Tag: briefing

Briefing February 19-25, 2023

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SRINAGAR
JK Police arrested the founder of Awami Awaaz Party on February 16, 2023 for being anti national. The party came into being after the reading down of Article 370 in August 2019. Pic: JKP
In an interesting twist in the Kashmir tale, the police booked three ‘leaders’ of a post-2019 “political party” under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), for allegedly ‘intimidating’ journalists and making anti-national statements. Identified as Suhail of Mustafabad HMT, Nadeem Shafi Rather of Maloora HMT and Umar Majeed Wani of Soura, the trio were running Awami Awaz Party. It was one of the many “nationalist” groups that would unfurl the tricolour in Lal Chowk and sing the national anthem to the social media cell phones while attacking the “dynasts” for the bloodshed in Kashmir. “I urge all youth of Jammu and Kashmir to take the pledge on this Republic Day to make our country proud on the world stage,” Khan said in his Lal Chowk speech on 2022 Republic Day.
The arrest came within days after a press conference in which they rebuked the “media” for working against the “interests” of Kashmir. “Our party was formed by the army. I have hoisted the tricolour,” one of the trio was quoted as having told the presser. “But when I saw atrocities on common people I decided to fight for freedom.” Police termed them “miscreants” and “anti-national”. A senior army officer told NDTV that “the group may have been supported by some individual officers, but the army has nothing to do with such groups”. The U-turn, Khan led trio claimed came in response to the use of bulldozers against the people. The group had been vocal on the mysterious disappearance of a driver in a Kupwara village in army’s custody.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) yearly survey has found a construction worker in Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 524, one of the highest daily wages in India. It is only Rs 362 in Maharashtra, Rs 250 in Tripura, Rs 267 in MP, and Rs 296 in Gujarat.
LASSIPORA
Chairman and managing director of JSW group Sajjan Jindal laid the foundation stone of a steel processing unit in Pulwama on February 17, 2023.
Leading steel maker Jindal South West (JSW) laid the foundation stone of its first steel processing plant in Lassipora. Group MD Sajjan Jindal personally flew to lay the foundation in, what he said, “the heart of Kashmir”. The Rs 150 crore plant spread over 70 kanals of land has installed capacity manufacturing 1.2 lakh metric tonne colour-coated for local consumption. It will also make steel sandwich panels and steel doors for the local market. This is said to be the first project that was set up after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was read down in August 2019. Kashmir in the last decade had set up two steel plants, one each at Lassipora and Rangreth, to reduce its dependence on Jammu plants. Of the two, one was closed already and another one is battling for survival owing to the post-2019 work conditions. Jammu has traditionally been the main supplier of steel to Kashmir, apart from SAIL.
IMHANS run Tele Mental Health Assistance received more than 4000 distress calls across Jammu and Kashmir since its launch on November 4. These included 694 calls were about sadness, 619 about anxiety, 502 about stress-related issues, 191 related to suicidal ideation or attempts, 454 had reduced interest in pursuing activities, 441 were palpitation-related, 416 related to sleep disturbances, and 283 related to hopelessness, helplessness, worthlessness, and guilt.
JAMMU

M M Khajuria
MM Kahjuria, former Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief passed away after a brief illness on February 16, 2023. He was 91. He is survived by three daughters, six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. Born on June 11, 1931, Khajuria is reported to have spearheaded an agitation for free education up to the postgraduate level before joining the JKP in 1954. He eventually became the first JKP officer to be inducted into the IPS. Khajooria was JKP’s second DGP from January 16, 1985, to May 25, 1986.
After the government clubbed schools, owing to low roll, 33 government school buildings in Rajouri remain vacant and locked. Now the authorities are working to repurpose the infrastructure.
PAHALGAM
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha presenting a Saffron tray in full bloom to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on November 13, 2022.
The National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is busy drafting a preliminary report to construct a road to Amarnath shrine so that it is accessible from Pahalgam as well as the Baltal side. If approved this year, it will be ready within the next five years. The announcement was made by LG Manoj Sinha. “I think you will see that day with the blessings of Lord Shankar,” Sinha said.
The finance department has released Rs 714 crore for clearance of Rs 458 of pending GPF bills and Rs 256 of Gratuity.
SHOPIAN
Jasia Akhter
Making history, Jasia Akhtar, 34, a female Kashmir cricketer got a berth in India’s Women’s Premier League (WPL). A resident of Shopian’s Braripora, she was taken by Delhi Capitals at Rs 20 lakh in the last WPL auction where 409 players from 15 countries participated. Passionate about the game, Jasia, a right-hand batter, shifted to Punjab where she is playing domestic cricket for around eight years now. In 2022, she moved to Rajasthan. Currently, she is the second-highest run-getter in the senior women’s T20 Trophy. A total of 409 players from 15 countries went under the hammer for the WPL auction.
The Elder of five siblings, Jasia is the daughter of a marginal farmer, Gul Mohammad Wani. Her first bat was chiselled out of a willow log by her father when she was five, using his axe. At the peak of tensions, she would normally play with the boys in the village till she was noticed for having a great capacity and required coaching. “My father had made a willow bat and had kept it in the rice container fearing that I would hurt myself with it,” Jasia was quoted as having said after her selection. “I would take the bat out and hide in my pheren and go to play with the boys in the village ground.” Later she would play with boys at Government Higher Secondary School at Kaprin. In 2010, she was selected by JKCA for its women’s team. In 2011, she impressed everybody when her team played against Harmanpreet Kaur-led Punjab team in the BCCI domestic competition at Jammu – 39 runs off 25 balls, following which Kaur gifted her bat to Jasia. In 2012, she shifted to Amritsar to play for the BBK DAV College team and later played for PCA women’s team.
Sarla Devi from Jammu also made it to WPL, this season.
226 thousand people visited 131 public libraries across Jammu and Kashmir in 2022.
NEW MEXICO
Kashmir neuroscientist, Dr Mubarak Hussain Syed, is among the 125 scientists from USA and Canada who were declared prestigious Sloan Research Fellows for 2023. Every one of them receives US $75000 to pursue their research within two years. Syed is an assistant professor of Biology at The University of New Mexico and runs his Neural Diversity Lab which has already helped solve certain mysteries of mind works in fruit flies. The Alfred P Sloan Foundation said the 2023 fellows “represent the most promising scientific researchers working today” and their “achievements and potential place them among the next generation of scientific leaders in the US and Canada.” The nomination is given in “recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field”. His laboratory is working on fruit flies, which offer an excellent model system to understand the genetic basis of nervous system development and function. His extensive work has given him a nickname within the scientific community – Fly Guy. His lab has already identified a novel role of insect growth hormone in regulating neural stem cell temporal gene expression. Now they are testing if this hormonal signalling regulates the formation of diverse neuron types in the fruit fly brain. “I am humbled,” Syed said. “It is an honour to be on this list of extraordinary scientists.”
Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught 136 government officials red-handed while accepting bribes in the last three years with the Srinagar district topping the chart.
JAMMU
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have booked the Jammu newspaper Taskeen editor for cheating under section 420. He is also a member of the Waqf Board. The case has been registered at Peer Mitha police station on the basis of an audio recording produced by the complainant, Dr KL Sharma, wherein Kazmi is being heard demanding Rs 5 lakh from the complainant in lieu of a government job. Reports said he had taken the money in 2021 but the candidate did not get selected and he did not return the “bribe”
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has declared Jammu and Kashmir’s eight water bodies as `polluted’ based on Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). These include Srinagar’s Chuntkol (11.21), the entire length of Jhelum from Srinagar to Baramulla (7.8); Pahalgam’s Lidder (7); Gawkadal (3.2); Tawi Jammu (14); Katra’s Banganga (6.2); Udhampur’s Devaka (10) and Samba’s Basanter (4.2).
GULMARG
Under a thick blanket of snow and crowded by hundreds of skiers from across the world and youngsters participating in various winter sports events, Gulmarg saw India’s Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and top Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi. While Thakur visited as part of the game management, Rahul flew for five days to cool his heels over the slopes after remaining busy with Bharat Jodo Yatra for many months. Over the slopes, Omar Abdullah, an impressive skier, joined him. Rahul was seen zigzagging on the slope at Gulmarg skiing resort with an instructor filming the video. Pictures of the Congress leader were also shared on social media platforms.
The government has terminated the services of Saleem Ahmad Beig, a Jail Superintendent and Abdul Majid Bhat, a former Assistant Regional Transport officer.
KUPWARA
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Kupwara turned down the bail application of nine persons including five soldiers who were arrested in a drug peddling case. The five soldiers were operating a drug peddling gang from the Panzam garrison and were arrested in January 2023 for running the drug cartel from Tangdhar, a town located on the Line of Control (LoC). The court observed that soldiers were supposed to protect society but regretted this bunch worked in contravention of it. The accused soldiers were identified as Naib-Subedar Puran Singh, Anil Kumar (driver) Sepoy Sushil Kumar, Naik Waseem Ahmad Mir and Mohammad Shafiq Khan. Their civilian accomplices were identified as Mashkoor Sheikh (working as a porter with Army), Mohammad Yousaf Kothari, Saleem Sheikh and Mohammad Imran Teli. Earlier, the NIA arrested a BSF officer posted in Handwara – also part of the frontier Kupwara district, “on charges of cross-border drug smuggling linked with the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group”. Identified as Romesh Kumar, the report said Rs 91 lakh cash was recovered from Kumar. On December 23, 2022, JKP arrested 17 people including five of its own cops for drug peddling.
MHA declared Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force (JKGF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) as outfits bringing the total number of such illegal organisations to 44.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 20, 2023
John Bolton wants ‘all the details’ in briefing on Trump-era balloons

