Dalai Lama in Valley

His Holiness Dalai Lama arrived in Srinagar for a week-long visit to Kashmir valley once a niche of twenty four years.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Tourism Minister Ngawang Rigzin Jora received him at Srinagar International Airport this morning. The Chief Minister welcomed the non secular leader and conveyed his sensible desires to him. He conjointly enquired regarding the health of Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama prayed for peace, prosperity and development of the State.

After his arrival, Dalai Lama straightway visited Nehru Guest house where he's staying as a State guest.

Members of the Tibetan Muslim community, members of the Ladakhi community in Srinagar additionally as Tibetans received him on his arrival at the Nehru guest house.

The management committee of the Tibetan public college and heads of the Ladakhi community expressed their greetings to him within the guest house.

Dalia Lama can visit the Tibetan public college in Srinagar's down city space and address the Tibetan Muslim community of Srinagar on July fourteen.

Dalia Lama initial met with the Tibetan Muslim community in 1975 at the recent Tibetan Muslim settlement at Idgah, Srinagar. He met the Tibetan Muslim community once more in 1988 and through militancy he did not return to Kashmir. this can be his initial visit to Kashmir valley since 1988.

Avalanche hits Kashmir

Gale blows away roofs, uproots trees, snaps power supply

Schools closed, people asked to stay indoors in Kashmir

The overnight gale across Kashmir that uprooted trees and blew away the roof tops at several places forced authorities to close down schools in the region for today.

The gale that started last night and is still continuing snapped the power supply across Kashmir.

The authorities have declared holiday for the schools and have asked people to stay indoors to avoid causalities from flying objects and falling trees.

The traffic on the roads is very thin as people have preferred to stay indoors.

The authorities are assessing the situation and loss caused by the gale.

Meanwhile, three laborers working with the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) were rescued while two are still trapped under a snow avalanche that hit their vehicle in Gurez last evening.

Reports reaching here said that an avalanche hit village Badwan in Gurez at around 6 p.m. yesterday and a Tata Sumo that was on its way Kishanganga dam site to village Badwan was buried under it.

The Sumo was carrying four laborers. Two laborers and driver were rescued by a joint rescue team of Police, army and local while operation to rescue two others is going on.

Two laborers were from Kishtiwar and one each from Baramulla and Gurez. Out of the two missing, one is from Kishtiwar and another from Gurez.

The three rescued laborers have been admitted in hospital at Gurez and condition of them is out of danger.

The administration has kept Indian Air Force helicopters on stand standby for evacuating the injured to Srinagar in the morning in case it is required.

The heavy rains and freak weather is hampering the rescue operation that was launched immediately after the avalanche hit the village.. However, no damage was done in the village.

MLA Gurez, Nazir Ahmad Khan told News Agency that he was monitoring the rescue operation and has directed the authorities operation should be continued till the two other missing laborers are traced.

It may be mentioned here that 16 army personnel were killed when an avalanche struck Brigade headquarter of army in Gurez last month.

This year due to heavy snowfall in North Kashmir along the Line of Control avalanches damaged the fence at several places and at most of places it is buried under snow. The maximum damage was caused in Gurez army posts have been vacated after threat of avalanches.

The avalanche last month also killed three army personnel in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal when an avalanche hit an army camp at tourist place of Sonmarg.

Over two dozen villagers and employees of Sonmarg Development Authority were rescued from village Shitkara and Sonmarg last month by army, police and local administration after they were trapped in snow avalanches.

Jammu Srinagar highway open for one way traffic

Snow leopard in Banihal

Attention intending Hajj pilgrims

Valley records below freezing day temperature

With the restoration of power supply to Kashmir valley after 48 hours last night, there was some respite to the people but the cold wave conditions have further intensified in the region with Kashmir valley recording coldest day with maximum temperature falling below freezing for the first time this season.

The Weatherman has forecast that the cold wave conditions may continue to prevail in Kashmir valley with Western Disturbance causing light to heavy snowfall on January 14, 15 and 16. The disturbance will be at its peak on January 15 and he has warned that there may be further disruption of air and surface traffic to Kashmir valley with the snowfall on January 15.

The Met office has forecast light rain and snow at many places in Kashmir valley and hilly areas of Jammu division for next 24 hours.

A Meteorological Department official said that it was the coldest day of the season with Srinagar recording maximum temperature of minus 0.5 degrees Celsius and minimum minus 4.2 .

