Wednesday, July 22, 2020 30, Zul Qaadah 1441 Hijri Published from srinagar RNI No:JKENG/2012/43267 Vol:9 Issue No: 169 Pages:8 Rs.5.00 epaper: www.srinagarobserver.com

9th year of publication

Srinagar

ObServer

BriefNews3 Persons Killed In Reasi MishapJaMMu: Three persons were killed in a road mishap that took place in Ma-hore area of Reasi district on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.A police official told a local news gathering agency that a car was on its way from Badder towards Mahore skidded off the road near Bagga Morh, resulting in on spot death to two persons while the other was grievously injured.He identified the deceased as Mo-hammad Ayoub, son of Nazir Ahmed and Bashir Ahmed, son of Qamar din-both residents of Badder Mahore.He said that the other person identi-fied as Muhammad Iqbal, son of Nazir Ahmed, a resident of Badder, who got seriously injured, was shifted to a nearby hospital in Mahore where he succumbed to his injuries. (KNO)

3 nomads Killed By Lightning In surankotePoonch: Three nomads were killed while dozens of their cattle perished by the lightning at Gumsar village of Poonch district.Officials told a local news gathering agency that the incident took place in the intervening night of Mon-day-Tuesday.They said the lightning hit a seasonal dhok in Gumsar, leaving three nomads dead on the spot who belong to the Surankote area of the district. They added that many animals including goat and sheep, whose number is believed to be in several hundreds, also perished in the incident.Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Surankote, Saleem Qureshi said that teams have rushed to the spot to assess the loss. (KNO)

Two army Men Injured in Loc explosionJaMMu: Two Army men were on Tuesday injured in an explosion along the line of Control (loC) in Rajouri district’s Nowsshera sector, officials said. Officials told a local news gathering agency that an explosion took place at a forward location in Nowshera sector. They said reportedly a landmine went off, which resulted in injuries to two army men.“Two Army men were injured in the incident and have been hospitalized,” officials said.Meanwhile, the officials said that Pa-kistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing along loC in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri district.They said that in forward loC loca-tions of Nowshera and Sunderbani, ceasefire violation started on Tuesday evening after Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately on this side, which was retaliated. The exchange of fire between the two armies | More on P2

Man Booked under Psa in sambasaMBa: Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested and booked a man under Public Safe-ty Act (PSA) for his criminal activities in Samba district.The man, who as per police is ‘notorious criminal’, was arrested on the orders issued by the District Magistrate Samba.As per a statement, the accused namely Harbans Singh @ Asla, son of Dayal Singh, a resident of Vijaypur, District Samba was booked for his criminal activities in the area.Six cases are registered against him in the Police Station Vijaypur, police said, adding that he has become a threat to the peaceful atmosphere, thus forcing authorities to detain him under J&K Public Safety Act. Keeping in view his repeated involvement in criminal activities, | More on P2

england’s ben Stokes has outdone West indies captain Jason Holder to become the world’s top-ranked Test all-rounder while also attaining

a career-best third position among batsmen in the iCC Test Player Rankings, following a match-winning performance at Old Trafford.

Stokes, who trailed Holder by 54 rating points going into the second Test in Manchester, enjoys a lead of 38 points | Page 08

advisor to Lieutenant governor, baseer ahmad Khan today chaired a meeting with officers and representatives from various associations

to review preparations for Eid-ul-Azha in Jammu and Kashmir. Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Shahid iqbal Choudhary, other officers and representatives from Kashmir Chamber of

Commerce, bakers association Kashmir, Kothedars association Kashmir were present in the meeting. | Page 05

ben Stokes displaces Holder to become world’s top-ranked Test all-rounder

Dr. Jitendra Singh Reviews achievements Under CSS

Union Minister of State (independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of north eastern region and

Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic

energy and Department of Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, today reviewed the achievements in District Kishtwar under

various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, here | Page 07

advisor baseer Khan reviews eid-Ul-azha Celebrations

no amarnath Pilgrimage This year due To PandemicSO News Desk

SriNagar: Lieutenant Gov-ernor, Girish Chandra Murmu, Chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), presided over 39th Board meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to-day in which the Board members participated virtually through video conference to discuss the conduct of the Yatra 2020.

The meeting was attended by B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Bipul Pathak, CEO SASB; Anup Kumar Soni, Addl CEO SASB & senior officers of Shrine Board. Threadbare dis-cussion was held on the current circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic and its likely impact on the Yatra.

The Board discussed the Supreme Court order dated 13.07.2020 in which, the decision to conduct the Yatra was left to the Administration/ Government af-

ter assessing the ground realities prevailing in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Board was informed that the arrangements were on track since February 2020, but due to nationwide lockdown and pandemic, State Executive Committee, J&K has still con-tinued to keep religious places and places of worship closed for the public. These prohibitions continue till 31st July.

The Board further discussed that pandemic has put the health administration system to its limit. The spike has been particularly very sharp in July. Health Work-ers and Security Forces are also getting infected and the focus of entire Medical, Civil and Police Administration at the moment is on containing the local transmis-sion of the COVID-19 pandemic. The health concerns are so seri-

ous that the strain on the health system, along with the diversion in resources to the Yatra, will be immense. This would also unnec-essarily put the Yatris at risk of catching the COVID-19.

The Board also discussed the decision of High court of J&K in Writ Petition (No CM No. 3022/2020 in WP(C) PIL No 5/2020 in which the Court di-rected SASB to | More on P2

India's Tally Rises To 11,55,191

India recorded 37,148 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 11,55,191 , while the total number of recoveries increased to 7,24,577, according to union

health ministry data on Tuesday. The death toll due to the disease rose to 28,084 with 587 fatalities reported in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed. | More on P2

Intermittent Rainfall Ends Dry Spell In Kashmir

Incoming Migrant Laborers To Undergo Testing In Respective Districts: Div Com

LG Launches 73 Projects Worth Rs 476 Cr In Six Districts

J&K To Get Rs 4580 Cr Loan To Clear Power Purchase LiabilitiesuT Admin owes Rs 9646 Cr to CPSus, other agencies

Eid-ul-Adha: Govt to Devise Strategy to Prevent COVID-19 Spread

‘Rates Fixed For Sacrificial Animals Being Flouted Everywhere’Have registered two cases, offenders penalized: Dir FCSCA

Now, Trashing of Art 370 is Class 12 Textbook Chapter in NCERTagencies

New Delhi: The NCERT has revised a chapter in its Class 12 political science textbook to drop a paragraph on separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir and to add a brief mention of scrapping of its special status last year.

The National Council of Edu-cational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the chapter in the textbook “Politics in India since Independence” for the aca-demic session 2020-21. While the topic “Separatism | More on P2

agencies

SriNagar: After witness-ing hot and humid weather during the last couple of weeks, the weather turned pleasant as incessant inter-mittent rain lashed the sum-mer capital, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley since Monday night, finally ending a long dry spell that has badly hit agriculture and horticulture sectors.

A Met department spokesperson told a news gathering agency that light to moderate rain and thun-

dershowers would occur at some places in J&K, Gilgit and Baltustan, besides at isolated places | More on P2

SO News Desk

SriNagar: Divisional Com-missioner, Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole Tuesday said that all in-coming migrant laborers shall undergo COVID-19 testing in

respective districts from July 23 (Thursday). He said this while chairing a weekly Covid-19 re-view meeting to take stock of the situation and arrangements put in place for effective containment of deadly virus. | More on P2

Nasir azam

SriNagar: In a significant development, the government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will get Rs 4580 Crore special long term loan from the Government of India for clearing its power purchase liabilities.

Documents accessed by a local news gathering agency reveal that Power Finance Cor-poration(PFC) and Rural Elec-trification Corporation(REC) have agreed to grant Rs 2290

crore each as special long term loan to J&K UT to assist it in clearing the power purchase lia-bilities of different central pow-er generation companies like National Thermal Power Cor-poration Limited (NTPC), Na-tional Hydroelectric Power Cor-poration(NHPC) and charges of transmission companies.

The loan is part of Atmanir-bhar Bharat Abhiyan package, which was unveiled by the Gov-ernment of India for revival of economy after | More on P2

SO News Desk

SriNagar: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu e-inaugurated as many as 48 developmental projects worth Rs. 151.79 crores and laid e-foundation of 21 number of projects worth Rs. 290.80 crores during his recent extensive tour to six districts in Kashmir.

During his visit to district Kupwara, Lieutenant Gover-nor inaugurated IPD Block at SDH Kupwara worth Rs. 24.80 crores, Video Conference Hall

in District Administrative Complex worth Rs. 23.9 lac, and laid the foundation stone for construction of parallel Bypass to Lolab road project worth Rs. 1.88 crores. On visit

to Kulgam, Lieutenant Gover-nor laid the foundation stone of 50-bedded integrated Ayush Hospital project worth 7.40 crore at Chawalgam Kulgam.

The 48 projects | More on P2

agencies

SriNagar: Even as the gov-ernment re-fixed the sale rate of sacrificial (Qurbani) animals, the

people selling the livestock on the ground are not adhering to the rate list while the officials said that two cases have already been registered in this | More on P2

ishtiyaq ahmad

SriNagar: Though the lock-down was re-imposed in Sri-nagar and other major towns of valley to stop the spread of deadly coronavirus, the au-thorities are now confronting a new challenge regarding pre-vention and containment of the virus, this time—the big worry is over Eid-ul-Adha, which will be celebrated on July 31.

The authorities are worried that people may abandon masks and social distancing that could lead

to the further spike in the COVID cases.

There has been a sudden rise in the Coronavirus cases for the last few weeks in Kashmir valley.

One of the top offi-cials here in the Division-

al administration told a local news gath-

ering agency that they will urge the people to con-tinue observing

(precautions) es-sential to stop the

virus. “Eid ul Azha must be celebrated with sim-

plicity,” said the official.He said that in addition to reminding people to keep

wearing masks and main-taining distance from one another, the government

will issue new instruc-tions on the Eid occasion,

such as avoiding the custom of greeting friends and relatives with an “Eid embrace”. “Any carelessness in observance of precautionary measures during Eid-ul-Azha may lead to a spike in coronavirus cases,” warned the official heading the govern-ment’s effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. | More on P2

LAC FACE-oFF

India Needs To Shed Caution, Take Risks: Jaishankar

Army Gets 'Bharat' Drones For Accurate Surveillance

Amid the ongoing boundary dispute between India and Chi-na, DRDO has provided its indigenously-developed drone named Bharat to the Indian Army for carrying out accurate

surveillance in high altitude areas and mountainous terrain along the line of Actual Control in Eastern ladakh. | More on P2

agencies

New Delhi: If India has to grow, it has to shed its tradi-tional caution, step out more, be more confident and articulate its interests, said external affairs minister S Jaishankar amid indications that China's aggres-sion on Line of Actual Control (LAC) may have spurred New

Delhi to discard the historical hesitations and explore fresh geostrategic options.

Speaking at an interaction, Jaishankar said India has moved away from the traditional no-tions of non-alignment.

"If we are to grow by leverag-ing the international situation, we have to exploit the opportuni-ties out there. | More on P2

Work on 140 Community Bunkers Gains Pace Along LoCTasaduq hussain

Kupwara: Finally, the people living close to the Line of Control in Kashmir’s Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts have some-thing to cheer as the government has started work on much needed community bunkers. To begin with, work is going on for the construc-tion of 140 such bunkers in the three border districts of Kashmir.

Officials told a local news gath-ering agency that of the 140 bun-kers, 50 will be constructed in Rampur sector | More on P2

COVID-19 Claims 11 More Lives in J&K, Toll 266Nadeem Nadu

SriNagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday report-ed eleven more deaths at-tributed to covid-19, taking the fatality count due to the virus to 266.

Official sourc-es said that five deaths occurred at SKIMS, four at SMHS hospital while one each was re-ported from SKIMS Bemi-na and CD hospital.

The fatalities include 96-year-old man from Pat-tan Baramulla, 70-year-old woman from Lalbazar

Srinagar, 50-year-old from Mirbazar Kulgam, elderly from Parraypora Srinagar, 54-years-old man from Fateh kadal Srinagar, 64-years-

old woman from Dangerpora Sopore

, 55-year-old wom-an from Budgam, 65-year-old from Sangrama, 85-year-

old from Sopore, 74-year-old man from

Rawalpora, 43-year-old man from Parigam and

85-year-old man from Papcha area of Bandipora.

Regarding the nonagenari-an, they said he died two days after he was | More on P2

cases cross 15k-Mark as 608 Test Positive in uTJammu and Kashmir on Tuesday reported 608 new covid-19 infections including 51 CRPF, six BSF and 9 army personnel, taking the overall tally of cases to 15158 in J&K. Among them also include 134 sample reports received at toll post and pertains to mainly migrant labourers, sources said. Officials said that while 106 tested positive from | More on P2

The BoaRd Is aWaRe of and ResPecTs the sentiments of millions of devotees and to keep the religious sentiments alive, the Board shall continue the live Telecast/ Virtual Darshan of the morning and evening Aarti.

02 SRINAGAR / WEDNESDAy / 22 July I 2020 neWsSrinagar

ObServer

No Amarnath Pilgrimagetake a final view in light of order of Hon’ble Su-

preme court dated 13.07.2020 and keeping in view the compliance of all healthcare protocols, Stan-dard Operating Protocols notified by the Central Government as well as by the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

The Board further deliberated the considered views of the Government. The Government made reasoned observations supported by facts which suggested that it would not be advisable to conduct Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2020 and it would be advis-able to cancel it this year in larger public interest. This would enable the Health, Civil and Police Ad-ministrations to focus on the immediate challeng-es facing them rather than diverting resources, manpower and attention to the conduct of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra.

Based upon the circumstances, the Board de-cided with heavy heart that it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year’s Shri Amarnathji Ya-tra and expressed its regret to announce the can-cellation of Yatra 2020. The Board is aware of and respects the sentiments of millions of devotees and to keep the religious sentiments alive, the Board shall continue the Live Telecast/ Virtual Darshan of the morning and evening Aarti. Further, the traditional rituals shall be carried out as per past practice. Also, the Chhadi Mubarak shall be facili-tated by the government.

CoVID-19 Claimsadmitted to CD hospital, one of the exclusive facil-

ities for the management of the covid-19 patients in the Kashmir Valley.

The elderly was suffering from multiple ail-ments including hypertension, Type-2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, COPD (Chronic obstruc-tive pulmonary disease), Dementia, etc, they said.

“He was admitted as a severe Covid19. At 6 a.m. today, the man suffered cardiac arrest and was de-clared dead at 6:10 a.m,” they added.

Regarding the death at SKIMS Bemina, they said, 74-year-old from Rawalpora was suffering from “B/l COVID pneumonia and severe ards.”

“At 2:30 pm today, his condition worsened and was intubated at 3:15 pm. At about 3:30 pm, the pa-tient developed cardio respiratory arrest. CPR was given according to the latest ACLS guidelines but the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 4 pm,” they said.

Regarding 85-year-old male Sopore, they said, he was suffering from bilateral pneumonia and was admitted to SMHS hospital on July 18.

As regards, 65-year-old man from Sangrama Baramulla, a senior doctor at SMHS hospital said that he was suffering from encephalopathy and bi-lateral pneumonia. “He was admitted on July 17 and died 1800 hours,” the doctor added. Regarding the Budgam patients, the senior doctor said that the pa-tient was suffering from bilateral pneumonia.

With these deaths, 246 people in Kashmir and 20 in Jammu have died so far due to the covid-19. (GNS)

Cases Cross 15k-MarkJammu and 502 are from Kashmir valley. Also

181 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and were discharged from various hospitals, 36 from Jammu Division and 145 from Kashmir.

Giving the district-wise details, official sources told a local news gathering agency that Srinagar reported 213, Baramulla 28, Kulgam 39, Shopian 3, Anantnag 26, Kupwara 47, Pulwama 43, Budgam 83, Bandipora 14, Ganderbal 6, Jammu 15, Kathua 13, Rajouri 37, Ud-hampur 3, Ramban 11, Samba 10, Doda 7, Poonch 2 and Reasi 8. A number of cases were confirmed at SKIMS and CD diagnostic laboratories, officials said.

