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Cycle expedition flagged off from Kaman Post, medical camp held at Isham 

Reyaz Rashid

He informed that the aim of the expedition was to create awareness about safeguarding measures against Covid pendemic among villagers and urbanites enroute. 

He further said that expedition first hault was at Red Bridge, Isham village wherein a medical Camp was organised by the medical team of 53 RCC in which number of masks, sanitizers were distributed among locals of border village Isham and Nova.
Medicos motivated people to fight Covid virus with maintaining proper social distancing,ensuring use of masks ,sanitizers and personnel hygiene was promoted,he said.

Cycle expedition to kick start the compaign from Kaman Post

Reyaz Rashid

Baramulla: Amid surge in Covid-19 pendemic crises, Border Roads Organization Beacon’s 53 RCC is going to conduct a Covid awareness campaign in north Kashmir’s Uri sector.

The awareness campaign will kick start with a cycle expedition which will start from Kaman Post upto Project Beacon HQ Srinagar, a Beacon official informed

He informed that the aim of the expedition is to create awareness about safeguarding measures against Covid pendemic among villagers and urbanites enroute.

The planned expedition also includes a free medical camp at Village Gawalta and Road safety awareness program at Baramulla. The expedition will commence on 4 May and concludes on 7th May at Project Beacon Headquarters.

AWJA President appeals journalists to follow the SOP’S while performing duty.

SNS KASHMIR

ANANTNAG MAY 02:

At least seven journalists, who are working with different regional and national newspapers/channels have tested covid19 positive here in the Anantnag district in the last week.

These journalists have been found infected with the virus after their test reports came positive. All journalists had mild symptoms and have remained in self-isolation as a precautionary measure.

Anantnag district has reported the rising number of coronavirus cases in South Kashmir, including several deaths in last week.

While talking to Arising State Anantnag working journalist Association (AWJA) President S, Tariq said that it is very unfortunate that journalists have tested positive for Covid-19, S, Tariq appealed journalists to follow SOP’s and take the required precautions, follow the norms of social distancing and wear face masks while performing their duty,” he said.

Added that journalists are frontline Covid Warriors, one should recognize the risks they undertake while covering the pandemic, he said.

Meanwhile, the district administration Anantnag had imposed three-day lockdown two days back to break the chain and fight the COVID battle.

Today the District Magistrate Anantnag extended the lockdown till further orders…..

Termed the decision ambiguous and unfortunate:Qayoom Wani

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR MAY 02:

Taking a serious note on the dismissal of a teacher from kupwara and other two employees ,by invoking Article 311 of Indian Constitution Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society Forum has expressed resentment over what it called a jab on the employees integrity by virtue of weakening their resolve and insulting their social built. In a statement issued here Chairman JKCSF Abdul Qayoom Wani said that dismissal of Idrees Ahmad, teacher of a Kupwara school and other two employees came as a strange shiver to whole kashmir society under the shade of Article 311 and neglecting the all other disciplinary service rules that govern the employees performance and conduct of his service career.
Wani said this type of dismissal from govt service remains ambiguous until the facts are made public and/or subjected to the judicial system for legal proceedings.
Sudden and random dismissal of a govt.employees this way has caused mental agony to the employees in particular and the society in general. Because an employee happens to be a member of a family viz a viz his society. JKCSF has demanded that the decision must be revoked and reviewed judiciously under the service norms so that justice can prevail and anxiety in the society will recede.
And termed this decision ambiguous and one sided.

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR, MAY 02 :

Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) Senior Vice President Manzoor Bhat Sunday appealed the J&K Bank CEO R S Chibber to spend Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) money on the establishment of the oxygen generation plants in J&K.

Taking cue from a recent directive of the Bombay High Court, the KTMF as per a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said there was a need for the JK Bank to take inspiration from the court verdict in the financial capital.

It is pertinent to mention that with an aim of oxygen supply in Nagpur region, the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) recently directed the Manganese Ore India Ltd, a Public Sector Undertaking, to utilize its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) funds for setting up oxygen generation, storage and distribution plants at the hospitals indicated by the District Collector, Nagpur.