The official said that the South Kashmir township and gateway to Kashmir valley, Qazigund recorded a maximum temperature of minus 0.7 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 7.4.

The official said that South Kashmir tourist spot of Pahalgam recorded maximum temperature at minus 0.7 degree Celsius and minimum at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius.

Another South Kashmir tourist spot of Kokernag recorded a maximum temperature of minus 0.9 degree Celsius and minimum of minus 7.4 degrees Celsius.

Kupwara was the coldest town in Kashmir valley with maximum temperature recorded at minus 0.7 degree Celsius and minimum at minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

The world famous ski resort of Gulmarg recorded a low temperature of minus 14.5 degrees Celsius and yesterday it was freezing at minus 16.5 degrees Celsius.

In the meantime, the restoration of the power supply brought respite to the people across Kashmir but with the subzero temperatures, water tapes are frozen and after power, there is water crisis in the Valley.

The water tapes were normally freezing during the night and by afternoon they were melting but today as the temperature continued to be subzero the water tapes remained frozen.

If the weather conditions continued to remain same, the water crisis will deepen further.

And with the closure of Jammu-Srinagar National highway for the heavy vehicles even today, the supplies in Kashmir valley have started depleting. The mutton, chicken, fresh fruits and vegetable crisis have been reported across Kashmir. The residents have complained of LPG shortage but the divisional administration said there is enough stock of it in Kashmir.

Private practice of doctors continues despite HC ban

Notwithstanding the ban imposed on the private practice of doctors by the state high court, a large number of doctors across the Valley allegedly continue to indulge into the practice in violation of the directive. The officials maintain that they cannot implement the ban until and unless the state government endorses the court directive.

Reports from almost all the district headquarters of the valley said that the doctors despite the ban imposed by the court continue to practice at their private clinics under the nose of the law enforcement agencies.

“You can see dozens of doctors practicing at their private clinics in Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Kulgam and other district headquarters not only on holidays but even before and after the working hours on other days,” said an advocate Bashir Ahmad.

He said that the government seems to have completely ignored the high court ruling and allowed the doctors to go ahead with private practice.

“The high court ruling was also in the interest of the poor patients who cannot afford the fee doctors charge at the private clinics but the doctors in violation of the high court ruling continue to indulge in the private practice with authorities acting as mute spectators,” said a resident of south Kashmir, Suhail Ahmad.He said that it is irony that the authorities do not give any heed even to the court directive which is in the interest of the public to the hilt.

When contacted, director health services, Kashmir, Dr. Salim-u-Rehman, admitted that the doctors continue to indulge into private practice despite the high court ruling but added that they are waiting for the endorsement of the court order by the government.

“Yes it is true that the doctors continue to practice at their private clinics but until and unless the government endorses the court directive we cannot take action against any such doctor. Once the state government accepts the ruling we will implement the ban on private practice of doctors in letter and spirit,” director said.

Coldest night of 2011 in Valley

As the temperatures across Kashmir continued to plummet, the State's summer capital, Srinagar, witnessed coldest night of the season with minimum temperature recorded at minus 4.8 degrees Celsius last night.

The Meteorological Department has forecast that dry and cold weather conditions will continue for next one week and the temperatures will plummet further in the region.

With the dipping temperatures, the cold wave in Kashmir intensified resulting in the freezing of the parts of Srinagar's world famous Dal lake.

Early in the morning the water near the banks of the Dal lake was frozen as a thin lawyer of ice formation had taken place. However, in the interior areas, where water mostly remains stagnant and sunlight does not reach due to tree line, thick ice layer had formed. However, with the Sun coming out, the ice layer near peripheries vanished.

The Dal lake froze completely in 1960s and it again froze in 1986 attracting large number of tourists to the lake to see it frozen. Recently, the lake froze in 2006 and children played cricket on the surface of the frozen lake. Last year, parts of Dal lake particularly near the peripheries were frozen due to subzero temperatures.

Meanwhile, majority of the Kashmiris woke up to the frozen water tapes leading to the water crisis in the morning. It was only in the afternoon when Sun came out that the frozen tapes started melting giving relief to the people from the temporary water crisis.

There was some relief from the intense cold wave conditions during the day as Sun was out with maximum temperature settling at 8 degrees Celsius.

