Excelsior

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REGD. NO. JK-71/21-23 Vol No. 58

Follow us: Daily Excelsior JAMMU, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022 RNI No. 28547/65 No. 49 16 Pages ` 6.00

PM welcomes UAE
investments in J&K
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 18: Prime
Minister Narendra Modi today
welcomed investments in
Jammu and Kashmir by the
United Arab Emirates after visit
of Lieutenant Governor Manoj
Sinha to the UAE last month.
"During last month's suc-
cessful visit of Lieutenant
Governor of Jammu and
Kashmir Manoj Sinha to the
UAE, many Emirate companies
have shown interest for invest-
ment in Jammu and Kashmir,''
the Prime Minister said, accord-
ing to a tweet by the Prime
Minister's Office (PMO) India.
"We welcome the invest-
ments by the UAE in Jammu
(Contd on page 6 Col 1)
NIA arrests
IPS officer for
leaking secrets
NEW DELHI, Feb 18:
The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) today arrested its
former Superintendent of Police
(SP) and IPS officer Arvind
Digvijay Negi for allegedly
leaking secret documents to an
Over Ground Worker of the
banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror
group, its official spokesperson
said here.
The spokesperson said that
Negi, a police officer who was
promoted to the IPS batch of
Around 40-day Amarnath yatra likely this year, final call soon
Shah reviews security situation, development
works in J&K with LG, NSA, top officials
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 18: Union
Home Minister Amit Shah
today held high-level review of
security situation and develop-
mental works in Jammu and
Kashmir in a meeting in the
Union capital amid indications
that annual pilgrimage of Shri
Amarnath Ji shrine could be
held for around 40 days this
year as third wave of COVID
is constantly on decline.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj
Sinha, National Security
Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval,
Home Secretary AK Bhalla,
Army chief Gen Manoj Mukund
Naravane, Chief Secretary Dr
Arun Kumar Mehta, Director
General of Police Dilbag Singh
and top officials of various
Central Armed Police Force
(CAPFs) attended the meeting
among others.
Briefing reporters after the
meeting, the
Governor said the Home
Lieutenant
Minister reviewed developmen-
tal works and security situation
in the Union Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir.
„ Entire record excluding sensitive one to be put in public domain
Terror incidents, killings of security generally varies between 40 to
60 days depending on religious
and other factors, was cancelled
personnel down in 2020 and 2021 due to
COVID-19. It was cut short in
2019 by about a fortnight ahead
of August 5 decisions of the
Central Government when spe-
cial status of Jammu and
Kashmir was scrapped and erst-
while State was divided into two
Union Territories of J&K and
Ladakh,
This year, there were indi-
cations that there could be
yatra of around 40 days as law
Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewing security situation
and order situation is fully
under control in the Valley
in J&K in a meeting at New Delhi on Friday. and COVID is on decline. Pigeons enjoying morning food on wall of a house in Jammu. —Excelsior/Rakesh
"Every month, the Home take a call on the yatra,'' he However, a formal decision on
Minister has been reviewing asserted. the yatra will be taken by Shri
developmental works and secu- Sources said the conduct of Amarnath Shrine Board Ladakh reports 54 positives
Youth dies of COVID, 118 test +ve
rity situation,'' Sinha said, annual pilgrimage of Shri (SASB) shortly including
adding that pace of ongoing Amarnath Ji in South Kashmir duration of the pilgrimage.
works and future roadmap of the Himalayas after two years of Tentative schedule being
Union Territory was discussed. cancellation also reportedly fig- worked out for the yatra is
Replying to a question on ured in the meeting and there
conduct of Shri Amarnath yatra was a view that it could be held
this year, Sinha said the pilgrim- as third wave of the pathogen is
between June 27 to August 11.
On security front, the meet-
ing noted that terror incidents in
in Jammu; 79 cases in Kashmir
Excelsior Correspondent division, highest 42 were report- Meanwhile, Kashmir today
age didn't take for the last two gradually ebbing across the Jammu and Kashmir declined ed from Doda district, 41 in reported 79 fresh cases of
years due to COVID-19. country as well as Jammu and from 417 in 2018 to 229 in JAMMU, Feb 18: A youth, Jammu, 12 Ramban, 10 Kathua, COVID-19.
"Now the COVID situation Kashmir. 2021 while number of security who was seriously injured in a five Reasi, four Poonch and one Those who tested positive
is well under control. We will The yatra, whose duration (Contd on page 6 Col 3) road accident, succumbed to each in Udhampur, Rajouri, include 30 from Srinagar, 20 from
injuries and COVID-19 and 118 Samba and Kishtwar districts. Baramulla, 12 from Budgam, 5
fresh cases were reported in As against 118 new cases
Jammu division while Kashmir today, 269 persons recovered from
from Kupwara, 2 from Anantnag,
6 from Bandipora, 1 from

