KUPWARA, FEBRUARY 22: Kupwara district has huge potential in the industrial sector and thermal power generation as there are around 17 lakh metric tonne major mineral deposits available in different areas of this frontier district.
As per data available with Geology and Mining (G&M) department, 9 Lakh metric tonne Lignite deposits are available at Nichahama and Hangnikkot areas of the district, and have huge potential of thermal power generation. Likewise, at Awoora and Zirhama, there are 8 lakh metric tonne high quality Marble deposits which can revive the industrial sector and can provide ample employment opportunities in the district.
This information was given by District Mineral Officer (DMO) Kupwara, Dr.Shujat Ahmad Qureshi today, here at Kupwara.
He said Geology and Mining department has seized 440 vehicles including heavy earth moving machines used in illegal mining and transportation of raw material from different areas of Kupwara district during the financial year 2022-23, adding that a fine of Rupees 60 lakh has been realized from the violators (owners of seized vehicles), besides, seizing raw material worth rupees 20 lakh.
The DMO further said that he along with his team launched a crackdown in different areas of Kupwara district, following the directions of Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Dr. Doifode Sagar Dattatray to curb the illegal mining and its transportation.
Dr. Shujat said that all of his staff has been put on alert to monitor illegal mining in the district.
On the occasion, the DMO warned the offenders to desist from the illegal extraction of minor minerals, adding that stern action under rules shall be taken against them.
He said the vehicles were seized under Mines & Minerals Act 1957 under section 21 delegated under the J&K Minor Mineral Concession, Storage, Transportation of minerals and prevention of illegal mining rules 2016 issued vide SRO 105 of 2016.
According to DMO, rate fixation of raw materials in the district has already been accorded and sale and purchase of minor minerals is being done online through http://www.geologymining.jk.gov.in, besides, rates have been notified which are available on different portals of Geology and Mining department.
He said that the ordinary sand (meshed) at source would cost Rs 28 per Cft, nallah bajri at Rs 16 per Cft, nallah boulders at Rs 6 per Cft, nallah mukh (GSB) at Rs 4 per Cft, ordinary clay at Rs 3 per Cft, crushed bajri (10 mm) at Rs 23 per Cft, crushed bajri (40 mm) at Rs 18.50 per Cft and crusher dust at Rs.25 per Cft.
Moreover, DMO added that in case extra rate is demanded by the mineral concessionary or mineral dealer licensee, people can contact the DMO Kupwara, accordingly such offenders will be fined under law.
While giving further details District Mineral officer Kupwara said that there are 24 e-auctioned blocks in Kupwara district out of them 14 are functional leased-out blocks while the rest 10 are under process.
SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh directed the authorities to proceed with the termination of a 18-20-week pregnancy of an alleged minor rape victim after having a fresh examination of the victim and after father of a minor gives “extra high risk consent.”
The victim’s father had approached the court seeking termination of pregnancy of the minor. In the rape case, an FIR was registered at a police station in north Kashmir on February 14.
According to report published by LiveLaw.in, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani on February 17 had directed a Medical Board of LD Hospital in Srinagar to ascertain as to whether the termination of pregnancy is advisable or not.
Mohsin Qadiri, Sr. Additional Advocate General on Tuesday submitted a report addressed by the Head of Department, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Government Medical College, Srinagar, to the Medical Superintendent, Government LD Hospital, Srinagar stating that the patient has a 19 weeks of pregnancy and runs a very high risk for MTP as it is a case of teenage pregnancy.
The report further said that MTP could be undertaken subject to the “extra high risk consent given by guardians/parents.” In court, the father of the victim volunteered and agreed to extend the consent as solicited by the medical board.
The court directed the authorities to proceed with the case of termination of pregnancy of the minor victim by the experts in the field after having a fresh examination of the victim.
“In the event a final call is taken by the experts for termination of pregnancy of the minor victim, necessary measures shall also be taken in association with respondents 3 and 4 for the preservation of the DNA sample of the fetus. It is further directed that in case the process of termination of pregnancy is undertaken, the minor victim be provided all necessary medical facilities free of cost by the respondent 2,” LiveLaw.in quoted the court as having said.
