SRINAGAR: Property tax will be imposed in Jammu and Kashmir from April 1, 2023, reads a notification issued by the government.
According to a notification issued by Housing and Urban Development department, in the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 71A of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), read with Sub-Section 1 of Section 65 and Sub-Section 1 of Section 73 thereof, the Government hereby notifies the following rules for levy, assessment and collection of property tax in the Municipalities and Municipal Councils of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“These rules shall be called Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax (Other Municipalities) Rules, 2023. These shall come into force from 1st of April, 2023.”
Read full order So 87 Notification for Property Tax
SRINAGAR: In the last few days, two top Kashmiri militants are reported killed in different incidents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both of them were designated terrorists by the MHA and were sought by the law in India.
In one incident banned Hizb ul Mujahedeen’s “launching commander” was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He was identified as Bashir Ahmad Peer, alias Imtiyaz Alam.
In another assassination Ejaz Ahmad Ahanger, a Kashmir-born insurgent is thought to have been assassinated in southern Afghanistan along with intelligence personnel and members of his family.
Reports appearing in the media suggest that Peer was killed on Monday night outside a store in Rawalpindi by a close-range assailant.
Back home, the MHA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act declared Peer as a terrorist on October 4, 2022, for his involvement in terrorism-related activities, including facilitating terrorist infiltration into Kupwara.
Peer, originally from the Babarpora neighbourhood in the Kupwara had taken up residence in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. According to reports, Peer was assassinated by militants of rival organisations after disagreements arose between various organisations over a variety of problems, including funding.
The statement issued on the day he was declared a designated terrorist, offers a lot of details about him. “Peer participated in a number of online propaganda groups to bring together ex-militants and other cadres for the expansion of activities of Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and other terrorist organisations,” the statement said.
Ejaz Ahmad Ahanger is reported to have been killed last week. The authorities have informed the family that the militant leader “had slept off”.
“The police summoned my older brother to give him the news a few days ago. I do not know whether this is true or not, but I have been crying since then,” Fahmida Shafi, Ahanger’s sister, has told The Print website.
Afghan intelligence has identified Ahanger as the mastermind of the Kasargod-born Muhammad Muhsin suicide bombing in March 2020, which claimed the life of a security guard and 24 worshippers at the Gurdwara Kart-e Parwan in Kabul. Ijas Kallukettiya Purayil, a former dentist from Kasargod in Kerala, was also suspected to have carried out a suicide attack at Jalalabad under the direction of Ahanger.
In addition to his two children, Sabira Ahanger, who was born in 1997, and Tooba Ahanger, who was born in 2001, Ejaz is believed to have left behind his first wife, Rukhsana Ahanger.
A resident of Srinagar, Ahangar was designated a terrorist by the MHA in January 2023. He was an Islamic State member who was earlier jailed in Afghanistan and fled the jail after Kabul fell to the Taliban. The Print report said Ahanger married thrice since 1995.
The MHA notification said Ahanger “is wanted by J&K Police” for his links with Al-Qaida and other global terrorist groups. He is alleged to have been engaged in re-starting the ISIS channels in India, the MHA said in the notification. Besides, he was accused of providing traction to militancy in Kashmir Valley and has initiated an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine.
JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Tuesday in a meeting with traffic authorities made it amply clear that in no case should travel time between the two capital cities of the UT exceed beyond 7 hours on any day for light motor vehicles.
He made these remarks in a meeting called to review the traffic scenario on this road including that of the two cities.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Home; Principal Secretary, PWD; Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; IG Traffic; Secretary, Transport; Deputy Commissioners Anantnag/ Ramban; SP Traffic, National Highway; District SPs, Jammu/ Srinagar/ Anantnag/ Ramban; Transport Commissioner and many other concerned officers.
Dr Mehta enjoined upon the traffic authorities to submit daily reports about the actual time taken to reach from one city to another. He told them to enhance their personnel on all the damaged portions of the road for better traffic management. He urged them not to let the traffic come to halt due to any of the hindrance. He asked them to improve the road surface damaged due to weather vagaries at all costs for smooth movement of the vehicles on this road.
The Chief Secretary impressed upon them to show zero tolerance towards road side parking hindering traffic flow. He directed for having stringent regulations in place to deal with all the violators. He asked them to deploy traffic police personnel in busy places like markets etcfor continuous vigil and better traffic management on the highway.
Dr Mehta also took stock of the construction works on different projects presently under progress. He exhorted upon them to make all out efforts to through open the T5 tunnel on Panthiyal stretch of the highway by March 15, Jaiswal Bridge by March 31, and double lane of Ramban Flyover and Banihal Bye-pass by 15th of April this year. He advised them to accelerate the pace of work to meet these deadlines without any fail. He also asked the Secretary Transport and IG Traffic to drive down this road for have better idea about the measures to be taken for making the road better and safe.
