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Coal mine gas explosion in China kills eight, leaves dozens trapped underground

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Coal mine gas explosion in China kills eight, leaves dozens trapped underground

Beijing, May 23: A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern province of Shanxi killed at least eight people and trapped 38 underground, state media reported Saturday.

The accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened Friday evening, according to official news agency Xinhua, which reported around 247 workers were underground at the time. As of early Saturday, 201 had been brought safely to the surface.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing and an investigation of the accident’s cause while holding those responsible accountable, according to Xinhua.

Shanxi province is known as China’s main coal mining province. With a size larger than Greece and a population of around 34 million, the province’s hundreds of thousands of miners dug 1.3 billion tons (1.17 billion metric tons) of coal last year, or almost a third of China’s total.

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Snow blankets Razdan Pass, hailstorm hits Kashmir plains

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Snow blankets Razdan Pass, hailstorm hits Kashmir plains

Srinagar, May 23: Fresh snowfall was recorded at Razdan Pass and other higher reaches of north Kashmir on Saturday, while rain and hailstorm lashed several plains areas across the Valley, officials said.

According to details, fresh snowfall was reported from Razdan Pass and upper reaches of Tulail Valley following a fresh spell of weather activity triggered by an active western disturbance affecting Jammu and Kashmir.

Rainfall was also recorded in several plains districts of the Valley during the day.

The details said a hailstorm accompanied by gusty winds hit parts of north Kashmir, causing damage to apple orchards, vegetable fields and standing crops.

Officials said reports of damage had been received from some affected villages and assessment teams would evaluate the losses. The weather activity also caused waterlogging in low-lying areas and affected traffic movement on several roads during heavy showers.

The Meteorological Department said weather conditions are likely to remain unstable over the next few days.

According to the forecast, generally dry weather is expected during the forenoon between May 23 and 25, with brief showers likely at scattered places towards late afternoon.

From May 26 to 28, weather is expected to remain mainly hot and dry across Jammu and Kashmir, while brief showers are likely at a few places between May 29 and 31.

The MeT department advised people, particularly those living in vulnerable and mountainous areas, to remain cautious during thunderstorms, gusty winds and hailstorm activity. —(KNO)

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IADVL J&K organises awareness campaign on World HAE Day

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IADVL J&K organises awareness campaign on World HAE Day

Every year, World HAE Day is observed globally on May 16 not only to show solidarity with patients suffering from this condition, but also to raise awareness among the general public and healthcare professionals. The theme for this year is “Awareness Through Education Campaign.”

Globally, community activities are carried out under the campaign “Be Active 4 HAE” by encouraging participation in physical well-being activities from 1st April to 31st May every year. These campaigns aim to encourage communities to wear purple, stay active, and spread awareness through social media.

The slogan “Many Faces, One Family” is being used worldwide to unite the global HAE community. Purple has also been designated internationally as the representative colour for HAE awareness. As part of this awareness campaign, SKIMS Medical College under the aegis of IADVL J&K, organised an awareness walk to sensitize medical students, healthcare workers and general public about this rare but potentially life threatening disorder.

The awareness walk was held within the college premises and focused on spreading information regarding the signs and symptoms of HAE. The event witnessed participation from the Principal SKIMS MCH, Prof.

Fazlul Qadir Parray; Associate Dean, SKIMS MCH, Prof Aijaz Rather; President IADVL J&K chapter and HOD Department of Dermatology, Prof. Seema Qayoom; Honorary Secretary, IADVL J&K, Dr Peerzada Sajad; Treasurer, IADVL J&K, Dr. Molvi Khalid Abbas; Professor, Department of Dermatology, Prof. Farah Sameem; Professor, Department of Pathology, Prof JB Singh. Addressing the participants Prof. Parray encouraged the students to adopt healthy lifestyle practices and actively participate in awareness initiatives aimed at promoting public health and patient support. On this occasion, the IADVL J&K also conducted a CME programme to raise awareness amongst the healthcare professionals regarding the early diagnosis, clinical management and focused on the newer treatment modalities. Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) is a type of angioedema characterized by recurrent episodes of swelling involving the face, lips, eyelids, extremities, gastrointestinal tract, and larynx.

Laryngeal edema may prove fatal if not recognized and treated promptly. Gastrointestinal involvement can result in severe abdominal pain, abdominal distension, vomiting, and may mimic an acute surgical abdomen.

