PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s letter to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan was a step in the right direction, and expressed hope that it would lead to a process of dialogue and reconciliation.
PM Modi reaching out to his Pakistani counterpart is a step in the right direction. As Vajpayee ji famously said, one can change his friends but not neighbours. I hope this leads to a process of dialogue & reconciliation. Kashmir needs healing, she said on Twitter.
Modi had on Tuesday written to Khan to extend greetings to the people of that country on the occasion of Pakistan Day.
“As a neighbouring country, India desires cordial relations with the people of Pakistan. For this, an environment of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is imperative,” he said in the letter. PTI
‘Mar 25 special day for J&K, over 25 lakh flowers with 64 varieties to bloom in garden’
SNS KASHMIR
SRINAGAR MARCH 24 :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed people to visit Jammu and Kashmir and visit the Asia’s largest Tulip garden, which will be thrown open tomorrow.
In his tweets, Modi said that March 25 is special for Jammu and Kashmir as the Tulip garden will be thrown open. He said over 15 lakh tulip flowers of more than 64 varieties will bloom in the garden.
”Tomorrow, 25th March is special for Jammu and Kashmir. A majestic tulip garden on the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains will open for visitors. The Garden will see over 15 lakh flowers of more than 64 varieties in bloom,” Modi tweeted.
Modi also asked people to visit Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the.people who visit J&K will experience warm.hospitality of people in the Union Territory.
”Whenever you get the opportunity, do visit Jammu and Kashmir and witness the scenic Tulip festival. In addition to the tulips, you will experience the warm hospitality of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he tweeted—(KNO)
Superstar Aamir Khan has tested positive for coronavirus and is currently under home quarantine, the actor’s spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The 56-year-old actor is doing “fine” and has asked those who came in contact with him to also get tested.
“Mr Aamir Khan has tested positive for COVID-19. He is at home in self-quarantine, following all the protocols and he’s doing fine.
“All those who came in contact with him in the recent past should get themselves tested as a precautionary measure. Thank you for all your wishes and concern,” the statement from the spokesperson read.
Khan will be next seen on-screen in his upcoming “Laal Singh Chaddha”, scheduled to release in December this year.
On Tuesday, Mumbai recorded 3,512 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 3,69,426. (PTI)
Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti knew arrested Hizbul Mujahideen militant Naveed Babu and had also spoken to him once, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed in a chargesheet filed in connection with the case related to arrested former J&K DSP Davinder Singh.
This is for the first time that name of Mufti has come up in any of the cases being probed by the NIA in Jammu and Kashmir.
An NIA official related to the probe told IANS, “The name of the former Chief Minister has emerged in the case related to arrested DSP Davinder Singh and HM militant Naveed Babu.”
The NIA has filed a supplementary chargesheet against three persons, including arrested Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth wing chief Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, who allegedly worked as a financier for Hizbul Mujahideen in connection with the case.
The official said that Mufti knew Hizbul militant Naveed Babu and had even spoken to him once. However, the official refused to share more details.
The NIA in its supplementary chargesheet has claimed that Parra was part of the “conspiracy” to raise and transfer militancy funds to Hizbul Mujahideen militants for the procurement of terrorist hardware and was also a crucial player in sustaining the political-separatist-militant nexus in J&K.
Parra was instrumental in the revival of the PDP in south Kashmir, especially in the militancy-affected Pulwama district.
Besides Parra, the NIA has also named two gun runners — Shaheen Ahmad Lone and Tafazul Hussain Parimoo — in connection with the case.
Suspended police officer Singh is currently lodged in Kathua jail at Hiranagar in Jammu division. He was arrested by the police on January 11 last year from the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway while transporting two Hizabul militants — Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmad Rather — and a law school dropout, Irfan Shafi Mir, to Jammu.
After the arrest of Singh, initial investigations were done by the J&K Police before the case was handed over to the NIA. The police had said that the two militants and the lawyer had planned to travel to Pakistan.
