 series in South Africa and Zim-babwe. The left-handed opener was not named originally in the T20 squad for the twin tours but after his superb 193, the selec-tors named him in the T20 side as well.

Zaman, a hard-hitting batsman, said he was eager to open with fellow opener,

Sharjeel Khan who has a reputation of being a big hitter in T20 cricket.

"It would be great if I can open with Sharjeel during the upcoming T20I match-es against South Africa and Zimbabwe."

He said that Sharjeel, also a left hander, was one of his favourite players because of his aggressive style of play.

"I would feel really good if I get the opportunity to bat alongside him. He makes cricket look very easy. So, let's see what happens going forward," he added.

Zaman said he won't bat-ting down the order since captain, Babar Azam was the regular opener in T20 cricket and also opens with Sharjeel in the Pakistan Super League.

"I can play at any posi-tion they ask me to bat on. Nowadays in T20 cricket you have to develop a mindset to be someone who can float in the batting order," he added.

Fakhar Zaman used bat gifted by Muhammad Hafeez in ODI series against South Africa

BERLIN, Apr 9 (Agen-cies): Marcus Rashford's 20th goal of the season helped Manchester United to a 2-0 win over Grana-da in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie. The forward's finish from a fine Victor Lindelof pass in the first half and a late penalty from Bruno Fernandes secured a commanding first-leg advantage in Thursday's clash at the Nuevo Los Car-menes. Ole Gunnar Solsk-jaer's side were not particu-larly inspired in attack but rarely looked troubled by a team who have already eliminated Napoli in an impressive first European campaign. Chelsea loanee Kenedy was a threat with shots from distance, but Diego Martinez's men were unable to create clear open-ings against a diligent Red Devils rearguard, particu-larly with only 33 per cent of the ball.

Rashford, who sustained an ankle problem in the win over Brighton and Hove Albion last Sunday, appeared to be struggling in the early exchanges as

United made hard work of breaking down Granada.

The England forward looked fit and sharp 31 minutes in, though, latch-ing onto Lindelof's long ball over the top before prodding a composed finish beyond goalkeeper Rui Silva. The goal sparked a little life into Granada's attack, Kenedy's ambitious volley from the edge of the area giving the returning David de Gea something to do. Kenedy twice tested De Gea again from outside the box after the restart but they were comfort-able saves for the United keeper, who was otherwise mostly untroubled.

Fernandes had had a quiet game but he squeezed a mishit penalty under Sil-va's grasp to score a poten-tially decisive second away goal in the 90th minute after Yan Eteki was penal-ised for pushing a hand into the Portugal star's face.

What does it mean? Advantage United after timid encounter

It was not a thrill-a-minute contest but it puts United in a good position

to progress to the semi-finals for the second season in a row, and there was little offered by Granada to worry them unduly.

However, Solskjaer will want a more committed and creative performance when they travel to Totten-ham this weekend if they are to preserve their long unbeaten away run.

United must preserve Rashford for run-in

Rashford's goal made him the first United player to hit double figures in con-secutive campaigns since Wayne Rooney 11 years ago. He came off with a little under half an hour remaining, and Solskjaer will need to manage his ankle concern carefully: their league position, and their chances of winning this competition, could depend on it.

Greenwood goes missingThe matchwinner against

Brighton last Sunday, Mason Greenwood offered little attacking threat in Spain and struggled to hold up the ball or link the play. One such poor use of the ball gave Granada a rare

chance to break at speed in the United half, although they could not make use of the opportunity.

Key Opta Facts- Manchester have won

consecutive away games in Europe against Span-ish opposition for the first time, also beating Real Sociedad 4-0 on the road in February 2021.

- United have registered four clean sheets in their past five games in Europe (one goal conceded), after managing just one shutout in their previous seven (12 goals conceded).

- Marcus Rashford became the fourth Premier League player to reach 20 goals in all competitions

this season after Harry Kane (29), Mohamed Salah (27) and Bruno Fernandes (24).

- Rashford is the first Eng-lish player to score eight goals for the Red Devils in European competition in a single season (exclud-ing qualifiers) since Bobby Charlton in 1964-65.

- Fernandes has scored 19 of his 20 penalties taken for United in all competitions.

What's next?Before next Thursday's

second leg, each side return to domestic action on Sunday. United face Tottenham away in the Pre-mier League, with Granada travelling to Real Vallado-lid in LaLiga.

Granada 0-2 Manchester United

Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes give red Devils edge in Europa League tie

MIAMI, Apr 9 (Agencies): The Milwaukee Bucks dropped their second game without Giannis Antetok-ounmpo going down 116-101 to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA on Thursday night.

Mavs center Kristaps Porzingis dominated with 26 points including four three-pointers, along with 17 rebounds, with Slove-nian guard Luka Doncic top scoring with 27 points.

The Bucks were without two-time MVP Giannis due to knee soreness, missing his third straight game as Milwaukee slipped to 32-19.

Milwaukee produced a 14-0 run in the third with Donte DiVincenzo scoring 22 points and Bobby Portis pulling down 14 rebounds but Dallas dominated the last quarter to take out the win.

The Los Angeles Lakers dropped another game without LeBron James and Anthony Davis as Jimmy Butler dazzled for the Miami Heat in a 110-104 victory.

Butler scored 28 points, with seven rebounds and five assists for Miami who trailed at the main break.

The Lakers have lost six of their past 10 matches with a 32-20 record and are fifth in the West.

Clippers blanket Suns, Jazz blow away Blazers

In a crucial clash in the West, the Los Angeles Clippers finished strong to edge the in-form Phoenix Suns 113-103 led by Paul George and Kawhi Leon-ard.

George had 33 points including seven three-pointers, seven rebounds and three assists, while Leonard scored 27 points, with five rebounds and five assists.

New Clippers recruit Rajon Rondo added 15 points and nine assists off the bench too, as they improved to 35-18, with the Suns 36-15 after their eight-game winning run ended.

Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points as the ladder leading Utah Jazz blew away the Portland Trail Blazers with a 40-19 third quarter to win 122-103.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert

had 20 rebounds along with his 18 points while Damian Lillard scored 23 points and had five rebounds and six assists for the Blazers.

The Chicago Bulls were too good for the under-manned Toronto Raptors 122-113 with Deadline Day additions Nikola Vucevic and Daniel Theis starring.

New Heat recruit hurtHeat guard Victor Oladi-

po played 25 minutes and scored 18 points in their win over the Lakers but he went off late with an appar-ent left knee injury which will have Miami sweating on their new recruit.

Kawhi dunks on SunsThe commentators were

left staggered when Leon-ard drove into the key and produced a massive right-hand dunk in the third of the Clippers win over the Suns.

NBA: Milwaukee Bucks, LA Lakers lose again without Giannis and LeBron,

Kawhi leads clippers past suns

NEW DELHI, Apr 9 (Agencies): Ahead of the opening clash of the 14th edition of the Indian Pre-mier League (IPL) against defending champions Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli feels him batting at the top will give the right balance to the squad.

Before the start of the tournament, Kohli had said that he will open the innings for the RCB. He opened for India in the last T20I against England and played an unbeaten knock of 80 off 52 balls at the Nar-endra Modi Stadium.

"I had spoken to Mike (Hesson) and Simon (Katich) last year that I would like to open in IPL 2021 and I would go into that headspace, luckily things happened in a way that I got to open in the last game against England and I ended up getting a good score which gave me the confidence to step into this role so I can probably do

it again."That experience was

very important heading into this IPL, knowing I am sorted with my game at the top of the order and then now let's create that balance in the team. My batting and those things are taken care of," Kohli said in a video posted by RCB on their official Twit-ter handle. Commenting on his decision to speak to AB de Villiers when he was going through a bad patch, Kohli said: "It's amazing when you have played for so long, you can go into a zone where you feel like you cannot even score a run. There is such a lack of clarity in your mind and there are too much thoughts going around. It is all external factors you are thinking of and that is creating more confusion.

"So I thought I will take another point of view because I have seen ABD play, every innings he has got the same intensity and passion.

My batting position at top will give right balance to the squad : Virat Kohli

9Top News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021 LOCAL / CONTD....

J&K integral part of country; India doesn”t

need unasked for advice: Vice President Naidu

vice president said some people from the neighbourhood always try to create problems and disturbances for India.

“We should not allow them to succeed. We should be guided by the spirit of national integration – nation first, party and profes-sion next and self last. That should be our attitude, nation first attitude irrespective of caste, creed, sex, religion and region,” he said.

Tourists coming to Kashmir by road will

undergo testsafter their RT-PCR test reports, improvement in testing facility at the Airport and sanitation of hotels.

