The Kashmir Pulse

JAMMU — Jatin Kishore assumed the charge of Director Information here on Tuesday.

After assuming charge, the Director held a brief introductory meeting with the officers of the department during which he stressed the need for further strengthening the activities and core competence of the department with the introduction of modern and new media platforms for maximizing its reach.

The Director called upon the officers for timely dissemination of accurate information to the public, fostering transparency and enhancing communication channels between the government and the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.

Later, the Director took a round of the office complex and interacted with the employees.

Meanwhile, the officers and officials of DIPR also accorded an affectionate farewell to outgoing Director Minga Sherpa, who has been posted as Deputy Commissioner Baramulla.

SRINAGAR — Kashmir Press Photographers Association (KPPA) on Sunday condemned the latest 'pick and choose' policy of the Department of Information and Public Relations of inviting a select few photojournalists while dropping prominent photojournalists working with international, national and local media outlets.

In a statement issued to the news agency KDC, KPPA said that the department was working unprofessionally and extending invitations to only a few selected photojournalists while barring most photojournalists from covering official functions.

The KPPA statement said that ever since the change of guard in the department, the doors of official functions had been closed to most photojournalists.

The KPPA has urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the people at the helm of affairs to look into the issue and take action against the officials using the Information and Public Relations for appeasement policy.

SRINAGAR — Mohammad Aslam (JKAS) on Monday assumed the charge of Joint Director Information Kashmir in presence of Deputy Director (PR) Srinagar, Bilal Mukhtar and other senior officers/officials of divisional office at Srinagar.

The officers and officials extended a warm welcome to the Joint Director on assuming the charge of the division.

Mohammad Aslam has previously served as Project Officer of Wage Employment, (ACD) Anantnag; Deputy Director of Estates, Kashmir and Joint Director Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Kashmir.

After assuming charge, the incumbent Joint Director held an introductory meeting with officers and officials of the department during which he took an overview of the functioning of the department.

Speaking on the occasion, he impressed the employees to ensure punctuality and regularity in duty, besides, he also asked them to perform their assigned work with a vibrant attitude and dedication.

JAMMU — Press Club of Jammu, the only elected body of scribes in UT Jammu and Kashmir, has appealed to the administration to review the list of formalities to be fulfilled by the journalists who desire to apply for fresh accreditation with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations.

In a meeting held here under the chairmanship of Press Club of Jammu president Sanjeev Pargal, the management committee has appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir Government, particularly the Information Department, to cut short a long list of formalities sought for accreditation of journalists, video journalists, freelance journalists and photographers, and all other categories.

The members observed that formalities asked for the accreditation of journalists should be cut short to facilitate the scribes to apply for it.

The Management Committee further observed that accreditation can be renewed in favour of all those who were already holding it when the annual renewal process was stopped by the Information Department as such journalists fulfill all preconditions and formalities.

"As far as the grant of accreditation to new journalists/photojournalists etc is concerned, a limited set of formalities can be sought and not too many which are beyond the compliance of many scribes," the Management Committee said.

The Press Club of Jammu was of the view that senior journalists including the Press Club of Jammu Management Committee, which is the only elected body of the journalists in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, should have been taken into confidence by the government as well as Information Department before issuing new accreditation rules and a long list of formalities to be submitted along with the application.

Noting that such a long list of formalities was never asked for in the past, the Management Committee asserted that earlier also the Information Department used to renew accreditation every year in March and grant new accreditations based on seeking a limited set of formalities which were easy to fulfill by the scribes.

The Management Committee expressed confidence that the Jammu and Kashmir Government as well as the Information Department, the nodal agency for dealing with media houses and journalists, would revisit the guidelines and act upon the suggestions made by the Press Club of Jammu.

JAMMU — Director Information Akshay Labroo chaired the first meeting of the recently constituted Jammu and Kashmir Media Accreditation Committee (JKMAC) to discuss and finalize the modalities for grant of accreditation to news media.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Director Information (PR), Deepak Dubey, who is also the Member Secretary of JKMAC, Zulfikar Majeed (Deccan Herald), Fayaz Ahmad (ANI), Neeraj Rohmetra (Daily Excelsior), Arshid Rasool (Daily Gadyal), Naveen Sharma (Dainik Jagran), Anil Bhat (PTI), Zahoor Hashmi (Daily Aftab), Satish Vimal (All India Radio), Pradip Datta (Times Now) and Ayaz Hafiz (Rising Kashmir) as members in person and through virtual mode.