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Now Bolton, who is weighing a 2024 presidential run, promised to “ask for all the details, top to bottom, on what the record indicates about Chinese or other aerial incursions during the Trump administration.”
“I want to know whether overflights during the Trump administration were detected or not detected. If they were detected, what were they assessed to be, and who made that assessment? How far up the chain of command did the information and assessments go?” he continued.
Bolton first discussed his upcoming briefing with NBC News.
The former U.N. ambassador blasted Biden’s team, specifically National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, for continually bringing up the Trump-era balloon flights. “If the White House thinks this is a way to build confidence in their response to the recent incursions, it is sadly mistaken,” he said.
Kirby responded to Bolton’s comments during a session with reporters Tuesday. “All we’re doing is speaking the truth. This is a well-funded, deliberate program to collect intelligence on other nations, including us,” he said. “The reason we know that is because of the work we’ve done since we came into office to understand this program” and “decipher how these balloons operate”
Kirby further told reporters that the three objects hovering above the U.S. and Canada and shot down by the military last weekend could be “balloons tied to some commercial work.”
Biden administration officials briefed senators Tuesday morning on the latest information regarding the Chinese spy balloon and the downed objects.
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#John #Bolton #details #briefing #Trumpera #balloons
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 14, 2023
Briefing February 12-18, 2023

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BARAMULLA
Kashmir folklore has always talked about Kruhun Sheen, the black snow, as a mark of disbelief and a complete topsy-turvy of natural systems. The fact is there has been black snow around for the last half of the century in Kashmir. The soot that the industrial states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi have been generating would fly and deposit over the glaciers in south Kashmir. Over the years it has been the major factor in the depletion of the glaciers and a key indicator of the climate change impact. Kashmir’s weather systems have historically remained impacted by the Western Disturbances in which the winds bring all the pollution from the Middle East and parts of Europe and pour it over Kashmir. The latest report is that last week the snow was seen as dusty and yellowish. The weatherman in Srinagar, now having access to better technology, said that it was the impact of dust that flew from Afghanistan and Pakistan and got missed with snow! Kashmir is becoming a casualty of real, virtual and climatic globalisation.
Of the sanctioned 3140 border bunkers in Rajouri, 2782 are almost ready for use.
REASI
In a game-changing development, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) revealed that it has discovered 6.9 million tons of lithium reserves in the Reasi mountains near Salal Haimana village. This reserve will fundamentally shift the global ranking of Lithium-rich countries with India now emerging from nowhere to the second position after Chile. The gold of the IT-driven system, Lithium is the powerhouse linked to almost everything from a pacemaker to a cell phone and to an electric car. This is expected to boost the IT-manufacturing investments in India that have already started with Apple setting up a huge phone-making facility in India. How the discovery will help Jammu and Kashmir shall remain a question for the future when the formal process of extracting the vital mineral starts. Right now Australia is the major Lithium supplier to the world.
Against the sanctioned strength of 4985 village defence groups (VDG), 4,153 have been constituted.
KUPWARA