Former J&K Chief Min-ister Omar Abdullah

tested Corona positivelast week was discharged on Wednesday from SKIMS.

Jammu has emerged as education hub of north

India: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

stadium and Kolkata”s Eden Garden,” said the Union minister who had laid the founda-tion stone of the Rs 58.23 crore mega-sports complex spread over 270 kanals of land at Hiranagar in Kathua in September last year.

“This is actually happening around us which has a direct connection with our youth. Earlier, the common grievance was that dis-crimination was happening against Jammu,” he said.

He said all the projects which were sanc-tioned simultaneously for Jammu and Sri-nagar are progressing in Jammu, while they are languishing in the valley.

“We have the first phase of ring road already functional in Jammu, first batch of 50 students selected for AIIMS and an industrial park is also ready in Kathua but the projects are yet to take off in the valley whatever be the reason or peculiar circumstances over there,” he said.

“Despite all this, some people still keep claiming that there is discrimination (against Jammu). Maybe they are the victims of the victimhood hangover of the past,” he added.

NIA files supplementary chargesheet in KLF narco-terror case

a Narco-terror network to strengthen the ter-rorist activities of KLF.

The investigation has established that a network of narco-traffickers, terrorists and Hawala operatives based in Punjab, Delhi and Dubai was operating at the behest of Har-

meet Singh and Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada and was indulging in subversive activities against India.

“Further investigation against the abscond-ing accused continues”, informed the agency.

No Fajr, Isha prayers at Jamia Masjid Sgr in Ramadhan, says Auqaf

to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. “It has been decided that only three

prayers including Zuhar, Asr and Maghrib will be offered at historic Jamia Masjid here while the religious place will remain closed for Fajr and Isha prayers including Taraveeh,” he said.

Dry & pleasant weather in J&K for next week: MeT

Bhaderwah 5.6 as the minimum tempera-ture.

‘Beats logic’: Kashmir

doctors’ body says night curfew won’t stop

COVID spreadhelp in curbing the spread, when people go about their business during the day hours,” he said.

“We have no night life in Kashmir. There is no movement at all during the night hours. Life comes to a standstill in the night.”

“All activities happen during the day and that is the time when virus transmis-sion occurs,” DAK President said.

COVID-19: 7 MBBS students test positive

at GMC Anantnagfollow COVID-19 SOPs like wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing and get vaccination to avoid further trans-mission of virus.

FROM PAGE 1

Top News Report JAMMU, Apr 9: HDFC Bank today announced the winners of its fourth edition of SmartUp Grants 2021. Twenty one startups working in the social sector were select-ed through a rigorous screening process from 300 applications received across the country. These grants are aimed to nur-ture start-ups offering unique solutions to har-binger sustainable change in society and the environ-ment. These grants have been offered under the aegis of #Parivartan, the umbrella program for the bank’s social initiatives. “The SmartUp grants are part of the Bank’s com-mitment to strengthen our relationship with the start-up ecosystem in India. Through the Smart-Up programme, we are nurturing the entrepre-neurial spirit of the start-up community to create jobs, opportunities and impact for the society and environment. We equip them with smart financial tools, advisory services and technology to help them realize their vision. We are aware of start-ups working on innova-tive solutions to bring a sustainable change in the society. These grants are our admiration and sup-port to start-ups working to make our society resil-ient,” said Smita Bhagat, Country Head, Govern-ment & Institutional Business, e-commerce and start-ups, HDFC Bank. The bank insti-tuted SmartUp grants in 2017 and over the past 4 years it has supported 87-number of startups from various cities across India. Startups working in the fields of educa-tion technology and skill development were given priority. To shortlist and mentor the winners, the bank partnered with nine incubators such as IIT Delhi, AIC-Bimtech, IIM Kashipur, IIT BHU, Banasthali University, C-CAMP, GUSEC, T –Hub and Villgro. In the past four years the bank has disbursed grants

worth ₹19.4 crore.This year, following the pandemic protocols, screening was done online. Startups pitched their case on a virtual platform. The foremost criteria for evaluating start-ups were the poten-tial impact they could deliver on the parameters including: Sustainability of the idea; Potential to scale up; How does it ben-efit the society and envi-ronment; Uniqueness of the ProjectIn the past, Smart-Up grants have been given to some unique ideas by start-ups working on innovative solutions in tackling climate change, waste management, skills training and enhancing livelihood. Previously, these grants have been given to startups based not just in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi, but also from Jamshedpur, Kalahandi in Odisha, Kochi, Thiruvanantha-puram, Hyderabad to name a few.For example, in the past a grant was offered to Bleet-ech, a start-up that works on need - based techno-logical solutions in the social sector for the deaf and hard of hearing com-munity. Another example is Kriya Labs, that’s devel-oping a processing tech-nology to convert agro-waste like rice straw into pulp based technological solutions in the social sector for the deaf and hard of hearing commu-nity. Another example is Kriya Labs, that’s devel-oping a processing tech-nology to convert agro-waste like rice straw into pulp— which can then be used to make several bio-degradable products like cups, plates and other tableware. “The SmartUp grants are part of the Bank’s com-mitment to strengthen our relationship with the start-up ecosystem in India. Through the Smart-Up programme, we are nurturing the entrepre-neurial spirit of the start-up community to create jobs, opportunities and impact for the society and environment. We equip

them with smart financial tools, advisory services and technology to help them realise their vision. We are aware of start-ups working on innova-tive solutions to bring a sustainable change in the society. These grants are our admiration and sup-port to start-ups working to make our society resil-ient,” said Smita Bhagat, Country Head, Govern-ment & Institutional Busi-ness, e-commerce and start-ups, HDFC Bank. “We are happy to be part of an incredible league of start-ups looking to bring about positive social change. It is also what #Parivartan, our flagship CSR programme, is about. There are start-ups work-ing in enhancing liveli-hood, skilling and work-ing with the challenged sections of the society; bringing inclusive change which is in sync with our objective to give back to the society we live in,” said Ashima Bhat, group head – CSR, Infrastructure and Finance, HDFC Bank.SmartUp Grants are part of a larger effort by HDFC Bank to create an ecosys-tem to nurture the spirit of innovation and enter-prise in the start-up space. It is an extension of HDFC Bank’s SmartUp Solution through which the bank offers tailor-made bank-ing and advisory solu-tions to entrepreneurs.The journey began with the launch of SmartUp solution, a first-of-its-kind banking solution for start-ups, tailored to meet all the requirements of a start-up by offering bank-ing and payment solu-tions, along with advisory and forex services.Furthermore, by access-ing the bank’s SmartUp portal, start-ups are able to tap into the knowl-edge and experience of a complete network of start-ups while simul-taneously offering their services to this universe. The bank now has dedi-cated SmartUp zones in over 70 branches in 30 cities across India, includ-ing tier 2 and 3 cities that are emerging as start-up hubs.

HDFC Bank gives SmartUp Grants to 21 social sector start-ups

Since inception, Amazon has cumulatively digitized 2.5 million MSMEs; driven exports worth $3 billion; created 1 million jobs in India

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Amazon

India today provided an update on the progress it has made on its commit-ments made in January 2020, to announce that it has digitized2.5 million MSMEs, enabled cumula-tive exports worth $3 billion and helped create nearly 1 million jobs in India till date. Last year at the inau-gural Smbhav Summit, Amazon had announced an investment of $1 billion to digitally enable 10million MSMEs, enable ecommerce exports worth $10 billion and create 1 million addi-tional jobs in India between 2020 and2025.

The company is on track to fulfill these commit-ments. Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice Presi-dent and Country Head of Amazon India, said, “As we continue to work with small and medium businesses in our ecosystem, we remain committed to bringing new

tools, technology and inno-vation that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian businesses, boost exports from the country, help create jobs at scale and contribute to the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. As the world around us is more digital than ever with the internet and tech-nology becoming an inte-gral part of our lives, we see a massive opportunity to empower millions of SMBs across the country and remain committed for Amazon to be a catalyst for such accelerated prog-ress.” Today, more than 2.5 million MSMEs work with Amazon in India including sellers, artisans& weavers, delivery & logistics service partners etc. Amazon has been focused on simplify-ing online selling for small and medium businesses and since January 2020 nearly 250,000new sellers have joined Amazon.in.

Amazon has introduced seller registration and

account management services in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Kannada and more than 75,000 sell-ers have registered on the Amazon India marketplace in regional Indian languag-es. Amazon also sharpened its focus on bringing the benefits of e-commerce to neighbourhood stores and had launched a new pro-gram called ‘Local Shops onAmazon’ in April 2020. The program has grown 10 times since launch and today over 50,000 offline retailers and neighborhood stores from across the coun-try are selling on Amazon.in.