The CD Cases The CD cases include male (32) from ACB HQ

Peerbagh, male (40) and female (38) from SR Gunj, female (39) from Balgarden Srg, female (48) from Dawaran Uri, three males (41, 22, 38) and two fe-males (36, 56) from Shrai Tangmarg, female (25) and male (50) from Waniloo Tangmarg, male (60) from Tamlihal, female (35) from Achgoza, female (55) from Keegam, male (7M) from Aargicheck Abhama, male (60) from HMT Srg, male (64) from Rangrath Srg, male (31) from Newa Pulwama, three females (23, 65, 25) and male (75) from Khadermoh Pulwama, female (35) from Ratnipora Pulwama, female (27) from Midoora, two males (62, 23) and two females (50, 10) from Noorpora, female (41) from Tral e Pay-een, female (29) from Tral e Bala, female (33) from Hari, male (49) from Nowdal, male (23) from Buchoo, male (34) from Gagat Srg, male (22) from Hagerpora, female (53) from Chichilora, female (28) from Pall-halan, three females (36, 07, 30) and two males (35, 25) from Sogam Lolab, female (22) from Batnard Lolab, female (31) from Kuligam Lolab, two females (28, 27) from Lassipora Lolab, two females (45, 19) from Sunard Darpora, female (22) from Doban Khurham Lolab, two females (30, 25) from Chandigam Lolab, male (37) from Lapora Lolab, two males (51, 28) and two females (34, 27) from Trehgam, seven females (22, 33, 10, 65, 30, 18 Months, 24) and three males (33, 70, 25) from Suliman Karnah, female (20) from Bud-wan Karnah, two females (40, 38) and male (40) from Bhakayan Tangdar Karnah, NA (04) from Suliman Karnah, male (29) from Shathpalla Karnah, three males (25, 36, 25) from BB Cantt Srg, male (50) from Kharamabad Handwara, male (48) from Banglobagh Baramulla, female (70) from Sopore, male (23) from Pallhalan Pattan, two males (18, 21) from Dudwan, male (40) from Nagri Kupwara, four males (39, 26, 35, 30) from 162 Bsf Bn Kupwara, male (27) from At-Zan-gli Dist Kupwara, male (40) from Batergam, male (53) from Tarathpora, two males (30, 25) from DPL Bara-mulla, female (32) from Kanispora Baramulla, male (50) from Noorbagh Baramulla, two males (65, 35) from Iqbal Colony Baramulla, male (17) from Pattan Baramulla, male (28) from Ushkara Baramulla, male (50) from Kantbagh Baramulla, male (28) from Tilag-am Pattan Baramulla, male (24) from Khawajabagh Baramulla, female (70) from Peerbagh Srg, female (34) from Sopore Baramulla, male (60) from Hawal, female (54) from Kathi Darwaza, female (40) from Baha u Din Sahab Srg, male (28) from Saidakadal, male (54) from Papchan Bandipora, female (40) from Soura, female (49) from Ishbar, male (49) from Ha-bak, male (43) from Lal Chowk, male (20) from HMT, male (48) from Lal Bazar, male (96) from NA, fe-male (70) from Pulwama, two females (43, NA) from Chanapora Srg, male (35) from Rainawari, male (19) from Mirgund Pattan, male (32) from HMT Srg, male (NA) from Lasjan, male (NA) from PHQ Srg, male (NA) from Kulgam, two males (62, 62) from Chanap-ora Srg, male (34) from Ganderpora Srg, female (18) from Bengal/Khanyar, male (30) from Eidgah Srg, two males (NA, 30) from Pulwama, female (73) and male (51) from Saderbal Srg, male (35) from Rajbagh, male (49) and female (47) from Pampore, two males (58, 50) from HMT, male (64) from H. No 6 Imran Lane Natipora, male (28) from Palpora Sonwar, male (32) from Budgam, male (28) from Rainawari, female (50) from Natipora, four males (52, 68, 45, 35) and female (44) from Buchpora, male (54) from Munawarabad Srg, male (22) from Chattabal Srg, male (63) from

Batapora Zakura, male (30) from Khankah Srg, male (35) from Chanapora, male (65) from Umarabad Srg, male (35) from Maloora Srg, female (28) from Indra Nagar Srg, male (80) from Zoonimar Srg, male (60) from Allochi Bagh Srg, three male (60, 13, 04) from Qamarwari, female (55) from Bemina, NA (60) from Handwara, female (60) from Budgam, female (50) from Solina Srg, male (NA) from Pattan Baramulla, female (NA) from Chattabal Srg, female (37) from Srinagar, two females (NA, 55) and male (NA) from Batamaloo Srg, male (67) from Hyderpora Srg, male (80) and female (80) from Baramulla, male (28) from Peerbagh, male (38) from NA, male (45) from Singpo-ra Baramulla, male (58) from Sonwar Srg, female (60) from Fateh Kadal Srg, male (NA) from Handwara, male (60) from Bonyar Baramulla, female (70) from Eidgah Srg, male (65) from Khanyar Srg, male (NA) from Sanatnagar, male (NA) from Sopore Baramu-lla, male (NA) from Parraypora, female (45) from Bemina, male (80) from Barbarshah, male (65) from Dalipora Pulwama, male (60) from NA, female (27) from Safakadal, male (45) from Palpora Srg, male (65) from Rajouri Kadal, male (65) from Nowhatta, male (77) from Batamaloo, male (27) from Chattabal, male (65) from Khadermoh Pulwama, male (57) from Wuyan Pampore, male (50) from PHC Awantipora, female (60) from NA.

SKIMS CasesThe Anantnag cases include male (80) from Sar-

nal Bla, male (32) from Anchidora, male (70) from Mominabad, male (43) from S K Colony, female (32) from Anantnag.

The Bandipora cases include two males (29, 34) from Bsf Mader Bandipora, male (52) from Papchan, two males (42, 35) from Chitty Bandi, male (17) from Nadihal, female (14) and two males (27, 27) from Shokbaba Sumlar, male (22) from Ajas, male (50) from Putushai, two females (17, 35) from Ashtangoo, male (28) from Naninara, female (20) from Sumbal, female (57) from Bandipora. The BB Cantt cases in-clude three males (22, 22, 23) from BB Cantt Srg.

The Budgam Cases Include female (37) from Nan-gerpora, male (40) and two females (38, 08) from Ghat Narbal, female (61) from Yarigund, female (61) from Peth Kanihama, two males (34, 65) and female (28) from Chadoora, female (30) from Pattan, two females (45, 12) and male (45) from Aribagh BK Pora, male (55) from Namtehal Chadura, male (58) from Jummu Bhande, male (44) from Munawar Abad Srg Budgam, female (60) from Gopalpora Chadoora, male (46) and three females (42, 31, 30) from Dadaompora Chadoora, two females (55, 30) from Kralpora Chadoora, male (62) and female (29) from Parnewa, male (30) from Bihar Budgam, male (45) from Drigam, male (46) from Rathson, female (30) from Chewadara, four males (03, 04, 34, 38) and three females (07, 32, 30) from Bonhama, male (24) from 2 Rr Camp Aripanthan Budgam, male (45) from Batapora, female (55) from Baghi Mehtab, female (24) from Loli-pora Nagam, male (53) and two females (19, 18) from Badipora Nagam, male (37) from Dumail Sozeith, male (38) from Narbal, female (65) from Ohangam Beerwa, female (13) from Batapora, female (29) from Darmbug Chadoora, female (36) and male (65) from Kralpora Chadoora, male (30) from Bachroo Chadoora, male (40) from Daharmunna Soibugh, two males (70, 15) and three females (30, 17, 13) from Soibugh, male (30) from Parnewa, female (45) from Nijloo Beerwah, female (30) from Hanji Lawpora, male (57) from Kangripora, male (12) from Humhama, male (44) from Budgam.

The Ganderbal cases include three males (30, 33, 40) from Watlar Ganderbal, female (25) from Pan-dach, male (55) from Ganderbal.

The CRPF cases include thirteen males (28, 54, 50, 47, 38, 36, 40, 47, 40, 38, 41, 34, 28) from C/184 Bn CRPF Amar Singh Club Srg, male (40) from 75 Bn Crpf Indra Nagar Srg, male (30) from D/66 Bn Crpf Dignibal Ganderbal, male (30) from 79 Bn Crpf Sonwar Srg, male (31) from C/93 Bn Crpf Sonwar Srg, six males (40, 48, 55, 28, 38, 34) from 54 Bn Crpf Nishat Srg, male (42) from 75 Bn Crpf Nishat near Jamal Carpet Srg, three males (32, 33, 47) from 117 Bn Crpf Wazirbagh Srg.

The Srinagar cases include male (40) from Hawal, female (38) from Zainakot, male (60) from Lal Bazar, male (55) from Parimpora, male (60) from Zoonimar, two males (30, 51) from SKIMS, male (36) from Peerb-agh, male (40) from Buchpora, male (45) from Harwan, male (32) from Soura, female (55) and male (60) from Hawal, male (80) and female (75) from Saidakadal, male (34) from SKIMS, male (68) from Zakura, male (53) and female (50) from Soura, male (58) from Elahibagh, male (54) from Fateh Kadal, male (42) from Srinagar, six fe-males (35, 06, 12, 01, 34, 62) and four males (30, 33, 29, 65) from Chanapora, female (27) from Naseembagh, female (82) from Sheeshbagh, male (55) from Natipora, male (NA) from Srinagar. The Baramulla cases include fe-male (51) from Baramulla, male (23) from Kunzer. The Pulwama cases include male (55) from Tral, male (70) from Pulwama while the Shopian cases include male (55) and female (65) from Shopian. (GNS)

India’s Tally RisesThere are 4,02,529 active cases of the coronavirus infec-

tion currently in the country, while 7,24,577 people have recovered till now. Thus, 62.72 per cent people have recov-ered so far, it said. The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners. This is the sixth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30,000. Of the 587 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 176 are from Maharashtra, 72 from Karnataka, 70 from Tamil Nadu, 54 from Andhra Pradesh, 46 from Uttar Pradesh, 35 each from West Bengal and Delhi, 20 from Gujarat, 17 from Madhya Pradesh and 10 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Nine fatalities have been reported from Rajas-than, followed by eight in Punjab, seven in Tel-angana, six each in Haryana and Odisha, four in Jharkhand, three in Uttarakhand, two each in Tri-pura and Meghalaya, and one each in Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Puducherry.

According to Indian Council of Medical Re-search (ICMR), a cumulative total of 1,43,81,303 samples have been tested up to July 20 with 3,33,395 samples being tested on Monday.

Of the total 28,084 deaths reported so far, Ma-harashtra accounted for the highest 12,030 fatal-ities followed by Delhi with 3,663 deaths, Tamil Nadu 2,551, Gujarat 2,162, Karnataka 1,403, Uttar Pradesh 1,192, West Bengal 1,147, Madhya Pradesh 738 and Andhra Pradesh 696.

So far, 568 people have died of COVID-19 in Ra-jasthan, 422 in Telangana, 355 in Haryana, 262 in Punjab, 254 in Jammu and Kashmir, 217 in Bihar, 97 in Odisha, 58 in Assam, 55 in Uttarakhand, 53 in Jharkhand and 43 in Kerala.

Puducherry has registered 29 deaths, Chhattisgarh 25, Goa 23, Chandigarh 12, Himachal Pradesh 11, Tripu-ra seven, Meghalaya four, Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and La-dakh have reported two fatalities each.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

Maharashtra has reported the highest num-ber of cases at 3,18,695 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,75,678, Delhi at 1,23,747, Karnataka at 67,420, Andhra Pradesh at 53,724, Uttar Pradesh at 51,160, Gujarat at 49,353 and Telangana at 46,274.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 44,769 in West Bengal, 30,390 in Rajasthan, 27,646

in Bihar, 26,858 in Haryana, 25,382 in Assam and 23,310 in Madhya Pradesh.

Odisha has reported 18,110 infections, Jammu and Kashmir 14,650, Kerala 13,274, while Punjab has 10,510 cases.

A total of 5,756 people have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand, 5,561 in Chhattisgarh, 4,642 in Uttarakhand, 3,853 in Goa, 3,079 in Tripura, 2,092 in Puducherry, 1,925 in Manipur, 1,631 in Himach-al Pradesh and 1,195 in Ladakh.

Nagaland has recorded 1,021 COVID-19 cases, Arunachal Pradesh 790 Chandigarh 737 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 684 cases. Meghalaya has reported 466 cases and Sikkim 305 cases.

Mizoram has registered 297 infections so far, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has recorded 207 cases.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said, adding the state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation. (Agencies)

Now, Trashing of Art 370and Beyond” has been deleted from the chapter, the

scrapping of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir special status, has been includ-ed under the topic “Regional Aspirations”.

On August 5 last year, the Centre had scrapped the state’s special status and divided it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

“One strand of separatists who want a separate Kashmiri nation, independent of India and Paki-stan. Then there are groups that want Kashmir to merge with Pakistan. Besides these, there is a third strand, which wants greater autonomy for the people of the state within the Indian union,” the deleted portion read.

The chapter then talks about the President’s Rule imposed in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew its sup-port to the Mehbooba Mufti government and towards the end mentions the withdrawal of Article 370.

The revised portion, where the chapter talks about Jammu and Kashmir, says, “Jammu and Kashmir had a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. However, in spite of it, the region witnessed violence, cross-border ter-rorism and political instability with internal and external ramifications”.

“The Article resulted in the loss of many lives, including that of innocent civilians, security per-sonnel and militants. Besides, there was also a large scale displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley,” it read.

“On August 5, 2019, Parliament had approved a resolution abrogating special status to J and K un-der Article 370 of the Constitution. The state was also bifurcated into two Union territories Ladakh with no Legislative Assembly and Jammu and Kashmir with one,” the revised portion read.

The revised textbook takes into account the de-velopments that took place in Jammu and Kash-mir from 2002 onward.

Earlier this month, a controversy had erupted over the reduction of syllabus by the CBSE due to the COVID-19 situation, with the Opposition alleging that chapters on India’s democracy and plurality are being “dropped” to propagate a particular ideology.

But the Board had insisted it is a one-time mea-sure for this academic year only and is not restrict-ed to a particular subject as is being projected by some. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had notified the new syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the 2020-21 academic session after ratio-nalising up to 30 per cent of the curriculum.

According to the updated curriculum, the chap-ters deleted from the Class 10 syllabus are those dealing with democracy and diversity, gender, re-ligion and caste, popular struggles and movement and challenges to democracy.

For Class 11, the deleted portions include the chap-ters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, secular-ism and growth of local governments in India.

Similarly, Class 12 students will not be required to study the chapters on India’s relations with its neighbours — Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the changing nature of India’s eco-nomic development, social movements in India and demonetisation, among others. (Agencies)

Intermittent Rainfallin the Union Territory of Ladakh during the next 24

hours. He said that Srinagar has received 47 mm rain since June 1, which was 21 mm less than normal. The weather turned pleasant due to intermittent rain and cloudy skies since Monday night in Srinagar much to the delight of the people, who remained confined to their houses due to fresh lockdown imposed in view of upward spiral in COVID-19 cases and deaths. After re-corded the hottest day of the season so far at 33.2 degree on Monday, the maximum temperature on Tuesday dipped and settled several degrees below normal in the city, where some interior roads were waterlogged in the morning due to overnight rain.