In Kashmir’s harsh winters, Asphyxia has remained a major killer. Desperate to stay warm, people pluck every hole in the room and put on heating devices that deplete oxygen and the people die. That is exactly what happened to the UP family in Krakpora village. Five members of Majid Ansari’s family were declared dead last week when they were driven to the hospital. It was the annihilation of the Bijnore family including the husband, wife and their three children, including the youngest member who was born recently and was yet to be named.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the number of drug abusers includes Cannabis 1,36,000, Opioids 4,47,000, Cocaine 1,000 and 1000 Amphetamines type stimulants. Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the registration of 743 drug peddling cases in 2017, 680 in 2018, 918 in 2019, 933 in 2020 and 1324 in 2021.
ANANTNAG
Eleventh grader, Hanaya Nisar was conferred with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) 2023 for winning a gold medal at the third World SQAY Martial Arts Championship held in Chingju, South Korea in October 2018. It is India’s highest civilian honour for children.
Two civilians and 25 security personnel were killed in militant attacks across Jammu since August 5, 2019.
JAMMU
LG, Manoj Sinha presented a piece of Basholi Panting to visiting Prime Minister on April 24, 2022, at Samba.
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Jammu has authorised a programme for the Geographical Indication (GI) certification of nine items from erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state for submission to the Human Welfare Association in Varanasi. These items being submitted for GI include Basohli Paintings, Basholi Pashmina Woolen Products (Kathua), Chikri Wood Craft (Rajouri), Bhaderwah Rajma (Doda), Mushkbudji Rice (Anantnag), Kaladi (Udhampur), Sulai Honey, Anardana (Ramban), and Ladakh Wood Carving(Ladakh).
2022 saw 111 anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir in which 187 militants were killed.
JAMMU
CBI
Federal investigator CBI detained a lecturer at the Government Polytechnic College in Jammu and the Chief Accounts Officer (KAS) of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation in connection with Rs. 2.3 lakh bribery. CBI said the lecturer was being used by the accounts officer for extracting money from a person whose payment bill was with the officer. The arrest was an outcome of the trap.
Two girls were rescued alive in an avalanche that hit Manzgund village of Gurez
PATTAN
Rivalries within professionals can sometimes be interestingly intriguing. In a Pattan hospital when a junior doctor was busy carrying out the surgery, the senior got into the theatre and allegedly abused him. This stunned the staff and almost put the patient at risk. The reason: the senior did not want any procedure to take place without his knowledge. What is right and wrong will be decided by an investigation ordered by CMO, Baramula. Meanwhile, authorities have banned two doctors from doing any private practice across Jammu and Kashmir. The two doctors, Dr Zafarullah, Assistant Professor (ENT) and Dr Shafaqat Ahmad Lone, Associate Professor (ENT) of Government Medical College Baramulla were accused of referring patients from Government hospitals to Private Hospitals for availing treatment under AB PM-JAY and AB PM-JAY SEHAT Scheme.
The cost of the Haj package in 2023 is expected to be about Rs 50,000 less in comparison to 2022.
JAMMU
Non-irrigated land at Vilgam. KL Image
Jammu and Kashmir’s administration has banned the sale of agricultural land belonging to individuals who are missing for the last seven years. This was done on basis of the police enquiry that suggested the use of these incomes into subversion. Now revenue officials will have to declare a landowner not present and not in occupation on formal records. People holding their immovable properties will have also to be mentioned and will continue to harvest these lands. No revenue papers in these lands can be issued by the revenue officials to prevent their sale. Though the orders will not be applicable to the immovable property of people who have migrated, the order is silent about tens of thousands of people – mostly professionals, who are working overseas and are technically not present.
Of 33,426 Gazetted and Non-Gazetted positions in Jammu and Kashmir government, Lok Sabha was informed that 25450 vacancies stand filled by December 2022.
LONDON
A review into the British government’s scheme set up to prevent terrorism has flagged the radicalisation of UK Muslims over Kashmir and “potentially toxic” pro-Khalistan extremism as some of the areas of growing concern and made recommendations for improvements to tackle Islamist extremism as the “primary threat” to the country, reports in media said. The report said Pakistan is impacting UK Muslim communities when it comes to “inflaming anti-India sentiment, particularly around the subject of Kashmir”. Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross presided over the review.
DELHI
In a veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled his Ekta Yatra in 1991 that concluded with the tricolour unfurling in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk at the peak of militant threat. “Those who came back from Jammu and Kashmir recently must have seen how easily you can go there. I too had gone on a yatra to J&K with the resolve to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk,” Modi said. “Terrorists had put up posters and said, dekhte hain, kisne maa ka doodh piya hai jo Lal Chowk aake Tiranga phehra paaye. That day on January 24, at a public rally, I had said, ‘terrorists pay heed. On January 26, sharp at 11 am, I will reach Lal Chowk without security and a bulletproof jacket. Faisla Lal Chowk pe hoga kisne apni maa ka doodh piya hai’. Then I unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk.” Modi said Kashmir has changed after the reading down of Article 370 and tourism is on a historic rise. He said theatres are also running houseful in Kashmir and separatists are nowhere to be seen now.
SRINAGAR
It was an interesting happening. A traffic cop intercepted a car near Tagore Hall and fined him Rs 2000 for some violation of the rules. Infuriated, the “victim” promised a response. Within an hour, he returned to the spot with his bulldozer – he was an SMC driver handling a bulldozer for removing encroachments and dismantling a booth from which the traffic cops were operating. These booths are technically encroachments but practically these are important spots for the cops. This triggered a mess and after a lot of controversies, the police registered a case and arrested three SMC officials who were later bailed out by the court.
SRINAGAR
SKUAST-K’s 15 students have secured Innovation Grant Funding Support as seed money from Jammu and Kashmir Science, Technology and Innovation Council. They are mentored by the university’s Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (SKIIE) Centre and Team IDP. They will use the grants for validating the proof of concept and turning their ideas into viable marketable products.
MUMBAI
Bollywood flick, Pathaan poster showing the lead actors including Shahrukh Khan, John Ibrahim and Deepika Padukone
Effectively and surely, the tinsel town is reviving its Kashmir love story. At a time when Shah Rukh Khan’s flick Pathaan is ruling the box office, Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan are in Kashmir. They are shooting Fighter. Directed by Siddharth Anand Fighter also involves other actors including Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, and Akshay Oberoi for decisive roles. The movie is planned to hit the theatres on January 25, 2024. In Kashmir, the actors will be seen in and around Dal Lake and Pahalgam to capture some action arrays and scenes of a song. The movie Fighter is anticipated to be India’s foremost aerial action franchise which will enact and display the bravery, slaughter, and patriotic sentiments of the Indian Army. Now Karan Johar is flying Alia Bhat to Srinagar – cancelling Switzerland, for shooting Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.
SRINAGAR
Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi Reviews Security Situation In Kashmir
Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, the Northern Command chief said they are ready to give a befitting response to any Chinese aggression in Ladakh. Addressing the Northern Command Investiture Ceremony, the General said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has brought forth many lessons such as the employment of disruptive and dual-use technologies. “On the LAC, our response to Chinese attempts to unilaterally change the status quo was a swift, undaunted and synergised action by the Indian Armed Forces. Any adverse aggressive designs or attempts will definitely be met with appropriate posturing of Forces and a strong intent with complete synergy among the three services,” he said. “I assure you that the LAC in Eastern Ladakh is being dominated by physical patrolling and through technical means and our territorial integrity is being ensured.”

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 13, 2023
Briefing February 5-11, 2023

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JKSSB has been asked by the High Court to appoint 1446 paramedics after dismissing the petitions filed by those who have been working against these positions for many years.
KATHUA
Dilbagh Singh (IPS)
In an interesting revelation, the Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief, Dilbagh Singh said they have recovered a ‘perfume bomb’ from a school teacher turned militant. The recovery took place while investing in the twin Narwal blasts of January 21, 2023, and the outcome included solving four terror attacks—three on the outskirts of Jammu City and another at Katra. The teacher was identified as Mohammad Auraf Sheikh alias Arif, 32, son of Ghulamudin, a resident of village Pagihalla in the Baransal area of Gulabgarh(Reasi), who was posted at Government Middle School, Pagihalla(Mahore) but living at Peerbagh Colony at Sunjuwan in the rented accommodation of a Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) Inspector. He had been living in the cop’s accommodation between December 2021 and March 2022 and from December 1, 2022, to January 2023 and the cop had not informed the concerned. Hired as ReT in 2010, and his services were regularised in 2016.
DGP said Arif was in touch with Pakistan-basedLashkarcommander Mohammad Qasim, a resident of the village Angralla (Reasi) district, and was introduced by his maternal uncle Qamar Din of Baransal, Doda, who is settled in Karachi. His job was to collect drone-dropped IEDs and sticky bombs from the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua. The teacher had burnt almost every single thing that could have proved as evidence against him but he was still caught. Police said he admitted that he planted two sticky bombs, each weighing 450 grams, beneath seat number 3 of the bus, above the petrol tank, on May 13, 2022, in which a few Vaishno Devi pilgrims were killed and mostly survived injured.
The government has allotted Rs 62 crore, to be spent over five years for the cultivation of Medicinal Aromatic Plants on 5000 kanals of land spread across 28 clusters, creating over 3000 jobs and 28 enterprises.
GULMARG
Two Polish skiers were washed away by a debilitating avalanche at Gulmarg’s Afarwat skiing slope when 21 skiers were taken by surprise. While the rescue patrol rescued 19 skiers and their two guides – Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, the bodies of Krzysctof, 43, and Adam Grzech45, were retrieved from under a mound of snow. With powdered snow, Gulmarg is the best destination for world-class skiing outside the Alps. The spot is crowded with skiers these days. This season, Kashmir witnessed its seven major avalanches. While four avalanches hit Gurez, two hit Sonamarg earlier. In one of the avalanches at Sonamarg, two labourers working on the Zojilla tunnel were killed. Incidentally, most of these avalanches were captured live. One mobile owner actually captured the last moments of one of the two ill-fated skiers. The last major avalanche in Gulmarg was on February 8, 2010, which killed 17 soldiers.