Amazon Global Selling is witnessing rapid momen-tum and today there are 70,000+ exporters on the program who have cumu-latively crossed $3 billion in exports. There is a strong demand from global cus-tomers for a range of Made in India products including STEM toys, jewelry, bed linen, healthcare products,

tea, leather products and others. It took the program 3 years to clock the first bil-lion in cumulative exports, the second billion came in 18 months and the third one has taken just 12 months.

Importantly, Indian exporters on Amazon Global Selling played a key role in serving customers across the world during the pandemic by leverag-ing Amazon’s technology and infrastructure.

This helped them not only sustain and grow their busi-ness but also support thou-sands of people who direct-ly and indirectly depended on them for livelihoods. With this program, Indian exporters can list their products on 17international marketplaces/ websites of Amazon, get access to 150 million paid Prime mem-bers and over 300 million customers in 200 countries and territories across the world.

The growth of exports and digital enablement of

MSMEs is helping acceler-ate economic recovery for thousands of businesses to positively impact job cre-ation as well as the overall economy.

In a challenging year where saving livelihoods and creating new jobs was a top priority, Amazon helped create nearly300,000 direct and indirect jobs across industries including information technology, skill development, content creation, retail, logistics, and manufacturing.

This includes job roles in our corporate offices in diverse areas including Machine Learning and Soft-ware Development, direct and indirect jobs across our fulfillment centres, logistic centres, sales offices, data centres, and other indirect jobs we create through our ecosystem including sell-ers’ community .In total, Amazon has helped create over a million direct and indirect jobs in India since 2013.

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: National Confer-

ence State Secretary and former MLC Rattan Lal Gupta today expressed grave concern over alarming spike in COVID-19 cases across Jammu and Kashmir and urged the administration to have 50 per cent bedding strength of the private hospitals and nurs-ing homes earmarked as Corona Wards to cope up with the emer-gencies.

“ In view of the surge, it would be expected from the administration to create necessary infrastructural facilities in place to meet the situ-ation”, Gupta said in a statement issued from the Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this afternoon.

Gupta also sought effective implementation of three ‘T’s-- , testing, tracking and treating the patients to win over the virus, which has emerged as the most dreaded threat to the humanity across the globe. For this, coor-

dinated effort and monitoring is necessary.

On their part, the people should also adhere to the COVID appro-priate behaviour as any laxity will cost adversely and enormously, he added.

Rattan Lal Gupta also sought fill-ing up of the vacancies of medics and paramedics, as the reports of 30 per cent sanctioned strength of doctors lying vacant. If the short-age of doctors is being faced in the urban hospitals, what would

be the scenario in rural areas, he asked, hoping that the administra-tion would address the issue on priority.

The State Secretary lauded and complimented the frontline work-ers for their valiant efforts in serv-ing the humanity by putting in their best in the given situation.

Gupta called for ensuring ade-quate supplies of medicines avail-able in the health institutions in view of the challenge poses by the global pandemic.

Top News ReportKULGAM, Apr 9: The Deputy

Commissioner (DC) Kulgam, Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat today inspected two mega flood pro-tection bunds at Zungalpora and Aadigatnoo, both under the execution of the Rural Develop-ment Department.During his visit to Aadigantnoo flood protection bund, the DDC was briefed by ACD that work on the 1992 ft con-crete bund has been completed by the department under conver-gence mode.While briefing about the structure of the bund, ACD Kulgam informed that the height of concrete bund is 24 ft with 12 feet bottom and a total expenditure of Rs 2.92 crore has been made on

the project.The DDC also instruct-ed the ACD to start work on an additional portion of the bund. He also appreciated the Rural Devel-opment Department for construct-ing such durable and important projects in the district.

Later, DDC visited Zungalpora flood protection bund site and took stock of present status of the work project.It was informed that work on 3.5 kilometer Zungalpora flood protection bund was taken up by the RDD department with an esti-mated cost of 26 crore.This flood protection bund will help in avert-ing floods and will benefit more than 11 villages in the area starting from Village Zungalpora.

Gupta seeks 50 pc bedding strength of private hospitals to be earmarked for COVID patients

DDC inspects mega FPB projects at Kulgam

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Prof. J. P. Sharma,

Vice Chancellor SKUAST-Jammu has been awarded the Life time achievement award by Agriculture Today Group under the Category of Agri-Extension Awards 2021.

The eminent Jury Panel of India Agri-Extension Awards 2021 made a selection in this regard and decided to present the award to Prof. Sharma for his exemplary contribution in agricultural extension for farmers’ empowerment in India and beyond.

The award was conferred through a Virtual Event held on Friday (April 9, 2021) in which Dr. Trilo-chan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE)

& DG (ICAR) was the Chief Guest.The award ceremony was pre-

ceded by panel discussions on opportunities, innovations, trends and challenges. The April 2021 edi-tion of Agriculture Today Magazine shall be showcasing the winners of Awards. Agriculture Today group has always been on the forefront in providing information, influencing policies, creating business networks and recognizing achievers.

Dr J. P. Sharma is presently Vice-Chancellor of Sher-e-Kashmir Uni-versity of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu, J&K from 15th June 2020. He is also holding the Additional Charge of Vice-

Chancellor, SKUAST Kashmir. Previously he worked as Joint Director (Extension) and as Head, Division of Agricultural Extension and Director, Centre for Advanced Faculty Training (Extension) at Indian Agricultural Research Insti-tute (IARI), New Delhi. He has vast experience of over 33 years con-ducting strategic research, guiding, teaching postgraduate students, conducting national/ international training programmes and carrying out agricultural development inter-ventions at the national level. He earned his Doctoral degree from IIT, Delhi and Post Graduation from GB Pant University of Agriculture and

Technology, Pantnagar, and was awarded Fellowships from IIT, Delhi and UNDP respectively. He was associated with 20 externally funded projects; funded by ICAR, DST, DBT, NABARD etc and 13 institutional research projects as PI/Co-PI. He has designed and developed innovative extension approaches like IARI-Post-Office Linkage Extension Model (Krishi Dak), Cyber Extension Model, Expert System, e-learning Module, National Extension Programme, IARI-VO Partnership Programme, Innovative Farmer Led Extension System etc., for better and faster dissemination of technologies.

Top News ReportSAMBA, Apr 9: Development works

involving Rs 1.15 crore including 14 boundary walls and 1 school building have been completed under Elementary Education in district samba under district Capex budget.

According to the work statement of Ele-mentary Education under district Capex budget 2020-21, boundary walls were con-structed at Government Middle Schools Nud, Vijaypur, Thalori, Sumbli, Pacholi, Khabba and Odh; Government. Primary Schools Thanwal, Gharan, Radyal and Mandi Dansal; at Government Upper Pri-mary Schools Dessain and at Government

High School Chak Sadda, Ghagwal and Katli. One project of conversion of Barrak into six class rooms at HSS Nandpur has also been completed.

The financial implication of boundary walls stood at Rs 1.01 crore while remain-ing 13.35 Lakh were expended on upgrad-ing the School building. Two projects are in pipeline for completion at a cost of Rs 7.07 lakh.

District Development Commissioner, Anuradha Gupta, has emphasised upon early completion of all the ongoing development works under district Capex budget. She also exhorted upon all the exe-cuting agencies to handover the projects to the school Education department in time.

VC, SKUAST-Jammu awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by Agriculture Today Group

Development works worth Rs1.15 crore completed

10 LOCAL Top News of J&K

Jammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

Top News ReportGULMARG, Apr 9: While continuing the sequence of events for the promo-tion of departmental farms and to take on spot assessment of different agricultural activities being carried out, Princi-pal Secretary AP&FWD Navin Kumar Choudhary today visited Potato Seed Multiplication farm Gul-marg.While interacting with the concerned officers, the Principal Secretary high-lighted the importance of promoting Gulmarg Farm on modern scientific lines so that not only the potato seed requirement of the Valley could be taken care of but the surplus seed could be made available to some other states of the country also.He said that the Potato Seed Multiplication Farm is an asset of the depart-ment and the latest tech-nological interventions in the cultivation of potatoes used globally should be adopted so that the best use of such a high altitude Seed Multiplication Farm

could be achieved.The Principal Secretary said that the innovative ideas for the optimal utilization of farm lands should be encouraged for which all the innovative steps should be taken up. He impressed upon the officers / officials working in the farms to work with commitment and coordi-nation to achieve tangible results on ground, so that the benefits of exis-tence of these farms reach to the grass roots level.During the visit Principal Secretary directed for uti-lizing the whole Gulmarg Farm for Potato Cultiva-tion and set the target of 2500 quintals of high quality potato seeds for

this year. He urged upon the offi-cers and technical staff to take it as a challenge and ensure all the neces-sary efforts to achieve the target.Earlier Director Agricul-ture, Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal gave a detailed overview of the farm and informed the Principal Secretary about various activities being carried out in the Farm.Officers who were present on the occasion includes Potato Development Offi-cer Kashmir, Waheed- Ur- Rehman; Farm Manager, SM Farm Gulmarg and other concerned officers of the department.