Intermittent incessant rain also lashed world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, resulting in dip in the max-imum and minimum temperatures. The ski resort continued to remain deserted as locals and tour-ists have not visited Gulmarg in view of lockdown in the valley to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

There is much needs relief from hot weather due to rain for people living in other parts of the valley, including Sopore, Baramulla, Kupwara in north Kashmir, Qazigund, gateway to the valley, and tour-ist resort of Kokernag. Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, also received intermittent light to moderate rain since late last night, resulting in dip in the maximum and minimum temperatures. About a week ago, a video in which officials though loudspeakers could be heard directing locals to leave to tourist spot within two hours in view of COVID-19 pandemic has gone viral on social media. (UNI)

Incoming MigrantHe said that the laborers will be tested in the re-

spective districts of work and in this regard, Pole di-rected all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Kashmir to constitute three member teams and train them for smooth conduct of antigen testing of all laborers.

The Div Com instructed the DCs to identify cen-trally located places and structures like schools, bus stands and vacant buildings to conduct these tests and added that antigen testing shall help in quick identification of the positive cases and their separation from others to control spread of the dis-ease. He said that the positive laborers shall be im-mediately sent into quarantine, while as negative shall be allowed for work at brick kilns.

The Div Com directed concerned to put in place all required facilities, necessary infrastructure and keep PPE kits available for the staff to be de-ployed at these testing centers.

Stressing on coordinated efforts by the con-cerned, the Div Com called for decongestion of 4 tertiary care hospitals in Srinagar and reverse re-ferral of patients to districts for effective contain-ment of Covid-19 infection.

The concerned DCs and health officers were instructed to raise the current bed capacity in their districts to avoid referrals and besides were directed to check bed availability before patient referral to Srinagar. He emphasized on the smooth functioning of newly adopted designated struc-tures for Covid-19 positive patient care including Hajj House Bemina, PHC Chanpora.

The Div Com laid emphasis on the adherence of all SOPs and guidelines across all districts in letter and spirit and besides directed DCs to rope in religious leaders for IEC activities and awareness generation on importance of use of face mask and maintaining of social distancing protocol among people to keep Covid at bay. He stressed on daily updating of discharged pa-tients from all districts and proper functioning of dedi-cated Covid-19 ambulances in all districts.

Various issues including maintenance of plasma bank, availability of medicines, selection of nurses, and maintenance of patient directory were also dis-cussed threadbare in the meeting. Among others, the meeting was attended by DC Srinagar, MD, NHM, VC SDA, Director Health Services, OSD, H&ME, ACD, CMO Srinagar and senior health officers.

Director SKIMS Soura, DCs and SSPs of all dis-tricts, Principal SKIMS JVC Bemina also attended the meeting through video conferencing.

J&K To Getoutbreak of novel Coronavirus.Under the package, the Union government

has allocated Rs 90,000 crore financial package to assist power distribution companies (Discoms) who have been under stress during the lock-down caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation would extend special long term tran-sition loans up to 10 years to DISCOMs. According to the documents, the 10-year loan has three-year moratorium period and is repayable in 84 EMIs (Equated Monthly Installments).

The package has been sanctioned at a time when J&K is struggling to clear liabilities of Central Public Sector Undertakings (generating companies), Trans-mission Companies and Independent Power Produc-ers. The documents reveal that J&K owes Rs 9646 to them on account of power purchases and transmission charges. Now, the administration of Union Territory will require to execute Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with PFC and REC to avail the loan.

In 2016, J&K joined Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. Under the scheme, the State Government was permitted to restructure the out-standing debt of Rs.3537.55 crore on account of power purchased from various Central Public Sector Under-takings (CPSUs). J&K power purchase liabilities are swelling due to massive gap between power purchases and revenue generated from consumers. (KNO)

LG Launches 73e-inaugurated includes 8-bridges, 5-schools,

2-colleges, 3-receiving stations, 5-hospitals, 4-hos-tels, 9-Water Supply Schemes, 7-buildings and 5 other works during his visit to Bandipora, Kup-wara, Kulgam, Pulwama ,Shopian and Baramu-lla districts. Lieutenant Governor also laid e-foun-dation of 21 mega projects that include, 50-bedded Ayush Hospital at Kupwara, 2-Hospital at Kulgam and Sopore, 2-transit accommodations at Shopi-an and Kupwara, 5-road projects, 2-Water Supply Schemes, 1-number of 12 Mega Watt Hydro Electric Project, 2 Colleges, 4-buildings and 1-Indoor Stadium and Community Bunkers in these districts.

Lieutenant Governor was accompanied by Ad-visor to LG Baseer Ahmad Khan; Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh; Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K. Pole; respective Deputy Commissioners, SSPs and other concerned offi-cers of various departments. During meeting with DCs, Lieutenant Governor reviewed the pace and progress of ongoing development projects execut-ed by Health, RDD, PWD, Jal Shakti, PDD, Agri-culture/ Horticulture and other departments in all these Districts. He stressed on concerned to ex-pedite the work process on all under construction projects to ensure their speedy completion.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor also re-viewed containment procedures and arrange-ments put in place by the DCs to control spread of Covid-19 disease in their Districts. He instructed concerned to ensure all procedures and guidelines including use of face mask, social distancing pro-tocol and all other SOPs in letter and spirit. Be-sides, directed concerned to maintain close vigil in infected areas to contain spread of the infection.

During the extensive tour to 5- districts, as many as 103 delegations called upon Lieutenant Governor and apprised him of their issues and demands. The delegation which met Lieutenant Governor includ-ed PRIs, ULB representatives, traders, Civil Society and Youth Organizations, demanding prompt re-action and redressal. The delegations listed 608 de-mands / issues with Lieutenant Governor in these Districts. Lieutenant Governor gave patient hearing to the issues and demands raised by the deputations and directed concerned to ensure prompt action and speedy resolution of all demands.

Work on 140 Community(Uri/Boniyar) in Baramulla district, 30 in

Gurez in Bandipora district and 60 in Karnah sec-tor in Tangdhar area of Kupwara district.

People living close to the LoC in Kashmir had staged a series of protests and raised a strong voice to demand community bunkers in their villages in the wake of frequent LoC shelling that triggered fear and caused immense damage to the life and property. Officials said that the construction for underground community bunkers has already started which will comprise of two rooms and a washroom to ensure the safety of masses during cross LoC shelling.

They said that the construction will be com-pleted this year. A top official in the Gurez area of Bandipora district said that the construction of 30 underground community bunkers is underway among which at least 15 have been completed and are ready to be used while the remaining are be-ing constructed on a fast track basis. In Kupwara district, the officials said that the construction of around 120 bunkers was sanctioned but the ab-sence of proper ground space has forced the ad-ministration to club the individual bunkers into underground community bunkers.

“The construction of 60 full-fledged under-ground community bunkers is underway in the villages close to LoC,” the officials said. A top official said that on the similar pattern, the con-struction of community bunkers is also underway at Keran sector. Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Uri, Riyaz Ahmad said that the construction of community bunkers is underway and 50 will be completed in the first phase while the cost of a sin-gle bunker is Rs 10 lakh.

He said by the end of forthcoming September they should be able to complete the construction of 50 community bunkers. “We have also proposed the construction of 175 individual bunkers but haven’t floated the tender yet due to some technical issues,”

he said. It may be recalled that border shelling has killed hundreds of people in Kashmir and Jammu region since 1990, and left scores handicapped for-ever. Besides, houses and livestock worth billions of rupees have also been damaged as well due the cross LoC shelling in J&K in the past 30 years.

The community bunkers were sanctioned in ear-ly 1990’s by the then government after which a few were constructed and then the process was left mid-way. Since then, there had been a huge demand from the people living close to the LoC in three northern districts of Kashmir as many of them had decided to migrate given the frequent exchange of shelling be-tween the armies of India and Pakistan. (KNO)

India NeedsCan’t do that by saying, ‘I’m going to stay away from it all,

and when I find it convenient I will step out’. Either you’re in the game or you’re not in the game. The era of great caution ,and greater dependence on multilateralism, is behind us. We have to step out more. We have to be more confident, we have to articulate our interests better. We need to take risks. Without taking risks, you can’t get ahead. Those are choices we have to make,” the minister said.

Jaishankar’s remarks come as Covid and China’s border challenge pose both a crisis and an opportunity for India to reset its own economic and international compact. Answering a question whether non-align-ment is all about distance from the US, he said, “Non-alignment is a term of a particular era and a par-ticular geopolitical landscape. There are two aspects to it. One part of it is to be independent, which has reso-nances from our history and freedom movement. That remains and is the continuity factor. The other part was legitimate in the ‘50s and ‘60s — stay out of trouble, don’t get entangled in other people’s problems.”

The minister further said: “Today, India has a contribution to make. People turn to us for solutions. We’re no longer the bystander. We have a contribu-tion to make. We have to weigh in on big issues — like the rules for connectivity, maritime security, terrorism and climate change.” (Agencies)

Army Gets ‘Bharat’“The Indian Army requires drones for accurate sur-

veillance in the ongoing dispute in the Eastern Ladakh area. For this requirement, the DRDO has provided the Bharat drones to it,” defence sources said.

The Bharat drones have been developed by a Chandigarh-based laboratory of the Defence Re-search and Development Organisation.

The Bharat series of drones, indigenously devel-oped by the DRDO, can be listed among “World’s most agile and lightest Surveillance drone.”

DRDO sources said the “small yet powerful drone works autonomously at any location with great accuracy. The unibody biomimetic design with advanced release technology is a lethal com-bination for surveillance missions”. The drone is equipped with artificial intelligence to detect friends and foes and can take action accordingly.

The drone has been made capable of survival in extreme cold weather temperatures and is being developed further for harsher weather.

The drone provides real-time video transmission and is equipped with very advanced night vision ca-pabilities, it can detect humans hidden in deep forests.

It is gaining a lot of popularity because it can op-erate in swarm operations, sources said. (Agencies)

Eid-ul-Adha:He said that greater public cooperation will lead us to

a significant drop in the number of positive test results. Sources said that the divisional administration will final-ised the standard operating procedures (SOPs) regard-ing the handling of cattle markets, and smart lockdown measures in several places of the valley ahead of Eid ul Adha. “It is likely that the same plan that was followed during Eid ul Fitr in May for congregational prayers will be adopted for Eid ul Adha as well,” sources claimed. Sources said that necessary guidelines will be forwarded to all the stakeholders including deputy commissioners, district health officers and the police. The residents here in Srinagar said that with approaching Eid,people are getting careless now. “I have a sign on my shop that says, ‘no mask, no service,’ but people still enter without them, and sometimes it leads to arguments. If the people will lose interest in safety measures, espe-cially during Eid, I fear the virus could become a big problem.”

Sources said that the restrictions in place at the coronavirus containment zones would continue and no laxity would be extended on Bakri Eid. (KINS)

‘Rates Fixed Forregard and offenders have been penalized.

Talking to a local news gathering agency, Ghulam Rasool, a local resident from Srinagar said that the Qurabani (sacrificial) animals are being sold at ex-orbitant rates while the authorities concerned are acting as mute spectators. Earlier on Monday, the government re-fixed rates of sacrificial livestock.

“Consequent upon the decisions taken in the meet-ing regarding fixing/review of rates of sacrificial (Qur-bani) live stock held on 14-07-2020 and in supersession of all previous notifications issued on the subject and in exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Jammu & Kashmir Mutton Licensing & Control Or-der, 1973 read with SRO-31 dated. 31-01-1974, I, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Director, Food Civil Supplies and Con-sumer Affairs Kashmir hereby revise and refix the sale rate of Qurbani live stock,” the order reads.

The rates as per the order is Sheep (Delhi Walla) Rs. 230 per live per kg, Sheep (Merino Cross) Rs. 230 per live per Kg, Sheep (Bakerwall) Rs. 220/- live per kg, Sheep (Kashmiri local) Rs. 220/- live per Kg and goat Rs. 210/-live per kg.

However, the people have alleged that the sacrifi-cial animals are being sold by the people as per their will. “Some sellers are selling it at the cost of Rs 500 per live kg,” Nazir Ahmad, a local resident said, add-ing that the concerned department should take strict action against the offenders so that the people can get their sacrificial animals as per the fixed rates.

Meanwhile, Director Food Civil Supplies and Con-sumer Affairs (FCSCA), Bashir Ahmad Khan said that they have already started a drive in this regard and two cases have already been registered against the norm violators. He added that the teams are being sent to the places where from the complaints are being received, adding that the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir is chairing a meeting tomorrow in this regard.

“We have penalized many of the offenders so far and we will continue to launch drives against the violators till Eid-ul-Adha,” he said. (KNO)

Two Army Menwas going on when the report was last filed.

(KNO)

Man Booked Undera dossier was prepared by Senior Superinten-

dent of Police (SSP) Samba and forwarded it to the District Magistrate who formally issued the order of his detention under the PSA.

The detention warrant was executed by a Police team headed by Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Vijaypur and the accused has been lodged in Sub Jail Hiranagar. (KNO)

....fRoM The fRonT Page

SRINAGAR /WEDNESDAY / 22 JULY I 2020NEWS OBSERVERSRINAGAR

03

Lt Governor asks people to come forward with their developmental needs• Visits Baramulla, takes stock of people's grievancesSO NEWS DESK

SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today asked the people to come forward with their developmental needs and participate in Government’s decision making so that the ultimate goal of equitable development is achieved.

The Lt Governor was on his visit to Baramulla where he interacted with around 20 public delegations to get the first hand appraisal of local issues and gather feedback about the developmental aspirations of the people of the District.

Meanwhile, the Lt Governor in-augurated eight developmental proj-ects worth Rs 12 cr and laid founda-tion stones of three projects worth Rs 14.60 cr for Baramulla district. He also took stock of the progress made on various developmental proj-ects and works under execution.

The Lt Governor was accompanied by Advisor to the Lieutenant Gover-nor, Baseer Ahmad Khan; Division-al Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K. Pole; IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar; Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr G N Itoo; heads of various depart-ments, besides district and sectoral officers.

In continuation to his public out-reach programme, the Lt Governor interacted with various delegations included BDC Chairpersons, Mu-

nicipal Committee Presidents, Ho-teliers Association Gulmarg, Trad-ers Federation Baramulla, Fruit Growers Association, Sikh Civil Society, Shri Sanatan Dharam Sab-ha, Kashmir Chamber of Horticulture and Agriculture, All J&K NYC As-sociation, CIC Operators, Civil So-ciety members from various towns, who apprised him about their issues and demands of vital public signifi-cance.

The members of these deputations projected various demands pertain-ing to empowerment of PRIs & their proper security and accommodation; augmentation of healthcare infra-structure; waiving off KCC loans; augmentation of irrigation and drink-ing water facilities; strengthening road connectivity; establishment of proper dumping sites at Baramulla

and Sopore; special economic pack-age for various stakeholders viz trad-ers, transporters, farmers etc who suffered badly due to present cir-cumstances; completion of 4-laning of Narbal-Baramulla stretch of NH44; construction of additional bunkers in border areas; beautification of Jhelum embankment etc.

While interacting with the members of the delegations, the Lt Governor observed that the Government is taking comprehensive measures to cater to the developmental needs of the people of J&K.

Special focus is being laid on prompt service delivery through speedy and timely disposal of public grievances for an effective and citizen centric governance, he added.

The Lt Governor assured the mem-bers of the delegations that all the

genuine issues projected by them would be reviewed for their early redressal and sought their active participation in the developmental process. He asked the locals to reap maximum benefits out of various welfare schemes and programmes launched by the Government.

He further directed the concerned officers to mobilize all the available resources for completion of all un-dertaken, incomplete and languish-ing projects, besides B2V works in a time bound manner.

The Lt Governor also advised the people to take all necessary precau-tions including wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing and follow all SOP’s issued by the government with regard to the con-tainment of COVID-19 pandemic.

The eight projects inaugurated today included District Veterinary Polyclinic Baramulla; 150 bedded Gujjar and Bakerwal Hostel at Jetty Baramulla; 0.54 MGD RSFP at Ra-woocha; 0.16 MGD RSFP at Mongam Wagoora; OHT Kareva Astanpora; OHT Vizer; Administrative Block for PHC Sheeri and Health Infra-structure under CSR.

Whereas, the works for which foundation stones were laid includ-ed Sub-district Hospital Sopore, construction of Science block at Women’s Degree College Baramulla and Community Bunker at Uri.

