J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has reconstituted the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and nominated nine eminent luminaries from various walks of life as members for three years. The members are: Swami Avdheshanand Giri Maharaj, Kailash Mehra Sadhu, KK Sharma, KNRai, Mukesh Garg, Shailesh Raina, Simridhi Bindroo, Suresh Haware and Vishwamurti Shastri. The L-G also reestablished the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and nominated nine distinguished personalities from different fields as members for the same period of three years. Sudha Murty, Mahamandaleshwar Swami Vishveshvaranand Giriji Maharaj, Ashok Bhan, IPS (Retd.), Baleshwar Rai, IAS (Retd.), Gunjan Rana, KK Talwar, Kulbhushan Ahuja, Lalit Bhasin and Suresh Kumar Sharma are the nominated people.
Army destroying unexploded shells
After the recent Pakistani shelling during ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Army has launched an operation to clear the unexploded shells from the border areas of Poonch and Rajouri. “The Army in close coordination with local police authorities, conducted a controlled operation for the safe destruction of 42 unexploded shells in the border areas of Jhullas, Salotri, Dharati and Salani of Poonch district,” a defence spokesman said. The remnants of the shells posed a serious threat to the lives and safety of local residents.
Govt focussed on peaceful Amarnath yatra
In the light of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack significantly affecting the tourism sector, the J&K government is working diligently towards ensuring a peaceful Amarnath yatra beginning on July 3. Expressing concern over the reduced tourist footfall, CM Omar Abdullah said that the tourism has been severely impacted. “The summer season is almost over, we are hardly seeing any tourists,” he noted. He emphasised that the government’s priority is to ensure the Amarnath yatra is incident-free, allowing all pilgrims to return home safely. The yatra will culminate on Raksha Bandhan, which falls on August 9.
Fayaz wani
Our correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir
fayazwani123@gmail.com