“We need to take lessons from the Covid carnage and equally take inspiration from the intervention of the honorable Bombay High Court,” Manzoor said—(KNO)

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR, MAY 2 :

Weatherman on Sunday forecast rainfall from May 5 to 8 but ruled out any major rainfall in next ten days in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Mainly dry and hot weather is expected till 4th May even as there is possibility of a brief spell of thundershower at isolated places mainly towards late afternoon,” Director Meteorological department Sonam Lotus said. “Thereafter, light to moderate rain/thundershower is expected at scattered to fairly widespread places during May 5 (afternoon) to 8. There’s no forecast of any major rainfall till next 10 days.”

He said the weather system may lead to temporary disruption of traffic on Banihal-Ramban area mainly during May 6-8.
Regarding Ladakh, he said mainly dry weather is expected till May 4. “Thereafter, light to moderate rain/snowfall on higher reaches (especially on Drass-Zojila axis, some area of Zanskar is expected during May 5 (afternoon) to May 8th. However there’s no forecast of any major rainfall till next 10 days,” he said, adding, “It may lead to temporary disruption of traffic on Zojila area mainly during May 6-8th.”

The weather department has also issued ‘yellow warning for “isolated lightning/ thundershowers with gusty wind 30- 40-kmph” for both Jammu and Kashmir divisions from May 1 to 6. There are four types of colour codes signifying the level of caution: green which means no action, yellow—situation to be watched), amber –government agencies need to be prepared for severe weather and red –action needed by the agencies.

Meanwhile, a meteorological department official told GNS that Srinagar recorded a low of 11.6°C against 9.4°C on the previous night.

The temperature was 1.9°C above normal for this time of the season in the summer capital of J&K, he said.

Qazigund recorded a low of 8.6°C against previous night’s 7.3°C and it was above normal by 0.1°C in the gateway town of Kashmir, the official said.

Mercury settled at 4.9°C against 3.8°C on the previous night in Pahalgam. The temperature was normal for time of the season in the famous tourist resort in South Kashmir, he said.

Kokernag, also in south Kashmir, recorded a low of 8.8°C against normal of 8.4°C and last night’s 6.2°C, the official said.

Kupwara recorded a low of 7.8°C against 6.3°C on the previous night and the temperature was below normal by 0.6°C for this time of the season in north Kashmir district, the official said.

Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, recorded a low of 6.5°C against 3.0°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 2.2°C above normal in the resort, the official added. (GNS)

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR, MAY 02 :

The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a Crisis Management Group (CMG) to monitor the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation and take preventive, control and mitigating measures.

In a series of tweets, Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), J&K, the five-member CMG comprises of the Chief Secretary as Chairman, and Financial Commissioner Finance, Financial Commissioner (Health), PS Home and PS PWD. “The PS to LG will be a special invitee. It will interact with other officers and medical specialists as necessary,” the series of tweets read.

The CMG will meet daily, and more often if necessary, to review the rapidly evolving COVID-19 in terms of cases, testing rates, positivity, mortality, recovery, hospital occupancy and other parameters.

The committee will review the Oxygen and medicine requirement and availability at all health institutions, take immediate measures for preventing the spread, control the infection and manage the availability of resources.

It will also monitor the vaccine rollout and fine tune vaccination strategies to ensure speedy and complete coverage at the earliest.

It will take other steps with the overall goal of controlling the spread of the disease.

SNS KASHMIR

Jerusalem, May 2:

Israel barred its citizens from travelling to India and six other countries, citing high COVID infection rates there.

In a joint press release issued by the Israel Prime Minister’s Office and the Health Ministry on Friday, it was said that Israelis will not be allowed to travel to Ukraine, Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Mexico and Turkey.

This regulation will come into force on May 3 and will remain in place until May 16.

Non-Israelis, however, will be able to travel to these countries, provided they plan to reside there permanently, the press release said.

The regulation will not be applicable to those who stay at airports in transit in one of these countries for a time period of up to 12 hours while waiting for a connecting flight.

The Israeli government has also authorised its health and interior ministers to appoint representatives to head an appeal committee and the panel reviewing special cases.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry proposed that those returning from the seven countries enter a two-week mandatory quarantine, even if they have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19, local media reports said.

Those who have received two negative COVID-19 test reports will be required to be in a 10-day quarantine, they said.

These additional restrictions are also expected to come into force on May 3, but are subject to the approval of the Knesset”s (Israeli parliament) Arrangements Committee.—(PTI)

COVID: Israel bans travel to India, six other countries

Jerusalem, May 2: Israel barred its citizens from travelling to India and six other countries, citing high COVID infection rates there.