Universities, higher education institutes have a greater role in shaping

nation’s future: Advisor SharmaSO NEWS DESK

SRINAGAR: Advisor to, Lieutenant Governor, K K Sharma, today said that Uni-versities and Higher educa-tion institutions have a greater role and responsibil-ity towards shaping nation’s future into a better world to live in.

The Advisor was speaking at the valedictory function of a 5 day orientation program of Indian Institute of Man-agement (IIM), Jammu, which he attended through video conferencing from Srinagar.

Advisor Sharma said that India is witnessing huge transformation in several significant fields and our educational institutions must be quick on their feet to an-ticipate future trends as well as adapt, evolve and respond to any kind of disruptions. He said that it is heart-warm-ing to note that IIM Jammu is according deep focus on developing ethical leaders and entrepreneurs that are not just committed to busi-ness and industry, but are also socially conscious to-wards their contribution in nation building and repre-senting the country on a global platform.

“I wish to mention that IIM Jammu has great potential and a larger role to play in the newly formed Union Ter-ritory of Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the country as a whole and it is going to be one of the finest institutions globally”, the Advisor said . The existence of an institute like IIM Jammu in our Union Territory holds an important role for our progress and growth, he maintained.

Advisor asserted that “Jammu is having almost all the major institutes of national importance. We now have IIT, IIM, AIIMs, IIIM and IIMC in Jammu and I am sure they all are going to play a big role in the prog-ress of J&K”. He said that IIM Jammu is soon going to start its off site-campus in Srinagar which will also have an incubator and will ini-tially focus on entrepreneur-ship and executive education.

Advisor said that the gov-

ernment has already prom-ised all necessary support for setting up of the perma-nent campus in Srinagar. The Srinagar campus will give broad outreach to the institute and help J&K in achieving greater economic prosperity through capacity building and entrepreneur-ship development in the re-gion, he added.

“I would encourage all of the young minds, to utilize skills and capabilities to become ‘employment gen-erators’ and not ‘employment seekers’. Building infrastruc-ture in remote areas of the country and developing all the sectors of the economy are the biggest challenges and their enormous respon-sibility rests on your shoul-ders as professional”, the Advisor exhorted upon the youth.

Pertinently, Indian Insti-tute of Management, Jammu began the last day of its 5 day Orientation program for the 5th batch of MBA (2020-22) and the 1st batch of PhD (2020-24) with an online yoga ses-sion conducted by Vaijay-anti Joshi. She performed different yoga aasanas with students and urged them to make Suryanamaskar as a part of their daily routine. She concluded the five day Yoga workshop by quoting, “My aim is to provide a ho-listic view of Yoga to manage-ment students which will help them in becoming re-sponsible future leaders”.

The event was also at-tended by Sandip Das, Former MD & CEO, Reliance Jio who spoke on the topic ‘Leaders in These Times and Any Times’. The industry vet-eran explained the students about the importance of au-thenticity among the other

leadership skills and advised students to be true to them-selves.

Ranjit Singh, Former MD, Kalpataru Power Transmis-sion Limited and Member BoG, IIM Jammu, spoke on ‘Circular Economy’. He ex-plained to students how the conventional linear model of economy i.e. take-make-consume-dispose has changed to take-make-use-recycle in the circular econ-omy.

Thereafter, a session was taken by Rajeev Krishnan, Former MD & CEO, SPAR Hypermarkets and Land-mark Group on the topic ‘Emotional Quotient and the Digital Soul’.

Amit Ghosh, Joint Secre-tary, GOI, enlightened the students about the chal-lenges faced in the revival of infrastructure in India. Starting with the Bharat-mala Pariyojana, details of various others projects were shared. He also discussed some facts on Direct Employ-ment.

Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director IIM Jammu, delivered impel-ling words on the “Role of Students” in branding IIM Jammu. He talked about the importance of participation and being inquisitive besides highlighting the importance of research.

Dr. Milind Kamble, Chair-man, BOG, IIM Jammu, extended warm greetings to the students and inspired students to contribute to-wards nation building.

Prof. Manoj Kumar, Chair-person MBA, presented the report of the 5 day Orientation program.

Prof. Jabir Ali, Chairper-son, Placements of IIM Jammu, delivered Vote of thanks.

Water Shortage: Wailing women with empty vessels stage protest outside

Shopian DM officeAGENCIES

SHOPIAN: Large number of women with empty vessels blocked the road outside District Development Office here in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Tuesday morning for not getting drink-ing water supply.

These women who hail from Shaksaaz Mohalla Pin-jura area of Shopian saidthat it has become a routine for them now to consume con-taminated water from nal-

lahs. Some of the women were seen bursting in tears ruing their fate. “I have no energy now to fetch water from far flung areas for my family. I have got fed up with this process. It is very cum-bersome for us to get drink-ing water,” Saleema Bano

said. One of the protesting women said that the problem in the village persists from past 30 years. “Only prom-ises were made by politicians and officers, but those prom-ises turn hollow,” she said.

The officials rushed to spot and pacified the protest-ing women. “District Devel-opment Commissioner has taken cognizance of the protest and directed con-cerned department to ensure water supply to the concerned village,” an official said.

Now nursing officer 'beaten up' at SMHS Hospital,

2 attendants arrested

AGENCIES

SRINAGAR: Police on Tuesday arrested two attendants after they allegedly beat up a Nursing Officer at SMHS Hospital Srinagar.

The incident took place at a time when several doctors and paramedics were beaten up in last one week in various hospitals of Srinagar.

Asif Samad, Nursing Officer at SMHS Hospital Srinagar said he was in the ICU when he was beaten up by two at-tendants.

"There were two patients in the ICU. One was stable and another on ventilator. The attendants of patient who was stable told us that oxygen saturation of another patient is down and he should be shifted to another ventilator. We told them that the patient has pneumonia owing which his oxygen level is low. We told them shifting patient to an-other ventilator won't make any difference. We told them they should not interfere into our work and we should not be held responsible then if anything happens to the patient," he said.

On this, he said two attendants who were not with the patient, who was on ventilator started beating him.

"I received injuries on my chest and head," he said, who is now under observation at the hospital.

Medical Superintendent Dr Nazir Chowdhary said one of the staffers of the hospital was beaten up by attendants.

"Police was informed about the incident. Two persons have been arrested and case registered by the police," he said.

The doctors also went on strike on Sunday after doctors at two GMC Srinagar hospitals were beaten up by attendants of patients.

The strike was called off Sunday evening “in the interest of patient care”.

A junior resident was beaten up by attendants of a patient admitted at SMHS Hospital’s COVID19 ward. A similar incident was reported from Super Specialty Hospital. Doc-tors and nurses have been demanding adequate security to be provided in hospitals so that such incidents are stopped.(KINS)

Restore Statehood to address simmering political disengagement in J&K: Altaf Bukhari

NHAI makes Lakhanpur toll plaza operational, Locals protest, demand dissolution of decisionISHTIYAQ AHMAD

SRINAGAR: After six months of abolishing excise toll plaza from Jammu and Kashmir’s entry gate Lakhanpur in Kath-ua district, the National High-way Authority of India (NHAI) made Lakhanpur toll plaza in Kathua district operational from Tuesday morning.

The toll plaza was inaugu-rated by Ajay Kumar Rajak, project director, Jammu NHAI.

“It could not be made opera-tional due to certain reasons. We have now made it opera-tional and local people within a radius of 20-km would be is-sued a monthly pass,” Rajak said. The NHAI has signed a Letter of Agreement for opera-tionalisation of the toll plaza at Lakhanpur with Haryana-based Ranchordas Company. With this, all Kashmir-bound tourists and Vaishno Devi pil-grims entering or leaving J&K will now shell out extra money on toll at three different toll posts, Thandi Khui toll plaza, Ban Toll Plaza and Lakhanpur toll plaza.

Two more toll posts, one each at the upcoming Ring Road and Jammu-Akhnoor highway have also been proposed in the region.

The commencement of toll plaza triggered protests in the area. A large contingent of po-lice and paramilitary police personnel was deployed at Lakhanpur keeping in view the apprehensions of protests and unrest in the area.

“Jammu has become land of Toll Plaza.“All five districts of Jammu through which Jammu Srinagar Highway passes have toll Plazas. The new toll will adversely affect the Vaishno Devi pilgrims, who now have to pay road tax at three Toll Plazas to reach their destina-tion,” said one of the protesters.

This is the fourth toll collec-tion centre in Jammu province. “Toll plaza would prove the last nail in the coffin of transport-ers who have already been fac-ing huge losses,” said another protester.

The protestors had a scuffle with the security personnel after they tried to march toward the toll collection centre. Later, they also courted their arrest in protest against operation-alisation of the toll plaza.

Few days before People of Jammu, particularly of Kath-ua district had staged a massive protest over operationalisation of a new toll plaza at Lakhanpur on Jammu Pathankot stretch or road.

A large group of youth led by Congress leader Kashboo Bhagat had staged a sit-in, installed barricades and raised anti government slogans.

Further more Bhagat said that the time is not appropriate to tax people , who are already suffering from Corona pan-demic.

“The financial health of people is not good, many youth lost their jobs during this Co-rona crisis, private sectors jobs already collapsed, no econom-ic activities in the market. Instead of mitigating the prob-lems of people, the government imposed more taxes,” she had said, adding, “we demand re-vocation or this toll plaza and special concession for people of Jammu in already established toll plazas”.

Earlier in October 2019 NHAI started toll plaza at Sarore along Jammu-Pathankot highway, which had witnessed severe protests in Jammu. After facing back-ash state BJP demanded immediate abolishment of toll plaza in view of the security and political turbulence in the state.

AGENCIES

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Tues-day emphasized the urgency for res-toration of Statehood to J&K in order to overcome the simmering political disengagement prevalent among the people. Addressing a meeting of JKAP leaders and prominent workers at party office in Gandhi Nagar-Jammu while maintaining the COVID-19 social and health protocol, Bukhari remarked that re-establishing J&K as a State would be a practical step to bring good governance, economic development and peace and stability to the region. “The situation in Jam-mu and Kashmir has reached a stage where the people have virtually lost trust with the institution of governance and political process,” the JKAP president observed adding that lack of responsiveness in the government offices has added to the already exist-ing levels of alienation and discon-tentment among the people.

He said that any further delay in restoration of Statehood can increase the feeling of powerlessness, cynicism and lack of confidence in the political process, politicians and democratic institutions within J&K.

“JKAP reiterates its demand and

reminds the Country’s leadership of its promise on J&K’s Statehood. People are anxiously waiting for the announcement of this decision and sooner the better,” Bukhari opined.

Meanwhile, the JKAP president urged the Lieutenant Governor led government to go for one-time elec-tricity and water usage charges waiver for all small, medium and large commercial and other business es-tablishments especially in the tourism sector which is already in distress since August 5 last year.

“Almost all the shopkeepers, trad-ers, and other small, medium and big business units including private schools have been badly hit since August last year and the COVID-19 pandemic has grossly added to their woes. Deferring the payment of elec-tricity and water usage charges would be injustice with them. We demand that these charges should be waived off for the commercial sector in view of the prevailing circumstances,”

Bukhari demanded.Expressing serious concern over

the growing number of COVID-19 fatalities in J&K, the JKAP president called for all possible efforts by the government in order to minimize the spike in cases of Pandemic. He ap-pealed to the people to follow the social and health guidelines of COVID-19 so as to reduce the number of deaths due to this deadly disease.

“We should follow the words of ad-vice of health experts in letter and spirit if we really want to contain this spread of this pandemic. The LG led government should also take all mea-sures on war footing to minimize the number of deaths, being reported because of the COVID in J&K,” he demanded.

The meeting was attended by Mo-hammad Dilawar Mir, Aijaz Ahmad Khan, Vijay Bakaya, Manjit Singh, Choudhary Qamar Hussain, Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, Kamal Arora, Vikram Malhotra, Syed Asghar Ali, Nam-reeta Sharma, Yawar Mir, Raqeeq Ahmad Khan, Madan Lal Chalotra, Bodh Raj, Anuj Manhas, Vijaynder Dutta, Aijaz Ali Kazimi, Neilanjan Arora, Raj Kumar Lagotra, Vaibhav Mattoo, Amandeep Singh Chopra, Yasir Choudhary, Janmeet Singh, Sandeep Gandotra and Satishwar Singh. (KINS)

Srinagar Police busts gang of car lifters, accused arrested; 05 stolen vehicles recoveredSO NEWS DESK

SRINAGAR: Srinagar Police have busted a gang of car lifters, arrested one accused person and recovered 05 stolen vehicles.

On 16th July 2020 Police Post Be-mina received a complaint from Amir Maqbool son of Mohd Maqbool resident of Hyderpora Srinagar that his Maru-ti Car bearing registration No. JK01K-4803 has been stolen from Bemina. Accordingly case FIR No.142/2020 under relevant sections of law was registered in Police Station Parimpora and investigation was

initiated.During the course of investigation

many suspects were called and after detailed questioning, Police was able to get a lead and arrested one accused person identified as Mohd Umer Ga-gro son of Gh Rasool Gagro resident of Razi Kadal Saifdinpora Srinagar. He is believed to be a King-Pin and is involved in manzphq theft cases.

On his disclosure, officers were able to recover 5 vehicles including ECCO registration No. JK01R/8243, Santro Chasis No. 646189, Maruti registration No. JK01G/3766, JK01K/4803 and Maruti 800 bearing Eng No. 2495820.

These vehicles were stolen from dif-ferent places in District Srinagar.

Several suspects have been ques-tioned and some members of the mod-ule have surfaced, who are presently at large and efforts are on to effect their arrest soon and more recoveries are expected from them.

Subsequently, a Special investiga-tion team comprising of SDPO West & In-charge PP Bemina has been formed under close Supervision of SP West.

Furthermore investigation is still going on and many more arrests are expected.

After developing alternate App of ‘Share-it’, Chadoora youth now comes up with App for Cam ScannerNAvEED Ul HAQ

BUDGAM: A youth from Chadoora area of central Kash-mir's Budgam district, who had developed a mobile ap-plication for sharing files as an alternative to Shareit, has now developed another mobile application as an alternative to Cam Scanner, which was recently banned across India by the Union Government. According to the news agency the 29.63MB application which is now available on Play store titled ‘Document scanner tool’ was developed by Tipu Sultan Wani as an alternative to Cam Scanner.

Cam Scanner, Shareit and 58 other applications were banned by the government across India after India and China face-off at Galwan Valley in Ladakh Union Terri-tory last month.

“This application is working freely, the app has all fea-tures unlocked thus it doesn't need any paid subscription. It can help you to scan documents.

SRINAGAR /WEDNESDAY / 22 JULY I 2020 EDIT04 OBSERVERSRINAGAR

Printer, Publisher, Owner & Editor: Parvaiz Ahmad Khan Exe. Editor: Raja Muzamil Published From: Dadi Kadal Tanki Pora D.C Office Road, Srinagar Kashmir -190001, Cell No: +91-9419007532, +91-9419007530 Tele/Fax: 0194-2486069 Printed at : Khidmat Offset Press The Bund Srinagar Regd : JKNP-177 RNI No: JKENG/2012/43267

History is the systematic learn-ing of the past. In the narrowest sense, it is called the study of the past. In the broadest sense,

it is call d the study of the past with rel-evance to the present and the planning for the future. In our society, history is never taken seriously. In this regard, a scholar has said that the greatest lesson of history is that men don’t learn very much from the lesson of history is the most important of all lessons of History. So, in short history can never be over-looked. I often hear this phrase that his-tory repeats itself in one way or another. But in our case, it repeats and imparts lessons but we are lost somewhere in the scheme of things. What are the reasons that we don’t learn anything from histo-ry? Is our history inferior than others? Is our way of approaching history wrong?

These questions will be discussed in this piece of writing.