Left over 17 lakh pages of archival record to

2011, was arrested in connec-
tion with a case registered by
the NIA on November 6 last
year.
The case pertains to the
(Contd on page 6 Col 5)
Cop injured in
grenade attack
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 18: A
policeman was injured in a
grenade blast at Khajbazaar in
Nowhatta area of Srinagar
today.
A policeman Ashiq Hussain
* Pic on page 6
Video on
www.excelsiornews.com
was injured in the blast in which
three shops were also damaged.
The incident took place this
afternoon when militants hurled
a grenade at a joint police and
CRPF party in the busy
Khajbazaar road. The blast cre-
ated panic in the area.
An official said that injured
cop was stable and discharged
(Contd on page 6 Col 1)
25,920 new cases,
492 deaths
NEW DELHI, Feb 18:
With 25,920 people testing
positive for Coronavirus infec-
tion in a day, India's tally of
COVID-19 cases rose to
4,27,80,235, while the active
cases dipped below three lakh
after 43 days, according to the
Union Health Ministry data
updated today.
The death toll climbed to
5,10,905 with 492 fresh fatali-
ties, the data updated at 8 am
stated.
The daily COVID-19 cases
have remained less than one
lakh for 12 consecutive days.
The active cases further
declined to 2,92,092 compris-
ing 0.68 per cent of the total
(Contd on page 6 Col 1)
be digitized by Jammu Smart City Ltd
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 18: In a
major initiative, the Jammu
Smart City Limited will digi-
tize 17 lakh pages of archival
record of Jammu in a time
bound manner and thereafter
all the 55 lakh pages excluding
the sensitive and confidential
ones will be put in the public
domain. Moreover, a state-of-
the-art Archives Building will
come up on a piece of land sit-
uated near Kala Kendra.
Official sources told
EXCELSIOR that keeping in
view the deteriorating condition
of the archival record of Jammu,
the Government started digitiza-
tion of pages in the year 2010-11
from a Delhi-based company. In
2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts
38 get death penalty, 11 life term
AHMEDABAD, Feb 18:
A special court here today
awarded death penalty to 38
convicts and sentenced 11 oth-
ers to life imprisonment in the
case of 2008 Ahmedabad serial
blasts, which had claimed 56
lives and left over 200 injured.
This is for the first time that
so many convicts have been
handed down death sentence by
any court at one go. In January
1998, a TADA court in Tamil
Nadu had awarded capital pun-
ishment to all 26 convicts in the
case of assassination of former
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in
1991.
The pronouncement of the
quantum of punishment by
judge A R Patel came nearly 14
years after the deadly blasts.
The court had convicted 49
persons and acquitted 28 others
in the case on February 8.
State-of-the-art building to come
up near Kala Kendra
the Phase-I, a total of 1,20,000
pages were digitized while as in
the Phase-II (2012) 8,04,558
pages while as in the Phase-III
(2014-15) 29,64,176 pages were
digitized.
With this out of total 55 lakh
pages of archival record of
Jammu, 38,88,734 pages were
digitized in three phases.
However, thereafter the exercise
came to the standstill as succes-
sive Governments failed to sanc-
tion sufficient funds for this vital
exercise.
As the condition of left-
over 17 lakh pages is deterio-
rating constantly, the Board of
As many as 21 explosions
had ripped through the city on
July 26, 2008 within a span of
70 minutes.
In the over 7,000-page
judgement, the court termed
the case as the rarest of rare
and ordered that 38 convicts
in the case be hanged till
death, while 11 others were
awarded life imprisonment till
death, Public Prosecutor Amit
*Watch video on
www.excelsiornews.com
Patel told reporters.
These 38 persons were con-
victed under the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) Sections 302 (mur-
der) and 120B (criminal con-
spiracy) and provisions of the
Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Eleven others were held guilty
for criminal conspiracy and