While Srinagar recorded the lowest night temperature of the season at minus 4.8 degree Celsius, the mercury in tourist resort of Gulmarg in North Kashmir recorded a marginal increase over the last two days as the minimum temperature there settled at minus 9.8 degrees Celsius, said an official of the MeT department.

It may be mentioned here that the Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius for two consecutive nights two days ago.

The tourist resort of Pahalgam in South Kashmir recorded a minus 8.8 degrees Celsius. Previous night the temperature settled at minus 7.4 degrees Celsius.

In North Kashmir district of Kupwara, the minimum temperature was recorded at minus 4.7 degrees Celsius and in Qazigund South Kashmir it was recorded at minus 5.6 degree Celsius.

The MeT official said that in Leh, the minimum temperature dropped by nearly one degree compared to yesterday to settle at minus 16.2 degree Celsius. Kargil recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius.

In the State's winter capital, Jammu, the impact of dipping temperature was felt with night temperature dipping to a low of 4.3 degrees Celsius. However, the day temperature settled at 20 degrees Celsius.

Coldest night in Valley

The Kashmir valley witnessed coldest night of the season last night as minimum temperature in summer capital dipped over three degrees below the freezing point and Meteorological Department suggested that mercury will dip further this week

A meteorological Department told Excelsior that the night temperature in Srinagar was recorded at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius. He said the other parts of the Kashmir valley including Leh and Kargil also reeled under the intense cold wave leading to shivering of the common masses.

The Leh town in Ladakh division was the coldest one as the mercury plummeted to minus 14.2 degrees. Leh was followed by Gulmarg where the night temperature was recorded as minus 10.2 degrees. In Kargil town, the minimum temperature was minus 9.6 degrees. The world renowned health resort of Pahalgam recorded the minimum temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius.

"It is expected that the night temperature would go down further in the Kashmir valley. The sky is expected to be clear over the next four or five days and this would lead to further dip in the minimum temperature over the next few days," said the Met official.

Train Derailment in Kashmir Valley

In the first train derailment since the rail services were launched in the valley, at least 30 passengers were injured some of them critically.The train was on its way from Qazigund to Srinagar and derailed near Sadoora village in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district today. While the passengers allege that the accident took place due to the negligence of railway authorities the latter preferred to remain tight lipped.

Officials said that the Srinagar bound train carrying 70 passengers derailed after it developed some technical snag near Sadoora railway station this afternoon. The engine and two bogies of the train derailed as the driver overshot the intended station stop by nearly 200 meters.In the mishap, at least 30 passengers were injured and were shifted immediately to the Emergency hospital Qazigund for treatment.

“Two of the seriously injured passengers were referred to Srinagar hospital in a critical condition,” officials said.The passengers hold the railway authorities responsible for the accident.  “As the train reached near Lewdoora village the smoke started emanating from the engine and many of its compartments. As we complained to the driver he instead of paying any heed  kept moving on. On reaching Sadoora railway station the driver even failed to stop the train and barely 100 feet ahead of the railway station it suddenly got derailed from the track,” said a group of passengers.

They said that had the driver and the other railway staff listened to Them, the mishap could have been averted.Mohammad Shafi of Qazigund, an injured, said the train was having some problem. As it could not stop at Sadoora railway station, the rail officials announced that the train will not stop at any station except the last stop at Ompora-Budgam. But suddenly the mishap occurred.While the railway authorities chose not to comment, the district administration seconded the version of the passengers saying that the accident has occurred out of the negligence of the railway officials.

“The preliminary enquiry and the statements of the passengers   suggest that it was the negligence of railway authorities that resulted into the tragedy. It has also been learnt that there was break failure in the train already,” Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Kifayat Hussain Rizvi told News Agency.He said that he has directed many agencies to enquire into the incident. “I am waiting for the enquiry report and once it comes, action will be taken accordingly,” DC added.However when contacted SP railways, Baker Samoon chose to remain tightlipped saying he cannot comment over the incident.“I was not on spot and cannot comment over what actually led to the mishap. Its better to talk to concerned DC or DIG,” SP said.

cold wave in kashmir Valley

For the third consecutive day, entire Kashmir valley is in the grip of an intense cold wave, with both the day and night temperatures plummeting further.

Icy winds swept across the Kashmir valley making people to shiver and forced majority of them to stay indoors.

Reports of fresh snowfall have come from the higher reaches of the Valley while as rains lashed the plains that is said to be reason behind the intensification of cold wave.

