Sajid Raina
Bandipora: Government forces on Thursday claimed to have detected and diffused an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by militants along the Bandipora-Srinager road at Guroora village of Bandipora District.
Official sources said that the IED weighing 20 kg was planted and would have caused huge damage if not detected timely by the forces.
Official further said that the IED was diffused without causing any damage to life or property.
Babbu Khan
Bandipora, Dec 27 : Residents of Shankergund area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday staged a protest demonstration to highlight power and water crisis in the area.
Reports reaching Kashmir Despatch said scores of people hit the streets to protest against and water and power crisis in the area and blaming the administration for not attending to their grievances.
They shouted slogans against government for failed to provide basic facilities to the inhabitants.
We are struggling with continuous power crisis and water crisis despite this chilling winter. The protestors said despite repeated attempts to the concerned authorities nothing positive happened on ground.
The protestors demanding immediate restoration of water and power in the area reports added.
Meanwhile a team of police reached the spot and assured the protestors that matter will be taken to higher authorities of PDD and PHE.
Srinagar: Kashmir’s capital city Srinagar on Thursday recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 7.6 degrees celsius, partially freezing the Dal Lake and other water bodies.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ – the 40-day harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
According to Meteorological Department (IMD), “Srinagar city registered a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
The cold wave has resulted in freezing of some water bodies, including the fringes of the famous Dal Lake here, and residential water supply pipes in many areas of the city and other towns of the Valley.
In an indication of further shrinkage of the militants’ support base in the valley, more and more cases of outlaws using cave-like hideouts away from the human habitations are surfacing, say security personnel.
A police official made this remark Wednesday after security forces busted an underground hideout of militants in Awantipora area of Pulwama district where some of the top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders were believed to be hiding.
The official said a search operation was launched in the area on early Wednesday on a tip off about the presence of militants in the hideout — a cave-like structure made in a hillock.
Though nothing incriminating could by found by the security forces, there were tell-tale signs of the hideout having been used recently by militants, the official said.
The ultras appeared to have deserted it hours before the security forces launched the search operation.
This cave-like hideout, away from the human habitations, was detected Wednesday, barely days after discovery of another similar hideout in Arampora area of Awantipora.
The busting of the second cave-like hideout came four days after six militants of Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, an offshoot of ISIS, were killed in an encounter in Arampora area of Awantipora on Saturday.
“The militants killed in the operation on Saturday were also avoiding residential areas for quite sometime and hiding in a cave-like hideout,” the official said.
He said six militants including some wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in Saktipora operation in Anantnag district on
November 23 while three others were gunned down in Pulwama district this month.
“In both the cases, the militants had built underground hideouts near orchards,” he added.
The security officials said the militants have been left looking for alternative hideouts due to the fact that atrocities committed by them against civilians have led to disaffection among the masses and shrinkage of their support base.
“More than 50 civilians were killed by militants this year while some of the brutal executions were captured on camera and later circulated on social media. This has further reduced their already shrinking support base,” the official said.
He said the other factor for this new trend was the continuous flow of human intelligence to the security forces, which has helped them neutralise a large number of ultras during the year.
“More than 250 militants have been killed this year and it has been possible due to the stream of human intelligence that we have been getting from general public. This has probably forced the militants to avoid human habitations and take refuge in these structures. However, we have been getting inputs about these places as well and we are working on it,” the police official.(PTI)
Nadeem Nadu
Srinagar, Dec 26: (GNS) People have been suffering since BB Vyas resigned as Advisor to Governor last week. He joined UPSC as a member.
Since Vyas’s resignation, the departments allotted to him are lying vacant. These departments include Planning, Development & Monitoring, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Ladakh Affairs, Election, Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction, Revenue, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Tribal Affairs, ARI & Trainings, Agriculture Production and Horticulture.
Insiders told GNS that scores of files pertaining to different departments are lying for the want of signature.
Governor has not relocated the departments so far, while the people across the state continue visiting the Secretariat for want of their files and redressal of their problems, only to return disappointed.
People have urged the Governor-led administration to assign the left-out departments to the advisors so that they don’t suffer anymore. (GNS)
Rehan Showkat
Kupwara, Dec 26 (GNS): District Development Commissioner Kupwara, Khalid Jahangir on Wednesday suspended 17 officials for remaining absent from duties without authorization.
The orders were passed by the deputy commissioner after conducted surprise inspection of several government offices including PHE Division Handwara and PHC Chogal.
The inspections were conducted to reinforce punctuality and take stock of various services being provided to the general public.
During the inspection, the DDC was accompanied by ADC Handwara, Tehsildar and various others concerned.