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.
Pension Scheme: You will not be able to take advantage of the monthly pension scheme of Rs 18,500 after March 31! know why
Government employees got relief from the court regarding pension. The High Court has ruled in favor of the employees. Pension, which is a great support of old age, pension is of great importance to live the rest of the life with respect. In such a situation, the employees have got good news from the decision of the court.
New Delhi: Government employees got relief from the court regarding pension. The High Court has ruled in favor of the employees. Pension, which is a great support of old age, pension is of great importance to live the rest of the life with respect. In such a situation, the employees have got good news from the decision of the court.
Non-regular service period will also be added to total tenure
According to the report of news agency PTI, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court said on Friday that non-regular service period of government employees will also be added to their total tenure while providing pension. However, the bench has declared the petitioners entitled to the benefits of pension for the last three years only.
This order was passed by a single bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary while explaining the decision given by the Supreme Court in Prem Singh’s case in 2019 under section two of the Uttar Pradesh Pension for Qualifying Service and Validation Act 2021.
The employee has given his services, whether permanent or temporary
Justice Chowdhary said that eligibility for pension in Section 2 of the Uttar Pradesh Pension for Qualifying Service and Validation Act 2021 implies that the employee has given his services, even if the services are permanent are or temporary.
The court gave its verdict by approving 51 writ petitions together
The court has given this verdict by approving about 51 writ petitions filed separately on behalf of work in-charge employees, daily wage workers, ad hoc employees or seasonal collection amines. In the petitions, those orders of the government were challenged, in which it refused to consider the irregular services of the petitioners as eligible for pension by not adding them to their total service while taking the decision regarding grant of pension.
The court cited this decision of the Supreme Court.
In its decision, the bench, citing the decision given in the case of Prem Singh of the Supreme Court, said that even after working for the same number of years as the regular employees, the government employees of non-regular service Not adding it to the total length of service is discriminatory.
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The way of promotion has been cleared for the staff teachers. Giving great relief, the High Court has rejected the stay order on the promotion. On the other hand, the order of the Collector has been considered correct.
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Employees-Teachers Promotion: Employees-teachers will soon get a big gift. Actually they will be given the benefit of promotion. In this regard, the stay in the promotion case has been set aside by the High Court. With the cancellation of the stay, now the way for the promotion of the staff teachers has been cleared.
Stay dismissed in promotion case
Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed the stay in the promotion case of teachers. Accepting the order of the Collector, the High Court has given instructions for promotion through the council. The High Court heard the matter. During this, teachers in Korba district will get the benefit of promotion and transfer. Earlier, a petition was filed in the court by the teachers against the order of the collector.
Promotion of teachers was canceled by collector
It may be mentioned that earlier thousands of assistant teachers in Korba district were given the benefit of promotion to the post of Pradhan Pathak Primary School. However, in this case the DEO had posted them in different schools of the district. Alleging discrepancy in the issued order, the promotion of all the teachers was canceled by the Korba collector.
Teachers’ plea
After which the teachers had reached the High Court against this order of the Collector. Along with filing a petition in the High Court, the teachers said that the right to cancel the process of promotion and posting does not come under the purview of the collector. At the same time, while hearing the petition, the single bench of the High Court had given a stay on the promotion process. However, after the completion of the hearing, the court had reserved the verdict. Now the stay has been quashed. On the other hand, the order of the Collector has been considered correct.
High court order
The court has said in its order that the decision of the Collector is correct. Teachers should be given post establishment only through the council. After the decision of the court, once again the process of promotion and posting will be started from 1000 assistant teachers to the post of head reader. At the same time its benefit will be given to the teachers.
SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered Oath of Office to Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh as Chief Justice of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at an impressive Oath Ceremony held at Convention Centre in Jammu on Wednesday.
Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh sworn in as the Chief Justice of the High Court of JK and Ladakh
An official handout reads that at a ceremony held today in the Convention Centre, Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
He took and subscribed to the oath of office before the Lieutenant Governor, UT of J&K, Manoj Sinha.