The first cause responsible for this is that we don’t know our about identity. We are unaware about ourselves. Any community that doesn’t know its origin has less chances to be historically im-portant. It clearly means that they will have no including towards their history. They will spend the limited days here and go to somewhere else without doing good in the world.

The second responsible for this is that we don’t the worth of history. We don’t know the value of historical sites, per-sons, achievements, etc. Any thing that provides us with money, is welcomed by us while the historical sites look like futile things for us. What is the need of a brick that is millions of years old? What is the fun of studying coins? What is the use of bones of human beings and animals? What shall we do with the agri-cultural equipments of the bygone past? This kind of mindset will never allow us to give credit to these precious things. However, we will throw them away if the present trend continues.

The third cause responsible for this is that our society doesn’t believe in research. They believe in status quo or they want to change their future without

knowing anything about the past. They hate to go the historical sites and learn anything. Moreover, the massacre of the past doesn’t move us. We move on. No lesson is learnt from the incident. We should be good. This is the present mind-set of our society. We will never bother to ponder over this fact that why revolu-tions occur. Who brings them? Why do they occur in a particular age? What is the need of a revolution?

The fourth cause responsible for this is that we shift loyalties. One day, we shout slogans that we want history to be restored. But after a brief period of time, we lack enthusiasm. We should have a one mindset about history. It doesn’t mean that there must be one way of thinking. No, I mean to say that if our history is common, the ways of approaching it should be different. It should be sieved and the residue should be utilized in some constructive ways. When we don’t know history, how to ap-proach it differently. So, we should know our history at the earliest and then we can dream of consensus on history.

The fifth cause responsible for this is that history is deliberately distorted in our coun-try. False narratives are put forward so they the particular goal is achieved. They never bother to care about the truth. Their way

of thinking dies not permit them to weigh their steps carefully. They are intoxicated and they forget about the legal and the ille-gal things. We have live examples of this. The Muslims contribute a lot in the making of grand India. However, they did have loop-holes. But it doesn’t mean that we neglected their contribution. They contributed a lot in making grand India. Today, I am proud to call myself an Indian but there are certain elements in society that are hell bent upon to cause tention. In this way, history is tak-en for a ride. And the same thing happens in our society.

The last cause responsible for this in my opinion is that we imitate others. Ours is a different story. We can’t follow their history, though it looks like ours. Diversity matters the most and that is the essence of history. Without diversi-ty, one cannot think of history.

Let us hope that we should try to learn from history. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan said that if we don’t get awakened, ours name won’t be in history. Before our name is erased, let us rise to the oc-casion and start learning from history. Overall, the Muslims like others have contributed a lot in making history.

(The Author is Graduate Student and writesRegularly for “ Srinagar Observer “ views are his own)

WHY DON’T WE LEARN FROM HISTORY?

In the backdrop of steep rise of Covid19 cases and deaths, the gov-ernment has re-imposed lockdown in many districts of the valley.

More and more young people are now falling victims to this deadly corona virus. Nevertheless most deaths are of elderly people, having some other co morbidities apart from Covid19, the surge of young ones being admitted at the hospitals has surrounded the valley in dread again. The fatalities reported during last several weeks exceed the to-tal deaths which took place in the first three months of the pandemic and the mortalities have now gone above 200.

After having remained closed for nearly about three months, the relax-ations in the lockdown from past few weeks cheered up the people. They be-came relieved and hopeful and gradual-ly started resuming their services and work. But they gave not due consider-ation to the preventive measures. All they perceived was that the virus had gone and the lockdown was over. But,

hardly had they started to be back on the track, than the valley witnessed a huge spike of Covid19 deaths and the admin-istration had to re-impose the lockdown.

By imposing the lockdown once again, there are certain queries in everybody’s mind that need to be ad-dressed. Will the lockdown prevent the spread of Covid19? Are the poor and indigent people going to suffer likewise as they did in the first one? Will people be beaten to the pulp by forces, if found roaming? Or above all, is the lockdown the only and ultimate solution to the Co-rona virus? In Kashmir, as had been ob-served in previous one, lockdown means to confine the people in their homes, keeping the shops shut except medical one’s, to make people do somersault if found guilty of not wearing masks, and torture them blindly without thinking what caused them to come on the roads. By acting in such ways our lockdown is never going to fetch fruitful results, rather it renders the life of people more miserable. Before we have strict restric-tions in place, we also need to think upon; what will those daily workers and labors do who would earn during the day and feed their families at night? What about the drivers of buses and mini-bus-es who are yet to resume their services completely? Many of these drivers have their vehicle issued on bank finance. By sitting locked up at home. How will they be able to pay it back? And the bank is not going to waive off any amount of it.

Nobody can belie the fact that the pre-vious lockdown contained the virus to a great extent. It did make the people stay indoors and avoid unnecessary wander-ing. At the same time the grievances and sufferings it caused to the people can’t be ruled out. As a result of all this, our hospitals became prepared for any exi-gency of Covid19. Hospitals tackled the Covid19 patients duly and it was not until the lockdown was eased out that the hospitals saw a tremendous rush of Covid19 patients. Doctors opine that the corona virus is in a third and dangerous phase, if necessary precautions are not taken, it can claim more lives in coming days. During the initial days of Covid19, hardly if any, young patient would die of it. But from the past few weeks the fa-talities of young people has become com-mon. It has made the situation panicky again in Kashmir.

Lockdown is not necessary neither a solution, what is important however is that the people follow precautions in letter and spirit. If lockdown is meant to confine and restrict the movement of the people, then it must be go right away, because the people can’t bear it anymore. If it’s like the erstwhile lock-down, then the daily workers are going to suffer again and what to speak of pau-per and destitute folk. They may face the worst. Moreover the ongoing season is the period of earning livelihood for such people; they in no way can tolerate an-other lockdown. They too have families

to feed, and what if they remain lodged at their homes?

Taking necessary measures is what the need of hour is. Before venturing out, one must ensure that one is equipped with a face mask and a sanitizer. At essential shops such as medical shops and grocery stores, gatherings should not be allowed to form. Shop owners should ensure that only a single person is allowed to buy, at a time. At government offices and banks, safe distance is to be maintained. Even at ATM facilities proper distancing ought to be kept among the queue forming in-dividuals. A sanitizer should be made available at all such points. People not wearing masks shouldn’t be allowed to enter by the guards. Personnel of traffic police should check every now and then that the drivers of sumo, mini buses and other passenger ferrying vehicles abide by the rules and not transgress what is required of them and if anybody found guilty of breaking the rules, a hefty fine should be imposed on him. By utterly re-stricting the people at homes, as had been done in previous lockdown, we may be able to contain the spread of Covid19, but the people will suffer tremendously. How-ever if we follow the necessary measures duly, we can kill two birds with a single shot, we may be able to prevent the spread of Covid19 and at the same time people would not have to suffer.

(The Author is Studying Zoology in Kashmir University).

IS LOCKDOWN A SOLUTION?

SYED MUSTAFA AHMAD

Syedmustafaahmad9@gmail.com.EDITORIAL

ARIF NABI

arifnabi.ku@gmail.com

Fake faith healers have occupied Kashmir from every side;Because the Kashmiris are gullible and have wounds green and very wide.They are gaining momentum day by day due to many il-lusionary ways!And they love to have magical wands so that the followers don’t take them for a false ride.Who is responsible for their growing business particularly in villages?Are the natives of the villages so ignorant that they deny the presence of fridges?They are supported by the higher authorities in this en-terprise!Because they all are hand in glove with the so-called di-vine bridges.Sexual assault is done with our male as well as female folk in the name of salvation!The private parts are touched by them so that the fire of hell becomes salutation.Masturbation is the nicest choice of these dirty insects;Because they are made up of the worst material and are the blots on the creation.Budgam district is a glittering example of this menace;Because the faith healer of this district is leading in this race.He loves to have a crowd of girls around him;Because he uses them for the dirty works and tries his best to leave no trace.The North Kashmir is almost the hub of this evil;Because the faith healers are the disciples of the most hate-ful devil.They have draped themselves with the so-called religious clothes;

But their whole bodies are the devilish and are after the concept of civil.South Kashmir gives the most heinous stories of shameful incidents;Because we are the most foolish community that believes in the fake accidents.All are under the magical influence of these healers;Because the inhabitants of the south Kashmir are fond of the falsest trends.Innumerable lives are destroyed by these innocent looking criminals!Because they are the champions of all the trades and have access to HG Wells.Innocence is almost gone from our societies due to their works;And when the foresightedness is lost, we become addicted to listening to the supernatural tales.Healing is losing your dignity in this part of the land!Dreams are broken in the name of the magical wand.These people are approached because the resources are less;But their deeds force a person to bow its head in a heap of sand.If you are suffering form a disease, die silently without any noise;Because If you approach these people, you will surely have a surprise.Access to your creator is very easy because He doesn’t need material;And we are devoid of senses because we like the things that are no prize.A single person can’t fight against this business that is rising day by day;

Because amongst the thousands of rays, it is difficult to find the truest ray.You should keep hatred about these things in your hearts;Because the ways leading to the falsehood are many but it is very difficult to find the truest way!A collective approach is the need of the hour;Because the vultures in the forms of human beings like to hover.If we really want to eliminate this menace, then we should be omnipresent;Because if we remain silent, then there will be a false cover.Change your mindset in order to save our future gener-ations;Because the frustrations of ours can’t be gifted to our fu-ture generations for their reactions.If our thoughts are changed, then the day isn’t far away when there will be comfort all around;But it takes time to fit yourselves in the different situations.Come forward and end this problem forever.If not, it will get us the fatalist fever.I don’t understand why do we need faith healers when we have the divine book that is possessing the real healing touch!And when we are caught in the worst quagmire of de-ception then we come to senses and begin the world very much.This is the worst form of mentality to leave the sun and go for the fake sources of light;And it hurts all the people because it is we that give rise to these sycophants and allow their worst arms to stretch.Why do the natives of this world don’t understand that your creator wants something else from you not these

kinds of irresponsible deeds?Because He knows it very well that my creation is in need of some important things not these people who possess the sycophantic beads.That is why, we are advised to remain cautious at every step of life;Because the thieves are watchmen and you can easily un-derstand what the situation will be of that very orchard ,when the thieves are on prowl and have the poisonous seeds.Nature never deceives and this the hallmark of that flaw-less creator;And it guides us to be always awake so that a single mo-ment of life is not wasted but should be like water.No need to go anywhere ,only to introspect and introspect deeply;Because you will come across an infinite universe that is expanding so fast that the marvellous brain stops working and after an experience of hundreds of years, a man calls himself a starter.If it is the case, then why are we looking here and there?And it is our indecency that has made us to be so shallow and low.In this case, these cheaters surface on the ground with the newest weapons in their hands;Because they know the nature of people very well and are well-versed in this subject how to force others to call a human being ,a crow.Where is their original home and where are they heading for?Because no calamity has befallen on them and they come out safe in the midst of a war.I think they are omnipresent and like to have their pres-ence everywhere;

Because they know it very well that this life is nothing but you don’t possess a car.Will they ender paradise or not?Because the prerequisites for entering into paradise are something else and their deeds are against these conditions ,where to find them if not in a knotty knot.Do they really bring disgrace to the society?In today’s part of the world, they are real people because they know it really well how to sort.All said and nothing done, the gullible people have become the victims of every vision;Because the leaders of these visions know it very well that the gullible people like to have every kind of corrosion.Why are the straight forward people exploited in this both the beautiful and ugly earth?I think it is their flaw that make then scapegoats and are used for every kind of erosion.Religious groups should avoid fighting on mere issues but work for the betterment of society;Because the necessities are mounting up day by day only to hurt the poor but creating a lot of space for the royalty.They should understand divinity in the divine sense not in the human sense;And if that happens then we should be in a position to know those who are our well wishers and who are work-ing for a destructive strategy.Let us pledge wholeheartedly that we will use our mar-vellous brain not to come under the illusive effects of this worldly charm;But instead, we will build the structure that is called the structure in this world and the hereafter ,only to follow the divine norm.

FAKE FAITH HEALERS!

Syed Mustafa Ahmad

KEEP EYE ON MARKET RATES

There has been no end to the overpricing of materials including the food stuff in the Valley amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Jammu and Kashmir, which

claimed over 250 lives and infected nearly 14,000 people in the Union Territory. The pandemic has caused huge losses to the people across the Union territory while the overpricing of the stuff in the markets is adding to their miseries. The government had earlier stated that it will book the hoarders and black marketers under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) after it received complaints from every nook and cor-ner regarding the overpricing of food stuff and other things. However, ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha, the people have been complaining that the sacrificial animals are being sold at the exorbitant rates in the Valley while the officials have claimed to have registered two cases in this regard and have also penalized the offend-ers. To address the concerns of the local popu-lace here, the concerned authorities should depute its teams on the ground to ensure the sacrificial (Qurbani) livestock is sold at the rates fixed by the government on July 20 (Mon-day). It is the time when people have already suffered huge losses since last year and to en-sure mitigate their hardships, the concerned department as well as the law enforcing agen-cy should visit the identified spots frequently to act against the offenders if any. In all the districts, the teams should be constituted to keep close vigil on the happenings related to the exorbitant rates of the sacrificial animals for the next over one week so that the common people here could heave a sigh of relief.

05SRINAGAR / WEDNESDAy / 22 July I 2020Srinagar

ObServer

advisor Baseer Khan Reviews eid-ul-azha celebrationsSO NewS DeSK

SriNagar: Advisor to Lieu-tenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan today chaired a meeting with officers and representatives from various associations to review preparations for Eid-ul-Azha in Jammu and Kashmir.

Deputy Commissioner Sri-nagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, other officers and representatives from Kashmir Chamber of Com-merce, Bakers Association Kash-mir, Kothedars Association Kash-mir were present in the meeting.

The meeting was held in or-der to find out ways so that Eid preparations are carried while maintaining all the health care guidelines in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Advisor Khan who is overall in-charge of Coronavirus control efforts in Kashmir said that we need to be very cautious and plan accordingly our Eid preparations

in view of the corona pandemic.The Advisor listened to all

the officers and representatives and said that a balance between Covid control and economic ac-tivity has to be maintained.

“We need to strike a balance between Covid-19 related restric-tions and opening up of economic activities, and plan to take a cal-

ibrated approach in view of Eid-ul-Azha. There will be no com-promise on the safety of public,” he said adding that a decision in this regard will be taken after due consideration to all things.

The representatives from vari-ous associations agreed that pub-lic needs to take the corona virus more seriously and all Standard

Operating Procedures (SOPs) should be strictly adhered to in order to contain the corona virus more effectively.

The representatives from var-ious associations said that they will go by the decision of the ad-ministration and strictly follow all the protocols issued by the government.

Mock Test Series Concludes at GDC ThannamandiiMraN KhaN

raJOuri: Department of Ge-ography in collaboration with IQAC of Govt. Degree College Thannamandi conducted a series of mock test for graduate level competitive examination w. e. f. 2nd of July 2020 under the guid-ance of Principal of the College Prof. (Dr.) Javaid Ahmed Qazi. While giving the details of mock test series, Dr. Khalid Rayaz, Or-ganizer and Head Department of Geography, Govt. Degree College Thannamandi informed that 1753 candidates participated in the tests out of which 429 candidates were awarded the E-certificate of appreciations. Prof. Saleem Ayaz Rather, Convener IQAC told that out of 1753 candidates who appeared in the test belonged to various Colleges and Universi-ties of the country. 40 percent of the participants were from Jammu University, Kashmir University, Central University of Jammu, Central University of Kashmir, Cluster University of Jammu Cluster University Kash-mir, besides various colleges of Kashmir province and Jammu province. The other 60 percent of the participants were from Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Kerala,

Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, and Him-achal Pradesh and other parts of the country. The series of tests were conducted in the subjects of Geography, Political Science, History, Economics, Environ-mental Studies, Zoology, Educa-tion, Botany, English, Physics, Islamic Studies, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Appli-cation, Library Science, Arabic, Geography of India concluded today with the conduct of test for Current Affairs.

