News Kashmir Magazine

Agnipath Scheme

An pathbreaking scheme for army recruitment has been launched in India . The Ministry of Defence, GoI has unveiled the “Agnipath” scheme which is a pan India merit-based recruitment scheme for enrolling soldiers, airmen and sailors. It is a transformative initiative that will provide a youthful profile to the armed forces. Under this scheme, young persons will be provided an opportunity to serve in the armed forces as “Agniveer”. It provides an opportunity for youth to serve in the regular cadre of the armed forces for a period of 4 years including training period. Agniveers shall be recruited between the ages of 17.5 to 21 years. Candidates who are 10th /12th pass can apply for the recruitment process.

The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education welcomes this initiative of the Government of India to induct young men and women into the armed forces to develop a vibrant defence force and disciplined skilled youth with military ethos in civil society.

To support this initiative, the Department of School Education & Literacy through its autonomous institution, the National Institute of Open Schooling, is instituting a special programme in consultation with the Defence Authorities to enable those Agniveers who are 10th class pass to further their education and obtain a 12th class pass Certificate by developing customized courses that are not only current but very relevant to their area of service. This certificate is recognised for both employment and higher education purposes in the whole country. 

On the other side of the spectrum , amid violent protests over the Agnipath recruitment scheme, the government has addressed the concerns of the youth and reassured them that the future of Agniveers is stable.

Telemedicine Growth in India 

Telemedicine is a general term that covers all of the ways you and your doctor can use technology to communicate without being in the same room. It includes phone calls, video chats, emails, and text messages. People also call it telehealth, digital medicine, e-health, or m-health (for “mobile”).

India as a country in recent times has seen important developments in the field of Telemedicine. 

It is worth mentioning here that 

National Health Authority (NHA) announced recently  the successful integration of eSanjeevani with its flagship scheme – Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). This integration allows the existing users of eSanjeevani, the telemedicine service of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to easily create their Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and use it to link and manage their existing health records like prescriptions, lab reports, etc. The users would also be able to share their health records with doctors on eSanjeevani which will help in better clinical decision making and ensuring the continuum of care.

Speaking about the significance of this integration, Dr. R. S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said – “ABDM aims to build digital highways to bridge the gaps in existing digital health solutions and stakeholders in India. The integration of eSanjeevani with ABDM is one such example where the 22 crore ABHA holders can link and store their health records created via eSanjeevani directly in the health lockers of their choice. The users can also share their previously linked health records with the doctors on eSanjeevani making the entire consultation process paper-less.”

eSanjeevani service is available in two variants. The first one is eSanjeevani Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWC) – the Doctor-to-Doctor telemedicine service through which the beneficiaries visiting a HWC can virtually connect to doctors/ specialists in the Hub that could be at tertiary healthcare facility/hospital/medical college. 

One hopes Telemedicine field in the country continues to grow.

HarGharDastak Campaign

The pandemic of Coronavirus that has wrecked havoc in entire world has in India this year shown less cases . Last year the second wave of Covid  had wrecked tragedies in country.  The massive vaccination drive against Covid has helped to curb the disease in the country  

Now in other bright development related to it, 

HarGharDastak campaign 2.0” to accelerate the pace and coverage of COVID19 vaccination across States and UTs has commenced across the country. Being implemented in a ‘Mission Mode’, States and UTs have been advised to give an intensive push towards full COVID19 vaccination coverage by vaccinating all eligible beneficiaries. This was communicated to all States and UTs by Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary as he reviewed the status of COVID vaccination with Health Secretaries and NHM MDs of States and UTs last week.

Incorporating the experience & learning from “HarGharDastak campaign” launched in Nov 2021, ‘HarGharDastak 2.0’ will be implemented from 1st June 2022 to 31st July 2022. The objective of the ‘Har GharDastak2.0’ Abhiyan is to vaccinate and cover the eligible population groups for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns. Major focus will also remain on improving sub-optimal coverage of persons aged ≥ 60years with precaution dose, along with considerably slower speed of coverage in the 12-14 years cohort by focussed campaigns for old age homes, schools/colleges including the out-of-school children (for focussed coverage of children aged 12-18 years population), prisons, brick kilns, etc. States/UTs have been urged to undertake effective monitoring with respective micro-plans based on due-lists of all eligible beneficiaries. They were also urged to review administration of precaution dose to 18-59 years age-group with the private hospitals on a regular basis.