under various sections of the
recorded 79 new positives today. the virus reducing number of Ganderbal and 3 from Kulgam.
The Union Territory of Ladakh active positive cases in Jammu With the fresh cases, the num-
registered 54 new cases. division to 1307. ber of cases in Kashmir division
A 25-year-old youth from
Jammu region now has has reached 286,731 including
Surankote in Poonch district, who 1,65,258 Corona cases. Out of 283,019 recoveries and 2,422
was suffering from polytrauma them, 1,61,627 have recovered deaths.
and head injuries after a road acci- from the virus while there were The number of active cases in
scrutiny of the sensitive and
dent, died in the Government 2324 casualties.
confidential record", sources Jammu and Kashmir are 2,597
Medical College (GMC) Jammu
informed, adding "after digitiza-
tion of remaining 17 lakh pages
The Union Territory of Ladakh
today. He tested positive for the today reported 54 new COVID
including 1,290 from Kashmir
division.
Directors of Jammu Smart virus. positive cases including 46 in Leh With 577 more recoveries, the
the Department of Archives,
City Limited in its 10th meet- Fresh COVID death has taken district and eight in Kargil. tally of total recoveries in Jammu
Archaeology and Museum will
ing decided to digitize the the toll in Jammu region to 2324 Ladakh now has 416 Corona and Kashmir has reached 444,646
conduct scrutiny of the entire
remaining record in a time and Poonch district to 110. cases—333 in Leh and 83 in which is 98.38 percent of the total
record and confidential ones will
bound manner, sources said, Among 118 cases in Jammu Kargil. cases.
(Contd on page 6 Col 3)
adding "at present the Jammu
Smart City Limited is in the
process of floating tenders for
this task and for uploading the
entire digitized record on the
server".
"All the pages which were
digitized in three phases have
already been uploaded in the
State Data Centre of National
Informatics Centre (NIC) but the
same have not been put in the
public domain for want of
UAPA, he said.
The court imposed a fine of
Rs 2.85 lakh on 48 convicts
and of Rs 2.88 lakh on another
one. It also awarded compen-
sation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of
those who died in the blasts,
Rs 50,000 to those who were
seriously injured and Rs
25,000 to those who received
minor injuries.
Those awarded death sen-
tence include key conspirators
in the case - Madhya Pradesh
natives Safdar Nagori and
Qumaruddin Nagori, as well as
Gujarat residents Qayumuddin
Kapadiya, Zahid Shaikh and
Shamsudding Sheikh.
Both Safdar Nagori and
Zahid Shaikh were accused of
collecting funds for acquiring
explosives and for other illegal
activities of banned outfit
Students' Islamic Movement of
(Contd on page 6 Col 1)

Army called out for rescue operation

3 killed as car falls into
deep gorge at Kardoh
Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Feb 18: Three
people were reportedly killed
while the fate of two others is
not known when an Alto car in
which they were travelling
skidded off the road and fell
hundreds meters down into a
deep gorge at Kardoh, 25 kilo-
metres from Bani late tonight.
As per reports, the Alto car
bearing Registration Number
JK08A 9425 was on way from
Daggar to Basohli side. Reports
said that the car rolled down
over 1.50 km into a deep gorge
at Kardoh in Bani tehsil of
Kathua district. Soon after hear-
ing the news, a team of officials
and police from Bani headed by
SDM, Bani and SHO Bani
rushed to the spot for rescue
operations.
However, till the last reports
came in they have searched out
three dead bodies but their iden-
tity has not been ascertained.
Reports said that five persons
were traveling in the ill fated car
which met a fatal accident on
way to Basohli. The fate of other
two people is not known.
Reports further said that police
is not even sure whether only
five people were traveling in the
car or more. Even the where-
abouts of the driver are also not
known.
As it was totally dark and
the vehicle has fallen down
into over 1.5 km gorges the
(Contd on page 6 Col 5)