Top News ReportKUPWARA, Apr 9: The Chairman, District Devel-opment Council (DDC), Kupwara, Irfan Sultan Pan-ditpuri; Vice Chairman, Dis-trict Development Council, Haji Farooq Ahmad Mir and Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Imam Din were today administered Cov-ishield vaccine at Covid Vaccination Centre, Sub District Hospital Kupwara.On the occasion, the digni-

taries said that the Covid vaccine is safe for protec-tion against the pandemic viral disease. In a message, they urged upon the people to come forward and administer the Covishield vaccine to protect their health. They also urged for maintenance of social distancing and wearing of masks besides ensuring proper hygiene to prevent spread of virus.Later, the Deputy Commis-sioner convened a meeting

with Health officers and reviewed the present status of sampling and vaccina-tion process in the district.The Deputy Commissioner was informed that 41047 persons have been vacci-nated including front line workers in the district so far. It was also informed that 7423 samples under Rapid Antigen Tests for Covid-19, besides, 3011 RT PCR Sam-pling have also been done during the last eight days.

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Prof.Bhim Singh, Senior Advo-cate of Supreme Court of India who remained a close friend and even joined him in teaching law in Delhi University expressed deep shock on the death of Prof. Riyaz Punjabi yesterday, in Delhi. Prof. Bhim Singh has been close associate with Prof. Riyaz Punjabi even though they were teaching in the same insti-tution in Delhi for some time. They have been very close in working out a democratic and secular movement in Jammu & Kashmir.Prof.Riyaz Punjabi had also experienced several pushes and pressures in J&K also. He was granted the Padmashree, one of India’s highest civilian awards in 2011. In 2008 he was granted an honor-ary professorship at the International University Vienna for his contribu-tion in ‘Strengthening International Relations in the Sphere of Education’. He also won the Amity Academic Excellence Award from Amity Inter-national Business School in 2009, the Fazil Memo-rial Award in 2009 and the Adbi Markaz Kamraz Award in 2010.Prof. Riyaz Punjabi was a visiting Research Fellow on human rights in the Indian Institute of

Advanced Study, Shimla, visiting Professor, Acad-emy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and visiting Research Fellow in the Centre for South Asian Studies, Switzer-land. He was affiliated with research centres at the national level as a Member, Board of Man-agement, Nelson Man-dela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Member, Advisory Board, Centre for Peace and Conflict Management, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, Member, Gov-erning Council of Inter-national Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi. Prof.Punjabi was president, International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi and Honorary Co-direc-tor, European Institute, New Delhi. He was the founding editor of the quarterly Journal of Peace Studies, New Delhi since

1994.Prof.Riyaz Punjabi wrote extensively in the field of Kashmir studies. Through his publications, public lectures and dis-cussions he projected the syncretic culture of Kash-mir Valley. He described the spiritual continuity of different faiths in Kash-mir which culminated in the form of Kashmiriyat in Kashmir. His article ‘Kashmiriyat: The Mystique of an Ethnicity’ published in the India International Centre quarterly in 1990 was translated in several Indian languages and reproduced in several national and international publications.He also authored several articles on Sikh faith. He worked on the spiritual content of Guru Granth Sahib.The Panthers Party held a condolence meeting at Jammu praying for peace to the departed soul in heaven.

Top News Report JAMMU, Apr 9: To aware the masses and promote the traditional culture of J&K, Bhartiya Lok Sangeet Kala Sans-than mounts one week special campaign on Covid-19 in close coordi-nation with Sangam Tru Art Production and pre-sented 56th Friday Dogri Musical Concert “Doo Gaj ki Duri-Mask Hai Zaroori” during quaran-tine time on the theme of “Covid19-Preventions” at Rehersal Hall , Durga Bhawan Janipur, Jammu. The Program was inaugu-rated by the Chief Guest Sh.V.K.Magotra, former Regional Director, Direc-torate of Field Publicity, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Gov-ernment of India. Among the Guest of Honors pres-ent were Sh.J.K.Raina, Free Lancer Producer Director Films, Dr. Tara Singh Charak, Former Deputy Director, Health Department J&K Govern-ment, Dr.Anju Kumari Dogra, Govt. Health Department , Jammu & Sh.R.P.Amla, assisted the Concert. The day com-memorated as well with sole aim of rejuvenating the traditional, Primitive Folk, Art, Culture of J&K Region in particular and Indian nation in general awareness items. The spe-cially items prepared on

the theme “Doo Gaj ki Duri-Mask Hai Zaroori” , “Sabun Se hath Dhona Hai Zaroori”, “ Mask hai zaroori”, “Savd-han Sadhan ” , “Nahin Piya Tobacco Balma” , Nukkad, Skits ,Songs and Dances were presented to aware the masses. The Chief Guest, laid stress on the dangers of the Covid-19 virus primarily spreads when one person breathes in droplets or aerosols that are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes. Physical distancing refers to actions taken to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease. For an individual, it refers to maintaining enough distance (6 feet or more) between yourself and another person to avoid getting infected or infect-ing someone else. School closures, directives to work from home, library closings, and cancel-ling meetings and larger events help enforce

physical distancing at a community level. Slow-ing down the rate and number of new corona virus infections is criti-cal to reduce the risk that large numbers of critically ill patients cannot receive life-saving care. The Chief Guest also disclosed the concerned agencies at Govt. level must come forward with such organizations to curb this menace in J&K -UT which is quite alarm-ing as per newspapers reports appearing fre-quently now- a- days. In addition to the above program the artist of BLSKS also presented songs on “Savdhan Savd-han Corona Mahamari se bacha lo apne Pran”. The song were written by M.L.Dogra. The songs were recorded and upload on social media for gen-eral public. During the campaign BLSk’s will presents 7 programs in R.S.Pura & Bishnah, Blocks of Jammu District.

The songs were recorded and uploaded on social media. Welcome speech was given by Sh.M.L.Dogra, Chairman, Bhartiya Lok Sangeet Kala Sansthan who highlighted the event Clean your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub. Maintain a safe dis-tance from anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Wear a mask when physi-cal distancing is not pos-sible. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Cover your nose and mouth with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention. Sh. J.K.Raina said masks can help prevent the spread of the virus from the person wearing the mask to others. Masks alone do not protect against COVID-19, and should

be combined with physi-cal distancing and hand hygiene. The corona virus spreads mainly from person to person. This can happen between people who are in close contact with one another. Droplets that are pro-duced when an infected person coughs or sneezes may land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be inhaled into their lungs. A person infected with corona virus — even one with no symptoms — may emit aerosols when they talk or breathe. Aerosols are infectious viral parti-cles that can float or drift around in the air for up to three hours. Another person can breathe in these aerosols and become infected with the corona virus. This is why everyone should wear a mask when they go out in public. The singers, musi-cian, actors and students of music institute who participated in the musi-cal concert were Usha Handoo, Rajni Gupta, Sanjeev Kumar Sodhi ,K.K.Joshi, Sudesh Kumari (Pummy),Tilak Raj and many others pre-sented enthralled per-formances. At last of the programe Master Deepak Kumar presented vote of thanks for successful con-duction of the program.

BLSKS mounts one week special campaign on Do Gaj Ki Dori

Navin Choudhary visits Potato Seed Farm GulmargFarm to be extended and promoted

on modern scientific lines

DDC Chairman, Vice Chairman, DC Kupwara administered Covishield vaccine

Atal Dulloo assesses Covid-19 preparationsCalls for increasing rate of

RTPCR tests

Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav: RDD Gbl held Pad Yatra

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Finan-

cial Commissioner Health & Medical Education, Atal Dulloo today chaired a meeting with senior offi-cers of Health Department with regards to Covid-19 management here. The meeting was called to dis-cuss issues like availabil-ity of general and oxygen supported beds in hospi-tals of J&K.

Speaking to the officers, the Financial Commis-sioner said that the capac-ity to conduct RTPCR tests be increased in excess of at least 10 thousand tests. He set a target of immediate functioning of minimum 18 oxygen generation plants in Kashmir divi-

sion and 5 such plants in Jammu

division. He also directed that an officer be deputed to look after availability of these facilities in govern-ment hospitals in both the divisions.