The NIA had earlier claimed that its probe has revealed that the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Hizabul and Pakistan to commit violent acts and wage war against India.
Mufti had recently skipped an Enforcement Directorate (ED) summon for questioning in connection with a money laundering probe.—(IANS)
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday declared the results of civil services (main) examination 2020. Personality Tests (interviews) of the successful candidates will be commenced shortly, which will be held in the office of the UPSC at Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi, it said.
The civil services examination is held annually in three stages – preliminary, main and interview – to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
The candidates will be required to produce original certificates in support of their claims pertaining to age, educational qualifications, community, economically weaker section, person with benchmark disability (PwBD) and other documents at the time of their personality test (interview), said the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
“They are, therefore, advised to keep the said documents ready with them. The e-summon letters of personality tests (interviews) of the candidates will be made available shortly, which may be downloaded from the commission’s website http://www.upsc.gov.in & http://www.upsconline.in,” it said.
No paper summon letters will be issued for the personality tests (interviews) by the commission, it said.
“No request for change in the date and time of the personality test (interview) intimated to the candidates will ordinarily be entertained,” the statement said.
Not a single individual died in law and order situation, no person under house arrest
SNS KASHMIR
SRINAGAR, MARCH 23 :
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Tuesday informed that 59 civilians have died in the militancy incidents post abrogation of Article 370 while not a single individual have died in law and order situation. The ministry also said that no person is under house arrest.
The Information was shared by the Minister of State (MoS) Home Affairs, GK Reddy in the Rajya Sabha in response to the questions including the number of people who have died/been injured/ under house arrest after the abrogation of Article 370, district wise.
In a written reply filed by MoS Home GK Reddy in the Lok Sabha, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that a total of 59 people were killed in the military-related incidents, and 168 received injuries while no individual was killed during law and order incidents while 53 people received injuries.
The MoS in a district-wise break-up of the people killed and injured in militancy-related incidents, said that nine people were killed and 69 received injured in Srinagar, in Budgam two people were killed and four injured, In Baramulla, three people were killed and 43 received injuries, in Kupwara one person was killed and one injured, In Bandipora three people got killed and no while no individual was injured, in Anantnag six people were killed and 22 received injuries, in Pulwama 12 people were killed and 24 injured, In Kulgam 15 people were killed and three injured and in Shopian eight people were killed and two received injuries.
The MHA said that Sopore, Handwara, Ganderbal, and Awantipora are the four districts in Kashmir valley with no killing and injuries in the militancy-related incidents post the Abrogation of Article 370.
About the district wise figures of civilian injuries and killings during law and order incidents, the MoS said that 29 people were injured in Awantipora followed by nine in Srinagar, four each in Pulwama, and in Baramulla, 3 in Kupwara, one each in Budgam, Handwara, and in Anantnag.
The MoS also said that “as reported by Government of J&K, no person is under house arrest. However, post 5th August 2019, certain persons were taken into preventive custody to prevent the commission of offences involving breach of peace and tranquility, activities prejudicial to the security of the state, and maintenance of public order.”—(KNO)
Two more die of pandemic toll reaches 1,983; Active cases increase to 1410; recovery rate decreases to 97.36 per cent
SNS KASHMIR.
SRINAGAR, MARCH 23 :
The Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir continue to rise as 157 fresh positive cases were reported on Tuesday pushing the number of active cases near 1,410 which otherwise were less than 600 a few weeks before.
Two more deaths were reported in last 24 hours, taking death toll to 1,983, however, active cases continues to increase and recovery rate decreases with each passing day. 157 fresh positive cases were reported on Tuesday taking the tally of positive cases to 128,836.
