Srinagar Shivers At Minus 5.2 Degrees As Severe Cold Grips Kashmir

Srinagar Shivers At Minus 5.2 Degrees As Severe Cold Grips Kashmir

Srinagar weather: Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ (File)

Srinagar:

Kashmir ushered in the New Year on a dry note even as the cold wave intensified in the valley with the minimum temperature plunging two to three degrees further below the freezing point, officials said on Monday.

There has been no snowfall in most plain areas of Kashmir while the upper reaches of the valley have also received lesser than usual amount of snow by the end of December.

The open skies have resulted in the minimum temperature sliding further in most parts, including Srinagar, the officials said.

The minimum temperature dropped in the summer capital of Srinagar to minus 5.2 degrees Celsius from the previous night’s minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, they said.

Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, which serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.7 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night’s minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, they said.

Qazigund recorded a low of minus 3.6 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag town saw the minimum settle at minus 1.7 degrees Celsius and Kupwara recorded a minimum of minus 4.5 degrees Celsius.

Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ — the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region and the temperature drops considerably leading to the freezing of water bodies, including the Dal Lake as well as the water supply lines in several parts of the valley.

The chances of snowfall are the highest during this period and most areas, especially the higher reaches, receive heavy snowfall.

‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ will end on January 31.

However, the cold conditions will continue after that with a 20-day-long ‘Chilla-i-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day-long ‘Chilla-i-Bachha’ (baby cold).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indian-Origin Family Was Found Dead By Relative At $5 Million US Mansion

Indian-Origin Family Was Found Dead By Relative At $5 Million US Mansion

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members.

New York:

Police in the US are still investigating the deaths of a wealthy Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter, who were found dead in their sprawling USD 5 million mansion in Massachusetts, a media report said.

Rakesh Kamal, 57, his wife, Teena, 54, and their 18-year-old daughter, Ariana, were found dead in their 11-bedroom and 13-bathroom mansion on Thursday.

Norfolk District Attorney (DA) Michael Morrissey has described the tragedy as a “domestic violence situation,” as a gun was found near Rakesh’s body.

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members, NBC Boston reported late on Saturday.

The report said the medical examiner’s office is still investigating the cause and manner of the deaths.

Teena and her husband previously ran a now-defunct education systems company called EduNova. Their company was launched in 2016 but dissolved in December 2021, state records show.

Their daughter Ariana was remembered by the schools she attended as a bright, kind young woman who had her whole life ahead of her, according to the report.

She graduated this past summer from Milton Academy, which, in a statement, said it was heartbroken to learn of her death.

“Aria was a sweet, smart, kind young woman who was just beginning to realise her full potential,” the prestigious school said. “This is a devastating loss to our community,” it added.

Ariana, who was in her first year at Middlebury College, a USD 64,800-a-year private liberal arts school in Vermont, was described by one of her professors as “a brilliant student” who was connected and engaged in class and passionate about everything she did.

The teen, who, according to her LinkedIn profile, was studying neuroscience, was also beloved by the college choir, said Jeffrey Buettner, Christian A. Johnson Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities.

“She loved singing together, and her choir community was deeply meaningful to her in her first semester,” he said.

The grim discovery of the bodies of the family was made after a relative had stopped by to check on the family members after not hearing from them in one or two days, the district attorney said.

The family members were the only ones living in the mansion at the time of the incident, the DA said, adding that the area, one of the richest in the state, was “a nice neighbourhood, a safe community.” The couple appeared to have faced financial problems in recent years, online records show.

The family’s sprawling mansion – estimated to be worth USD 5.45 million – went into foreclosure a year ago and was sold for USD 3 million, according to the New York Post.

Dover is about 32 kilometres southwest of downtown Boston, the capital of Massachusetts. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Palestinian FM calls for Gaza ceasefire in New Year message

The call was made through a Sunday post on the official account of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on X social media platform.