In a joint press release issued by the Israel Prime Minister’s Office and the Health Ministry on Friday, it was said that Israelis will not be allowed to travel to Ukraine, Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Mexico and Turkey.

This regulation will come into force on May 3 and will remain in place until May 16.

Non-Israelis, however, will be able to travel to these countries, provided they plan to reside there permanently, the press release said.

The regulation will not be applicable to those who stay at airports in transit in one of these countries for a time period of up to 12 hours while waiting for a connecting flight.

The Israeli government has also authorised its health and interior ministers to appoint representatives to head an appeal committee and the panel reviewing special cases.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry proposed that those returning from the seven countries enter a two-week mandatory quarantine, even if they have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19, local media reports said.

Those who have received two negative COVID-19 test reports will be required to be in a 10-day quarantine, they said.

These additional restrictions are also expected to come into force on May 3, but are subject to the approval of the Knesset”s (Israeli parliament) Arrangements Committee.—(PTI)

Article 311 invoked first time in UT

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR, MAY 01 :

In the first such action after re-organisation of Jammu & Kashmir, the administration of the Union Territory has terminated three government employees for their involvement in activities “prejudicial to security of the State”.

Authoritative sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has terminated three government employees under the Article 311(2) (C) of the Constitution of India, which allows dismissal of government employees without holding mandatory inquiry against them.

This is the first time when the Jammu and Kashmir government has invoked the provision of the Constitution of India to sack the employees. In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, similar actions were initiated against the employees under section 126 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution.

According to sources, a government teacher, a revenue department employee and an assistant professor have been terminated by the UT administration on the basis of recommendations of a high-level committee.

According to an order issued by GAD for dismissal of Idrees Jan, a teacher from Kralpora Kupwara, the Lieutenant Governor is satisfied after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on the basis of the information available that his activities are such as to warrant his dismissal from service;

It further states that Lieutenant Governor is satisfied under sub-clause (c) of the proviso to clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of India that in the interest of the security of the State, it is not expedient to hold an enquiry in the case of Idrees Jan. “Accordingly, the Lieutenant Governor hereby dismisses Idrees Jan, Teacher, Government Middle School, Kralpora, Kupwara from service, with immediate effect,” reads the order.

Repeated attempts to seek J&K government’s views on the matter proved futile as officials from the General Administration Department did not respond to repeated calls from KNO

In 2016, 12 employees were sacked by the J&K government for their involvement in anti-national activities—(KNO)

Condemns unscrupulous elements masquerading as journalists for obstructing work in hospitals, COVID wards

SNS KASHMIR

SRINAGAR, MAY 01 :

With COVID-19 causing devastating losses in Kashmir, the media has an extraordinary responsibility to keep the public informed, Kashmir Press Club (KPC) said on Saturday.

In the process, KPC as per a statement issued hear said journalists are playing a crucial role by risking their lives as chances of getting infected with the coronavirus are very high during travel or while gathering news.

“A lot of journalists have already lost their lives to this deadly virus. Also, the psychological impact of reporting the pandemic is quite higher. At the Kashmir Press Club we would urge our members and the fraternity in general to take utmost care while doing their jobs at the frontline. Please follow the SOPs laid down for safety in this pandemic very strictly. We would also urge the media establishments to pay more attention towards the well being of the working journalists in this crisis. Wherever possible, work-from-home models should be encouraged,” the statement said.

Amid the pandemic, KPC expressed concern at some unknown social media users entering hospitals with mics masquerading as journalists.

“The recent incident of a social media user barging into a Covid hospital with least regard towards SOPs is one such example, highlighting the menace. Since social media is a powerful platform to reach people, and anyone is free to use it for journalistic work as well however a trained journalist would never obstruct the functioning of medical staff. Unfortunately many such elements have cropped up who indulge in such activities with utter disregard towards professionalism,” the statement added.

“Such elements by these actions bring a bad name to the profession and also make the job of a genuine journalist difficult. These activities should be desisted from. Before practicing journalism we would urge youngsters to seek proper training on journalistic guidelines and media ethics.”

“For fraternity members who are at the frontline today we are also posting a link to the health advisory issued by CPJ to minimize risk of contracting the infection. Please take utmost care of yourselves while delivering your duties,” KPC said.