At the outset, Deputy Director (PR) gave a detailed presentation on the composition and mandate of JKMAC and briefed the Committee about the salient features of the guidelines governing JKMAC, including eligibility criteria for working journalists, freelancers, and veteran journalists.

The eligibility conditions for granting accreditation on behalf of organizations/agencies, news organizations (satellite channels), digital news publishers etc. were also discussed threadbare.

The meeting was also informed about the quotas fixed for various categories of newspaper/media establishments, electronic and digital media.

Threadbare discussions were also held over the composition of the Sub-Committee of JKMAC. It was unanimously decided that the format of the application for the accreditation will be circulated through print media and the social media handles of DIPR in the coming week. There will be a window of 30 days for inviting applications from eligible media persons. After the receipt of applications, the DIPR will complete the process in the shortest possible time.

Addressing the committee members, Director Information, Akshay Labroo, who is also chairman of JKMAC reiterated that the accreditation process for journalists will be completed soon. He added that the long-pending demand from the media fraternity will help in the smooth functioning of media and press in Jammu and Kashmir.

JAMMU — The Government today constituted the Jammu and Kashmir Media Accreditation Committee (JKMAC) to grant accreditation to news media in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

An order in this regard issued by J&K Government reads that sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of the Jammu and Kashmir Media Accreditation Committee (JKMAC) for the grant of accreditation to news media in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the order, the committee will be composed of Director Information & PR as Chairman; Deputy Director Information (PR), DIPR as Member Secretary; Zulfikar Majeed (Deccan Herald), Fayaz Ahmad (ANI); Neeraj Rohmetra (Daily Excelsior); Shri Arshid Rasool (Daily Gadyal); Naveen Sharma (Dainik Jagran); Anil Bhat (PTI); Zahoor Hashmi (Daily Aftab); Satish Vimal (All India Radio); Pradip Datta (Times Now) and Ayaz Hafiz (Rising Kashmir) as members.

The Director of Information, Akshay Labroo said, “With the constitution of JKMAC, the long pending demand of working media persons of Jammu and Kashmir has been fulfilled, and very soon the process of granting accreditation to media persons of J&K will be initiated.”

SRINAGAR — Over ten thousand vehicles including 8820 fruit-laden trucks have crossed the Jawahar Tunnel and are heading towards Jammu region during the past 24 hours, officials said here on Monday.

Information & PR Department J&K, while confirming the development, tweeted: "Over 10000 HMVs including 8820 fruit laden trucks released through Navyug and Jawahar Tunnels during the past 24 hours."

It further said that Chief Secretary compliments all functionaries and asks them to keep up the momentum.

Notably, in a marathon meeting held on Sunday to take stock of traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta impressed upon the concerned traffic authorities to clear the stranded traffic within 24 hours and certify the same at the earliest.

The Chief Secretary had directed the Traffic Department to formulate a viable plan for the smooth movement of traffic on the highway in association with fruit growers. He asked them to ensure that the fruit-laden trucks leaving from the Valley should reach their destinations by taking appropriate time without any undue delay.

Dr Mehta urged them to submit daily reports to his office about the travel time and the number of vehicles reaching Jammu or Srinagar, leaving from opposite directions.

He enjoined upon them to publish daily the number of vehicles stranded including place and reasons thereof. He asked them to simultaneously give the time required for the restoration of the normal traffic on this road.

The traffic management authorities were asked to augment manpower from all sources to regulate traffic efficiently. He stressed enforcing lane discipline on this highway, especially on critical stretches between Banihal and Ramban. He underscored the need of ensuring that no roadside parking is allowed except at designated parking spaces only.

SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Monday clarified that it has no plans to disengage the employees working under Rehber-e-Khel, Rehbar-e-Janglat and NYC schemes.

In a tweet, J&K Directorate of Information and Public Relations, as per the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO), refuted the reports and clarified that it has no plans to disengage the employees working under Rehber-e-Khel, Rehbar-e-Janglat and NYC scheme.

“This is to clarify that the Govt of J&K has no plans to disengage employees who are working under Rehber-e-Khel, Rehbar-e-Janglat and NYC scheme,” DIPR J&K tweeted.