Of the exact number of 128,836 cases, 76,381 are from Kashmir and 52,455 from Jammu division. Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that among 157 new cases, 105 belong to Kashmir division while as 52 are from Jammu division, adding that the total number of positive cases in Kashmir division have reached to 76,381 including 74,051 recoveries and 1,251 deaths while as total number of positive cases in Jammu division have reached to 52,455 including 51,392 recoveries and 732 deaths.
The officials said that the total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 1,410 including 1,079 from Kashmir division and 331 from Jammu division.
With 81 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached to 125,443 which is 97.36 percent of the total cases.
“Cases tested positive in J&K include 56 from Srinagar, 23 from Baramulla, 14 from Budgam, 03 from Pulwama, 03 from Kupwara, 03 from Anantnag, 01 from Bandipora, 00 from Ganderbal, 02 from Kulgam and 00 from Shopian in Kashmir division while as 52 from Jammu division include 39 from Jammu, 01 from Udhampur, 02 from Rajouri, 00 from Doda, 05 from Kathua, 02 from Samba, 00 from Kishtwar, 00 from Poonch, 00 from Ramban and 01 from Reasi,” officials disclosed.
As per officials figures, 28,173 positive cases including 467 deaths and 27,005 recoveries are from Srinagar, 8,524 including 178 deaths and 8,216 recoveries are from Baramulla, 8,060 including 7,844 recoveries and 120 deaths are from Budgam, 5,936 including 5,804 recoveries and 92 deaths are from Pulwama, 5,739 including 97 deaths and 5,620 recoveries are from Kupwara, 5,114 including 5,006 recoveries and 94 deaths are from Anantnag, 4,737 cases including 4,660 and 62 deaths are from Bandipora, 4,696 including 4,635 recoveries and 47 deaths are from Ganderbal, 2,764 including 2,690 recoveries and 54 deaths are from Kulgam and 2,638 including 2,571 recoveries and 40 deaths are from Shopian.
In Jammu division, 25,585 including 24,944 recoveries and 379 deaths are from Jammu district, 4,335 including 4,266 recoveries and 57 deaths are from Udhampur, 3,886 including 3,823 recoveries and 55 deaths are from Rajouri, 3,449 including 3,376 recoveries and 64 deaths are from Doda, 3,281 including 3,218 recoveries and 53 deaths are from Kathua, 2,848 including 2,800 recoveries and 41 deaths are from Samba, 2,739 including 2,717 recoveries and 22 deaths are from Kishtwar, 2,535 including 2,499 recoveries and 24 deaths are from Poonch, 2,138 including 2,115 recoveries and 21 deaths are from Ramban and 1,658 including 1,634 recoveries and 16 deaths are from Reasi.
As per the daily information bulletin 1,447,291 persons in Jammu and Kashmir are under observation while 29,110 persons have been kept under home quarantine besides that 1,410 persons are in isolation.
According to the bulletin, 1,290,049 persons have completed surveillance period and 124,739 persons are under home surveillance besides that so far results of 5,800,849 samples are available. Out of 5,800,849 the number of samples tested negative stands at 5,672,013 while as 128,836 have tested positive, among them 1,410 persons are active, 125,443 persons have recovered and 1,983 persons have died—(KNO)
Hamadan is capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran not ‘Turkistan’, rebukes Dr. Rafiq Masoodi
Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla: A case of distortion of historical facts and wrong information being disseminated to students has surfaced in St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla as an Urdu text book of class 4th titled ‘Jadeed Kaleed-e-Urdu’ reads that revered saint Amir-e-Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born in Hamdaan city of ‘Turkistan’ which is incorrect as Hamadan is capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran not ‘Turkistan’.
Former Secretary J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages and former Director Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar Rafiq Ahmed Masoodi talking to SNS Kashmir that he was shocked to see that a Urdu text book being taught to students in St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla reads that revered saint and founder of Islam in Kashmir -e-Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born in Hamdaan city of ‘Turkistan’ while as Hamdan is in Iran.
“What teachers were teaching and what parents were feeding their wards? Is there nobody to check the content of the text books of private schools,” asked Masoodi.