As per a study, around 6.5 per cent of women in Srinagar started experiencing domestic violence during Covid-19-induced lockdowns.
DODA
After mass migration from Uttrakhand’s Joshimath due to its feared sinking, a similar tragedy almost struck a village located on the banks of Chenab River, where 21 residential structures developed cracks in Thathri tehsil of Doda since December last year. More than 111 people from 21 homes declared unsafe were shifted away from the Nai Basti village. The administration is yet to know the cause of land erosion and a team from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been rushed to the spot.
Jammu and Kashmir’s government inaugurated 94 sports infrastructure projects worth Rs 46 crore under CAPEX and JKIDFC
SRINAGAR
Against the backdrop of tracing a fake posting and appointment order, the School Education Department has ordered verification of the genuineness of the 2009 batch and other appointees of which orders have been issued by the government. The order came after a fraudster was found serving the department for more than 13 years by producing fake postings and appointment orders.
Jammu and Kashmir’s government is spending Rs 146 crore to promote niche crops as unique heritage.
SRINAGAR
Following a Delhi Court order, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached the Hurriyat office in Srinagar. In an order, Shaliender Malik, additional sessions judge, New Delhi district, had ordered the attachment under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act-1967. The court, however, had added that the attachment in itself does not mean that there is any pre-trial conclusion regarding that property. The Court further said that among the different allegations and evidence, it was also the case that the office of APHC was the place where meetings were held to strategize different protests, funding activities of stone pelting on security forces, recruiting of unemployed youths to carry out unlawful activities as well as terrorist activities to create unrest in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir to wage war against the Government of India.
57 schools and roads were recently renamed in memory of eminent persons and lain soldiers.
SRINAGAR
Nearly 656309 hectares of State and Khacharai land were retrieved during the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in eight districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On January 9, the administration had asked the DCs to ensure that all encroachments on state land, including grazing land and that granted under the Roshni Act, are removed by January 31. The major chunk of 2,75,867 hectares of land was retrieved from encroachers in Rajouri, followed by 1,44,613 hectares in Reasi, 1,22,277 in Poonch, 47,552 hectares in Kishtwar, 33,000 Kanals in Bandipora, 15,000 in Kathua, 14,000 in Ganderbal and 4,000 in Kupwara districts so far. In line with the government’s assurances that big fishes are on target, 40 kanals of land were retrieved from a hotel in Srinagar that belongs to close relatives of former CM Farooq Abdullah. In Anantnag, the boundary wall of the residence of former minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayyed (Congress) at Dahmal Khoshipora was demolished. However, while many high profiles people were targeted, the Lal Chowk Srinagar’s Aftab market witnessed the sealing and then subsequent reopening of two dozen odd shops.
India’s 2023-24 budget has allocated Rs 35,581.44 crore to Jammu and Kashmir, mostly as central assistance. It is slightly lower in comparison to allocations of Rs 44,538.13 crore in the last budget.
JAMMU
Trilochan Singh Wazir
Delhi Police has arrested Sudershan Singh Wazir, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Sikh United Front and his two associates Harjinder Singh Raina and Jagpal Singh for their alleged involvement in the murder of NC lawmaker and trader Tarlochan Singh Wazir on September 3, 2021. Sudarshan was summoned by police to Delhi and booked under Section 120-B IPC. The recent arrests in the case were based on the disclosures of Harpreet Singh, a prime accused in the murder.
NABARD estimates Jammu and Kashmir has credit potential worth Rs 34082 crore in the priority sector in 2023-24.
LADAKH
Engineer Sonam Wangchuk, Ladakh’s change-maker and the man on whose life the Bollywood blockbuster, 3 Idiots is based, was on a “symbolic carbon neutral climatic fast” (read hunger strike) for five days. His protest was for an extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh, full statehood and other demands already propounded by the region’s political leadership. His protest became global news as the Leh administration restricted him to his Himalayan Institutes of Alternative Ladakh (HIAL). Now the region’s leadership wants him to be part of the negotiations with Delhi. The Magsaysay Award winner’s statement shocked the government: “I didn’t think I would ever say this, but I am saying that we were better off with Jammu and Kashmir than today’s UT [Union Territory]. I would also tell that tomorrow’s UT would be better and golden.”
In the last three years, Budgam district witnessed the seizure of 1120 vehicles for “illegal missing” and they were fined to the tune of Rs 17,357,156.
BIHAR
Last week, social media was dominated by a young Kashmir lady who had converted to Hinduism for marrying Lalu Singh, a resident of Begusarai, Bihar. She emerged on the social media scene after her in-laws refused to adopt her and wanted her to go back home. She had fled home twice and was sent back by her in-laws but this time she refused and went public. Later, a possible police intervention helped her reunite with her husband.
Against a loan of Rs 400 crore to various power projects owned by Adani group, almost Rs 255 crore is still unpaid.
DELHI
In his Mann Ji Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to many Kashmier winter pictures look like a fairy tale. “During winters, people also enjoyed snowfall in the mountains. Some pictures came in from Jammu and Kashmir which captivate hearts in the entire country,” Modi said. “People are saying that picture of a beautiful snowfall, white sheet like snow all around looks like a fairy tale. They comment that these pictures are not of any foreign nation but that of Kashmir in our own country.” Then he became a Kashmir brand ambassador: “Seeing these pictures, you too must be thinking of going on a trip to Kashmir. I would like you to go there yourself and also take your friends along. Besides snow-capped mountains along with natural beauty, there are many more things to see and know in Kashmir.” Then, he moved to snow cricket and termed it an “exciting game”. He added; “Winter Games were organized in Syedabad, Kashmir. Kashmiri youth make cricket even more amazing in the snow. Through this, there is also a search for young players in Kashmir, who will later play as Team India. In a way, this is also an extension of the Khelo India Movement.”
In the last 20 years, Kashmir recorded 2357 Asiatic black bear attacks on humans till 2020.
SRINAGAR
Kashmir’s handicraft basket will now have a Quick Response (QR) code alongside the GI labelling. The initiative aimed at fair trade practice is taking place at a time when the handicraft sector is exhibiting a strong revival with exports in the last nine months crossing Rs 729 crore, for the first time after 2019. Now, 13 Kashmir crafts including six handicrafts already having GI will have distinct QR codes. These include Kashmir Pashmina, Kashmir Sozni, Kani Shawl, Kashmir Walnut Wood Carving, Kashmir Papier Machie and Khatamband. In the case of Kashmir Pashmina’s GI labelling has been redeveloped and has been integrated with the QR-Code certification module.
From 23 procurement spots, the agriculture department has purchased 33600 tons of paddy from 6,549 farmers in Jammu and Kashmir for Rs 68.88 crore.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 7, 2023
Schumer: All senators to receive briefing on spy balloon Feb. 15

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China tried to steer the balloon to leave the U.S. “as soon as they could” once information about the balloon was exposed to the public, a press release from Schumer’s office said.
At least three similar balloons went over “portions of the U.S.” during the Trump administration, the press release said, though there were conflicting reports Sunday as to whether that is true.
Schumer also praised the Biden administration’s choice to shoot down the balloon over water as both the safest option and “the one that maximized our intel gain.” The U.S. can now analyze the surviving military equipment in the balloon, Schumer said.
“Republican critics were breathless, political, and premature. President Biden and his team were calm, calculating and effective,” Schumer said.
Members of the GOP on Sunday jumped on Biden’s delay in shooting down the balloon as a sign of perceived weakness.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 6, 2023
McCarthy calls for intel briefing on Chinese spy balloon over Montana

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Ryder declined to say where the balloon came from, but a senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks, said the Pentagon has “very high confidence” it belongs to China.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment.