The Financial Commis-sioner assured availability of additional medical staff whenever and wherever required. He also directed Directors of Health from both the divisions to visit designated Covid hospi-tals and ensure availabil-ity of all facilities round the clock. The CMOs were directed to complete

forthwith pending works pertaining to Covid miti-gation.

It was directed by the Financial Commissioner that intensive care teams be deputed at Category 1 dedicated Covid hospi-tals. In addition to these teams the health depart-ment was also directed to ensure availability of ICU beds, ventilators and portable ventilators in the next couple of days. Simi-larly, for Category 2 Covid health centres, round the clock presence of a phy-sician, ECG machine, oxygen cylinders, oxygen manifold and bedside monitors was also man-dated.Regarding Covid Care Centres, the avail-ability of isolation beds, bedding, oxygen concen-trator, BP apparatus, pulse oxymeters, nebulisers, non contact thermometers, PPE kits and hypochlorite solution is to be ensured by the health department.

These facilities are to be given to patients who

lack space for home quar-antine.

Atal Dulloo also sought district wise data about availability of isolation beds, supported beds, ICU beds and ventilators. Further details regarding the number of hospitals in both the divisions and their capacity was also shared by officials with the Financial Commissioner.

Those present at the meeting included MD NHM, Yasin Choudhary; Principal GMC Jammu, Dr Shashi Sudan; Director Health Jammu, Dr Renu Sharma; MD JKMSCL, Dr Yashpal Sharma; Com-mandant Medical CH CRPF Jammu, Dr Dinesh Pithauria; MO CH CRPF Jammu, Dr Anu Gorke, and among others.

Director SKIMS, Sri-nagar, Director Health Services, Kashmir and Principals of various Gov-ernment Medical colleges participated in the meet-ing through video confer-encing.

Top News ReportGANDERBAL, Apr 9: As part of the ‘Azadi

Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ celebrations, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj today held Pad Yatra at Ganderbal and Kangan blocks of the district.

The Pad Yatra was organized by the Rural Development Department Ganderbal in which staff members of the department and local Panchayat members participated.

Amid chanting slogans for social causes like Nasha Mukt Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Communal harmony, unity and integrity of the country and carrying national flag, ban-ners and placards the Pad Yatra went through the lanes and roads of these blocks with strict adherence to precautionary measures against Covid-19.

Assistant Commissioner Development Gan-derbal, Bilal Mukhtar said that to celebrate

the 15th August 2022 (Independence Day) that marks 75 years of freedom of India from the British rule, the Government has pro-

posed several programmes at Block levels under the aegis of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mohat-sav’.

Bhim Singh pays tributes to Prof. Riyaz Punjabi

Top News ReportSRINAGAR, Apr 9: A Mock Drill on flood preparedness was

conducted by NDRF in collaboration with SDRF, DDMA Sri-nagar and JKSEOC in River Jhelum near Zero Bridge here.The mock drill was carried out as part of preparation to combat flood like situation.

The Drill was conducted in presence of Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Srinagar, Dr Syed Hanief Balkhi.On the occasion, all the stakeholders from the concerned depart-ments participated in the smooth conduct of the drill.Speak-ing on the occasion, the ADC said that the aim of the exercise was to check the Disaster preparedness of all the departments and to find the gaps in resources and communication system in the district, besides to spread awareness among the stake-holders and the general public regarding their role.He further said that such mock exercises are very important as it helps in proper coordination, decision-making, prompt response, and other life safety aspects at the time of any incident.During the event, both the response forces, NDRF and SDRF presented various rescue and response techniques utilized to save lives during floods like situation including rescue of drowned persons due to boat capsize, river crossing rope rescue, use of improvised floating aids, deep diving to find the dead etc

Top News ReportGANDERBAL, Apr 9: In a significant Judgment, Judicial

Magistrate Kangan, Kartar Singh today convicted four persons including Nominee of M/S Asian Lakes Health & Foods Limited, Ludhiana with a fine of Rs 6000 and imprisonment till rising of the Court under section 59 of Food Safety & Standards Act (FS&SA) -2006 in case of Food Sample of carbonated water, which was declared unsafe by Central Food Laboratory Kolkata.

Meanwhile, the complaint was filed by Food Safety Offi-cer Kangan, Fayaz Ahmed Bhat on 2 April, 2014 and also represented the department in the Court at Kangan in the instant case.

Mock drill to test flood preparedness held at

Srinagar

JM Kangan convicts four persons under FSSA-2006

11LOCAL Top News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Tarun

Uppal, Chairperson of Nirbhay Bharat Foundation (NBF) today released video devotional song ‘Charni Laya Maiya Ne’ in a func-tion held here.

The album was released under the banner of Nirb-hay Bharat Foundation (NBF). Sanjeev Sharma, Social Activist, was also present on the occasion.

While praising the tal-ented youth of Jammu and Kashmir, Tarun Uppal

said that they have a great hidden talent and all they need is a right track and a platform to showcase their talent. “Young boys and girls of Dogra erstwhile state have a lot of talent and have been excelling in dif-ferent platforms and proved themselves,” he said,

adding that they have also created new platforms for others as well.

Presented by ARJ Produc-tions, the album was sung by Vishal Sharma while the music was composed by Kaith Music (V.Kaith).

The video songs were shot under the direction of Sonu Taneja & Dubey and DOP of A Production & Arman while the Lyrics were writ-ten by Rahul Kumar Nagar Puriya.

Uppal said that these young minds have proved themselves in the singing, acting and entertainment field and have become job providers instead of job seekers. He wished them good luck and a grand suc-cess in future and hoped from them to excel more well in the field.

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: IISF State

President J&k Mr Sadat Doolwal thanked and appre-ciate Govt efforts for releas-ing Abducted CRPF jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas released by Naxals , Dool-wal Said in his Statement that the soldier of the Central Reserve Police Force Rakesh-war Singh Manhas, who was captured by the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh after the April 3 ambush, was released on Thursday. the soldier was taken to the CRPF camp in Bijapur after his release where his medical examina-tion was done. “At around 4.30 pm the abducted jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas returned safely to Terrem police station along with the facilitators who went inside the jungle to trace his location. He has now been admitted to the Basaguda field hospital for medical examination. According to

reports, the state govern-ment had adhered to the Naxal terrorist’s demands and nominated two people, including a person from the tribal community, to nego-tiate with the Maoists and secure the soldier’s release. Sadat Doolwal Said that the CRPF jawan could be brought back because of the timely intervention of Government and a few local journalists, who mediated with the Maoists facilitating Rakeshwar Singh Manhas’s release.

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: Acharya

Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences & Hospi-tal (ASCOMS - HOSPITAL), N.H. By-Pass, Sidhra, Jammu has started a Beneficiary Scheme for the welfare of pregnant woman under the name of “ACHARYA SHRI CHANDER SURAKSHIT MATRITVA YOJNA”. Under this scheme, the Institution

will be providing full medi-cal care to the patients by a Team of Expert Doctors. As a gesture of goodwill, the Management of ASCOMS has decided to launch this scheme on the lines of scheme launched by Govt. of India as “JANANI SURAK-SHA YOJNA”. Under the scheme, the patient regis-tered on 9th of every month will be provided the health facility free of cost. On 9th of

April 2021, the first day of the commencement of scheme, 18 Ante-Natal patients were registered, investigated and treated with instructions of follow up at the Hospi-tal OPD. Attendants of one patient appreciated the efforts of the Hospital Management for providing quality services and the services proposed to be provided to the patients under this scheme for the welfare of women.

Top News ReportSRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agen-

cies): Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range Vijay Kumar Friday said that district SSPs have been directed to brief media men about encounter updates and that the media persons are once again advised not to inch closer to gunfight sites as that poses threat to their lives.

The IGP said that if media persons go closer to the operation sites, the same may disturb the men

involved in anti-militancy operations and the live cov-erages of encounters may trigger law and order situa-tion in other areas. Replying to a query at PCR Srinagar whether injury to the three civilians can be reported by the media, the IGP said: “I reiterate that no live cover-age of encounters will be allowed. A stray bullet can hit any media men if you go closer to the operation site. Covering live encoun-ters can pose threat to the journalists.”

As per news agency—

Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the IGP said that live coverage of encoun-ters can instigate people in other adjoining areas of the operational site and lead to law and order situation.

“I have directed district SSPs to brief media men about encounter updates in their respective areas, whenever there is any encounter,” he said. Perti-nently, KNO was the first to report the police adviso-ry that barred media men from covering live encoun-ters in Kashmir.