At the beginning of his message, Riad al-Malki welcomed the New Year and “the 59th anniversary of the start of the Palestinian revolution.”

“…the wounds of our people are bleeding due to #Israeli war machine’s persistence in the war of #genocide, destruction, and #displacement,” Malki said.

He added, “…killings, destruction, displacement, #starvation, the spread of epidemics, invasions, arrests, and torture, all of which are crimes of #ethnic_cleansing, [are] dominating the daily lives of Palestinian citizens.”

“We reaffirm our demand at the beginning of this year for an immediate ceasefire,” the top diplomat asserted.

Malki concluded his message by hoping for the upcoming year “to be the year when the Palestinian people obtain their fair and legitimate national rights to return, self-determination, and the embodiment of the Palestinian state on the ground” with East al-Quds as its capital.

The Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 following an operation by the territory’s resistance movements, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm. Close to 22,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed in the regime’s military campaign so far.

AMK/PressTV

Al-aqsa Storm originates from Haj Qassem's mature strategy

The entire Axis of Resistance may have played a role in planning, training, and such issues, but the decision to require and when to do this operation was entirely up to the Palestinian Resistance.

Al-Aqsa Storm is one of Haj Qassem’s grand strategies of conceding the decision and independence of the Resistance’s cores, whose result has shown itself in the intellectual maturity and decision-making of the Resistance in Gaza.

The role of Haj Qassem in Palestine and the development of Palestinian Resistance movements is clear in the manner that Ismail Haniyeh, representing the people of Palestine, attended Soleimani’s funeral and addressed him as the martyr of Quds.

“The American’s plan was to make the issue of Palestine be forgotten and to keep the Palestinians weak so that they would not dare to speak of fighting. This man empowered the Palestinians,” Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said.

“He did something to help a small region like the Gaza Strip to stand up to the Zionist regime despite all their pretensions. They (the people of Gaza) brought such adversity upon them (the Zionists) that they asked for a ceasefire after just 48 hours! This was done by Haj Qassem Soleimani.”

But did only military assistance and training and the delivery of various weapons over the decades turn martyr Soleimani into a martyr of Quds? The answer is no.

General Soleimani enjoyed the military genius of a strategic and military attitude. His mastery of military issues and the acquisition of this precise and sensitive knowledge and expertise in a practical but not merely theoretical way was the result of his actual presence on the battlefield and his continuous presence.

Al-aqsa Storm originates from Haj Qassem's mature strategy

General Soleimani had tried at least three major battlefields namely the holy defense field, the battlefield against armed miscreants, and finally the battlefield in the cross-border and regional arena in Iraq and Syria.

But his most important characteristic was not his military ability, but his precise strategy in the way of confrontation and expansion of the Axis of Resistance.

One of the strategic thoughts of General Soleimani that shaped the intellectual system and personality of this great martyr was the macro strategic outlook in the Islamic world and the Axis of Resistance.

This is what we see today in the wide range of movements, tribes, attitudes, and thoughts among the movements and military groups of the Axis of Resistance. A thought that was tied to a proper understanding of the Palestinian position and the unifying issue of al-Aqsa Mosque.

Some individuals look at the relations between Iran and the Resistance movements in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Palestine as if they were the proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in decision-making, execution, strategy, and evolution.

But when we look at the actions of General Soleimani over the past four decades, it is obvious that he has given independence to these movements with a careful and accurate belief.

Al-Aqsa Storm is the current maturity of the Resistance Axis in design, decision, understanding, and operational strategy. The operation was carried out correctly and tactfully by the Palestinian decision.

The entire Axis of Resistance may have played a role in planning, training, and such issues, but the decision to require and when to do this operation was entirely up to the Palestinian Resistance.

Al-Aqsa Storm is one of Haj Qassem’s grand strategies of conceding the decision and independence of the Resistance’s cores, whose result has shown itself in the intellectual maturity and decision-making of the Resistance in Gaza.