“China’s brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot be silent,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Thursday. “I am requesting a Gang of Eight briefing.”
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Susan Walsh/AP Photo
President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation and asked for military options, said the senior DoD official. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convened senior Pentagon leaders on Wednesday while he was traveling in the Philippines, and discussed the possibility of shooting it down.
Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Glen VanHerck, chief of U.S. Northern Command, strongly recommended against bringing it down due to the risk that falling debris could pose a hazard to people on the ground, the senior DoD official said.
“We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana, but we just couldn’t buy down the risk enough to feel comfortable recommending shooting it down yesterday,” the official said.
Officials also assessed that the balloon did not pose a threat to the people on the ground or to civilian aviation, the official added.
The Pentagon also determined the balloon has “limited value” over what China is already able to collect through its satellite capabilities, the official said. But it is flying over a number of sensitive sites, including Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to some of the nation’s silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Still, the department is taking “mitigation steps” to protect against possible foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information, the person said, declining to give details. At the same time, officials are gaining “insights” into the balloon’s capabilities.

“We know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over and we’re taking steps to be extra vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk,” the person said.
At Billings Logan airport on Wednesday, flights ground to a halt as the U.S. military scrambled F-22 fighter jets in case the decision was made to take down the balloon.
Revelations about the suspected spy balloon sparked angry reactions among lawmakers, beyond McCarthy.
“Biden should shoot down the Chinese spy balloon immediately,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said in a tweet. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted that the balloon highlighted how “intense & brazen” Chinese espionage efforts targeting the U.S. have become.
Montana Sen. Steve Daines demanded a briefing from the Biden administration Thursday night.
“It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy- balloon was utilizing,” he said in a statement. “Given the increased hostility and destabilization around the globe aimed at the United States and our allies, I am alarmed by the fact that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon owes a “full and accurate accounting” of what happened.
“Information strongly suggests the Department failed to act with urgency in responding to this airspace incursion by a high-altitude surveillance balloon,” the Mississippi senator said. “No incursion should be ignored, and should be dealt with appropriately.”
Not all the criticism came from Republicans. The bipartisan leaders of the newly formed House committee on China issued a joint statement declaring the balloon incursion a “violation of American sovereignty.”
They hinted it had implications for Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing next week. “Coming only days before Secretary Blinken’s trip to the PRC … it also makes clear that the CCP’s recent diplomatic overtures do not represent a substantive change in policy,” Committee Chair Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill) said in the statement.
That suggests there may be a growing chorus of congressional voices over the next 24 hours calling for Blinken to reconsider his trip to China to protest the spy balloon’s intrusion into U.S. airspace.
“The timing of this provocation is troubling to say the least … it is very difficult to see how Blinken’s trip can proceed as planned,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “If he does decide to go, this spying incident will almost certainly overshadow any hopes Blinken may have harbored about stabilizing the fraught U.S.-China relationship.”
This is not the first time DoD has tracked a Chinese spy balloon flying over the continental U.S. This kind of activity has happened “a handful of other times” over the past few years, including before the Biden administration, the senior DoD official said. However, in this instance the balloon loitered for a longer period of time.
The U.S. has engaged its Chinese counterparts “with urgency” through multiple channels, both through their embassy in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Beijing, the senior DoD official said.
“We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue,” the person said. “We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland.”

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 3, 2023
Ukraine can’t retake Crimea soon, Pentagon tells lawmakers in classified briefing

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The briefers included Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, director of operations on the Joint Staff.
“We’re not going to comment on closed-door classified briefings nor will we talk about hypotheticals or speculate on potential future operations,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said. “In terms of Ukraine’s ability to fight and take back sovereign territory, their remarkable performance in repulsing Russian aggression and continued adaptability on the battlefield speaks for itself.”
A House Armed Services spokesperson declined to comment.
The assessment from the briefers echoes what Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chair, has alluded to in recent weeks.
“I still maintain that for this year it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from all –– every inch of Ukraine and occupied –– or Russian-occupied Ukraine,” he said during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany on Jan. 20. “That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it’d be very, very difficult.”
Russian forces have occupied Crimea since 2014, and the peninsula is bristling with air defenses and tens of thousands of troops. Many of those infantry forces are dug into fortified positions stretching hundreds of miles facing off against Ukrainian troops along the Dnipro River.
The issue of retaking Crimea has been a contentious one for months, as American and European officials insist the peninsula is legally part of Ukraine, while often stopping short of fully equipping Kyiv to push into the area.
One person familiar with the thinking in Kyiv said the Zelenskyy administration was “furious” with Milley’s remarks, as Ukraine prepares for major offensives this spring. Ukrainians also note that U.S. intelligence about their military abilities have consistently missed the mark throughout the nearly year-long war.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Zelenskyy adviser Andriy Yermak rejected the idea of a Ukrainian victory without taking Crimea.
“This is absolutely unacceptable,” Yermak said, adding that victory means restoring Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders “including Donbas and Crimea.”
Ukraine has repeatedly asked for longer-range weapons, including rocket artillery and guided munitions fired by fighter planes and drones, to target Russian command-and-control centers and ammunition depots far behind the front lines in Crimea.
After the U.S. gave Ukraine the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System in the summer, Russia moved many of its most vulnerable assets out of its 50-mile range. The Biden administration continues to refuse to send missiles for the launcher that can reach 300 miles, which would put all of Crimea at risk.
House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in an interview Wednesday that the war “needs to end this summer,” placing urgency on the U.S. to rapidly supply Ukraine for a coming offensive and on Kyiv to forge a clearer outline of how the conflict ends.
“There’s a school of thought … that Crimea’s got to be a part of it. Russia is never going to quit and give up Crimea,” said Rogers, who did not address the contents of the classified briefing his committee received last week. Vladimir “Putin has got to decide what he can leave with and claim victory.”
“What is doable? And I don’t think that that’s agreed upon yet. So I think that there’s going to have to be some pressure from our government and NATO leaders with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy about what does victory look like,” Rogers added. “And I think that’s going to help us more than anything be able to drive Putin and Zelenskyy to the table to end this thing this summer.”
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#Ukraine #retake #Crimea #Pentagon #tells #lawmakers #classified #briefing
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 2, 2023
Briefing wars escalate as nervous EU and Britain enter Brexit endgame

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LONDON — Whisper it softly, but the Brexit endgame has arrived.
Eighteen months after Brussels and London reopened talks on the contentious Northern Ireland protocol — and more than three years after Britain actually left the EU — panicked officials on both sides of the English Channel are frantically trying to manage expectations as reports of a technical-level deal between the two sides emerge.
“They’re still in calls with the EU, but it’s literally just lawyers tidying up bits of text,” one senior British government official said Wednesday, in reference to the U.K. negotiating team. “We’re done.”

