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Delhi Experienced Third Worst Cold Spell In 23 Years: IMD

By LokMarg 10th January 2023

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said that Delhi experienced the third worst cold spell in the last 23 years and also gave a second cold spell warning from January 14.

Talking to ANI, RK Jenamani, Scientist, IMD said that Delhi experienced a cold wave right from January 3-9 which is almost 5 days.
“During these five days, the temperature was around two to four degrees. As per the data available with us, this was the third worst cold spell in 23 years. From the year 2000 to the year 2023, we find that the 3-9 Jan cold spell was the third worst cold spell in the last 23 years,” he said.

A cold spell means the number of days we experienced which is in the range of 5 to 6 days. A similar situation was there in the year 2006 when we had the lowest temperature of 1.9 degrees Celsius. In 2013 also, we had a similar cold spell, and January 3-9 was the third worst cold spell in the last 23 years.

IMD has also predicted rain, drizzle, and snowfall on January 12, and a second spell of cold spell on January 14.

Jenamani said that there will be light rain or drizzle in states like Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western UP, and North Rajasthan.

“For the Himalayan states like Jammu and Kashmir mainly Kashmir, we expect heavy rain or snow on Jan 12. We expect rain or snowfall in Himachal and Uttarakhand between January 11-14,” he said.

He said that we are also giving a second cold spell warning from January 14th.

“There will be fresh cold spells over northwestern and Punjab. We have not confirmed but we are reviewing whether the daily temperature will further come down to three degrees or not. Western Disturbance is very active and there are chances that there might be a cold spell from Jan 14,” he said.

Jenamani further said that there will be clouding and fresh moisture pertaining to the Western disturbance.

“The Western disturbance is expected to hit over the western Himalayan region and also plane area during 11 to 14th Jan. It will lead to clouding and fresh moisture also. Because of the windy condition, the dense fog condition will improve further. There was dense fog at the Delhi airport in the past 24 hours. But in the main city, it was relatively lesser fog,” he said.

He further said that although the condition is improving, the worst condition persists over Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“So far, the condition is improving, but Bihar and Uttar Pradesh remain in the worst condition,” he said. (ANI)

IMD: Cold Wave Over Northwest India After 24 Hours

By LokMarg 6th January 2023

Indian Meteorological Department has predicted abatement in cold waves and cold day conditions over northwest India after 24 hours.

It also predicted dense to very dense fog conditions over many parts of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh during the next 24 hours and there will be a decrease in intensity and distribution after that.
IMD said in a release on Friday that due to the approaching of two Western disturbances in quick succession, minimum temperatures are likely to rise gradually by 3 to 5 degree Celsius over many parts of northwest India during the next three days, and no significant change during subsequent three days.

“As a result, cold wave to severe cold wave conditions in isolated pockets are very likely over Rajasthan and cold wave conditions in isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh during the next 24 hours.

It predicted a fall by two to four degree Celsius in minimum temperatures over Bihar during the next two days and no significant change during the subsequent three days.

“No significant change in minimum temperatures very likely over Madhya Pradesh during the next 24 hours and rise by two to four degree Celsius during subsequent three days,” it said.

Referring to weather during the past 24 hours, the release said that the minimum temperatures were in the range of -1.5 degree Celsius in many parts of the plains of northwest India and in isolated pockets over adjoining areas of Madhya Pradesh. The lowest minimum temperature of 0 degrees Celsius was observed in Bikaner Rajasthan.

“Dense to very dense fog observed in most parts of Punjab, Haryana, in some parts of West Uttar Pradesh, in isolated pockets of east Uttar Pradesh and sub-Himalyan West Bengal,” the release said.

It said dense fog was observed in some areas of east Madhya Pradesh, in isolated pockets over Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, West Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, and Tripura today morning.

“Cold day to severe cold day conditions prevailed in many parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, west Madhya Pradesh, in some parts of east Rajasthan, isolated pockets of west Rajasthan, Bihar and cold day conditions in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand,” the release said.

IMD said cold wave to severe cold wave conditions prevailed in many parts of east Madhya Pradesh, in some areas of east Rajasthan, isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and west Rajasthan, and cold wave conditions were observed in many parts of west Madhya Pradesh, and isolated pockets over Punjab and west Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)

Punjab Refusing To Accept SC’s Decision: Khattar

By LokMarg 4th January 2023

In order to amicably resolve the issue of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, a meeting of both Haryana and Punjab Chief Ministers was held under the chairmanship of Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday at Shram Shakti Bhawan in the national capital.