Speaking on the Occasion Prof. (Dr.) Javaid Ahmed Qazi, Princi-pal of the College said that this was the unique initiative of the College to provide a healthy plat-form for the students preparing for various competitive exam-inations who are suffering due to lack of regular teaching and learning process in the pandemic era of COVID- 19. He appreciated the efforts of Dr. Khalid Rayaz and his team member Prof. Tahir Nadeem and Mr. Waqar Gorsi Li-brarian for conducting the mock test series in various subjects in a magnanimous way. Special thanks are due to the staff mem-bers for extending their support during the conduct of mock test series by virtue of which this event remained quite successful.

Samoon chairs District Skill Committees meetAsks to formulate skill development action plans within a monthSO New SDeSK

SriNagar: Today, Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Depart-ment & Skill Development Department Dr.Asgar Hassan Samoon chaired a meeting to review the progress of skill de-velopment sector at Civil Sec-retariat, Srinagar. Director, Skill Development, Ministry of Skill Development & En-trepreneurship, Government of India, all Deputy Commis-sioners of Kashmir division , Directors & representatives of various departments like Skill Development, Handicrafts, Industries & Commerce, Hor-ticulture, Agriculture, Health, Entrepreneurship Develop-ment Institute, Mission Direc-tor, J&K Skill Development Mission, Additional Secretary, Skill Development Department and representatives of FICCI and other organizations at-tended the meeting.

During the meeting, thread-bare discussions were held on operationalisation of District Skill Committees and District Nodal Skill Centres in J&K, formation of skill action plans

of the districts of J&K and hu-man resource requirement mapping in remaining dis-tricts of J&K.

District Skill Committees have been established across J&K to ensure quality, consis-tency and convergence in the overall skill ecosystem of J&K, besides generating awareness of various initiatives launched by Ministry of Skill Develop-ment & Entrepreneurship, Government of India.

Dr. Samoon said, “Focus of skill development schemes is

to ensure creation of a robust skill ecosystem J&K which will enable the youth to get maximum skilling opportuni-ties within their districts.”

Dr. Samoon stressed upon the officers to organise meet-ings of District Skill commit-tees with one week and for-mulate job oriented District Skill Development Actions Plans within a month focus-ing on youth between 18-25 years.

“Once formulation of dis-trict skill development plans is

completed, Skill Development Department will start training youth including women and other marginalized groups as per district requirements,” said Dr. Samoon.

Furthermore, Dr. Samoon emphasized on the operation-alisation of District Skill Nod-al Centres (DSNC). DSNCs have been established at dis-trict level for coordinating all skill development related activities of the district and they shall also provide secre-tarial assistance to the Dis-trict Skill Committees.

Dr. Samoon also underlined the importance of establish-ing placement cells in all ITIs and Polytechnics of J&K and impressed upon all the skill implementing departments to coordinate with J&K Skill Development Mission in strengthening the skill ecosys-tem of J&K.

Deputy Commissioners of Kashmir division also shared their experiences about the existing skill development sce-nario and their future strate-gies of skill development and employment in their respec-tive districts.

Prof. Sadaf Munshi delivers lecture at Int'l Webinar organised by UGC-HRDC KUSriNagar: Sadaf Munshi, Professor and Chair, Depart-ment of Linguistics, College of Information, University of North Texas, USA delivered a lecture during Internation-al Webinar Series organised by UGC-HRDC University of Kashmir on Tuesday.

Delivering her lecture on the topic, “Writing proposals for research grants” Prof. Sadaf Munshi discussed at length about the important terminology and various components of research grant proposals besides importance of planning and identity of grant programmes, potential grant sources, support, benefits, limitations, risks and challenges involved in writing and seeking research grants.

She hoped that the lecture will be useful to the par-ticipants in providing them a broader insight into the grant writing process and also in giving them some useful tips about writing potentially successful grant applications.

Prof. Munshi was overwhelmed by the huge response that the webinar had received as well as by the positive feedback provided by the participants at the end of her lecture. Further she said that the participants were ac-tively engaged in the session and asked many questions and expressed her desire to engage with a smaller but more involved group some time in future. Prof. Sadaf thanked the management of UGC-HRDC, University of Kashmir for organizing this international webinar in collaboration with her department at the University of North Texas, USA and said that she would be looking for-ward to greater collaboration in future.

Earlier welcoming the speaker, Director, UGC-HRDC, University of Kashmir, Prof. Shabir Ahmad Bhat in his inaugural address stated that HRDC has been engaged in capacity building of teachers and scholars over the past thirty two years and has over the period trained around 8000 teachers in various aspects of academics and research. Stressing upon the need for conducting more research methodology webinars for research scholars, Prof. Shabir underscored the importance of present lecture on writing robust proposals for obtaining research grants from nation-al and international funding agencies.

Dr. Mohammad Ishaq Geer, Coordinator, UGC-HRDC highlighted the role of HRDC and informed that the next lecture in the Series shall be delivered on July 28th at 10 am (IST) by Dr. Tasaduq Hussain Mir of the UT Southwestern Medical Centres, Texas, USA on the topic, “Social prescrib-ing transforming doctor-patient relationship.

J&K Cong slams arrest of party leaders protesting Lakhanpur Toll Tax imposition

ageNCieS

JaMMu: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday has strongly condemned the arrest of the congress leaders and others protesting against the imposition of toll tax at Lakhanpur and termed it BJP policy to suppress the voice of those opposing the anti people moves of Modi government.

The senior congress leaders of Kath-ua district including former legislators Girdhari Lal Chalotra, Subash Gupta, Pankaj Dogra, Anuradha Andorra, Nirdosh Sharma along with large num-ber of Congress workers held protest demonstration at Lakhanpur opposing the imposition of toll tax.

Chief Spokesperson of JKPCC Ravinder Sharma said that hundreds of protesting Congress leaders and workers were subjected to lathicharge and arrested by the heavy contingent of police at Lakhanpur.

They were taken to police custody and shifted to district police lines Kath-ua, he said. Condemning their arrest, senior leader of Congress termed it as illegal and unjustified and said that the UT administration is acting at the behest of the BJP and suppressing the voice of people who are protesting over the anti people decisions of the govt.

Union Secretary Chairs Meeting of EC Approves 10 High Value 30 per cent CCIS cases of Industrial units worth Rs 19.65 crSriNagar: Union Secretary, Department for Promotion of In-dustry and Internal Trade, Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, today chaired a meeting of Empow-ered Committee for Sanctioning of High Value Central Capital Investment Subsidy cases on Plant and Machinery under Spe-cial Package of Industrial Incen-tives for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K Package-II).

The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, Indus-tries & Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Director Industries & Commerce Kashmir, Mehmood Shah, General Manager, JKDFC, Gowhar Arif and General Mangers of concerned DICs through Video Conferencing from Srinagar while

Director Industries & Commerce Jammu, Anoo Malhotra, Director Finance Industries & Commerce, R.C Kotwal and General Mangers of concerned DICs participated in the meeting through video con-ferencing from Jammu.

During the meeting, 10 High Value 30 per cent CCIS cases on Plant and Machinery of In-dustrial Units of Jammu, Sam-ba and Kathua amounting Rs 17.40 crore were placed before the Empowered Committee for approval, of which, 9 cases were cleared. Besides, the Committee also gave nod to one High Value 30 per cent CCIS case on Plant & Machinery worth Rs. 2.25 crore for Industrial Unit of Pulwama District, Kashmir.

Chairperson BDC Thannamandi thanks lG Murmu for approving insurance cover of 25 lakh to members of Panchayati Raj InstitutionsiMraN KhaN

raJOuri: Chairperson Block De-velopment Council Thannamandi Rozy Zaffer Mir thanks Lt. Governor J&K UT for approving insurance cover of 25 lakh to members of PRIs.

She said that to strengthening the grass roots democracy by providing a sense of security to the elected mem-bers of PRIs in case of any untoward incidence the life insurance cover will

act as a guarantee for the subsistence of the family members of the elected representatives. She also stated that it will also ensure that their families do not face economic distress and poverty in case of any untoward incident and continue to fulfil basic needs of nutrition, education and health in adverse circumstances.

The life insurance cover will also ensure that their families do not face economic distress.

DC Shopian Chairs Meeting of RDD and PRIs

DC Bandipora Reviews Eid-ul-Azha Arrangements

SO NewS DeSK

BaNDipOra: Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmed on Tues-day reviewed the arrange-ments put in place ahead of Eid-ul-Adha.

On the occasion, the DC issued strict directions to all the concerned officers to ensure that the COVID-19 related SOPs are strictly adhered to besides ensur-ing availability of essential commodities, availability

of sacrificial animals and establishment of mandis for sale of sacrificial animals.

The DC directed the of-ficers of Legal Metrology, Revenue, Animal Husband-ry and other concerned de-partments to conduct daily market checking in the district to ensure that the laws of legal metrology are adhered to besides keeping check on rates.

He also directed the officers to take strict action against black marketers, hoarders

and erring shopkeepers who refuse to follow COVID SOPs issued by the government from time to time.

During the meeting DC Bandipora directed the engi-neers of PDD and Jal Shakti to ensure regular supply of elec-tricity and water to the people during the Eid celebrations.

The meeting was attended by ADC Bandipora Zahoor Ahmad Mir, SP Bandipora, As-sistant Commissioner Revenue and SDM Sumbal besides other officers of line departments.

SO NewS DeSK

ShOpiaN: Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shopian, today convened a meeting of RDD and PRIs to dis-cuss the modus operandi in tack-ling Coronavirus pandemic in the district.

The DC exhorted PRIs to intensi-fy their efforts against COVID war, he urged them to put in place an-cillary measures so that people are properly educated about the preven-tive and healthy measures that need to be adopted at individual levels.

During the meeting special focus was laid on inculcating the habits of cleanliness and frequent hand

washing, maintenance of social dis-tance, usage of masks and adoption of other SOPs related to COVID.

The DC directed mass aware-ness among the public through wall paintings, holding of awareness camps, door to door campaigns and fumigation of the public places.

He sought full cooperation from the PRIs in tracing out the symp-tomatic persons and liasoning with other departments especially health and revenue.

Among others, the meeting was attended by OSD COVID, District Panchayat Officer, Block Devel-opment Officers and members of Panchayat Raj Institutions.

Kissan Pakhwada concluded in Sgr and KupSO NewS DeSK

SriNagar: The flagship fort-night programme ‘Kissan Pakhwa-da’ was today concluded by orga-nizing Kisan Mela cum awareness camp at Lalmandi, Srinagar.

Dr. Hina Bhat, Chairperson, KVIB inaugurated the mela in presence of Director Horticul-ture Kashmir and Director Agri-culture Kashmir.

The Government of India ini-tiative, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ Kissan Pakhwada that com-menced from July 7, 2020 was culminated today on July 21, 2020 across Kashmir valley.

During the fortnight pro-gramme, various functions were organized in Kashmir Valley, aimed to sensitize farmers and orchardists about the benefit of various centrally and state spon-sored schemes launched for so-

cio-economic upliftment of farm-ers from time to time.

Various stalls depicting the achievements of Horticulture, Agriculture, Sheep Husbandry, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and other departments were established, these stalls also showcased hi tech agriculture equipment and tools besides high

breed seeds for increasing farm-ers income.

Among others, Joint Director Agriculture Extension, Deputy Director Agriculture Central, Chief Agriculture Officer, Sri-nagar, representatives of all allied Departments, Represen-tatives of PRI’s and Banks were present on the occasion.

CoVID-19: District Admn, Shopian organises Training ProgrammeSO NewS DeSK

ShOpiaN: A training pro-gramme was organized by the district administration Shopi-an, here, at Mini Secretariat, today, in which Ulmas, Num-berdars and Volunteers of the district participated.

On the occasion, Nodal of-ficer COVD-19 Shopian, em-phasized upon the Ulmas, Numberdars and volunteers to adhere strictly to the guide-lines issued by the Govern-ment for controlling the spread of pandemic in the district.

SRINAGAR /WEDNESDAY / 22 JULY I 2020 BUSINESS06 OBSERVERSRINAGAR

Indian businesses resilient despite COVID-19 impact: HSBC reportNew Delhi: Many Indian business-es have shown high preparedness, made contingency plans for the fu-ture and continue to operate as nor-mal despite the significant impact of COVID-19, says a report.

According to HSBC’s Navigator report, almost half (46 per cent) of Indian businesses covered under a survey felt ‘very strongly’ impacted by the pandemic, yet more than half (54 per cent) felt they were as well prepared as they possibly could be.

This is a level that is the second highest amongst all countries sur-veyed and higher than the average across all markets (45 per cent), ac-cording to the report titled, ‘Build-ing Back Better’.

The survey was conducted on more than 2,600 companies across 14 global markets, including 200 firms from India.

Despite the high level of impact faced by Indian businesses, more than a quarter (29 per cent) of those surveyed said they are operating as normal, and this level was the second

highest across all markets, behind mainland China, the report said. “While COVID-19 has undeniably al-tered the economic landscape, Indian businesses have shown resilience in the face of adversity. Businesses will have to make varying degrees of adjustments to adapt to this altered landscape which will be the new nor-mal for the foreseeable future,” HSBC India Head of Commercial Banking Rajat Verma said.

The fact that a substantial pro-portion of Indian businesses are still operating as normal may be attributed to nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of them either having a management that is sufficiently ag-ile or being strong overall and able to manage with a number of adjust-ments, it added.

However, two per cent of those surveyed in India feel that their long-term survival is threatened.

The survey further said the most important aspect for around 42 per cent of Indian businesses is to review their suppliers’ ability to weather future uncertainty.

Besides, 64 per cent of Indian busi-nesses see the current environment ensuring positive changes to their products/services. This is the joint highest across all markets surveyed (along with China) and significantly higher than the overall average at 44 per cent.

Moreover, favourable changes to customer demand (60 per cent) and better access to financing facilities (62 per cent) are some of the other aspects that have been positively impacted by the current environ-ment, the survey showed.

However, aspects related to avail-ability of labour have the lowest positive balance for Indian busi-nesses with only 53 per cent seeing it being positively impacted while 25 per cent see a negative outcome from the current environment, it noted.

Oil stuck near $40 with demand concerns keeping bulls in check

New Delhi: Oil was an-chored near $40 a barrel as investors weighed virus and weather-driven demand con-cerns against expectations US crude and gasoline stock-piles continued to shrink.

Vaccine trials are show-ing promising results but the pandemic is still raging unabated in many regions across the globe, while in China, the nation’s top re-finer plans to cut operating rates at some of its coastal plants this month due to se-vere flooding. Meanwhile, American crude inventories probably fell for the third time in four weeks, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Oil’s recovery from its plunge below zero has stalled with surging infections across major economies raising doubts about a swift demand rebound. OPEC+ is preparing to return supply to the market next month after its historic cuts, while Chinese buying has cooled, leading to a decline in phys-ical crude prices.

“The pace of oil price im-

provement in the face of real virus demand risks will like-ly remain sluggish,” Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp Ltd., said in a note. “There remains more considerable downside than upside price risk” unless the virus curve flattens and lockdowns are rolled back, he said.

See also: A Pipeline Is Qui-etly Ordered Shut in New Sig-nal of Shale’s Woes

The impact of China’s flooding may end up being so severe that state-owned Sinopec ends up completely shutting some plants, said a company official with knowledge of the matter. The nation has been battered by massive floods, causing 64 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) in

damages in July, according to figures from the country’s emergency management de-partment.

In the US, crude stockpiles probably declined by 750,000 barrels last week, according to the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey. Sup-plies fell the most this year through the week ended July 10. Gasoline inventories have likely dropped for a third week.

Meanwhile, Chevron Corp. agreed to buy Noble Energy Inc. for about $5 billion in shares as the oil giant looks to beef up amid the wreckage of the worst-ever crude crash. The takeover is the indus-try’s first major deal since the coronavirus triggered a severe slump.