An official at Meteorological department said that the higher reaches of the Kashmir valley are expected to receive light snowfall over the next 24 hours. He said that some plains in the Kashmir valley are expected to receive rains over the next 24 hours.

"There are reports of snowfall in the higher reaches of the Valley but as no weather observatories are there we cannot measure snowfall at such places. Similarly light rains have been recorded in some of the plains of the valley and same is expected over the next 24 hours as well," said the MeT official.

He said the day temperature in Srinagar was recorded as 11.0 degrees Celsius while as the minimum temperature was recorded as 4.8 degrees Celsius. "In Jammu the maximum temperature was recorded as 22.9 degrees Celsius while as the minimum temperature was recorded as 14.8 degrees Celsius."

Meanwhile, the 434 kilometres long Srinagar-Leh national highway remained closed for the second day today. The road connecting Bandipora with Gurez has also been closed by the authorities and it would be reopened only when the weather condition improved.

"Both the Srinagar-Leh national highway and Bandipora-Gurez road have been closed due to the snowfall and slippery conditions. The road connecting Machil and Tangdhar areas with rest of the Valley has also been closed due to snowfall. As and when the weather improved, these routes would be thrown open for vehicular traffic," said Aamir Ali, Head Disaster Management Centre, Kashmir and OSD with Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.

Aamir asked people not to undertake journey on the closed routes saying that the same would be full of risks. "As on today the routes are closed and people should undertake the journey only when the weather improved. They should cooperate with administration as their safety is our prime concern."

The MeT department has already issued travel advisory for people traveling on Srinagar-Leh highway and Bandipora-Gurez road as moderate to heavy snowfall is expected at some places on these routes till Friday morning. The department has asked people to exercise maximum restraint while traveling on both these routes.

"People living in snow-bound areas along the Srinagar-Leh highway and Bandipora-Gurez road should take extra precautions while traveling around. The people traveling to these areas should also take precautions as it is expected that some areas would experience moderate to heavy snowfall till the morning of November 11 (Friday)," said Sonam Lotus, Director MeT office, Srinagar.

He said travel advisories are issued to people living in the snow-bound only when there are apprehensions of heavy snowfall. He said the same situation persisted in some of the areas along Pir Panjal range adding that people should be cautious until the warning persists.

It would be in place to mention here that entire Kashmir valley has been engulfed by a thick blanket of black clouds since November 8. This has led to the increase in the cold wave conditions across the Valley and the day temperature has gone down over the past three days.

The weatherman has forcast improvement in the weather on Friday afternoon while some reports suggested that there would be more rains on Saturday with Sunday once again being cloudy. 

Teachers detained during protest march

More than 30 teachers were today detained when they staged a protest march to demand release of sixth pay commission arrears and regularisation of Rehbar-e-Taleem (education volunteers) teachers.

Among those detained included the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Teachers’ Forum Abdul Qayoom Wani and Forum’s district president for Budgam Mohammad Akbar Khan.

"We have arrested some of those leading the protests," Senior Superintendent of Police for Srinagar Ashiq Bukhari said.

He said police had to disperse the protesting teachers as Section 144 CrPC is in force in the Valley.

Teachers, who had gathered at a local park here and attempted to march through the city, were demanding release of sixth pay commission arrears, confirmation of Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers and a pension scheme for them.

Dozens of teachers later waited outside the police station Kothi Bagh where their colleagues were detained.

"Over 30 teachers have been held at the police station. They are not allowing us to meet them," a teacher said.

Newly appointed migrant employees without salaries

Kashmiri Pandit Sabha (KPS) Ambphalla in a meeting here today held under the chairmanship of its president Prof A N Sadhu discussed various issues pertaining to displaced Pandits.

The meeting expressed concern over non payment of wages to the newly appointed KP employees in Valley for last six months. Terming it a serious lapse it urged the Government to take immediate steps in releasing the salaries of these employees so that their financial conditions do not deteriorate further.

The meeting also took serious note of the recent reports regarding change of names of some historical places and hillocks in the Valley. It said since these places have historical background apart from the sentimental attachments of the community, any such contemplation will have unpleasant impact on the restoration and consolidation of composite culture which is sought to be revived and strengthened by all the rational thinking people.

The meeting in an appeal to the Government urged it to take remedial measures of keeping the historical and heritage terminology intact. The Sabha however will appreciate any initiative aimed at restoring peace and normalcy in Valley.