Tarun Uppal releases devotional song album ‘Charni Laya Maiya Ne’

Sadat Doolwal appreciate Govt machinery efforts for releasing Rakeshwar Singh from Naxals

ASCOMS starts beneficiary scheme for the welfare of pregnant woman

District SSPs to brief media men about encounters: IGP Kashmir

Top News Report JAMMU, Apr 9: In-charge

All Cells, BJP J&K, Rakesh Mahajan accompanied by Puneet Mahajan Convener Health & Medical Cell, BJP J&K visited Gandhi Nagar Hospital today to take stock of ongoing COVID -19 vac-cination.Rakesh Mahajan interacted with staff on duty at the Hospital besides seek-ing people’s response and suggestions on the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive. The staff was attending the people who had come for vaccination with full dedica-tion and utmost care, Maha-jan said. He said that staff on duty assured to provide the best facilities to those visiting the hospital, especially those who are coming for vaccina-

tion.Mahajan expressed full sat-

isfaction over the progress of the vaccination drive at the hospital.

Later, Rakesh Mahajan also interacted with the persons who had come to the centre for vaccination. He said that he was happy to see the enthusiasm of the people there. Those who got vacci-nated said that they received the vaccine shots quite smoothly which dispelled all their apprehensions having arisen due to some rumours. They said that they would further make the people in their vicinity and in their contact aware about the necessity of taking the vac-cine dose without any fret or fear.Mahajan said that over all the people at the hospital

were quite satisfied with the arrangements for vaccination there and they wholeheart-edly appreciated the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the fight against COVID-19 not only in India but globally too.

Mahajan said, “BJP is work-ing 24X7 to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccination drive gets paced up so that the life of the people becomes safe and secure amid the second Covid wave. We have fanned out our party activists and workers in all directions across the Union Territory to make the people aware not only about the SOPs to be fol-lowed quite strictly but also educating them about the dire need to get them vac-cinated.” He further added that the party cadre at the grass-roots level has been directed to work dedicat-edly like NGOs besides edu-cating the people about the necessity of taking precau-tions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing even after receiving COVID-10 vaccine shots.

He said we are quite confi-dent and sure that under the leadership of PM Modi the nation will soon defeat the

Top News ReportSRINAGAR, Apr 9: “It is

a great honour for me that the traders Re-elected me as their president. I will work for the develop-ment of traders as I have worked in the past on same post” Ajaz Ahmad sofi told that after he was elected PTF Handwara.

The day long elections of traders federation of handwara was held with fervour, under the chair-man election board Gh Rasool Wani and vice Chairman Ab Rashid Malik. The voting was held from 8 am to 02:00 pm.

Two candidates had filed their nomination papers including former presi-dent Ajaz Ahmad Sofi and Mansoor Ahmad Bhat.

Ajaz Ahmad sofi was declared winner with 606 votes, won by 140 votes.

The newly president assured the people asso-ciated with trade and busi-ness that he will work tire-lessly to solve the different problems faced by them.

A number of people including political and non political organisa-tions, Journalists, civil society members con-

gratulated Ajaz Ahmad Sofi and for becoming the president and General Secretary respectively of the federation.

Top News Report BY ABID PAMPORI

DODA, Apr 9: Depart-ment of Environmental Sci-ences and Department o f Botany, Govt. Degree College Bhadarwah orga-nized one day Plantation Drive cum Workshop in collaboration with Forest Department, Bhadarwah on the theme “Forest Restoration: A path to recovery and well being”. The event was organized under the visionary guid-ance of Principal of the col-lege Dr. Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, Head Department of Botany, Prof. Davinder Kumar and Head Depart-ment of Environmental Sciences, Prof. Anuradha Sharma whereas DFO Bha-darwah Sh. Chander Shek-har was the chief guest on this occasion. The pro-gramme started off with sowing of seed balls of Cedrus, Pinus and other species in the degraded slopy hills of nearby Rainda Village, Bhadar-wah followed by plant-ing of saplings of Cedrus and Pinus species in the college premises by DFO Bhadarwah, DySp Bha-darwah (Sh Meer Gufoor), Principal, Staff members and students of the col-

lege. The cadets of NCC and NSS, GDC Bhadar-wah also actively partici-pated in the programme. Formally, the event was inaugurated by lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the dignitaries. The whole event was organised to commemorate 75th year of Independence- Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.

On this occasion a formal welcome address was pre-sented by Principal of the college Dr. K. K. Sharma and during his address he focused on the role of for-ests in environment pro-tection. He also asserted that such events in educa-

tional institutions will go a long way in sensitizing the masses as students are the best ambassadors to spread awareness messag-es in the society. On this occasion a symposium and a poster making competi-tion were also held on the same theme in which large number of college students actively participated. Prof. B.P Singh, Dr. Wahied K Balwan and Prof. Sandesh Kumar were the mem-bers of jury. Based on the judgement of jury, Hasee-na Banoo, Mushied Hus-sain and Divya Rathore all students of UG Semester Vth were adjudged as 1st,

2nd and 3rd respectively in poster making compe-tition. During his address on this occasion DFO Bhaderwah, Sh. Chander Shekhar dealt at length on the importance of forests in purification of envi-ronment and its role in survival of living organ-isms. He emphasized for planting more and more trees to make the environ-ment clean and green and a better place to live.

Prominent among others who were present on this occasion include Prof. N.K Manhas, Prof. Sanjay Katal, Prof Prithvi Raj, Prof. Pinki Kotwal, Prof. Arjun Kotwal, Prof. Vijay Kumar, Prof. Ash-wani Kumar, Prof. Man-jeet Charak, Prof Ankush Kumar, Prof. Riyaz Ahmed, Prof. Irshad Wani, Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Prof. Shahbaz Ahmed, Prof. Nazar-ul-Islam, Prof Asma Pervez, Dr Sangeeta Kumari and Dr Shahroora.

The formal vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Sandeep Kotwal of Department of Botany whereas Dr. Anu Sharma of Department of Envi-ronmental Sciences con-ducted proceedings of the programme.

Top News ReportSRINAGAR, Apr 9 (Agencies):

General officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar based 15 Corps Lieutenant General D P Pandey said that the army is working on a two-pronged strategy in Kash-mir—to prevent the local militant recruitment and to squeeze the OGW and social media network used for radicalization of youth. He, however, said that anyone who picks up arms will be dealt strictly—local militants will be offered surrender if they refuse, they will be killed.

GoC 15 corps was addressing his maiden presser at Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar along IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar and GoC Victor Force Rashim Bali about two encounters—Shopian and Tral, Pulwama in which seven militants including the Ansar Gazwatul Hind (AGH) chief were killed.

As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), GoC 15 Corps said that the army is work-ing on a two-pronged strategy which entails preventing the local militant recruitment and to block the OGW and social media net-work which is used for radicaliza-tion of youth in the Valley.

“This is my first media interac-tion and I can feel that there is a new change and new energy. One and all want J&K to be a peace-ful region. While rest of Kashmir

is peaceful, South Kashmir and some parts of Central Kashmir are witnessing cycle of violence,”GoC Pandey said. “Our efforts are on to address the situation. We need cooperation from the general public. Our youth are being radi-calized and people must help us in stopping the trend.”

He asserted that some parents whose youth have joined mili-tancy have approached army and requested it to “get their children back and rehabilitate them even if they need to be lodged in jails.”

Asked whether local militancy graph was high this year, the GoC said that the local militant recruit-ment is very less this year so far compared to previous years.

Briefing the media about two separate gunfights, IGP Kashmir said that in two encounter—one at Jan Mohalla, Shopian and anoth-er at Nowbugh, Tral in Pulwama district, seven militants including AGH chief Imtiyaz Shah, who was active since April 2019, was killed.

“In Shopian operation we had to be very patient. We followed all SoPs. We allowed the Moulvi of the local masjid in which militants were hiding, to persuade militants to surrender twice in the night. We also brought brother of a militant. His request for surrender was also turned down. We brought parents of militants in the morning, but militants refused to surrender,” the IGP said, adding that in Shop-ian gunfight no IED, no explosive

and grenades were used. “We used tear smoke shells. In the ensuing gunfight, five militants were killed—two from Hizbul Muajhideen, one from LeT and two from AGH. All were catego-rized militants.”

He said that two militants including the AGH chief Imtiyaz Shah had fled from the Shopian encounter site during the initial cordon after throwing grenades. “We developed the lead and found that duo had fled to Now-bugh area of Tral. Today, early morning a cordon was launched in an open area where Imtiyaz along with his aide were killed,” he said. From of the seven slain militants, the IGP said seven AK-riffles and two pistols were recovered. He said that in Shopian operation sanctity of the masjid was main-tained and the place of worship suffered very minimum damage.