Those placed under suspension include Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, Shahid Masood, Rajinder Kour, Tahira Majeed, Zahoor Ahmad shah, Ab Rashid, Mohd Ramzan, Gh Nabi Mir—all working in health department while remaining are PHE officials and include Hameedullah Wani, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Sajad Ahmad, Pir Mohd Ashraf, Asha Begum, Mohd Amin Wani , Aijaz Ahmad Dar, Ghulam Rasool Ganie, Mohd Amin Sheikh.
He said Chief Medical Officer Kupwara and Executive Engineer PHE Division Handwara to charge sheet the suspended officers/officials respectively and furnish their reports to his office within 15days.
The DDC said that such drives shall be conducted on a routine basis to enforce punctuality of the employees and take stringent action against the absentees. (GNS)
Srinagar, Dec 26 (GNS): Parts of Dal Lake and other water bodies besides residential water supply pipes froze over as severe winter conditions gripped Kashmir with this summer capital of the state recording season’s coldest day on Wednesday.
A meteorological department official told GNS said that Srinagar recorded maximum temperature of 3.7 degrees Celsius, five degrees below the normal for this time of the year and lowest for the season so far. He said night temperature plunged to minus 6.7 degree Celsius in the capital last night and was just a notch below from Monday’s minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, the coldest December night in 11-years.
The official said Qazigund recorded a maximum of 6.0 degrees Celsius (below 3 degrees from normal) and low of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag registered a low of minus 5.4 and maximum of 4.6 degrees Celsius.
The night temperature in Pahalgam, also in south Kashmir, settled at a low of minus 7.9 degrees Celsius while it had a maximum of 3.7 degrees Celsius against 6.4 degrees Celsius for the day.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ the 40-day harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
‘Chillai-Kalan’ ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir.
The 40-day period is followed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold).
The ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded the minimum temperature of minus 9.4 degrees Celsius and was the coldest place in the Valley even as day temperature dropped to 2 degrees Celsius, he said.
Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 6.4 degrees Celsius down from minus 5.2 degrees Celsius on previous night while as it had the maximum of 3.5 degrees Celsius, he said. (GNS)
Srinagar, Dec 26, : A batch of 42 aspiring women entrepreneurs passed out from the Centre for Women Entrepreneurship, Kashmir (CWE-K), a program vertical of Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) after completing the three-week Entrepreneurship Development Program.
The women aspirants were trained for entrepreneurship development at Centre for Women Entrepreneurship (CWE) Kashmir here at Press Enclave for agri-allied, manufacturing and services sectors under Seed capital Fund Scheme and Youth Startup Loan Scheme being implemented by the Institute for entrepreneurship development in the State. The EDP commenced on November 20, 2018.
The women aspirants hailing from Srinagar, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla & Anantnag districts of Kashmir praised the training curriculum for the program and said it (the program) has not only boosted their morale to start their own business ventures but has also helped a lot in their individual personality development which will eventually help them in many other aspects of day to day life.
The aspirants have chosen activities like boutique, saloon, unisex gym, manufacturing of woolen garments, travel agency, departmental store, manufacturing of bio-pesticides and vermicompost, manufacturing of paper bags and greeting cards, customized printing, fine art gallery, manufacturing of bakery and confectionery, online food delivery, dairy farming and trading cum wholesale as their lines of activity.
EDP (training) is part of the Institute’s ongoing process to reach every nook and corner of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and equip the unemployed youth with life sustainable business skills. The EDP is generally aimed at providing lessons on skill development, performance improvement as well as business cum sector specific and self-development training to the participating youth.
As part of EDP the participants hailing from different districts of Kashmir division were deputed for field visits, business incubations, and market survey as well.
Srinagar, Dec 26, : Ajaz Ahmed Guroo, the brother of Muhammad Afzal Guroo Wednesday visited the family of PDP leader Nazir Ahmed Itoo to express his sympathies.
The mother of Itoo passed away after returning from Umrah at her residence at Badipora Chadoora.
Ajaz Ahmed Guroo told CNS that he visited the house of Itoo to express sympathies with the family. “Nazir Itoo was the only politician in Kashmir who visited our family and expressed sympathies when my brother Muhammad Afzal Guroo was hanged in Tihar Jail. The visit was purely apolitical,” he said.
Nazir Ahmed Itoo, the former Vice Chairman JK Cements Ltd thanked Ajaz Ahmed Guroo and said that people should always rise above politics.
Srinagar: As per forecast by State’s Meteorological Department (MeT), the J&K state will receive light snow and rains in its higher reaches.
The MeT department has predicted mainly Dry weather in subsequent two days. For next week the weather in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will remain largely day with some isolated showers in the higher reaches of the state.
Temperate in Srinagar for tomorrow will be around 09 degrees Celsius to minus 02 degrees while in Jammu and Leh it will be around 19 to 05 degrees Celsius for Jammu and 03 to minus 10 for Leh, MeT department told Valley Media Service. There is no weather warning for next five days from MeT department.(VMS)