The national COVID-19 vaccination drive has witnessed

Progress of ISRO

Without space programs, we wouldn’t have GPS, accurate weather prediction, solar cells, or the ultraviolet filters in sunglasses and cameras. There’s also medical research happening in space right now that could cure diseases and prolong human lives, and these experiments can’t be done on Earth.The Space Programme of India under ISRO is making right noise. 
Over 55 Start-ups have registered with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space, in just about two years since the Indian Space Department and the ISRO were opened to the private sector, on the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, 75 Students’ satellites are scheduled for launch this year to coincide with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebrating 75th year of India’s Independence.This was informed here today by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh while chairing the 4th joint meeting of all the Science Ministries and departments.The Minister said, this in itself is a great and a pathbreaking progress considering the fact that for all these years, the Department of Space and the ISRO were working without being accessible to others and over two years back, the announcement to open them to private players was hailed by the media as “Unlocking” of the Indian Space sector. This, he said, could be possible only because PM Modi has the courage and the conviction to take out of the box decisions in the interest of the nation and to break the obsolete taboos of the past.Dr Jitendra Singh further informed that out of 55 proposals, 29 are Satellite related, 10 for Space Applications and Products, 8 related to Launch Vehicle and 8 about Ground Systems and Research. He said, 9 proposals from the Start-ups are expected to be completed by 2022-23.

Painful killing of Rahul Bhat 
The killing of young Kashmiri Pandit Employee Rahul Bhat at Chadoora Budgam on May 12, 2022 has saddened entire Kashmir Valley.  The departed soul was an employee of the Revenue Department. Series of attacks on non locals and minorities are continuing in Kashmir is causing much pain and sorrow in the Kashmir valley.
Soon after the killing of Rahul Bhat, Kashmiri Pandits staged Candle light Protest against Budgam Killing at Srinagar-Jammu National Highway Qazigund in South Kashmir.As a matter of fact, Migrant Kashmiri Pandits (KPs), majority of them government employees working under Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package, on Thursday 12 May 2022  hit roads at various places across Kashmir to register their protest against the killing of their colleague Rahul Bhat at Chadoora, Budgam.On the otherhand, The LG of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha condemned the attack and said, ”I strongly condemn the barbaric killing of Rahul Bhat by terrorists at Budgam. Those behind this despicable terror attack will not go unpunished. J&K Govt stands in solidarity with the bereaved family in this hour of grief”. The killing of young Rahul Bhat has pained every human heart and dented the reputation of Kashmir . We all need to introspect over these crimes against humanity and think how we can end the ugly cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir.  One hopes that heinous elements beind this dastardly act are  brought to book soon . The killing  of Young Rahul Bhat has saddened entire country and questions are being asked . We need a multi pronged approach to come out of this Bleak situation. One can only hope that no more innocent killings take place. Every heart is bruised over killing of Rahul Bhat.

Making Research more robust in India 

No country in today’s world can progress without making its research fields more robust and understanding the importance of research. 
Scientific administrators from across ministries deliberated on ways to make research assessment methods robust and inclusive so that new ideas that are relevant for India are encouraged and young talents get opportunities, at a workshop on Research Assessment Practices in Indian Funding Agencies.“Assessment of research is a burning challenge across the globe and experts from around the world are looking for ways to tackle it. India should develop its own method of assessing research projects, their outputs and outcomes that are adaptable to the country,” said DST Secretary Dr S Chandrasekhar. He highlighted the benefits of blind assessment—where the reviewer assesses projects without knowing the person or the institute which has submitted the proposal. Dr Chandrasekhar also stressed on the need to organize workshops for sensitizing reviewers.The recent day long workshop was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and attended by scientific administrators of different levels who participated in activities to help assess the current status of research evaluation and suggest measures for improvement.Senior Advisor, DST, Dr Akhilesh Gupta stressed on responsible research assessment that takes into account the huge diversity of India, in terms of geography, gender, access to resources, institutional facilities, etc. He also highlighted the need for a thematic club of reviewers and paying honorarium to reviewers for improving the quality of review process.
On the otherhand,  The science administrators discussed that since research priorities and challenges are changing with the time, the current practices built on incentives or indicators and primarily based on journal-based matrices required a relook and as recommended by the draft 5th STI Policy of India needed a reworked research assessment framework to improve the research .
One hopes we take all the steps to make our research more robust .

Overpricing Overpricing is the act of setting a higher price than the value of a product or services. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, overpricing means setting a price that’s higher than what the market is willing to pay. In most cases, overpricing goes hand in hand with low sales volumes, and so it is not a commonly recommended pricing strategy.In Kashmir overpricing has been a serious issue . This issue breaks the economic backbone of the masses.  
Amid  complaints about overpricing of essentials, the government has sealed over 50 shops and also recovered over Rs five lakh fine from the norm violators in the ongoing holy month of Ramadan.According to the data available the Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) has sealed a total of 54 shops in the ongoing month while 23 have been sealed in Srinagar only.The other districts where the shops have been sealed include Bandipora, Budgam, Kulgam, Kupwara and Pulwama districts.Earlier, The Jammu and Kashmir administration had said that market checking committees have been constituted in view of the complaints regarding the selling of essential commodities at exorbitant rates in the holy month of Ramazan.The need of the hour is to check the menace of rising prices of especially essential commodities and go hard on hoarding and overpricing by the Shopkeepers  .The prices of large number of vegetables and fruits  which are being consumed by the people including dates, watermelons, bananas, meat and chicken have gone up since the commencement of the holy month. One hopes overpricing would soon be a thing of past in Kashmir.