Multiple reports suggest U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak now has a draft technical deal on his desk to consider, despite a wave of both official and unofficial denials from politicians and diplomats on all sides.
“I suspect it is more the technical shape of a deal than a deal per se,” said a second person close to the talks on the U.K. side, “which might be giving them wriggle room to deny it.”
Denials of an outright agreement were still coming thick and fast Wednesday night after the Times reported that London and Brussels had indeed reached a deal on the key customs and governance disputes that have dogged talks over the protocol. Crucially — and most contentiously — its front page story suggested the EU has given ground on the role its top court will play in resolving future disputes.
That followed earlier reporting late last week by Bloomberg News that technical-level solutions on customs, state aid and checks were indeed within touching distance.
Talks on smoothing the operation of the Northern Ireland protocol have been ongoing since the summer of 2021, with negotiators long targeting a deal this month, ahead of an expected visit to Ireland by U.S. President Joe Biden in April.
The protocol arrangement, agreed as part of the Brexit divorce deal, sees Northern Ireland continue to follow the EU’s customs union and single market rules, in an effort to avoid a politically-sensitive hard border with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, which remains an EU member state.
Yet Northern Ireland’s unionist politicians have long objected to the protocol, with the Democratic Unionist Party boycotting power-sharing and arguing that checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland effectively separate the region from the rest of the U.K. They’re backed by critics in Sunak’s governing Conservative Party who resent the Court of Justice of the European Union’s place in protocol governance.
Selling a deal to those domestic audiences represents an almighty political challenge for a prime minister already battling to keep his fractured party together.
The official line
Officially, both sides are sticking to the script and insisting that talks continue.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Wednesday: “I’m very sorry, but I cannot give partial elements — because you never know in the very end how the package looks like.”
In Downing Street, Sunak’s official spokesperson tried to steer journalists away from what he called “speculative” reporting.
“No deal has been agreed, there is still lots of work to do on all areas, with significant gaps remaining between the U.K. and EU positions,” the spokesperson said. “Talks are ongoing on potential solutions including on goods.”
But the senior U.K. official quoted before said the message from No. 10 that negotiations are ongoing only applied at a political level.
They added: “It’s now up to politicians to decide ‘yay’ or ‘nay.’ Rishi could have further technical talks with Ursula von der Leyen and [EU Brexit point-man] Maroš Šefčovič and stuff like that, but officials are done. It’s plain as day.”
According to the second person close to the talks, Sunak has been receiving regular updates on the evolving technical shape of the deal.
“As far as I know, he hasn’t given it the green light yet,” they said. “But it is all being quite ‘secret squirrel’ in the [U.K.] Cabinet Office. So I don’t think many people will be fully in the loop.”
In Brussels and in London, EU diplomats were busy rubbishing reports of an imminent resolution, while acknowledging that information on the state of play is being kept tight. European ambassadors were briefed on Wednesday morning that a breakthrough is yet to be reached, and that the CJEU issue remains particularly tricky.
Even inside the U.K., claim and counter-claim were flying. Another British official close to the talks said it was “just wrong [that a deal] is close,” with “fundamental” issues outstanding “including making sure there isn’t a border.” They would not, the person added, “expect anything in the short term.”
One EU diplomat summed up the mood: “If somebody tells you they know what’s happening, they’re lying.”
In truth, a final agreement on Brexit has never looked so close.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 31, 2023
Briefing January 29 – February 4, 2023

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JAMMU
Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha addressed the Republic Day gathering in Jammu in 2023.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said that every drop of blood and tears that were shed in Jammu and Kashmir due to the killings of innocents at the behest of the “neighbouring” country will be avenged. Highlighting the interventions aimed at getting Jammu and Kashmir back on the rails of peace and progress, Sinha said there are sustained efforts of the security grid to eradicate militancy. “I want to tell those involved in the barbaric killings of innocents at the behest of the neighbouring country that we will avenge every drop of blood and tears”, Sinha said. “Today, I bow to the brave soldiers of Jammu and Kashmir police, army and central security forces, who displayed unmatched heroism and the spirit of sacrifice in defending the motherland.” In 2022, the security grid killed 180 militants as the year witnessed a 55 per cent fall in civilian killings and a 58 per cent reduction in the killing of security forces. He said the security grid has been strengthened.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have constituted a 20-member Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) that will be headed by an SSP rank officer and will have six DySPs, six inspectors, six head constables and a follower.
POONCH
Army imparting training to Village Defence Committee (VDC) members on weapon handling, cleaning, musketry, firing and weapon maintenance drills at Mendhar (Poonch). Pic: PRO defence Jammu
In the first post-reorganisation of VDC, a young housewife in Surankote was killed by her husband when the latter was playing with the rifle of a VDC member, a relative. Police arrested the man, seized the weapon and are investigating if it was an accident or a deliberate one. The deceased was identified as Rubina Kouser, 30. Her husband, now in detention for the killing, was identified as Nassar Ahmad son of Nazir Hussain of Upper Murrah in Surankote. The rifle belonged to a VDC member. Meanwhile, the High Court has declined to stay the government order of August 14, 2022, that accorded sanction to the creation of the Village Defence Guards Scheme (VDGS) 2022. The court of Justice Rahul Bharti was hearing a plea filed by 619 Village Defence Guards (VDGs) and Special Police Officers (SPOs) seeking direction to the Government not to change the status of VDC SPOs. The 2022 order superseded September 30, 1995, which created the extra-constitutional VDC network.
2022 witnessed 1.8 crore tourist arrivals in Jammu and Kashmir including pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
CHENNAI
Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha attends Vitasta Festival at Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai on January 28, 2023. Image DIPR
Ministry of Culture is organising a festival Vitasta – the ever-flowing legacy of Kashmir in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir. The first edition of the festival will be held from January 27 to 30, at Kalakshetra, and on January 29, at Dakshina Chitra. It will have a choreographed dance presentation of the Kashmiri folk dance forms, a folk symphony with Kashmiri folk musical instruments, a unique presentation of two folk theatre forms – Bhand Pather of Kashmir and Therukoothu of Tamil Nadu, a recital by Santoor player music composer and conductor, Abhay Rustum Sopori, Kashmiri Sufi Band by Aabha Hanjura, Kashmiri cuisine fair, crafts fair with the handicrafts, needlework and weaves of Kashmir, workshops on pashmina wool weaving and papier mâché, seminars related to the Vitasta river and Kashmir including the impact of Buddhism and Shaivism, art camp for artists, an art competition for schoolchildren, a play, photography exhibition, Sharada Stotram by the students of Kalakshetra, a production on national integration based on a literary work by Subramania Bharathi by the students of Kalakshetra, and villu pattu on Vitasta.