There have always been and will always be disagreements or even analytical gaps between the Resistance Movements on various regional issues, but General Soleimani managed these relations with an exemplary and intelligent policy.

Al-aqsa Storm originates from Haj Qassem's mature strategy

The General has pursued and managed Tehran’s relations with other movements while managing alignment, meeting needs, and designing progress, but in the puzzle of the same context and regional and national interests of actors. For example, you can pay for the emergence and emergence of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The type of operation, structure, and management of the PMF is quite different from that of the Ansarullah in Yemen, the Resistance groups in Syria, and even the Shiite model of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The PMF is fully formed and established in accordance with the interests of Iraq, its special authority, and the culture of the people and ethnic considerations of Iraq.

Another feature of General Soleimani’s macro and strategic vision is the belief in the people’s place in Resistance and changing equations in every part of the region.

This can be seen in Soleimani’s remarks: “Ninety-nine percent of the population of Palestine is Sunni. What do we want from Palestine today? Are we looking for the benefits of Shia? No, if someone in Palestine is seeking the interests of Shia people, we will not cooperate with them. I don’t work with him.”

The Leader believes that for each group at the regional level in the Resistance Front, a special role should be assigned in such a way that Resistance must not be limited only to Palestine, but Resistance must be spread at the regional level, so that the task of anyone facing the Israelis becomes clear, Khaled al-Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Tehran pointed out.

Martyr Haj Qassem Soleimani, as Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah put it, was not an individual, but a school. A school sincerity. To understand this school and continue on that path, it must be understood accurately, thoroughly, and comprehensively.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the significance of Haj Qassem’s School on the Friday prayer on January 17, 2020: “Whenever purity exists, Allah the Exalted blesses it and He blesses His pure servants. Then our affairs become blessed, they grow and everyone will benefit from them. The results will prevail among the people. This originates from purity. The results of purity are the people’s love and loyalty, their tears and sighs, their presence and the revival of revolutionary spirit among the people.”

“However, if we wish to put these events in history, to value and appreciate them, and if we would like to see how precious they are, this happens only when we refuse to look at Haj Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi – our dear martyrs – merely as two individuals, but rather we should look at them as a school of thought. We should view our dear Shahid Sardar as a school of thought, as a guideline, and as an instructive lesson. Only then will the significance of the issue become clear.”

Reported by Mehr News Agency

Aditya-L1 set to reach its destination on Jan 6: ISRO chief

So far in its journey, the spacecraft has undergone four earth-bound manoeuvres and a Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvres, all successfully Addressing reporters on the very first day of 2024, Somanath said ISRO has about 12-14 missions in pipeline this year.

Updated On – 12:59 PM, Mon – 1 January 24


Aditya-L1 set to reach its destination on Jan 6: ISRO chief

File Photo

Sriharikota: India’s maiden solar mission — Aditya-L1 – launched on September 2, is set for its final manoeuvre to reach its intended destination L1 point on January 6, ISRO Chairman S Somanath told ANI on Monday.

“Aditya-L1 is going to reach its L1 point on January 6 and we are going to do the final manoeuvre to keep it there,” the ISRO chief said, on the sidelines of the successful launch of XPoSat mission to study black holes.


So far in its journey, the spacecraft has undergone four earth-bound manoeuvres and a Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvres, all successfully Addressing reporters on the very first day of 2024, Somanath said ISRO has about 12-14 missions in pipeline this year.

“Only in 12 months (in 2024), we have to have a minimum of 12 missions on our target. It may exceed depending upon our ability to produce hardware, complete the testing and if things go well. If it is not going well, there could be an impact. Otherwise, we are getting ready for at least 12-14 missions,” he said, without getting into much of the specifics.

About the Gaganyaan mission, he said at least two more abort missions would be done, one unmanned mission though target to do two, parachutes drop tests, and 100s of valuation tests would be conducted before the actual launch in 2025.