A book seller in Baramulla said that termed the selection and prescription of text books by private schools a ‘Mafia’ as there is deal between publishers from Delhi and private school managements.
“Publishers from Delhi grease palms of the schools heads with hands booty for selection of text books published by them. There is no content check and parents consent in selection of books, it just a money game and parents have to bear the brunt,” he said.
A noted writer and Islamic scholar Salik Bilal rued the distortion of historical facts in the Urdu text and wrong information about the noted Islamic preacher who has brought Islam to Kashmir.
‘ We want content check of text books of private schools like there is board in JKBOSE for content compiling and scrutiny,” he added
“Amir-e- Kabir Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) the saint and his saintly works are integral to ‘K’ narrative of more or less 750 years –mid 14th century onwards. Study of Kashmir from any perspective—historical, socio-cultural, economic would be incomplete without reference to the much revered Amir-e-Kabir. His work and deft approach impacted all aspects of human activity in Kashmir. Irrespective of his ethnicity, his footprints could be seen from Hamadan, across Central Asia—where he lies buried in Khatlan to Kashmir. In Kashmir, his name is associated with a change, which was nothing short of a renaissance,” writes a widely read senior columnist Dr. Javid Iqbal.
Repeated attempts to contact Principal St. Joseph High Secondary School Baramulla bore no fruits as he didn’t pick up the repeated calls from this correspondent.
1709 Grievances out of 1851 Grievances Redressed in Time Bound Manner
SNS KASHMIR
BARAMULLA MARCH 23:
Deputy Commissioner Baramulla Bhupinder Kumar today chaired a meeting of concerned officers in order to take stock of current status and position of public grievances that have been received by virtue of Lieutenant Governor’s specially established online grievance redressel portal.
ADDC Baramulla Aijaz Abdullah Saraf, JDP,ADC Sopore, SDMs, heads of various departments, district and sectoral officers among other concerned functionaries attended the meeting.
On the occasion, a comprehensive discussion on the subject was held wherein it was informed that about 1851 online grievances pertaining to various departments were registered among which 1709 grievances have been addressed well within the stipulated timeframe where as the remaining are in different phases of execution.
After taking a thorough review, DC stressed upon the concerned officers to ensure timely and prompt redressel of all the grievances. He said that an effective and proper grievance redressel mechanism is the corner store of a welfare administration. DC further added that administration is working with utmost zeal and dedication towards addressing the issues of people in a convenient and hassle free manner.
Moreover, DC directed the concerned officers to ensure all the registered grievances reaches at their logical conclusion within the stipulated timeframe. He also extended his appreciations to all those officers who successfully disposed all their grievances within a time bound manner.
Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad on Tuesday inaugurated a day-long training-cum-awareness programme on Public Financial Management System (PFMS). The programme was organized with an aim to sensitize the heads of all line departments in the district and concerned staff about the online payments carried out in departments.
Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said that PFMS is paperless and Cashless, a unique initiative launched by Govt of India to enhance digital delivery of services.
He urged upon all participants to attend training sessions on PFMS with an element of seriousness as it is now mandatory for all Central sponsored and central sector schemes to be routed through PFMS only.
The training was held in two sessions, in the first session the resource persons Faizan Ali and Sheikh Aubaid enlightened the audience about the PFMS portal registration and online transaction of Govt. funds. In the second session, the practical implementation of EAT modules, Agency Registration, Vendor Creation, Opening balance and Expenditure Advance and Transfer was discussed.
PFMS is an online web portal designed by the Ministry of Finance for ensuring transparency, efficiency and accountability while making monetary transactions in departments.
Experts said PFMS ensures payment is quick and hassle free as the PFMS software is user friendly, integrated with the core banking solution where wrong entry is easily detected and returned back for rectification. HODs can easily monitor the status of funds disbursed and remaining under various heads of account.
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