The Chief Secretary also emphasized on making all the way side amenities like washrooms etc functional throughout the entire stretch of the highway. He enquired about the status of the truck holding areas designated at many locations on this road. He told them to look for one more such facility at Ramsoo also. He suggested them to come up with a DPR for additional Bailey Bridge near Ramban at an earliest so that work on the same is taken in hand by March this year.
While reviewing the traffic scenario on the roads of the two capital cities, the Chief Secretary directed the concerned authorities to make the completed phase of the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) functional within 7 days. He asked them to use the CCTV network of the system to look for the violators and e-challan or tow away their vehicles for hassle-free movement of vehicles on city roads.
On the request of the Traffic authorities the Chief Secretary asked the administration to look into the possibility of taking a traffic holiday for a day every week on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway till 15th of March so that it is better utilized for making some crucial repairs and completing few essential works for making travel on this road a pleasant experience for the commuters.
SRINAGAR: A delegation of Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry-Kashmir (CCIK) led by its President Tariq Ghani along with office bearers Secretly General Adnan Shah, Joint Secretary General M M Hussain, Treasurer Dr Imran Nazir and Chief Coordinator Atif Khan met Divisional Commissioner Kashmir at his office.
CCIK Delegation Calls On Newly Appointed Div Com V.K.Bidhuri
The CCIK delegation welcomed newly appointed Div Com and discussed various issues regarding trade, commerce and industries.
The Div Com gave patient hearing to the delegation and ensured full support to CCIK to resolve all concerned issues.
CCIK delegation also appreciated and thanked Div Com for putting halt on encroachment drive and said that poor people should be excluded from demolition drive.
The office beares raised various issues regarding trade, the delegation thanked V.K.Bidhuri and said CCIK has high hopes with Div Com and that the issues will be settled at the earliest
SRINAGAR: The Srinagar-Jammu National highway has been closed for vehicular traffic due to shooting stones shooting stones near Sherbibi, officials said on Tuesday.
“Jammu Srinagar NHW is still blocked, clearance work is hampered due to continuous shooting stones near Sherbibi,” Jammu and Kashmir Traffic police in a tweet said.
The highway is the lifeline of the Kashmir and the main road link connecting valley with the rest of the country.
Kashmir bound trucks laden with essential supplies and other vehicles pass through the highway and fruit carrying trucks from the valley head for rest of the country through this road.
SRINAGAR: The UAE University is inviting applications for scholarships in the United Arab Emirates for all national and international students all over the world.
The application forms are already out and the last date to apply for the scholarship is February 28, 2023.
Students willing to pursue Masters’s Degree or PhD Degree can apply for the academic session of 2023-2024.
The scholarship will cover the complete tuition fee, monthly stipend, health insurance and will also provide a bonus for research projects.
Candidates interested to apply must have a Bachelors degree and a cumulative (GPA) Grade Point Average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent, in all undergraduate work. The candidates should also have English language proficiency.
The documents of Emirati students that are required for the application process include a copy of their passport, nationality ID, and UAE identity card. For international students inside UAE (copy of passport, valid visa, and UAE identity card). For international students outside UAE, only a copy of their passport is required.
Copy of official certificates and mark sheets from recognized colleges or universities. An official copy of the applicant’s IELTS or TOEFL exam score. Two updated CVs, two letters of recommendation from professionals, and a security form.
SRINAGAR: J&K state health agency (SHA) has suspended the empanelment of 13 hospitals and imposed heavy penalties on 17 others for their involvement in fraud while implementing the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
Quoting officials news agency IANS reported that over Rs 1.77 crore have been imposed as a penalty on the hospitals involved in fraudulent activities in 2022 out of which over Rs 1.34 crore have been recovered so far by the SHA.
As per official sources, the hospitals which have faced the action include Ibn Sina Hospital, Rs 24 lakh penalty imposed and empanelment suspended; Quality Care Hospital, Rs 6.64 lakh penalty imposed; Narayana Hospital, Rs 54.62 lakh penalty imposed; Ess Bee Hospital, empanelment suspended; Waseem Memorial Hospital, empanelment suspended.
In addition, Florence Hospital in Chanapora (Srinagar), Rs 5 lakh penalty imposed; Shadab hospital, Rs 22 lakh penalty imposed; Mohammadiya hospital, Rs 6 lakh penalty imposed; Kidney hospital in Sonwar (Srinagar), Rs 18.72 lakh penalty imposed. This hospital also faced suspension of its empanelment in February last year.
KD Eye Clinic Hospital, Rs 1 lakh penalty and suspension of empanelment; ASCOMS in Jammu, Rs 2.66 lakh penalty; while Al-Noor Hospital, Midcity Hospital and South City Nursing Home faced the suspension of their empanelment in September last year.