“2024 is going to be the year for Gaganyaan readiness…Along with that, we will have a helicopter-based drop test to prove the parachute systems; there will be multiple drop tests. We also will have many hundreds of valuation tests. So it is going to be a Gaganyaan year,” ISRO chief added.

Meanwhile, earlier today, the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) to study X-ray emission from various celestial sources was launched successfully, and its lift-off was normal.

Addressing the scientists after the successful launch of the mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said the PSLV-C58 vehicle placed the satellite precisely into the intended orbit of 650 km, with a 6-degree inclination.

“From this point, the orbit of the PSLV will be reduced to a lower orbit, where the upper stage of the PSLV which is now described as POEM will carry out experiments with nine of the onboard payloads and that will take some time,” Somanath added.

It is India’s first observation of black holes, though other countries have done such studies earlier.

Somanath said it took 7 years to build this satellite.

“We want to create at least 100 scientists who can understand this aspect and contribute to the knowledge of black holes to the world,” he added.

In a stellar display of prowess, India soared to new heights in 2023 with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon and the launch of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.

These milestones not only secured India’s standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India.
Among other feats India now aims for are the Gaganyaan Mission in 2024-2025, setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035, and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

7 die in Brazil police-gang shootout

Xinhua reported citing the Brazilian military police that the firefight occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning in the Parolin district in Curitiba, the capital city of southern Parana state, after residents reported hearing more than 50 gunshots and seeing suspects circulating through the streets with large-caliber weapons.

Upon arrival, police faced a hail of gunfire, leading to a fierce shootout.

The military police said they found on site 10 weapons, two bulletproof vests, cartridges for AK-47s, and equipment to convert pistols into long-range firearms.

According to the report, the initial shootings were due to rival gangs fighting for control of local drug sales.

AMK/PR

Hamas slams Israeli minister’s call for migration of Gazans as ‘war crime’

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement has denounced as “a war crime accompanied by criminal aggression” the latest call by an Israeli minister for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the besieged region in order for extremist settlers to return to the area after the war.

Hamas, in a statement on Sunday night, censured Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to displace two million Palestinians and keep about 200,000 in Gaza as “vile mockery” and a war crime in the company of the ongoing criminal onslaught against the coastal sliver.

The group added that the international community and the United Nations must take decisive actions to stop the Israeli regime’s crimes and hold its leaders accountable for what they have done to the Palestinian people.

“Our people have declared their position. They will stand firmly and steadfastly in the face of all attempts to displace them from their land and homes, until full liberation of the occupied territories and return of all refugees,” the statement read.

Earlier on Sunday, Smotrich called for encouraging the “emigration” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“We need to encourage emigration from there. If there were 100,000-200,000 Arabs in the strip and not two million, the whole conversation about the day after [the war] would be completely different,” he told Israeli Army Radio.

“They want to leave. They have been living in a ghetto for 75 years and are in need,” Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party, added.

Abbas: Palestinians will not accept displacement

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas emphasized that Palestinians will remain steadfast in defense of their legitimate rights, and will not accept displacement from their land at all.

“Today, our steadfast Palestinian people are subjected to an all-out war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and al-Quds, with the aim of liquidating our national cause and downplaying it as a humanitarian cause,” Abbas said on Sunday.

“But we tell them, the more your aggression and terrorism increase, the stronger, more determined, and more resolute our people will become in adherence to their land and legitimate national rights,” the Palestinian leader added.

Abbas stressed that the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza “will not break Palestinians’ will. We will remain steadfast on our land and continue the struggle until we achieve victory and independence.”

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are one indivisible geographical unit, the Palestinian president noted.

Most Palestinians displaced from their homeland after the Nakba (Catastrophe), when Israel proclaimed its illegal existence on May 15, 1948, have ended up in neighboring Arab states.