The IGP identified the slain militants of Shopian as Muzamil Tantry who had joined militancy in August 2019, Adil Lone who picked up arms in July 2019, Youn-ish Ahmed Khanday, who joined militancy in November last year and Basit Bhat who picked up gun in June last year. He said the fifth militant has not been identified yet. Similarly, the IGP said one of the slain militants of Tral gunfight was identified as Imtiyaz Shah, the chief of AGH, who was active since April 2019, and was tasked to target Amarnath Yatra in Tral

area. The identity of Imtiyaz’s aide is being ascertained.

Speaking on the occasion, GoC Victor Force Rashim Bali said that in Shopian operation sanctity of the masjid was maintained and only automatic fire and small grenades were used to kill mili-tants hiding inside. “Every effort to make the militants surrender failed,” he said, adding that the army men on ground are being strictly directed to respect the local sentiment and to ensure min-imum collateral damage during anti-militancy operations.

To a query whether any civilian was injured in Shopian encounter, the IGP said: “During the initial exchange some miscreants tried to disrupt the operations after which police used minimum force to dis-perse them.

Three civilians sustained injuries and all are stable.”

Replying to a query how many soldiers sustained injuries in Shopian operation, GoC 15 Corps said that four soldiers including an officer were injured during the operation and all are stable. On whether militants are plan-ning to target Amarnath Yatra, the GoC said that it won’t be for the first time that militants may be planning to target the pilgrim-age. “Militants are always looking for soft targets. We will ensure all measures are taken to see a peace-ful pilgrimage of Amarnath this year,” the GoC said.

Chhari Yatra to Commence from April 10

Ajaz Ahmad Sofi re-elected president of traders federation Handwara

GDC Bhadarwah organized One Day Plantation Drive cum Workshop

Working on two-pronged strategy in Kashmir: GoC 15 Corps D P Pandey

Top News ReportJAMMU, Apr 9: 27th

Chhari Yatra is commenc-ing on 10th of April 2021 from Shri Ranvireshwar Mandir, Prade Ground Jammu where Poojan of Holy Maces will be per-formed and thereafter at about 7.30 A.M. Yatra will proceed for Rag-hunath Mandir where Pooja will be performed and then wholly Maces will reach Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu at about 9.A.M.clock Where the Pooja of The Holy Maces will be performed. Thereafter the Chhari Yatra will proceed to Purmandal via Mahadev Mandir,Shiv Mandir Tri-kuta Nagar, Shiv Mandir Greater Kalaish,Data Ranpat Dev Mandir Birpur.

As such you are requested to depute your Reporter/Photographer at Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir , Gandhi Nagar by 9.A.M.

Rakesh takes stock of COVID-19 vaccination at Gandhi Nagar Hospital‘Nation will soon defeat Corona pandemic’

Top News of J&K Jammu, Monday, August 24, 2020 Top News of J&K Jammu, Monday, August 24, 2020

12 LOCAL / ADVT Top News of J&KJammu, Friday, April 09, 2021

Edited, Printed, Published and Owned by: Rajiv Mahajan, Office : 17- New Rehari Jammu, Published from 17- New Rehari Jammu, and Printed from Jansampark Printing Press situated at Bye Pass Sidhara Jammu on behalf of Rajiv Mahajan. Senior Editor : M. K Bangroo, Executive Editor : Anita Gupta, Special Correspondent : Sanjeev Sharma,

Photo Journalist: Aman Sharma (9906198186), Head Office Jammu. Mobile No : (9906300707, 9086072548), Fax No: 0191-2561688. e-mail: topnewsjk@gmail.com, editortopnewsjk@gmail.com

(All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Jammu City).

For Advertisement in Top News of J&K

Newspaper

Please Contact: 9086072548, 9906300707Email: advt.topnews@gmail.com

REQUIREDRequired Driver for Load

Carrier (Auto)Contact: Vikas GuptaM/S GANPARTI ENTERPRISES

MOBILE NO: 9872317860

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: In order to commemorate the victory of our brave hearts in the unforgettable military confrontation of the India - Pakistan War of 1971, the entire country is celebrating ‘Vijay Varsh’ with great enthusiasm and fervour.

NCC cadets from 2 J&K Girls Battalion NCC are participat-ing from different regions, and are welcoming the ‘Victory Flame’ in honour of our valiant soldiers remembering them for their great sacrifice, unmatched courage and selfless devotion towards the nation.

NCC Cadets of 2 J&K Girls Battalion NCC today laid wreath at 2/ Lt Arun Khetrapal War Memorial along with local troops and remembered gallant heroes of the nation.

It is by virtue of such events that a strong sense of patrio-tism, respect and reverence towards our motherland is being instilled among our young cadets who will further encourage them to stay united and work together for upliftment of the country.

Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrated by NCC cadets

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: To bring the awareness regarding Organ Donation among people State Organ and Tissue Transplant Orga-nization (SOTTO) J&K in collaboration with Depart-ment of Applied Art, Insti-tute of Music and Fine Arts, University of Jammu organised a poster making activity on the topic ‘”Donate Organs and Saves lives” on Friday.

During the activity 25 students from the depart-ment participated and gave a beautiful message

of saving lives by donating organs by their creativity.

They also pledge to donate their organs after death and motivated other also.

Dr. Shohab Malik, Prin-cipal IMFA, lauded the efforts of government to start such initiative. He said that NO GIFT IS BIGGER THAN THE GIFT OF LIFE.

Rakesh Sharma, HOD, Department of Applied Arts said that we can help a generation by organ donation and it is a noble cause to save someone’s life and bring happiness

in their life. He said that our department is always ahead to bring social awareness among masses.

Prof. Dr. Amarjeet Singh said that we are happy to be a part of such an great initiative of Government of India. He motivated other to donate organs. So that someone can live a life of happiness.

Vaneeka Gupta, fac-ulty member, Ms. Anshu Sharma, Consultant Media/IEC (SOTTO J &k) and Irfan lone, transplant coordinator, (SOTTO J&k) were present during the occassion.

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Rakesh-war Singh Minhas, who belongs to the 210th CoBRA battalion, went missing after the gunfight that started after a joint team of CRPF and Chhat-tisgarh Police’s DRG and STF personnel reached the spot following the tip-off regarding the presence of wanted Maoist Madvi Hidma and his associates. Hidma reportedly heads the Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion no 1.

The workers of DOGRA

FRONT & SHIV SENA under the leadership of President ASHOK GUPTA took out a massive cel-ebration rally in Jammu city upon the return of the Jammu brave-heart Rakeshwar Singh Jamwal from the hostage of Mao-ists. The people of Jammu are very happy the son of the soil has been released by the Maoist’s captivity.

Gupta said that all thanks to PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the safe release of Rakeshwar Singh Manhas.

This is a happy moment for people of Jammu .We

remained hopeful of his return and want to thank the central government.

Gupta further stated that after the release of our Jawan it is now time to take the the revenge for the mar-tyrdom of our brave hearts. Surgical strike like attack should be launched on the Maoists and kill all those who were responsible for the attack who killed our CRPF Jawans. The party workers who were present at the time of celebration were Abhishek, Prem, Brij, Ashish, Manu, Naresh, Khandu and various others were present

Top News Report

KISHTWAR, Apr 9: In a shocking development undermining the basic fundamental rights of people, IkkJutt Jammu team led by it’s Presi-dent Ankur Sharma was briefly detained at Thathri enroute towards District Kishtwar. This has hap-pened second time in span of four months that Ankur Sharma has been censured from visiting Kishtwar. Earlier during DDC elec-tions, his campaign trail was halted by the Kisht-war district administra-tion on the pretext of situ-ation not conducive.

Pertinent to mention, all parties of J&K were allowed to campaign in Kishtwar including separatists aligned par-ties of Kashmir but it was only IkkJutt Jammu whose campaign trail was derailed. Today while on the way to pay tributes to Sh. Chandrakant Ji as well the Parihar Brothers who fell in the line of their social duty, Ankur Sharma along with his Executive Team while reaching Tha-thri faced a battalion level force to block their visit towards Kishtwar.

This after prior permis-sion for a personal visit and not a political rally

was obtained in advance from the Kishtwar admin-istration.

All day long Kishtwar administration played cat & mouse while taking instructions from their political masters, in the process totally oblivious of their core job, that is to take care of fundamental rights of the people.