Centre for Eye care hospital, Rs 1.64 penalty and suspension of empanelment in December last year. Noora Hospital in Srinagar, Rs 5.54 lakh penalty imposed; Baba Nayak Hospital, Rs 69,000 penalty; Raksha Kidney Hospital, Rs 20 lakh penalty; and National Hospital Jammu, empanelment suspended.
SRINAGAR: Parts of Kashmir Valley received rains and snowfall while metereological department on Tuesday forecast mainly dry weather in Jammu and Kashmir for now.
Quoting a meteorological department official news agency GNS reported that upper reaches including Gulmarg received fresh snowfall with the world famous skiing resort recording 10 cms (4 inches) of it since overnight till 0830 hours today.
He said that while Srinagar had traces of rain during the time, Qazigund recorded 4.3mm, Pahalgam 4.3mm, Kupwara 7.6mm, Kokernag 4.2mm, Banihal 0.6mm, Batote 0.2mm and Bhadarwah 1.4mm.
Regarding temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded a low of 5.0°C against the previous night’s 5.3°C . Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 4.1°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of 4.7°C against 3.7°C on the previous night and it was 4.8°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 0.8°C against minus 1.7°C on the previous night and it was 4.8°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of 3.7°C, the same as on the previous night and it was 4.4°C above normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minusv3.5°C against 0.2°C on the previous night and it was 3.2°C above normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 3.1°C against 4.5°C on the previous night and it was 3.4°C above normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 13.7°C against 15.5°C on the previous night. It was 3.1°C above normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal, he said, recorded a low of 6.2°C (above normal by 5.0°C), Batote 7.6°C (above normal by 4.1°C), Katra 11.7°C (3.2°C above normal) and Bhadarwah 4.7°C (4.1°C above normal).
Ladakh’s Leh recorded a low of minus 5.6°C, the official said.
The MeT has forecast mainly clear weathet at most places in next 24 hours. From February 22-25, the official said that mainly clear to partly cloudy weather was expected at most places.
From, February 26-27, he said generally cloudy weather with possibility of light rain/snowfall over higher reaches at scattered places. While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 and a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ ghat followed it have ended, Kashmir is under grip of 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which ends on March 1.
SRINAGAR: State Investigation Agency (SIA) is carrying out raids at multiple locations in central, north and south Kashmir parts on Tuesday morning as part of its investigation of a militancy related case registered at SIA.
Quoting an official news agency KDC reported that sleuths of the investigating agency with the assistance of the local police and the CRPF carried out raids at five locations. The searches are being carried out in districts of Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam, Sopore in ‘Narco Terrorism’ case, he said.
In Anantnag, residence of Owais Gul son of Gull Mohammad, a resident of Hardu Akad is being searched by the probing agency.
The searches are being carried out in the FIR no 19 of 2022 registered at SIA Kashmir, the officer said, adding that further details of the raids will be shared later.
Since 1997 when the first cloned mammal was born in Europe, there have been many abortive bids to use the technology in India. It was only in 2009, when Kashmir scientist, Dr Riyaz A Shah’s specially designed technique led to two cloned buffaloes in NDRI Karnal. Back home, after his PhD, he gave Kashmir the first cloned Pashmina goat, Noori, who is already a granny. In a detailed interview with Masood Hussain, Dr Riyaz explains his challenges and successes and his current research focus at SKUAST-K
TheNewsCaravan (KL): What is cloning and what are its applications?
DR RIYAZ AHMAD SHAH (DRAS): In normal conditions, animal breeding takes place by sexual reproduction, in which males and females physically get together to reproduce. However, cloning is an assisted reproductive technology, where the cells of either a male or female animal are taken and developed in laboratory conditions until an embryo is formed. It is then implanted in a surrogate mother. The offspring is born after it completes its gestation period. The process is efficient as it allows farmers to increase the number of their herds by providing more copies of the best-quality breed in the herd. In 1997, the world witnessed its first cloned mammal in the form of a sheep called Dolly, a female Finnish Dorset sheep cloned from an adult somatic cell
KL: Before we talk about your contributions to cloning, kindly tell us about your learning curve and the entire journey from your schools to SKUAST-K.
DRAS: I was born and raised in Batmaloo Srinagar. I did my early schooling at a local school and then joined Tyndale Biscoe for further studies. I aspired to be a doctor but couldn’t crack the entrance test; so, I ended up in veterinary science. I graduated from the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST). Owing to a good number of vacancies in the field, I got a job immediately after completing my degree. However, the thirst for learning more and being mentored by professors who had completed their studies from other states inspired me to go for further studies outside Kashmir. I cracked the prestigious national veterinary entrance test and was post-graduated from Indian Veterinary Research Institute Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
I came back to Kashmir and worked in the Department of Animal Husbandry for some years. In 1998, I joined SKUAST as an Assistant Professor. Initially, I was posted at Cattle Farm in Manasbal, Ganderbal. It proved to be a good learning experience. In 2005, I got admission as an in-service PhD candidate at National Dairy Research Institute. There, I came across a group who were working on cloning at that time. Interested, I joined them. The group had been working on a project of cloning buffalo. The group was struggling to form a cloned embryo since 1997 but could not succeed. I took the challenge and my PhD guide Dr S K Singla encouraged me for it. It took me nearly two years to standardize various techniques related to cloning but I succeeded.