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER PWD(R&B) DIVISION VAILOO

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS NIT No. 27/ 1453-63 of R&B/Vailoo /2020-2021/e-tendering/ DATED:- 16.07.2020For and on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory J&K e-tenders (In Single cover system) are invited on item rate basis from approved and eligible Contractors registered with J&K State Govt., CPWD, Railways and other State/Central Governments for the following work:-S.No

Name of Work Est. Cost(Rs. In Lacs)

Cost of T/Doc.in form of Treasury challen / Receipt (in Rs )

Earnest Money(in Rs )

Time ofcompletion

Time &Dateof Openingof Bid

Class ofContractor

Major Head of account

1 Construction of Tile path in front of Twon Hall at Achabal under

1.50 200 3000 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEE Class

MH: IDMT 2020

2 Construction of Drain from House of Sonaul-lah Mir towards House of Ab. Majeed Zagoo at MagrayMohalla at Achabal

1.00 200 2000

07 days

30.07.2020 11.00 am DEE

Class

MH: IDMT 2020

3 Constt. Of Tile Path from House of Ab. Gani Najar at Checki Achabal

0.70 200 1400 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: IDMT 2020

4 Construction of drain near house of Mohd Maqbool Najar towards Masjeed Sharief at Mir Mohalla

1.30200

260007 days

30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: IDMT 2020

5 Construction of path from Manzoor Ahmad lone towards Gh. Hassan Wani .

0.93200

1860 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: IDMT 2020

6 Construction of Tile path near Masjid Sharief Magray Mohalla at Achabal

1.50200

3000 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: UDS 2020

7 Construction of edge wall near house of Farooq Ahmad sheikh towards House of Maqbool Ahmad Bhat at Achabal

1.00200

2000 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: UDS 2020

8 Construction of Protection Bund near Mas-jid Sharief Bhat Mohalla at Achabal

1.00200

2000 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: UDS 2020

9 Construction of Ghat near House of Ab. Salam Dar at Sofi Mohalla Achabal

0.70200

1400 07 days 30.07.2020 11.00 am

DEEClass

MH: UDS 2020

1. The Bidding documents Consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, Drawings, bill of quanti-ties (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded from the departmental website www.jktenders.gov.in as per schedule of dates given below:

1. Date of Issue of Tender Notice 16.07.2020

2. Period of downloading of bidding documents From: 20.07.2020 from 11.00A.M To:- 29.07. 2020 up to 4.00 Pm3. Bid submission Start Date 20.07.2020 from 11.00 A.M4. Bid Submission End Date 29.07.2020 upto 4.00 P.M5 Date & time of opening of Bids (Online) 30.07.2020 at 11.00 A.M in the Office of the Executive Engineer R&B

Division vailoo

Bids must be accompanied with cost of Tender document in shape of Treasury Receipt/ challan in favour of Executive Engineer R&B Division vailoo (tender inviting authority) and Earnest money in shape of CDR / FDR pledged to the Executive Engineer R&B Division vailoo (tender receiving authority). Minimum of Two bids are necessary to decide L-1 bidder in case of Self Help Groups/ ContractorsThe date and time of opening of Bids shall be notified on Web Site www.jktenders.gov.in and conveyed to the bidders automatically through an e-mail message on their e-mail address. The bids of Responsive bidders shall be opened online on same Web Site in the Office of Executive Engineer R&B Division vailoo (tender receiving authority). The bids for the work shall remain valid for a period of 120 days from the date of opening of Technical bidsAll other terms conditions are as per PWD Form 25 (Double agreement Form)The Contractors are advised to avail the facility of internet for uploading the tenders at NIC Centre at D.C Office Anantnag / Kulgam

Sd/-Executive Engineer

PWD(R&B) Division Vailoo/zulfkarDIPK-3185/20

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, R&B DIVISION SOPORE

“Extension Notice ”Subject:- Invitation of tenders.Reference:- This office NIT No: 60 of 2020-2021 e-tendering issued un-der No: 2951-71 of 16.07.2020

****** The tender dates for the above mentioned NIT Is hereby extended as detailed below:

1 Date of issue of tender Notice 16.07.2020

2. Period of downloading documents

From 16.07.2020 11.00 AM to 27/07/2020

3 Bid Submission start date: 16.07.2020

4. Bid submission end date 27.07.2020 upto 4.00 PM

5. Date and time of opening of Tech-nical bids ( online)- (The date should be one day after deadline for receiving of hard copies.

28.07.2020 at 11.00 AM in the office of Executive Engineer, R&B Division Sopore.

6. Date & time of opening of fi-nancial bids ( on line).

To be notified after technical bid evaluation is completed.

Sd/-Executive Engineer,

R&B Division Sopore.DIPK-3242/20

HERO AIMS TO CREATE WORLD RECORD BY SELLING 100 MN TWO-WHEELERS IN COVID YEAR

Mumbai: Two-wheeler industry faces short-term challenges due to the Covid-19 situation but the overall India growth story remained intact, Hero MotoCorp said in its Annual Re-port for 2019-20.

Sharing information with company share-holders, Hero MotoCorp Chairman Pawan Munjal noted that there remains ample growth opportunities for the company in domestic as well international markets.

"The short-term business outlook remains uncertain due to the Covid-19 pandemic. How-ever, the long-term story of India and that of the two-wheeler industry remains intact, strong and positive," Munjal said.

There are ample growth opportunities in India, as well as in the global markets to grow company's business to new heights, he added.

"The continuous expansion of our geograph-ic footprint over the past five years to more than 40 countries now creates a platform to build scale beyond India," Munjal said.

The company's investments in R&D over the past five years have been twice of that of other players in the industry, Munjal noted.

"We are on the cusp of creating yet another world record, a historic milestone of 100 mil-lion motorcycles and scooters in cumulative sales in FY21," he added.

Munjal said the company continues to re-main debt-free and maintains a strong balance sheet.

The company's cash reserves have now reached ₹14,096 crore, he added.

"The financial strength of the company au-gurs well and will help it to successfully nav-igate itself into the future despite these trying times," Munjal said.

The two-wheeler major said it expects de-mand to be robust this fiscal with people ex-pected to opt for personal mobility amid coro-navirus pandemic.

The company expects the domestic two-wheeler segment to stabilise in the next

two three months, it added."For FY21, we expect that the industry will

witness greater two-wheeler demand due to the customer's need for personal mobility to maintain safety standards," Hero MotoCorp said.

The industry would stabilise by the festive season and the pent-up demand will provide the much-anticipated boost to the industry, it added.

"Being a market leader, we should be well placed to capitalise on market shift. Whenever

business picks up, we will be ready and have the right products to meet demand," the com-pany said.

The company said it is of the view that in the short term, the economic cost of the lockdown could prolong economic recovery in India even as the country unlocks and reopens for busi-ness.

(Also read: Hero MotoCorp sells 4.5 lakh units in June)

The company said that government initia-tives like corporate tax rate cuts, cash trans-fers to farmers, rural developmental spends along with RBI measures should facilitate growth.

India may be less integrated with the global value chain than the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, but it is not immune to the impact of global trade uncer-tainties, the company noted.

The country's exports have slowed down, even as imports of Indian goods have also faced a moderate slump, it added.

"Irrespective of the current challenges, in-cluding the pandemic, the long-term growth story of India remains intact. The demograph-ic factor in the shape of a younger population, increasing urbanisation, the rising aspiration of the youth, women's increasing access to ed-ucation and employment, and potential of con-sumer credit remain the drivers of growth," Hero MotoCorp said.

OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL

GOVT DEGREE COLLEGE PATTAN

Website: www.gdcpattan.com Email :gdcpattan@yahoo.com

Tel : 01954231244No. GDCP/20/ Dated: / 07 / 2020

Cancellation of Tender NoticeDue to poor response, tender notice no GDCP/20/1341 Dated 08/06/2020 Published in daily Tameel-E-Irshad on 09/06/2020 is being cancelled.

Sd/-Principal.DIPK-3270/20

Debt-to-GDP ratio to shoot up to 87.6%

Mumbai: India’s debt-to-GDP ratio will shoot up to 87.6% at the end of the current financial year from 72.2% in FY20 on the back of extra borrow-ing by the government in wake of the Covid-19 pan-demic, economists at SBI said on Monday.

Over four percentage points of the increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio is attributable to the fall in growth, which is going to result in GDP contrac-tion during the year, they said, insisting on mea-sures to address growth rather than adopting fis-cal conservatism.

This higher debt amount will also lead to the shifting of the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act, 2003, target of combined debt to 60% of the GDP by

seven years to FY30, they said in the note.

It said the moot point is whether the debt is sus-tainable, and added that over $500 billion in forex reserves can take care of the external debt while servicing the internal one is also not an issue.

“In the current situ-ation our nominal GDP growth is likely to con-tract significantly and based on this our inter-est-growth differential will turn positive in FY21, thus raising serious ques-tions on debt sustainabili-ty,” it added. — PTI

SBI reportOver four percentage

points of the increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio is attributable to the fall in growth, which is going to result in GDP contraction during the year.

Cafe Coffee Day shuts 280 outlets

New Delhi: Homegrown coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) has closed down around 280 outlets in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, citing profitability issues and likely future increase in expenses, the com-pany said.

With these closures, the total count of its outlets stood at 1,480 as on June 30, 2020.

CCD is a brand owned by Coffee Day Global, a step-down company of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. The chain also reported a decline in average sales per day per cafe to Rs 15,445 during the April-June quarter from Rs 15,739 in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Gold futures rise on spot demand, global cuesNew Delhi: Gold pric-es on Tuesday rose by Rs 159 to Rs 49,186 per 10 gram in futures trade as speculators created fresh positions on firm spot de-mand.

On the Multi Com-modity Exchange, gold contracts for August de-livery traded higher by

Rs 159, or 0.32 per cent, at Rs 49,186 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 7,508 lots.

Fresh positions built up by participants mainly led to the rise in gold pric-es, analysts said.

Gold prices traded 0.31% higher at $1,823.10 per ounce in New York.

Vodafone Idea shares tank nearly 10%

Mumbai: Shares of Voda-fone Idea on Tuesday tum-bled nearly 10 per cent, a day after the Supreme Court said it was not rea-sonable to give 15 to 20 years period for paying AGR dues by telecom companies.

The stock tanked 8.84 per cent to Rs 8.24 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it plunged 9.89 per cent to Rs 8.20.

Bharti Airtel also de-clined 1.17 per cent to Rs 569 on the BSE.

On Monday, the apex court made it clear that it will not hear “even for a second” the arguments on reassessment or re-calcula-tion of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues of tele-com companies which is about Rs 1.6 lakh crore.

The apex court also said it was not a reasonable pro-posal that a period of 15 to 20 years be given to the tele-com companies to pay AGR dues.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah reserved the verdict on the issue of time-line for staggered payment of AGR-related dues by tele-com companies.

Telecom companies, al-ready hit by intense compe-tition that is hurting their earnings, are also facing in-creased financial stress due to AGR dues.

07 SRINAGAR / WEDNESDAy / 22 July I 2020 neWsSrinagar

ObServer

chief secretary Reviews functioning of sainik school, Manasbal

Dr. Jitendra Singh Reviews Achievements Under CSS Asks For Creating Mass Awareness About Govt SchemesSO New SDeSK

KiShTwar: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Prime Minis-ter's Office; Personnel, Public Grievanc-es and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, today reviewed the achievements in District Kishtwar under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, here at District Development Coordination and Monitoring Com-mittee (DISHA)DISHA meeting held through Video Conference.

The meeting was attended by District Development Commissioner Kishtwar Rajinder Singh Tara, Senior Superin-tendent of Police Kishtwar Harmeet Singh Mehata, ADDC Kishtwar Mohd Hanief Malik, ADC Kishtwar Pawan Parihar, Joint Director Planning Mohd Iqbal, President Municipal Council Kishtwar, Riyaz Ahmed Zarhar, BDC Chairperson Kishtwar, Suresh Kumar Sharma, BDC Chairperson Paddar, Arpan Singh, BDC Chairperson Drab-shalla,Suraj Prakash, BDC Chairper-son Inderwal, Hamida Begum besides district and sectoral officers.

At the outset, a detailed PowerPoint presentation on financial as well as physical progress under all the Central-ly Sponsored Schemes being implement-ed in the district was given by the DDC.

The Union Minister reviewed the achievements of various Schemes

being implemented by PWD, Health, RDD, Agriculture, Horticulture, Ani-mal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry, Jal Shakti, PDD, Education, Horticulture, Social Welfare, Labour and Employ-ment, Urban Development, PMGSY and other departments.

Besides, the pace of progress and impediments in the execution of var-ious projects like Air Strip Kishtwar, coverage of left over habitation under PMGSY, awareness programmes at SAGY village Bhatan Dimji, Zeera Park Paddar, Saffron Park Kishtwar, Special Coverage of most backward vil-lages of the district, implementation of PMDP, construction of additional 100 bedded IPD block at DH Kishtwar, Mul-tipurpose sports hall, Degree college Chhatroo, BSC Nursing College Kisht-war, CHC Marwah and Construction of 25 bedded SDH Atholi Paddar among others projects were also deliberated upon in the meeting.

The meeting was informed that the final award with regard to acquisition of the additional 300 metre land for the Air strip has been issued, and the land acquisition proceedings for construc-tion of terminals has been initiated.

The Union Minister directed all the district and sectoral officers to high-light their achievements at various levels to make the public aware about the key schemes and their benefits.

On the issue of Identifying the most Backward villages in the district, the Chair was informed that based on the recommended indicators the villages of Kuntwara , Pahalgwari, Khwara, Tun- Gandhari, Palali, Lasoni, Haloti, Sumcham and Kither have been iden-tified but final survey was delayed due to COVID 19 pandemic.

The DDC further informed that 10 Kanal land of agriculture depart-ment is available at Atholi Paddar and DPR for establishing Zeera Park there stands submitted to Director Agricul-ture.

Besides, 20 kanal of land at Poochal has been identified for Saffron Park and the Director agriculture has been asked to send a team of technical ex-perts to assess the feasibility of the said land.

Dr. Jatindera Singh directed the DDC to review the progress under PMDP projects on a regular basis and dovetail the schemes of various depart-ments and achieve saturation under every scheme at SAGY Village Bhatan.

He further asked to make camps of Horticulture, Handicrafts and other departments a weekly exercise. He

impressed upon the DDC to frame a schedule of department wise aware-ness camps in the SAGY Village.

Meanwhile, the Union Minister was also informed that the foundation work of 25 bedded SDH at Atholi Paddar and BSC nursing College Kishtwar is in progress, while the work on superstruc-ture of Community Health Centre Mar-wah is gaining momentum after the re-sumption of developmental works in the district after COVID-19 unlock.

The Works on Multipurpose indoor sports hall and GDC Chhatroo has been resumed after the relaxation and these are at the different stages of the completion, the DDC informed further.

It was further informed that till date 780 houses have been completed under Prime Minister Awas Yojana(Grameen).

While reviewing the working of Jal

Shakhti department, it was informed that work on 49 schemes and 02 lift schemes has been taken up under dif-ferent programmes, while 32 other schemes are being executed to cover 39 villages under Jal Jevan Mission and 5 irrigation projects were restored bene-fitting 213 hectares of agriculture land.

To harness the local resources in the agriculture and the allied sectors, it was informed that the district adminis-tration has targeted to tap the available potential to the full. In this regard, reg-ular agriculture awareness camps are being organised for educating farmers and orchardists about the KCC.

About surface connectivity, it was in-formed that against 167 approved PMGSY roads, 55 have been completed and the work on rest is at different stages.

Various other issues like pending land and structure compensation for PMGSY and R&B roads, Shortage of doctors and paramedical staff, dearth of ambulances, unavailability of fruit and vegetable mandi, link road to 50 bedded AYUSH Hospital and provision of sub-sidy under Integrated development of small ruminants and rabbit scheme at par with District Doda were also high-lighted by DDC and the necessary direc-tions were issued by the Union Minister.

