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.
SRINAGAR: Authorities on Monday cancelled the results of 2 Border Battalions of Jammu and Kashmir Police Border Battalion after observing some discrepancies. However, the officials said that revised results will be issued within half an hour.
The examination for 1300 Constable posts in JK Police Border Battalion was conducted on October 26, 2022 while the results were declared on January 25, 2023.
Quoting Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Coordination, PHQ J&K, Danesh Rana news agency KNO reported that the exam results for 1300 constable posts in 2 Border Battalions of J&K Police have been cancelled after discrepancies were observed due to technical fault in the software application of the implementing agency—M/S. Timing Technologies Pvt. India Ltd.
A notification issued in this regard by ADGP Coordination, reads that after the declaration of final result issued on 25-01-2023 in respect of candidates of UT of J&K who have participated in recruitment process for the post of Constable in 02 Border Battalions of J&K Police conducted in terms of the above referenced advertisement notifications, some discrepancies in the said result were observed.
“These occurred due to technical fault in the software application of the implementing agency i.e M/S. Timing Technologies Pvt. India Ltd. resulting in revision of the said result. The result, thus declared on 25.01.2023 stands withdrawn and cancelled ab-initio,” he said.
Rana said that the revised results will be issued within half an hour.
SRINAGAR: A well-known religious cleric, Moulana Abdul Rashid Mubarki, son of Late Moulana Ghulam Nabi Mubarki, passed away on Monday evening.
Quoting family of Mubarki the news agency KNO reported that Moulana Abdul Rashid Mubarki breathed his last after brief illness.
The family further said that the funeral of the deceased will be held at Sanant Nagar at around 11:00 PM, adding that the deceased will be laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard at Malkha here.
SRINAGAR: Abdul Rashid Mubarki, former KAS officer is no more. He was 74.
A 1972-batch KAS officer, is reported to have passed away after a brief illness on Monday evening.
According to reports, the funeral of the deceased was held at Sanant Nagar at around 11:00 PM and was laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard at Malkha.
SRINAGAR: An earthquake of 3.4 magnitude hit the Katra belt of Jammu division Monday night, according to National Centre for Seismology.
However, there were no immediate reports of any loss of life or damage to property due to the earthquake.
Earthquake of Magnitude:3.4, Occurred on 20-02-2023, 22:07:11 IST, Lat: 33.03 & Long: 75.89, Depth: 25 Km ,Location: 89km E of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India for more information Download the BhooKamp App https://t.co/Ux1ChdLGKO @Indiametdept@ndmaindia@Ravi_MoES@Dr_Mishra1966pic.twitter.com/fRm6RrYu6E
— National Center for Seismology (@NCS_Earthquake) February 20, 2023
“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.4, Occurred on 20-02-2023, 22:07:11 IST, Lat: 33.03 & Long: 75.89, Depth: 25 Km ,Location: 89km E of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir,” National Centre for Seismology said in a tweet.