IkkJutt Jammu’s sudden rise on the political map of Jammu & Kashmir perhaps is the reason for these knee jerk reactions of the Kishtwar adminis-tration in particular and UT administration headed by L-G Sh. Manoj Sinha in general.

Top News Report

SRINAGAR, Apr 9: The Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar Friday organized a webinar on ‘Pursuing Quantum Career in the Age of Neural Networks’.

The virtual session was presided over by Director NIT Srinagar Prof. Rakesh Sehgal. While Registrar NIT Srinagar Prof Kaiser Bukhari, HOD Physics Dr. Prince A . Ganai, faculty members, and students of the department also attended the session.

The session was hosted by Dr. Rukhsan ul Haq, Quantum AI Scientist at IBM, and shared his vast experience with the stu-dents.

Prof. Sehgal said Quantum physics has vast opportunities and our students should be aware of these things and which are very helpful.

“Such sessions are playing an important role and students should know about pur-suing Quantum career in the age of neural networks. There are several specializations in this field which can lead to a career in quantum computing “he said.

Sehgal said NIT Srinagar will host such webinars and seminars for research schol-ars and students in the future also. Our institution will extend every possible sup-port for such initiatives, he said.

Registrar NIT, Kaiser Bukhari also appre-ciated the Physics department for conduct-ing webinars on relevant themes. He said these sessions are need of the hour and very helpful for opting a career in Quan-tum technologies.

On the occasion, HOD Physics Dr. Prince A. Ganai said welcomed the guest Dr. Rukhsan ul Haq and stated that both faculty members and students were inter-ested in the discussed topic.

Ganai said Dr. Haq is among brightest students from the Valley. I have met him several times and he has been always won-derful for his understanding and thoughts.

Dr. Haq is a quantum Artificial Intelli-gence Scientist at IBM, former series fore-casting and Analyst at Johnson and John-son. He is also the founder of the Kashmir Institute of Mathematical Sciences (KIMS).

While interacting virtually with stu-dents, Dr. Haq shared his vast experience in Quantum physics with the students and urged them to work hard to make a career in the developing field.

During the session, Dr. M.A. Shah said NIT Srinagar should take lead in going to the data center and then to artificial intelligence. He urged Dr. Haq to visit the campus and identify the students whom department can send for training in the future..

The concluding remarks were presented by Dr. Seemin Rubab and she thanked the speaker for his wonderful session.

“It was a very interactive session as there were plenty of questions asked by students during the online session,” Dr. Rubab said.

Apart from faculty, the webinar saw good participation from 50-60 students and research scholars from the Physics department.

Top News Report

KATRA, Apr 9: The School of Business, SMVD University, organized the 12th National Training Program (in Virtual Mode) on ‘Enhancing Managerial Effectiveness’ for Indian Forest Service Officers with the financial support from the Ministry of Environ-ment, Forests and Climate Change, GoI.

Chief Guest, Padam Shri Prof.Ravindra K. Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, discussed regarding the role of Indian Forest Offi-cers and scientific commu-nity in forest wildlife and climate change.

He said that preserva-tion of forests is the ulti-mate solution to preserve the ecosystem so that the human race does not become extinct. He wished the officers a happy and productive learning in this celebrated training program. Mr. Ramesh

Kumar, CEO, SMVDSB, Guest of Honour of the inaugural function, dis-cussed various initiatives taken by SMVDSB and described the functioning of SMVDSB to all the par-ticipating officers.

At the outset, Dr.Saurabh, Head, School of Business, SMVDU, welcomed all officers to the university. Dr.Supran Kumar Sharma, Dean, Faculty of Man-agement, elaborated the advantages of training pro-grams with respect to dis-semination of experience and inculcation of skills.

Dr. Jyoti Sharma, Program Coordinator, emphasized that the strategy of deliver-ing the results better than the competitors. The IFS officers from different parts of the country, including Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Maha-rashtra, Andaman and Nicobar etc. participated in this grand training pro-gram.Dr. AshutoshVash-ishth, Associate Professor and Member, Organiz-ing Committee, offered a formal vote of thanks to all.

IMFA organised organ donation awareness camp

Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Former Minister & President DCC Kathua Dr Manohar Lal Sharma while addressing public meeting at village Badoli panchayat , Kandi belt of Billawar assembly today cornered the central government on issues like unemployment , farmers’ protest, and fuel price and said that it is time for the Prime Minister to listen to “Deshkibaat” instead of saying his MaankiBaat on radio.Dr Sharma further criticized the NDA gov-ernment for not being able to find a solution to the issues of the farmers. “The PM and all of theCabinet ministers are busy cam-paigning in poll-bound states. But they don’t have the time to address the grievances of the farm-ers which are camping in Delhi.

He said that the BJP-led central government has failed to create job oppor-tunities despite promising in its manifesto to create two crore jobs. The Modi government has enacted policies that destroyed India’s economic struc-ture. The unemployment is bound to rise further due to the mismanage-ment of the economy and lockdown. The Center has cheated youths, farm-ers, soldiers and every common man of this nation.The entire nation saw laborers walking on foot, farmers on roads against agri laws, unem-

ployed youth demand-ing jobs, rising prices of petrol-diesel-LPG, budget cut for education, soldiers dying in vain at borders but this government inits arrogance has failed to do anything.In last he said It is demanded that the Modi Government wakes up and takes necessary measures to arrest the continuous down slide by addressing these issues. Also pres-ent on the occasion were Devinder Singh Bindu, Hira Lal Abrol, Kulb-hushan Kumar,Rajinder singh, Surinder Singh, KaramchandKhajuria ,Rashpal singh, Kamal Singh, Dalbir sethi, Swarn singh, Chamail singh and others.

Manohar slams NDA Govt over unemployment, farmers’ protest

National Level Management Training Program for IFS Officers Conducted at SMVDU

IkkJutt Jammu team blocks visiting Kishtwar

DFSS takes out celebration rally Top News Report

JAMMU, Apr 9: Crime Branch Jammu registered a criminal case under relevant sections of law against a Noida Based Company - Garvit Innovative promoters Limited (Bike Boat) with its Head office at GautamBudh Nagar, Noida UP, managed by CMD Sanjay Bhatti and other Direc-tors, for their involvement in luring and duping innocent citizens in general and the complainant in particular of their hard earned money by inviting investments in the company in Bikes on the promise and assurance of good returns but duping the complainant of his hard earned money.

A written complaint was received in Crime Branch, Jammu by Suresh Kumar Bhat S/O Late LambodarBhat R/O H.No.308, Sector-3 Ext. VasantVihar, Triku-ta Nagar Jammu and his wife ChetnaBhat, allegingtherein that he along with other investors have been cheated by the above mentioned company by way of floating an attractive scheme of investing Rs 62100 for one bike and multiples of the amount and

in return the company would provide Rs 5175 EMI for one year and Rs 4590 as rent of the bike monthly which was used by the company for one year on which he entered into a formal agreement with the company as investor for one year. He joined in the month of July 2018 with the assurance that they would receive the amount as per company scheme and the complain-ant invested for 7 bikes in the name of his wife ChetnaRainaBhat and three bikes in his personal name in the month of July 2018 and later in the month of October 2018 invested for 51 bikes in the name of his wife ChetnaBhatwith gross amount of Rs 37, 88,100. In the month of December 2018 the Company dishonoured its com-mitment and stopped making payments. On this the complainant personally met Sanjay Bhatti CMD of the company who assured to resolve the matter but did noth-ing in regard. Later the complainant came to know that the said company through its CMD and the directors had planned and cheated many other people also in the same way as they have been cheated.

On receipt of the complaint, a preliminary verification was initiated and during the course of enquiryit was found that the com-plainants have transferred money into the account of CMD Sanjay Bhati and others Directors of Garvit Innovative Promoters Ltd. GautamBudh Nagar Noida UP. They have allured the complainant and others to invest money with attractive plans of good returns but did not fulfil their prom-ise by committing criminal breach of trust. The CMD Sanjay Bhati and the Directors of the company have cheated and misap-propriated the money of the complainant. They have intentionally, deliberately and dishonestly deceived the complainants of their hard earned money. The omissions and commissions, on the part ofSanjay Bhati and other Directors of Garvit Inno-vative Promoters Ltd. GautamBudh Nagar Noida, UP prima facie constitute offences punishable U/S 420, 406/ RPC. Accord-ingly, a formal case is registered in P/S Crime Branch, Jammu against the above mentioned accused person for in-depth investigation.

CB Jammu books Noida based Company

‘Our institution will extend every possible support for such initiatives: Dir NIT

NIT Srinagar hosts webinar on pursuing Quantum career in age of neural networks