Speaking to the media persons after the meeting, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accused the Punjab government of not bringing up the issue of the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal on the agenda for discussion.
Khattar said that the Punjab government is only talking about the availability of water.

“We had a third meeting with the Punjab government on the SYL issue and are yet to find an amicable solution. They aren’t ready to bring the issue of SYL on agenda and are only talking about the availability of water. We’ll apprise the SC about it,” said Haryana CM Khattar.

However, Mann said that they want to save the Sutlej river and they will fight in Supreme Court.

“We want to save the Sutlej river. We have clearly stated that we don’t have water. Hence, we can’t give water to any state. We will fight in Supreme Court,” said the Punjab CM.

Notably, the SYL agreement was signed between Punjab and Haryana 42 years ago in the year 1981, but due to non-compliance, the dispute between the two states increased. For effective allocation of water, the SYL canal was to be constructed and the two states were required to construct their portions within their territories.

While Haryana constructed its portion of the canal, after the initial phase, Punjab stopped the work, leading to multiple cases against it.

In 2004, the Punjab government had passed a law that unilaterally cancelled the SYL agreement and other such pacts; however, in 2016, the apex court struck down this law. Later, Punjab went ahead and returned the acquired land–on which the canal was to be constructed–to the landowners.

On the issue of SYL, both states have to file a reply in court on January 19, which is why this mediation meeting was called on Wednesday, which remained inconclusive.

During its September 6, 2022, hearing, the Supreme Court bench observed that natural resources have to be shared, particularly in view of the security scenario in Punjab.

“Water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it, whether it is individual or state. The matter cannot be looked at from the point of view of only one city or state. It’s the natural wealth to be shared and how it is to be shared is a mechanism to be worked out,” Justice Kaul said.

Attorney General for India KK Venugopal appearing for the Ministry, said that the Centre is trying to bring together the states of Punjab and Haryana.

Venugopal further said that Punjab is not cooperating in the matter. “The Centre had written a letter to the new Chief Minister of Punjab in April but there was no response,” he said.

To this, the bench directed all the parties to cooperate. “Either they sit and talk or the Court will order the execution of the decree. These issues should not be allowed to fester… It will allow forces that may not be amicable to the country to act and interfere,” observed the top court.

On July 28, 2020, the top court had asked the Chief Ministers of both states to make an attempt to resolve the issue amicably.

The Ministry had earlier held several meetings which were attended by Chief Secretaries of the two states but remained inconclusive.

Earlier, a meeting was held between CM Punjab Bhagwant Mann and CM Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar at Haryana CM’s residence in October, but Mann refused to construct the canal saying that there was no water surplus in Punjab. (ANI)

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Cold Wave To Continue In Northwest India For Five Days

By LokMarg 2nd January 2023

Indian Meteorological Department on Monday said that dense to very dense fog and cold wave conditions are very likely to prevail over the plains of northwest India during the next five days.

“Dense to very dense fog and cold wave conditions very likely to continue over plains of northwest India including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar during next 5 days,” Indian Meteorological Department said.

Earlier on Sunday, the forecast department said that minimum and maximum temperatures in January 2023 are most likely to be below normal over many parts of central India and adjoining areas of peninsular, east, and northwest India.

As per IMD, above-normal to normal minimum temperatures are most likely over southern parts of the south Peninsula, many parts of northeast India, and some parts of northwest India.

It also said, “Above normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of northeast India and some parts of northwest, east, and east central India.”

IMD also predicted monthly rainfall for January 2023 over Northwest India consisting of seven meteorological subdivisions (East Uttar Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh) is most likely to be below normal (78 percent of Long Period Average (LPA)), said IMD on Sunday.

The rainfall over Northwest India consists of seven meteorological subdivisions- East Uttar Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh which are most likely to be below normal (86 percent of Long Period Average (LPA)), said IMD.