32000 students from across India study in Jammu and Kashmir, according to Home Minister Amit Shah.
LADAKH
LAB, KDA hold protest in Jammu on Sunday, January 16, 2022
China is reported to have blocked access to the Indian Army at 26 patrolling points along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) in eastern Ladakh, resulting in the denial to use huge swatches of grazing land to the local herdsmen. A Leh Police reports suggest that there are a total of 65 PPs (patrolling points) starting from Karakoram Pass to Chumur which were routinely being patrolled by the army. These points were openings towards high-altitude meadows as well. The access has been denied by the Chinese Army under the land grabbing inch by inch, which is called salami slicing, the report authored by OPS officer PD Nitya has said. The officer submitted its report to the just concluded annual conference of DGPs and IGPs held in Delhi. “Out of 65 PPs, our presence is lost in 26 PPs (i.e. PP no. 5-17, 24-32, 37), due to restrictive or no patrolling by the security forces,” the paper added. Though the government has not formally reacted to the findings, informal sources have denied the status quo. The anonymous said the herders have been restricted by the army itself.
Meanwhile, in an unlinked development, reports suggest that the MHA will resume talks with the protesting political leadership of the region seeking assurance for full statehood, and protection of the region’s identity under the Sixth Schedule and jobs. Region’s leaders have boycotted a High Power Committee that MHA constituted and protested in Ladakh and then in Jammu. Now, the regional leaders have written a joint letter to Amit Shah suggesting that to begin with, dialogue should be initiated with two representatives each of LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) with the provision of wider participation as it makes headway.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank netted Rs 311.59 crore profit in Q3, ending December 2022, taking the 9-month profit to Rs 721.05 crore in fiscal 2022.
SRINAGAR
Co-founders of a logistics company, FastBeetle, Abid Rashid (L) and Sheikh Samiullah (R). They got an institutional investment of 100 thousand dollars after their less than 2-year start-up was evaluated as worth a million-dollar company.
Srinagar-based e-commerce start-up, Fast Beetle succeeded in raising Rs 90 lakh by diluting its shareholding by 7.5 per cent to two shark investors, Piyush Bhansal and Aman Gupta. The development took place at the business reality show, Shark Tank India. Investors were impressed by the story of start-up promoters Sheikh Samiullah and Abid Rashid, who in 2019 started a logistics company that delivers parcels to buyers. This is the second time that the company succeeded in raising money from the highly competitive open market. In 2021, they had raised almost one crier from a group of venture capital investors. Now the two co-founders retain 76 per cent of their company’s equity.
Jammu and Kashmir’s government has launched an Rs 879.75-crore Food Processing Programme for the Development of Clusters for Specific Products to maximise farmer income and minimise post-harvest losses.
DELHI
Kashmir’s last Santoor maker Ghulam Mohammad Zaz was among three eminent persons from erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir who were awarded Padma Shri this year. Others are litterateur Mohan Singh (Jammu) and Ladakh’s religious personality Kushok Thisksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin. Zaz is the eighth-generation Santoor maker and lives in Srinagar’s Zaina Kadal. “The legacy will end with me,” he regrets. Santoor is a trapezoid-shaped instrument with 87 strings and 28 bridges. Traditional Kashmiri Santoor, however, has 100 strings. For use in Indian Classical Music, the number of strings is reduced. Zaz is survived by his wife and three daughters. Normally the instrument made with almond wood is considered better.
URI
JK LG Manoj Sinha with the family of Mudasir A Sheikh, an SPO, who was killed in an encounter in Kreeri on May 25. Sinha visited the family in Uri on May 28, 2022.
Mudasir Ahmad, 32, a Jammu and Kashmir Policeman who was slain in a counterinsurgency operation was awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously. He was killed in an encounter in Najibhat Kreeri (Baramulla) on May 25, 2022. Three foreign militants were also killed in the encounter that was mounted by police, the army and CRPF. On October 5, 2022, Home Minister Amit Shah visited Sheikh’s family and paid respects at his grave barefoot. He has worked undercover earlier, reports in the media suggest. Mudasir is survived by his father Maqsood Sheikh, a retired sub-inspector, mother Shameema Begum, two sisters, and three brothers. Sheikh was hired as SPO after his father’s retirement and on basis of his extraordinary services with SOG, he was formally adjusted into police. He was a daredevil police official.
SRINAGAR
After formally and informally identifying the encroachment on the state land basket, the authorities have started demolitions in certain cases, In a high-voltage operation, the Budgam district administration demolished the outer wall of National Conference (NC) leader Ali Muhammad Sagar’s security detail near his Humhama house. The government had raised a plank suggesting the piece of land had been encroached upon by the politician. Officials said they demolished the outer wall, the main gate and the entry of the guardroom. Official records said the Saleema, wife of Sagar is the owner of land measuring 3 kanal 18 marlas. However, the family had allegedly encroached upon 2 kanals of state land on which a building had been raised.
DODA
Mubeen Fatima was a mother when she enrolled for MSc Botany and soon she fell apart from her husband. She is now a JKAS officer.
Marriage, after all, is a social contract with a lot of emotional, moral, ethical and economic equity. Sometimes it does not succeed. Instead of staying in a bad relationship, it is better to move out formally and rediscover life. That is what Mubeen Fatima did. Daughter of Abdul Sattar of Upper Thathar, Bantalab, the mother of a young daughter, put in her efforts and made it to Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS), with a rank of 154. She graduated in 2018 and was a mother in the same year. As she joined for her masters in Botanay, she was divorced by her husband – conveyed the same digitally. She was declared MSc Botany in 2020 and soon she started preparing for JKAS. On the first attempt, she made it.
ZEWAN
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha with Kashmiri Pandits after he laid foundation stone of Transit Accommodation for PM Package Employees at Zewan on Friday January 20, 2022
The Zewan locality on the borders of the Srinagar and Pulwama districts will have a series of towers that will house a Kashmiri Pandit township. LG Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone last week for 936 flats. These are for the employees who will be posted in Kashmir. In comparison, it is a better-secured locality. LG said by December 2023, 1200 flats will be ready for the Pandit employees who were appointed under a special package of the Prime Minister.
JAMMU
Kanak Mandi Jammu.
Finally, the government has decided to collect Property Tax in Jammu and Kashmir and it will start with commercial establishments. Officials said collection of this tax is linked to the devolution of various grants to Jammu and Kashmir. Slabs for the imposition of the tax are reportedly being worked out. For the time being, it will not be collected from residential establishments.
SRINAGAR
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on one of his initial visits to SKIMS after the institute started functioning. Sheikh was the Chief Minister.
A young SKIMS doctor survived an electric shock while performing on a cardiac patient in the operation theatre. Reports suggest that when he started the procedure, he got an electric shock, following which he collapsed on the ground and was admitted. He has suffered injuries on his hand and fingers. After the shocking incident, SKIMS management started an audit at key spots in the hospital.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 31, 2023
Briefing January 22-28, 2023

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RAJOURI
Investigations into the twin attacks in Rajouri’s Upper Dangri village in which seven persons were killed have been taken over by the federal investigator, NIA. A day after Home Minister Amit Shah visited the region. Owing to bad weather, however, he could not fly to the distant mountainous area and spoke to the families of the victims on phone. Shah presided over a high-level security review meeting in which various decisions were taken. He announced having a 360-degree security net to wipe out militancy from the Jammu region and strengthen Security Grid within three months. The 360-degree security circle, he said will completely eliminate the support and information system of terrorists.
In two years, Kashmir lost 35 persons (18 in 2021 and 17 in 2022) to electrocution. These included 19 temporary KPDCL employees.
DODA
Two daughters and a son of an erstwhile mechanic at Baglihar power project created history by cracking the coveted JKAS examination together. What is interesting is that they lacked access to personal phones and never went to coaching. They basically belong to a Doda village and have shifted to Jammu. The siblings include sisters – Ifra Anjum, Huma Anjum and their younger brother Suhail Ahmad Wani. It was the first attempt for Ifra and Suhail, but elder sister Huma qualified it in her second attempt. They said they studied together and learned a lot from the mistake that their elder sister committed in her first attempt.
The JKAS results declared by JK Public Service Commission in record time filled 187 positions in the Jammu and Kashmir administration – 56 JKAS, 71 JKPS and 60 will go to the Jammu and Kashmir Accounts Service. Of the 187 candidates, 90 candidates were selected in Open Merit. Rest are from reserved categories – 22 candidates belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) – six of them have secured their seats in Open Merit as well – 19 candidates belong to Scheduled Tribe (ST), 24 candidates belong to Residents of Backward Area (RBA) – eight of them also fall in Open Merit, 18 candidates belonged to Economically Weaker Section (EWS), three candidates belong to Physically Handicapped Category (PHC), eight candidates belong to Pahari Speaking People (PSP) – two of them secured their seats among Open Merit also, eleven candidates belong to Actual Line of Control/ International Border (ALC/IB) and four of them secured their seat among Open Merit, six candidates belong to Social Caste (SLC) and one of them secured the seat among Open Merit. As many as 31 candidates from Kashmir were declared successful.