Arab leaders have maintained that any latter-day move aimed at forced expulsion of Palestinians would be absolutely unacceptable.

Irfan Pathan Says This Player "Should Come Back In Team" For 2nd SA Test

File photo of Irfan Pathan.© Instagram

South Africa spoiled India’s dream of winning a Test series in the Rainbow Nation for the first time by handing an innings and 32-run defeat to the guests at SuperSport Park in Centurion. With the series consisting of only two matches India can at best earn a share of the honours if they win the second Test starting in Cape Town on Wednesday. Ahead of the final game, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has suggested some changes in the team. He wants India to replace Ravichandran Ashwin with Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI.

“Ravindra Jadeja, if fit, should come back in the team. Ashwin did bowl well from what was expected out of him on that pitch but we missed Jadeja’s control while batting at number 7 in Centurion,” said Pathan on Star Sports as quoted by India Today.

“If you’re Rohit Sharma and you want to go with the same bowling attack, that’s also fine. But if you’re thinking of making a change, Mukesh Kumar could come in for Prasidh Krishna. But if you feel Prasidh is confident in the nets, then he should be backed for the second Test,” the former India star added.

India skipper Rohit Sharma had no qualms about admitting that his team was simply not good enough to challenge South Africa, putting the blame for the embarrassing loss in the first Test on the lack of collective effort.

India put up a shoddy show both with bat and ball as they were bundled out for 131 in 34.1 overs in their second innings after they allowed South Africa to score 408 in 108.4 overs in their first essay. The visitors had scored 245 in the first innings.

(With PTI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Watch: Salman And Dharmendra Recreate Bobby Deol's Animal Song Jamal Kudu

Watch: Salman Khan And Dharmendra Recreate Bobby Deol's Animal Song Jamal Kudu

Still from a video shared on Instagram. (courtesy: colorstv)

New Delhi:

Veteran actor Dharmendra and Bollywood superstar Salman Khan set the stage on fire as they danced to Bobby Deol’s song Jamal Kudu from Animal on the latest episode of Bigg Boss 17. In the promo shared by Colors TV, the reality show host along with Sohail Khan and singer Mika Singh can be seen recreating Jamal Kudu on stage while balancing a glass each on their head. Dharmendra can be seen balancing the glass in his mouth while dancing to his son’s song. The stars can be seen having a gala time on stage. The caption alongside the post read, “Get ready to channel your inner ‘Animal.’ Only on this new year special episode!”

Take a look at the video below:

Earlier, Sunny Deol recreated his brother Bobby Deol’s Animal entry song Jamal Kudu on the occasion of Christmas.  Earlier this year, the Deol brothers had appeared on the latest season of Koffee With Karan. On the show, it was disclosed that the Gadar 2 actor is obsessed with collecting Teddy Bears and soft toys. On Christmas, the actor shared a reel of himself dancing with his teddy bear to Bobby’s song Jamal Kudu. For the caption, Sunny Deol wrote, “Celebrated #Christmas with my fave Teddy Bear.” His brother Bobby dropped hearts below the post:

Take a look at the video below:

Bobby Deol’s performance in Animal marked one of the biggest Bollywood comebacks of 2023. Not only Bobby Deol but also his father, legendary actor Dharmendra, impressed the audience with his acting in Rocky And Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.  Bobby’s elder brother Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2 also emerged as a true box office winner. In a recent conversation with News18, Bobby Deol said that fans and the film industry were “genuinely happy” with the success of the Deols. He said, “God has been kind. The love my family has received from fans and audiences is so genuine. They genuinely wish the best for us. When good things happen, people want to be a part of the celebration. We’re lucky and blessed for that. When my brother hosted a success party for Gadar 2, everybody from the industry came because they were genuinely happy for us. It doesn’t happen that to everyone.”

After the tremendous success of Animal, Bobby Deol will be next seen in Krish Jagarlamudi’s Telugu film Hari Hara Veera Mallu.