Jammu Jan 21 PTI Panic gripped the border area of Jammu and Kashmirs Kathua district for a brief while Friday evening after BSF troops detected a big hole in a farmland near the International Border IB presuming it to be cross-border tunnel sources saidHowever it turned out to a hole or pit caused by rains they saidA big hole in a farmland was detected by troops during a routine search operation in the farmland in Karol Krishna area in the district they saidTop BSF police and other agencies rushed to the spot and discovered that it was not a tunnel but only a big hole or pit caused most probably due to rains they said We suffered panic and thought a cross-border tunnel was detected Top officials rushed to the spot They used bulldozers to dig the area and found out it was just a hole not a tunnel a local villager said PTI AB TIR TIR

Jammu Jan 21 PTI Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday reviewed the COVID-19 situation with top-level officials and discussed the various steps undertaken to tackle the surge in cases He directed them to focus more on local containment to safeguard public health and maintain momentum in economic activities Sinha called for increased testing in areas where more cases are being reported and laid emphasis on using mobile clinics to create awareness amongst patients that are in home isolation as well as those in rural areas The deputy commissioners briefed him about the COVID-19 situation the status of vaccination implementation of Covid Appropriate Behaviour and other related measures in their respective districts We must reach out to the patients in home isolation and the health officials concerned should ensure that their daily needs medicines etc are taken care of with sensitivity he said Sinha also instructed the officials to expedite the ongoing vaccination Vaccination will continue to be the most effective tool to fight the pandemic Our focus is on administering precautionary doses to frontline workers and senior citizens he said Authorities on the ground should focus more on local containment to safeguard public health and momentum of economic activities he said Vivek Bhardwaj Additional Chief Secretary Health and Medical Education Department presented detailed statistics on the COVID-19 situation and threat level status of testing contact tracing and vaccination across the union territory He said the vaccination drive for those in the age group of 15-18 years is being carried out smoothly across the union territory and that four districts have already achieved 100 per cent administration of the first dose in this segment PTI AB CJ CJ

Jammu Jan 21 PTI The Comptroller and Auditor General CAG of India has flagged poor implementation of the livelihood mission Himayat in Jammu and Kashmir and said only 4494 aspirants were given skill training under the scheme as against a target of 53547 between 2016-19 In its latest report the federal auditor said Rs 13484 crore has been spent from the sanctioned amount of Rs 23774 crore between 2016 and 2019 A target number of 53547 youth were to be trained during the period from 2016 to 2019 the achievement was only 4494 8 per cent Further out of a total of 4494 youth trained only 732 youth were placed in jobs during the period it stated The Union Ministry of Rural Development launched the Himayat mission which subsequently functioned as a separate vertical under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir The training both residential and non-residential was to be imparted for courses on computer-oriented skills soft skills communication skills in English as well as technical skills it said Though during the years 2016-17 and 2017-18 only 123 youth were trained no placements thereof were made during these years the report said According to the report 9200 was set as the target number of trainees to be skilled and provided employment in 2016-17 at a sanctioned amount of Rs 4672 crore No one was trained or employed but an amount of Rs 3040 crore or 60 per cent of the sanctioned amount was spent without achieving desired results it said In 2017-18 against a target of 18352 number of trainees to be skilled and employed at a sanctioned amount of Rs 6010 crore only 123 were trained and no one was employed even after spending Rs 2802 crore In 2018-2019 as many as 4371 trainees were skilled and 732 were employed at an expenditure of Rs 7642 crore or 43 per cent of the sanctioned amount The target was to provide skill training to 25995 youth During the year 2019-20 an amount of Rs 23494 crore was sanctioned by the Government of India against which the JK government released Rs 5268 crore in favour of the Himayat Mission and retained Rs 18226 crore An expenditure of Rs 2383 crore was incurred during the year leaving an unutilised balance of Rs 31401 crore at the close of 31 March 2020 it said The CAG report further said that for the year 2019-20 no targets were fixed though 10045 unemployed youth were trained and 2582 were placed in jobs under the scheme PTI AB SMN SMN

Jammu Jan 21 PTI The Border Security Force BSF has deployed additional troops along with anti-fog surveillance equipment on the International Border IB in Jammu and Kashmir as part of its winter strategy to foil infiltration bids and terror plans ahead of Republic Day celebrations officials said on Friday BSF troops guarding the 200-km International Border IB in Jammu and Kashmir have been put on alert to ensure high-degree of security against infiltrating terrorists We have mobilised troops along the border Extra troops have been deployed along with surveillance equipment along IB in view of the foggy weather and Republic Day celebrations a senior officer told PTI He said that operations and night domination exercises have increased along the border which witnesses dense fog during winters Officials pointed to terrorists using fog as a cover to infiltrate and said the winter strategy that has been put in place includes the measures to deal with security setup during the foggy season Troops have plugged all the gaps in riverine areas of Ujh Bansantar and Chenab they said The steps to beef up the security along the IB have been taken in view of the Republic Day celebrations Police have also put up several checkpoints on roads leading to the border and increased checking they said PTI AB SMN SMN

Jammu Jan 21 PTI The security forces conducted a joint search operation and recovered 31 kilograms of narcotics along Line of Control LoC in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Friday officials said Based on inputs of likely smuggling of narcotics through the LoC in Poonch Indian Army along with police launched relentless operations in the forward area defence spokesman said The operations were backed up with a well integrated surveillance grid coupled with extensive domination of the areas close to the Line of Control he said The narcotics weighing approximately 31 kilograms have been recovered in a search operation very close to the LoC the spokesman said PTI AB RCJ RCJ