After administering Oath Lt Governor congratulated Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh and wished him a highly successful tenure as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
There was bipartisan agreement on many of the main drivers of food inflation. But that agreement evaporated when we asked what Congress can do to slow it.
The lawmakers’ responses, below, have been edited for length and clarity.
POLITICO: What’s driving up costs for you on your farm?
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the self-proclaimed “only working farmer” in the Senate, who frequently tweets updates while driving a combine in his wheat fields:
“Repairs. The cost of diesel fuel, in particular. The cost of tires. I mean, repairs, supplies and energy. Repairs would be mostly manpower, and then diesel’s diesel.”
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.),a rice farmer in Northern California and frequent critic of the Biden administration:
“If you want to make my cost of producing an acre of rice come back into line with just a few years ago … then my diesel doesn’t need to cost me five-and-a-half dollars a gallon versus two-and-a-half. Then my fertilizer doesn’t need to be tripled, some of the pesticides I have to use for controlling weeds and stuff. Those have gone up dramatically.”
Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.), a former Tennessee agriculture commissioner who raises beef cows on his farm:
“Farmers, just like everyday consumers, we buy lots of fuel to do what we do, and the prices for that have gone up dramatically. Like any auto buyer, it’s hard to get tractors because of the supply chain shortages there, and there are more expensive parts.”
Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif),an almond farmer who represents Fresno, a critical agriculture district in California’s Central Valley:
“The cost of energy. Fertilizer. I grow almonds and the cost of bees has increased significantly over the last five years. And the cost of subcontracting, I’m not large enough to have my own harvesting equipment for my almonds so I hired that out … that has increased significantly over the past several years.”
POLITICO: As a farmer, what do you think it would take to fix food inflation?
Tester:“More competition in the marketplace. It’s as simple as that. So what the administration has done with meat processing is a step in the right direction. Now they needed to pass my [cattle market] bills to deal with the spot pricing and special investigator. Capitalism works when there’s competition. It doesn’t when there’s consolidation.”
LaMalfa: “[Energy] is one. Also enforcing trade. [Former President Donald] Trump got a deal cut with China back then. … Our ag products are suffering greatly because [China] is not meeting the goals that were set for the ag portion of it.
I spoke to the president right after the end of the [State of the Union] speech, and I talked to him about water, California water. We need his Bureau of Reclamation and the other federal regulatory entities to cut us some slack.”
Rose: “The biggest thing contributing to inflation right now is the runaway government spending that the Biden administration has engaged in.
But then you also have just an onslaught of regulation that stands in the way of current production … the types of policies that have interfered with farmers being able to get their hands on badly needed pesticides.”
Costa: “We have a problem in this country that we’ve not been able to address successfully, and that’s the amount of food waste. … Whether it’s in our schools or other products, one of the things I want to look at this farm bill reauthorization is how we can do a better job with those impacts.
Then if it’s not extreme droughts or floods, I don’t know what category you put the avian flu. Clearly these are things we’re looking at better ability to provide in the farm bill reauthorization, [where] we plan for a lot of invasive pests.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday ordered a stay in the Kamareddy Master Plan petition filed by K A Paul of Praja Shanthi party.
The division bench constituting Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji issued directions to the state government not to revive the issuing of the new draft of the Kamareddy Master Plan. The matter has been postponed for the next hearing on April 17.
Speaking to the media, K A Paul said, “The government had earlier said that the plan cannot be sacked as Rs 10,000 crores are involved in it. What does that have to do with us? Anything that is not agreeable to the farmers must not be carried out.”
New Delhi: Retail inflation breached the RBI’s comfort zone and rose to a three-month high of 6.52 percent in January, mainly on account of a spike in food prices, as per government data released on Monday.
The inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 5.72 percent in December and 6.01 percent in January 2022.
The inflation rate for the food basket was at 5.94 percent in January, up from 4.19 percent in December.
The previous high was 6.77 percent in October.
The Reserve Bank has been mandated by the central government to ensure that retail inflation remains at 4 percent with a margin of 2 percent on either side.