Address Concerns of Diagnostic labs in Kashmir 
Diagnostic labs have an important role to play in the health care especially when it comes to diagnosing diseases and health issues of the masses . The private Diagnostic centers also serve a purpose to lessen the burden on public health care .The diagnostician’s main role is determination of disease etiology. Secondary but equally important roles played by the diagnostic laboratory include: 1) consultative/advisory role; 2) interpretative role; and 3) disease surveillance role.In Kashmir too scores of diagnostic labs spread across length and breadth of Kashmir are rendering important services. 
It is a matter of grim Concern in the valley of Kashmir  the owners of hundreds of Diagnostic Labs in Kashmir fear they may have to wrap up their enterprises with a fresh rule being implemented in the UT that requires every laboratory, even those doing the most basic of tests, to have an MBBS doctor on board.It is worth mentioning here in this regard that the debate that has been going on in India for the past couple of years has reached Kashmir. With the Clinical Establishments Rule Amendment 2020, and its applicability in J&K, every diagnostic laboratory is required to have at least an MBBS doctor on board to sign the reports.
The Kashmir Private Diagnostic Centers Association (KPDCA) also recently  urged the government to amend the registration policy and expedite the registration process of over 2000 diagnostic labs that have been waiting since 2019.
The need of the hour is to provide such pathway that neither people nor diagnostic labs suffer .

Addressing Plastic Pollution 

Plastic is one of the serious menace faced by the humanity throughout the world . The need to address Plastic menace is felt since long .Addressing plastic pollution is recognized as a global environmental challenge.Recently in a major development, The resumed session of fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) held from 28th February 2022 to 2nd March 2022 in Nairobi, considered three draft resolutions to address plastic pollution. One of the draft resolutions under consideration was that of India. The draft resolution submitted by India called for immediate collective voluntary action by countries.India engaged constructively with all member states in UNEA 5.2 to develop consensus on the resolution for driving global action on plastic pollution by setting up of an intergovernmental negotiating committee for a new international legally binding treaty.On the insistence of India, the principle of national circumstances and capability while taking actions to address plastic pollution was included in the text of the resolution to allow developing countries follow their development trajectories.India also stood for not mandating the inter-governmental negotiating committee with development of targets, definitions, formats and methodologies, at this stage, pre-judging the outcome of deliberations of the Committee. The provision for immediate collective voluntary actions by the countries was also included to address plastic pollution on urgent and continual basis.After long protracted negotiations, the principal objectives of India’s draft resolution were sufficiently addressed in the resolution on “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument” adopted in the resumed fifth session of UNEA, which concluded on 2nd March 2022. The UNEA 5.2 will be remembered for agreeing for collective global action while respecting national circumstances.

Record breaking Tourism in Kashmir

 Kashmir is known to world as a heaven full of beautiful places and world class scenic spots.  But owing to Turmoil of last three decades and the pandemic since last few years  in shape of Coronavirus the tourism activity in Kashmir had come to grinding halt.  But now since past few months the tourism activity of Kashmir is picking up.Currently,  the Kashmir valley in ongoing Spring 2022 season is witnessing record tourist footfall. The present reality is one of hope and positivity.  More than 3 lakh tourists have arrived here in the first three months to enjoy the cool climes and witness winter sports events like skiing, winter sport championships, gandola etc. 
More than 90,000 tourists have already visited Asia’s largest Tulip garden in Srinagar in the first week after it was thrown open for visitors. Approximtaely1.5 million Tulips of 68 varieties are decked up across the sprawling garden overlooking the world famous Dal Lake.
On the other hand of the spectrum , India resumed normal international air travel on Sunday, travel trade stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir are optimistic that footfall of foreigners will significantly pick up in days to come.The Kashmir tourism is once again witnessing boom and it is a good news for one and all .It is pertinent to mention here that Jammu and Kashmir government recently that Kashmir has recorded highest ever tourist footfall in last six months and that a further increase in tourist arrivals was expected in the months ahead.After inaugurating Tulip festival at Asia’s largest Tulip garden, Chief Secretary AK Mehta had stated to  media persons that Kashmir in the month of March so far has recorded highest–ever tourist footfall and in the last six months the number of tourists visiting Kashmir remained all-time high. The famous Tulip garden was also thrown open for general public.