Nearly 24 per cent of the population in Jammu and Kashmir own a car
WEST BENGAL
A probe is underway to investigate why a West Bengal textbook used the word “Azad Kashmir” in an exercise book meant for the tenth-class examination. The book belonged to Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamadir, a government-aided school in Malda district. It asked the students to identify several places on the map including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It read: On the map of India locate the following places, with the options being “Azad Kashmir”, Moplah (Malabar) rebellion area, the place where Gandhiji had first undertaken the Satyagraha movement and Chittagong battleground. It became an issue after some BJP leaders put the photograph on social media. In reaction, Jr Education Minister in Delhi, Subhas Sarkar alleged that the question setter was inspiring terrorism. “The paper setter is anti-national. He is inspiring terrorism. This is shameful,” Sarkar said. “The West Bengal Education Minister should write to him and this test paper cell should be shut immediately.”
In four years, Jammu and Kashmir reported 51577 cancer cases. There were 6824 deaths in 2018, 7003 in 2019, 7189 cancer deaths in 2020, 7211 in 2021 and 7396 in 2022.
DELHI
Hindal Haider Taybji
One of the petitioners against Article 370 abrogation, Hindal Haidar Tyabji, former Jammu and Kashmir former Chief Secretary, died in Delhi. He was 82. Scion of the rich Taybji family – he was the son of Badruddin Taybji, HH Taybji was married in Srinagar, when he was a young officer, but the union ended up in divorce soon. It was much later that he married Nalini Misra and adopted her family. He served Jammu and Kashmir for 37 years and was the only officer who worked as ACS after being removed as Chief Secretary. His death was widely condoled in Kashmir, especially by people who worked with him. He is being seen as a “friend of Kashmir” who was hugely rich but lived a modest life and would spend most of his earnings on charity. The cigar-smoking bureaucrat was faith-neutral but very well-read, dignified and a positive human being. He was briefly the law secretary of the Government of India as well. He was created in Delhi.
J&K Waqf Board says of around 31000 properties in Jammu and Kashmir, they only control only 10 per cent directly.
ANANTNAG
With most of the services that the Jammu and Kashmir government is offering are online. Almost 400 services have gone completely online. Now cell phone is the key player in governance. However, in the quantum jump, a lot of people are caught in the digital divide. One faction of people is the women from weaker sections who had applied offline for marriage assistance. They married and claim they had raised debts in the hope the assistance will come and they will payback. Now they are caught in the mess. Officials, they claim tell them the off-line mode is over. They have been protesting over the crisis they are in. How will the online system manage the off-line backlog, it is something that needs to be watched in ‘smart-governed’ Jammu and Kashmir.
In order to make butchers sell mutton at Rs 535 a kg fixed in 2021, authorities have sealed more than 117 mutton shops.
JAMMU
Administratively, Jammu and Kashmir might be separate from Ladakh but technically it is not. The leaders from the twin districts of Kargil and Leh – now a division and a UT, have been seeking rights and have protested many times in the desert region since 2019. Not seeing it effective, they moved to Jammu where they led a huge slogan-shouting march. Chering Dorjay Lakrook and KDA co-chairman Asgar Ali Karbalaie led a march in Jammu for full-fledged Statehood for Ladakh, constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, recruitment and job reservation for the youth of the region and two separate Parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil. They are now moving to Delhi with their demands to Jantar Mantar. Ladakh leaders have stayed away from the high-powered committee constituted recently by the MHA.
Almost 97 per cent of the Jammu Kashmir population has Golden Card that guarantees cashless health cover.
SAHARANPUR
Mufti Abdul Gani Azhari
Kashmir’s veteran Islamic scholar Mufti Abdul Gani Azhari died at Saharanpur where he was teaching at a respected seminary. He was 100 plus years and was not keeping a good health for a long time. Azhari was head of the Arabic department at the University of Kashmir. Popularly known as Gani Azhari, the respected Gujjar scholar was an authority on Naqishbandiya Silsila and a veteran Arabic scholar. He was a polymath sufi, who was born in Poonch in 1922 and finally migrated to Sagam in Kokernag. He studied at Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir al Uloom Saharanpur. He did his PhD from Jamia al-Azhari. He retired as head of the Arabic department of the University of Kashmir in 1997.
LAKHANPUR
Leaders at a stage in Lakhanpur after Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra enters JK
A day ahead of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra’s entry into Jammu and Kashmir, Congress’s spokesperson in Jammu enforced some morality by resigning against the party’s invitation to Choudhary Lal Singh. Deepika Pushkar Nath said she was “left with no option but to resign” from the Congress over the decision taken by the party’s state unit to “allow” Singh to join the Yatra. She said the Yatra was “ideologically opposite” to the actions of Singh as he “divided the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir to protect the rapists.” A two-time MP and three-time MLA who has been with Congress and BJP before floating his own party – Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP), Singh had extended his support to the Yatra. He had played a key role in supporting the accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in 2018. Nath had stood up for the victim and her family in the Kathua rape case, and had taken the parents of the victim to the High Court at Jammu for monitoring of the investigation. She had also guided them to approach the Supreme Court for seeking a transfer of the trial to Pathankot in Punjab. After Nath took the stand, Omar also questioned Singh’s decision to be part of Yatra. Eventually, Congress said it would stand by the victim’s family. Though Singh was part of the welcome function, he was not invited to share the stage. “Let me tell you, Kashmir-based parties will never allow Jammu to develop, prosper or form its own identity,” a sulking Singh told reporters.
Rahul Gandhi said he is revisiting his routes, His yatra will conclude on January 31 with a grand function in Srinagar.
SHALIMAR
A man shows new Rs 2000 currency after exchanging old Rs 500 and 1000 denominations at Srinagar on Thursday 11 November 2016. KL Image Bilal Bahadur
Under the Ministry of Science and Technology Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (DST-PURSE) scheme, two universities in Kashmir – SKUAST-K, and Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) got substantial funding of Rs 10 crore each. The universities have to formally apply and justify the grant on basis of the scientific work they had done and the publications they have made. These funds go into the creation of adequate infrastructure for high-end scientific research. The grant comes on basis of high-impact scientific publications. In 2021, the University of Kashmir also got a Rs 10 crore DST-PURSE grant. Jammu University got a Rs 16.75 crore grant in 2016. The grant is once in a five or 10-year affair.

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#Briefing #January
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 24, 2023