President Municipal Council Kisht-war, Riyaz Ahmed Zarhar, BDC chair-person Kishtwar, Suresh Kumar Shar-ma, BDC Chairperson Paddar, Arpan Singh, BDC Chairperson Drabshalla, Suresh Prakash, BDC Chairperson In-derwal, Hamida Begum also highlight-ed their demands.

They sought widening of roads and drains in Kishtwar town, extension of existing Bus stand at Kishtwar, re-cruitment of locals in Kiru project,

construction of additional 100 bedded hospital at Kishtwar, increasing pace of work on AYUSH Hospital, Resump-tion of work on Rattle Power project, mini stadium for Drabshalla, declaring Paddar Machail Road as Defence road and putting Machail Circuit on tour-ism map, expediting work on Honswar Micro HEP and reservation to paddari speaking people on the pattern of Paha-ri speaking people.

Responding to the demands, Dr. Jatindera Singh said that the staff shortages in various departments shall be met after the recruitment under new accelerated recruitment policy will be done.

He further reiterated the Saffron park, Kiru HEP and 50 bedded hospi-tal are national level projects and they should be expedited on priority clear-ing all obstacles and hiccups.

On the issue of declaring PMGSY road Machail as Defence road , he asked DDC Kishtwar to take up the matter with OC ,GREF and send a pro-posal in this regard.

Highlighting the fact that Kishtwar district is a hydro power district and HEPs like Pakkal Dul, Kiru ànd up-coming Rattle and Kwar will be provid-ing Employment to many, he said that unskilled labour of Kishtwar district shall be given priority and skilled man power if not available in Kishtwar can be hired from outside the District.

The Union Minister also appreciated the role of DDC Kishtwar in maintain-ing a fine balance between restrictions and development during the present COVID-19 pandemic.

He further directed the DDC to com-plete all the central schemes and other projects as per the set timeline.

SO NewS DeSK

SriNagar: The Chief Secre-tary, B V R Subrahmanyam to-day chaired the 37th meeting of Executive Committee of Sainik School, Manasbal and reviewed its functioning.

Principal Secretary, School Education, District Develop-ment Commissioner, Gander-bal, Principal, Sainik School, Manasbal, along-with officers of concerned departments par-ticipated in the meeting.

At the outset the committee reviewed and approved the ac-tion taken on the minutes of previous meeting of the Execu-tive Committee.

To fully tap the potential of various facilities including ex-perienced faculty and state of art infrastructure available at the school, it was decided that the lateral admissions in class 11th will be allowed from this academic session through en-

trance examination.In order to augment the

human resource requirement towards quality education, recruitment to academic post as well as administrative posts was also accorded sanc-tion. Further, Chief Secretary impressed upon updation of

recruitment rules and school rules by 31st August, 2020 so as to streamline all future re-cruitments of the school.

Chief Secretary gave approv-al to the budget estimates worth Rs. 886.07 lakhs for the financial year 2020-2021 which also in-cludes assistance of Rs. 812.91

lakhs as grant-in-aid from the Government.

Floriculture Department was asked to undertake land-scaping project for beautifi-cation of school premises to make the campus eco-friendly and suitable to the develop-mental needs of students.

J&K Bank extends GOI’s Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt for stressed MSMEsSO NewS DeSK

SriNagar: As part of At-manirbhar Bharat econom-ic package, J&K Bank has extended the Government of India’s Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt (CGSSD) to provide person-al loan to the promoters of stressed MSMEs for infusion as equity / quasi equity in the business eligible for restruc-turing, as per RBI guidelines.

Pertinently, as a special dispensation, RBI has per-mitted banks to reckon the funds infused by the pro-moters in their MSME units through loans availed under the scheme as equity/quasi equity from the promoters for debt-equity computation.

“The biggest challenge for stressed MSMEs is in getting capital either in the form of

debt or equity. It is expected that this scheme would pro-vide much required support to eligible MSMEs and will help in reviving the economic activity of this sector which is presently experiencing fi-nancial difficulties due to the economic fallout of Covid-19 Pandemic”, the bank’s Chair-man and Managing Director (CMD), R K Chhibber said.

Notably, the scheme has been operationalised through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSEs (CGTMSE).

The major highlights of the scheme are:

•Thescheme seeks to extend support to the pro-moter(s) of the operational MSMEs which are stressed(S-MA-2) or have become NPA as on April 30, 2020, but were standard as on March 31, 2018.

• The Promoter(s) of the

MSMEs will be given credit equal to 15% of their stake (equity plus debt) or Rs. 75 lakh whichever is lower. The Promoter(s) in turn will infuse this amount in the MSME unit as equity and there-by enhance the liquidity and maintain debt-equity ratio.

•90% guarantee coverage for this sub-debt under the scheme will be provided by CGTMSE and 10% would come from the concerned promoters.

•There will be a mora-torium of upto 7 years on payment of principal and after completion of the mor-atorium period, the princi-pal amount shall be repaid within a maximum period of 3 years, while the interest shall be served during the entire tenor of the facility. As such the maximum door to door ten-or of the loan will be 10 years.

Hirdesh Kumar inspects works on Rs 9.82 cr ‘Inspection & Certification Centre’ Barian, Samba

SO NewS DeSK

SaMBa: Commissioner Sec-retary, Transport Department, Hirdesh Kumar, today visited the Inspection and Certification Centre (ICC), Barian, Samba to take stock of construction works being executed on this State-of-Art Center of Excellence.

District Development Com-missioner, Rohit Khajuria, informed that this automotive institute being raised with an estimated cost of Rs. 982.20 lakh for vehicle testing is first of its kind in the Union territory, in which automotive inspection of Vehicles would be carried out.

Commissioner Secretary, while inspecting works being executed in the Centre, directed the Executing agency to further speed up the pace of progress on the works and ensure comple-tion of all civil works including fabrication of workstation with-in one month.

Transport Commissioner,

Pardeep Kumar, who was also accompanying the Commis-sioner Secretary, asked the con-cerned officers to take up the matter of installation of machin-ery and equipments at the work station at an earliest so that au-tomotive inspection of vehicles can be started.

Later, Commissioner Secre-tary along with Transport Com-missioner visited DDC office complex and ARTO’s office Sam-ba besides Regional Transport office Jammu.

Hirdesh inspected all sections of transport offices including Learner License section, D.L Trial ground, Transfer section etc. He laid emphasis on strict adherence to SOPs and guide-lines regarding COVID-19 while performing official tasks.

Regional Transport Officer, Jammu, Dhanater Singh, Sub-Di-visional Magistrate Vijaypur, C P Kotwal besides other officials of concerned departments were also present on the occasion.

Two Years On, Water Tank In Chadoora Yet To Complete, People Suffer Sajad asgar

SriNagar: The residents of the Chadoora fear to face the severe water crises as the water storage tank at Nagam Takia is yet to complete from the last two years without any plan of water lifting.

Mushtaq Ahmad Zoha-mi MLA candidate Jammu Kashmir Apni Party(JKAP) after visiting the said locality appealed Public Health Engi-neering (PHE) department to complete the construction of water storage tank at Nagam Takia area of Chadoora which is under construction from last two years and demanded water lifting so as to carter the whole households of the area.

Residents while express-

ing their hardships to Mush-taq Ahmad demanded the Administration to look into the matter and complete the construction of a water stor-age tank with the water lift-ing plan as soon as possible.

Talking to Kashmir News Bureau, Mushtaq Ahmad said, " After the constant appeals from the locals, I personally visited the area, the water storage tank is without a water lifting plan and if the construction is not completed in the meantime the locals of the area would have to face bleak water crises then."

He further added, "I appeal PHE department to complete the construction of the tank immedi-ately and thus prevent the locals of the whole area from facing acute water scarcity."(KNB)

Class IV posts: JKSSB’s Portal records 2,15,100 registrationsSO NewS DeSK

JaMMu: Till today morning, 2,15,100 Registrations have been done by the candidates on JKSSB’s Online Portal, since the commencement of online applica-tion submission from 10th July, 2020 and 1,15,220 candidates com-pleted their online application submission process for Class IV posts. Also 660 applications have been submitted online for the post of Accounts Assistant. It has been

noted that about 98,000 unique visitors visited the online appli-cation portal of JKSSB yesterday.

Pertinently, the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board has advertised 8575 Class IV posts for District/Divisional/Union Ter-ritory cadre in various departments under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Appointment to the Class-IV (Special Recruitment) Rules, 2020, in pursuance of Gen-eral Administration Department’s Revised Indent No. GAD/Mtg/RB-

IV/50/2020 Dated 22.06.2020 under Advertisement Notification No. 01 of 2020 dated 26.06.2020.

Further, the Services Selection Board has operationalized two helplines one each at Srinagar and Jammu for the convenience of as-pirants. In addition, any person who finds difficulty in submission of application form due to techni-cal issue or for any other reasons, may send a self-explanatory mail at ssbjkgrievance@gmail.com for seeking guidance, clarification etc.

Talat visits Degree Colleges of Jammu Division; inspects development worksSO NewS DeSK

JaMMu: Commissioner Sec-retary Higher Education, Talat Parvez, today visited various Degree Colleges of Jammu Divi-sion and inspected development works being executed there.

He was accompanied by Nod-al Principal Degree Colleges Jammu and senior officers of the Higher Education Department.

At Degree College Khour, Talat Parvez inspected newly constructed Toilet and Canteen block and gave on the spot in-structions to the executive agen-cies for proper upkeep and main-tenance of the utilities. He also inspected the library block and directed the concerned to main-tain the record register properly and submit enrolment report every week to the concerned au-

thorities. He also planted a tree sapling in the college premises.

Principal New Degree College Khour submitted a detailed report about functioning of the college.

Commissioner Secretary also visited Government Degree Col-lege Marh and inspected newly constructed block and other util-ities. He also elaborated in detail about the PMs Special Scholarship Scheme sanctioned for the students

of UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. He asked the Panchayat representatives to create aware-ness about such student friendly schemes in their respective areas so that all deserving are brought under the ambit of these initiatives.

Meanwhile, Talat Parvez also visited Government Degree Col-leges, Bagwati Nagar, R.S. Pura and Kujwani and took stock of the ongoing development works there.

COVID-19: Govt evacuates 2,46,634 stranded JK residentsSO NewS DeSK

JaMMu: The Jammu and Kash-mir Government has evacuated about 2,46,634 JK residents, stranded in other parts of the country due to COVID lockdown, via Lakhanpur and through special trains and buses till date amid strict observance of all necessary guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures. As per the official data received in this regard, the Jammu and Kashmir adminis-tration has received 90 special trains at Jammu and Udhampur railway

stations from different states and UTs, so far, with about 75,448 passengers while about 1,71,186 persons from other states and UTs including 899 from abroad have been evacuated by the govern-ment through Lakhanpur till date.

As per the detailed break-up of the figures, about 2268 stranded passengers have entered through Lakhanpur from July 20 to July 21 morn-ings while 907 passengers have reached today in the 69th Delhi COVID special train at Jammu.

WEDNESDAY 22 JULY 2020

SPORTSOBSERVER

SRINAGAR

INVITATION

DRAWINGS

PAINTINGS

POEMS

The Srinagar Observer management has decided to dedicate a page for children. We are hereby inviting you

to send your paintings, drawings and poems in our official mail id i.e. srinagarobserver@gmail.com with your full

Name, Name of School and class to get your stuff published in our esteemed newspaper.

REGARDS MANAGEMENT DAILY SRINAGAR OBSERVER

BEN displaces Holder to become world's top-ranked Test all-rounder

England’s Ben Stokes has outdone West Indies captain Jason Holder to be-come the world's top-ranked Test all-rounder while also attaining a

career-best third position among bats-men in the ICC Test Player Rankings, following a match-winning performance at Old Trafford.

Stokes, who trailed Holder by 54 rating points going into the second Test in Man-chester, enjoys a lead of 38 points after his knocks of 176 and 78 not out, and a match haul of three wickets helped England win by 113 runs and level the three-match series 1-1.

Stokes ended Holder's 18-month reign at the top, becoming the first from England at the summit since Andrew Flintoff in May 2006. His tally of 497 rating points is the highest by any Test all-rounder since Jacques Kallis aggregated 517 in April 2008.

India's Ravindra Jadeja remains in third spot with Australian Mitchell Starc and Ravichandran Ashwin rounding up the top-five.

Among batsmen, Stokes is joint-third with Marnus La-buschagne, only behind Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli, with specialist batsmen like Kane Williamson and Babar Azam below him in the list. England captain Joe Root is ninth while opener Dom Sibley has advanced 29 places to a career-best 35th position after a sturdy first innings 120.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have a dropped a spot each to be eighth and 10th respectively, having not played since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stuart Broad, who was not picked for the open-ing Test, returned to the top 10 of the bowlers' rankings after claiming three wickets in each innings.

AMONG BATSMEN, STOKES IS JOINT-THIRD WITH MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE, ONLY BEHIND STEVE SMITH AND INDIA SKIPPER VIRAT KOHLI, with specialist batsmen like Kane Williamson and Babar Azam below him in the list. England captain Joe Root is ninth while opener Dom Sibley has advanced 29 places to a career-best 35th position after a sturdy first innings 120.

STOKES

New Delhi; With the T20 World Cup's postponement clear-ing the decks for a full-fledged IPL, the governing council of the glitzy event will meet in a week or 10 days' time to plan its next course of action, eyeing the UAE as the host this year.

An IPL between September and early November has been made possible by the ICC's decision on Monday to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-No-vember, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The IPL governing council will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full-fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE," said Pa-tel.

Asked about the main challenges in conducting the event in current scenario, Patel said: "Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn't matter (with no crowds)."

The franchisees had already been working on their plans for the IPL even before the ICC announcement.

With a majority of the Indian players not having access to grounds amid the pandemic, teams will need at least three to four weeks to get them match ready.

Foreign players will fly in directly to the UAE from their respective countries.

"Our players will need at least three to four weeks of training, if not more. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that," said one of the team owners.

Since India tour Australia for a four-match Test series right after the IPL, training of the players involved in the longer format is also an important issue.

Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vi-hari, who are not part of the IPL, are likely to train for the eagerly-awaited series in a bio-secure environment at the newly-renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the time of the IPL.

A few fringe players are expected to join them at Motera along with the Indian team's support staff, which is free during the IPL.

Work from home has become the norm amid the pandem-ic, therefore, there is a possibility that IPL commentary will happen from the comfort of the living room, a safer and cost effective-option, considering the likes of Sunil Gavas-kar, who is 71, are involved.

The viewership is expected to be a record one with people craving for live cricket, something Kings XI Punjab co-own-er Ness Wadia has said.

However, it remains to be seen how much the broadcast-ers and teams are able to attract from the sponsors in the current financial climate. PTI

It will be a full-fledged IPL, most likely in the UAE: Brijesh Patel

OUR PLAYERS WILL NEED AT LEAST THREE TO FOUR WEEKS OF TRAINING, IF NOT MORE. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that

T20 World Cup postponedDubai: This year’s T20 World Cup became a high-profile casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic today after the sport’s governing International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the tournament scheduled in October-November.

The ICC has been exploring contingency plans since hosts Cricket Australia acknowledged the logistical challenges involved in staging a 16-team tournament amid travel and other restrictions this year.

Consequently, there will be back-to-back men’s T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 before the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023.

In the original calendar, India was scheduled to host the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. The ICC did not specify the hosting order and a spokesman told Reuters the governing body was yet to finalise, between India and Australia, who will host which edition.

The powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) is keen to stage the 2021 edition to avoid hosting back-to-back ICC events in 2022 and 2023.

The BCCI has resented a late call on the fate of this year’s World Cup, saying the uncertainty created a scheduling headache for the cricket boards already bruised by the pandemic’s financial impact. The BCCI has also been open about its plans to stage its delayed Indian Premier League in the now-vacant October-November slot.

The ICC also moved the 2023 ODI World Cup in India to an October-November window from its orig-inal February-March slot. “Moving the World Cup to a later window ... gives us a better chance of main-taining the integrity of the qualification process,” ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said.