The IMD said below-normal rainfall is most likely over most parts of the country except many parts of south peninsular India and some pockets of central India where above-normal to normal rainfall is expected. (ANI)

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Rebel Attacks In Balochistan, KP Surged During 2022

By LokMarg 1st January 2023

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces remained under the grip of unlawful activities as Pakistan suffered close to 376 terror attacks the previous year, Dailytimes reported citing a report by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) on Sunday.

The report claimed that the majority of the attacks were carried out by banned outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Daish (Islamic State Khorasan), and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province as a whole had an exponential surge in violence, with a corresponding rise in fatalities. Government officials, law enforcement officers, and civilians made up the majority of the victims of violence. According to the study, there were several foreigners among the civilian population.

According to the Center, after November 28 there was an extraordinary uptick in terrorist assaults in KP and Balochistan, with over twenty strikes occurring in only the month of December.

According to the report, this increased the number of fatalities in the province (including ex-FATA) to roughly 64 percent of all fatalities in the nation. Balochistan was next with 26 percent of deaths allegedly attributable to terrorism, Dailytimes reported.

During the last year alone, terrorists of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Gul Bahadur group, the Islamic State-Khurasan, and several others have reportedly conducted at least 165 terrorist attacks in KP province which is a 48 percent increase from 2020. Out of all these attacks, 115 of these were orchestrated by TTP, according to the Al Arabiya Post report.

The security establishment in Pakistan has also been facing severe issues, Al Arabiya Post reported citing a report shared during a recent meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee, that there are “capacity gaps” in KP’s counterterrorism department (CTD), revealing that CTD spends less than 4 percent of its budget on operations, with “zero allocation for procurement”.

The report stated that in the last year, Punjab faced only five terrorist incidents, while KP witnessed 704 such incidents. (ANI)

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Huge Rush Witnessed At Mata Vaishno Devi Ahead Of New Year

By LokMarg 31st December 2022

The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu witnessed a huge rush of devotees on Saturday as serpentine queues were seen on the Trikota hills of Katra despite the severe cold conditions ahead of New Year.

Devotees hailing from different regions of the country, including children, were seen chanting “Jai Mata Di” as they made their way up and down the hill, wishing each other the best ahead of the new year.
“I am getting a good feeling. I come here on the eve of every new year. I have been coming here for 5-6 years to pray to Mata Devi. I am feeling good,” said Manish Kumar, a devotee from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, who was seen chanting “Jai Mata Di”.

Poonam Sharma, another devotee said, “I wish that ‘Mata Rani’ shower her blessings upon everyone. Everyone remain happy. May the new year turn out well and bring happiness to everyone”.

Reminded about the Vaishno Devi stampede of January 1, 2022, in which 12 people were killed and 16 were injured, Sharma said, “It was an unfortunate incident.” And hoped more facilities would be provided in the future.

Ranjan, a devotee who came from Punjab along with her family wished happiness for all.

“I am feeling very happy. May God shower her blessings on everyone — is my wish. I feel fortunate to have come here along with my family to pay our respects at the feet of Mata Devi. I wish happiness to everyone on the eve of the new year,” Ranjan said.

Earlier this month, Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted a security review of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra of Reasi district.

On December 21, Deputy Inspector General, Udhampur-Reasi Range Mohd Suleman Choudhary held the security review meeting that was attended by Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi Amit Gupta, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Commandant, Superintendent of Police, Katra, among others.

The DIG reviewed every security drill of the shrine, the yatra route, safety and security of pilgrims visiting the shrine on a daily basis.

The DIG further directed to conduct of a joint security drill along with the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and other intelligence agencies for the security of the shrine. (ANI)

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Fog Engulfs North India, Visibility Dips To Zero

By LokMarg 26th December 2022

As biting cold conditions engulfed the entire North India, fog and poor visibility remained a severe cause of concern on Monday.

According to the India Meteorological Department, visibility across most of the northern states remained poor with Bhatinda in Punjab and Bikaner in Rajasthan recording “zero visibility”.
The visibility in the national capital here at just 50 meters.

Not only in Bhatinda, but visibility also remained low throughout Punjab, with Amritsar recording visibility of 25 metres and Ambala 50.

Haryana too recorded low visibility. While places like Ambala and Hissar recorded a low of 25m and 50m respectively, visibility in Chandigarh was 200 metres.

According to IMD data, places like Sri Ganganagar and Churu in Rajasthan also recorded low visibility of 25 and 50 meters, respectively.

Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal also recorded very low visibility on the day with the number dipping to 50 metres in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, while North Bengal recorded visibility of 200 meters. (ANI)

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Bomb Detection Squads Inspect Blast Site: Punjab’s Tarn Taran

By LokMarg 11th December 2022

The team of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) on Sunday arrived to inspect the Sarhali Kalan police station in Punjab’s Tarn Taran, where a low-intensity blast took place on Saturday.

Sarhali police station SHO Parkash Singh was removed and Sukhbir Singh was appointed as the new SHO of the Sarhali Kalan police station.
A low-intensity blast was reported at the Tarn Taran Police Sanjha Kendra in Punjab on Saturday, which the police said was a Rocket Propelled Granade (RPG) attack. It also said that they have registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Meanwhile, Station House Officer (SHO) Parkash Singh has been removed from Sarhali Kalan police station and was replaced by Sukhbir Singh.

Following the attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials arrived at the Sarhali Kalan police station in Tarn Taran on Saturday evening as the officials had suspected for “terror link” in the incident.

Earlier in the day on December 10, Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent Of Police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan while talking to the reporters, said that some of the suspects have been questioned in the investigation.

However, later in the day, the Khalistani Militant outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) claimed responsibility for the attack.

After taking the stock of the situation, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said, “An RPG has hit the Police Subidha Centre. An FIR under UAPA has been registered.”

“The forensic team has also arrived at the spot. We are connecting all loose ends to reconstruct what happened,” he added.

He said that there is a clear indication of a strategy of foreign elements to bleed India through thousand cuts.

“We’ll investigate SFJ’s claim. We’ll investigate all angles and theories. Handlers and operators in Pakistan, elements they’re in touch within Europe, North America, and their links are being probed so that real perpetrators are arrested soon,” he said.

He also appealed to the common people to not be afraid and cooperate with the police to nab the accused. “We will ensure full protection for the people of Punjab, the police stations, and all installations,” said the DGP. (ANI)

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Low-Intensity Blast At Punjab’s Police Station

By LokMarg 10th December 2022

A low-intensity blast was reported at the Tarn Taran Police Sanjha Kendra in Punjab on Saturday morning.

Prima facie evidence collected from the spot pointed at a Rocket Propelled Granade (RPG) attack, as per the reports.
The forensic team has already set out for the spot. Top Punjab Police officers were also expected to be there.

Lashing out at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jaiveer Shergill, National Spokesperson of BJP tweeted, “Per media reports, Police Station in Tarn Taran attacked by rocket launcher type weapon!

“This is the 2nd RPG attack on a Police Station (Mohali on May 8) in 7 months. Very worrying & disturbing development! Law & order situation has been in a free fall since AAP formed Govt in Punjab!”

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

NIA Arrests Bikramjit Singh After Extradition From Austria

By LokMarg 8th December 2022

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested wanted to accuse Bikramjit Singh after his extradition from Austria.

Bikramjit Singh, who is also known by different aliases like Bikkar Panjwar and Bikkar Baba, had formed a terror gang to carry out terror attacks in Punjab, along with his close associates.
The NIA said, “Bikramjit Singh was arrested after his extradition by the competent authority of Linz, Austria in coordination with Interpol authorities.”

Bikramjit had allegedly formed a terror gang to carry out terror attacks in Punjab, along with with his close associates. He was absconding in the NIA case filed against him in 2019. The NIA had sent a team to Austria to bring him back to India.

On the strength of the non-bailable warrants issued by the NIA Special Court, Mohali and subsequent the Red Corner Notice, absconding accused Bikramjit Singh was detained in Linz, Austria on March 22, 2021.

“After completion of legal proceedings, Linz Regional Court, Australia extradited the arrested accused Bikramjit Singh,” the NIA said in a statement.

Investigations had revealed that Bikramjit Singh not only instigated the co-accused and others to commit terrorist acts but also conducted training for fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices and using them.

“During various processions and agitations, Bikramjit Singh carried bombs and instigated other participants to attack government agencies to strike terror in the population at large,” said the NIA.

The anti-terror agency further said that Bikramjit Singh was the key conspirator in the conspiracy to target Dera Muradpura. (ANI)