KL: What were the major takeaways of your PhD programme?
DRAS: The topic of my research was the production of handmade cloned embryos in buffalos. The embryo formed in the laboratory was transferred to a surrogate mother. It was sheer luck that I got the best quality cloned embryos. After completing the gestation period, a healthy buffalo was born on February 6, 2009, at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal. It was named Samrupa, the world’s first cloned buffalo calf. It made headlines throughout the world. I did not anticipate such a positive outcome. The calf, however, succumbed to lung infection a few days after it was born.
It was followed by another healthy and normal cloned calf named Garima, born on June 6, 2009.
KL: How many scientists were successful in the process of cloning development before you?
DRAS: My guide, Dr SK Singla, already had his PhD in clone generation under his credit but he remained unsuccessful in the formation of a live and healthy cloned progeny. During the course of my research, two other students were working on the same topic. However, they failed to get any positive results. Samrupa was the first live birth of a cloned buffalo at the institute and proved to be a milestone. Since then the institute has produced 20-25 cloned buffalos. The process involved in Samrupa and Garima acted as a road map for the researchers, who are now merging it with the science of gene editing to incorporate the selective qualities in the cloned organisms.
KL: When you were back home, you cloned Noori, the first Pashmina goat in March 2012?
DRAS: After I finished my PhD and returned to SKUAST, we started working on the Pashmina goat clone. We had to first set up facilities here at the SKUAST campus in Shuhama because we lacked the infrastructure. With project funding of Rs 2.50 crore from the Indian Council for Research (ICR), we were able to acquire basic equipment for our research.
Our objective was to develop a cloned embryo, implant it into a female and get a viable cloned organism. Noori was one of the clones. While earlier researchers had tried to develop clones of various species but Pashmina goat was never experimented on. So, we had to start from scratch. We isolated and cultured the cells of the Pashmina goat. We conducted a study on the different species that can provide oocytes. We had to employ the Pashmina goat’s somatic cells and an egg from a different species.
Since people do not prefer goat meat in Kashmir, we had to get access to the ovaries of goats from a slaughterhouse in Delhi. This made the process a bit hectic and it took us two years to standardize the techniques. However, we got successful in the development of cloned embryos, which were then implanted into a surrogate mother. After 20-25 unsuccessful trials, Noori was our first live cloned Pashmina goat. Noori is currently living a normal and healthy life. It has given birth to 5-6 offspring via the natural reproductive process. Noori has also been a source of Pashmina wool like other naturally produced Pashmina goats.
Dr Riyaz A Shah (SKUAST-K)
KL: What are the differences between naturally reproduced organisms and cloned ones?
DRAS: A clone is genetically as good as a naturally bred organism. Cloning allows choosing the characters and traits we want in an organism, thus allowing farmers to increase the overall quality of their breed. Cloning also enables the production of the desired gender of a species. Farmers for example prefer a cow over a bull, cloning helps them have as many cows as they desire.
KL: How different is Noori from her mother and her own offspring?
DRAS: Noori’s mother was a naturally bred Pashmina goat. Its embryo was implanted in a surrogate mother, who also happened to have naturally reproduced. After Noori’s birth, we studied its physiology and other parameters and found it and its progeny as good as any other Pashmina goat. We concluded that it can be used for the same purposes as we do use a normal goat. Also, there is no restriction on it or its progeny being used as food.
KL: What has been your research focus since you completed the landmark Noori’s project?
DRAS: After Noori’s success, we approached various institutes for funding our projects. We got successful and secured a project, where we introduced gene editing in cloning. We tried to incorporate CRISPR-Cas9, a naturally occurring genome editing system in our research. We identified the gene responsible for Pashmina production in Noori and now we are trying to edit the gene so that the cloned progeny will be a source of good quality and improved quantity of Pashmina. We are nearly successful in creating gene-edited and cloned embryos. We are hopeful that we will soon be able to witness its progeny as well.
Simultaneously we are working on gene editing in sheep, where our focus is to increase meat production. This is a collaborative project with ICR, while scientists outside with the same objective are working on buffaloes; we are at the same time working on sheep.
KL: What ethical issues do genetically modified organisms (GMOs) face?
DRAS: One of the main ethical issues that GMOs face is their uncontrolled use. Many countries have allowed using GMOs as food. But yes scientists first have to make sure that gene editing does not lead to any abnormality in the organism.