There are different types of HAE depending upon whether the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) protein is quantitatively deficient or functionally defective. Deficiency or dysfunction of this protein leads to excessive production of bradykinin, a vasoactive peptide that increases vascular permeability, resulting in leakage of fluid into the skin and mucosal tissues, manifesting clinically as angioedema. Typically, patients experience tingling or burning sensations before the appearance of lesions. Unlike mast cell-mediated angioedema, itching and urticarial wheals are usually absent. Since the pathogenesis is not mast-cell mediated, conventional antihistamines and corticosteroids are generally ineffective in relieving symptoms. Hence, early diagnosis and prompt management are essential.

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Yoga session organised in Patnitop

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IADVL J&K organises awareness campaign on World HAE Day

A grand yoga session was conducted at the scenic Patnitop main meadow, here on Friday.

The event was organised in commemoration of the ongoing Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyan, aiming to leverage the power of yoga and mindfulness to steer the youth away from the menace of substance abuse.

The programme was organised by the Patnitop Development Authority (PDA) in close collaboration with the district administration Udhampur, Department of AYUSH and the Hotel Association Patnitop.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Kolkata as part of his 4-day visit to India

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Kolkata as part of his 4-day visit to India

Kolkata, May 23: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kolkata on Saturday for his four-day diplomatic tour to India, with the city marking the opening leg of a visit that carries considerable political and historical resonance.

His arrival in the eastern metropolis ended a 14-year hiatus since an American secretary of state last visited the city, coming only weeks after West Bengal witnessed a landmark political transition with a BJP-led government assuming office.

In a post on X, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said, “Secretary Marco Rubio has landed in Kolkata. This is his first trip to India. Later today, we will call on Prime Minister @narendramodi in New Delhi. Trade, Technology, Defense, QUAD, and many other items to discuss and advance over the next few days!”

Later in another post on X, the US Ambassador said, “Honored to welcome my friend @SecRubio to India! We have an ambitious agenda ahead, including the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, focused on advancing @POTUS ‘ vision for an even stronger U.S.-India partnership. Looking forward to great conversations and making real progress together!”

Rubio became the first US secretary of state to set foot in Kolkata since Hillary Clinton visited the city in May 2012.

The US Department of State said Rubio would visit Mother House, the headquarters of Saint Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in central Kolkata, and the Children’s Home in the city.

Rubio’s India itinerary, scheduled from May 23 to 26 and also encompassing Agra, Jaipur, and New Delhi, is being viewed as diplomatically significant for his scheduled energy talks with India and the meeting with ministers from the Quad nations.

“Well, we want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy. And obviously, you’ve seen I think we’re at historic levels of US production, and US export,” Rubio told reporters in Miami before he embarked on the trip to Sweden and India.

Responding to a question about India being affected by high energy prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio described India as a “great partner” and said he was looking forward to meeting with ministers from the Quad nations.

The Quad meeting is planned for May 26, and it is scheduled to be attended by Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar presiding over it.

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Trump ‘seriously considering’ launching new strikes against Iran: Report

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Trump ‘seriously considering’ launching new strikes against Iran: Report

Washington, May 23: US President Donald Trump is “seriously considering” launching fresh strikes against Iran if last-minute negotiations do not result in a peace deal, US media outlet Axios reported on Friday.

It said that Trump met with a senior national security team in the morning to discuss the war on Iran even as Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir visited Tehran and was joined by a delegation from Qatar in a last-minute bid to hammer out a deal.

President Trump convened a meeting with his senior national security team regarding the war with Iran on Friday morning, two US officials told Axios.

Trump is seriously considering launching new strikes against Iran barring a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations, sources who have spoken directly with the president say.

Munir is expected to meet on Saturday with Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a key player in the Iranian decision-making process.

Axios reported that a US official briefed on the diplomatic efforts described the negotiations as “agonising” with drafts “going back and forth every day” without much progress.

The Friday morning meeting at the White House with Trump was attended by Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and other officials.

“Iran is dying to make a deal. We’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard, and we had no choice because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They cannot have it,” Trump said at an event at the White House on Friday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Sweden that “slight progress” was made during talks with Iran.

Rubio, who was in Sweden for the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting, said he did not want to exaggerate the progress in talks, saying there had been “a little bit of movement, and that’s good”.

Trump visited New York for a political rally ahead of the mid-term elections in November. Earlier, he had planned to spend the weekend at the Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey, but cancelled it and returned to the White House on Friday evening.

Trump also wrote on his Truth Social account that he was not going to attend his son Don Jr.’s wedding this weekend due to “circumstances pertaining to government and my love for the United States of America.”

“I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, DC, at the White House during this important period of time,” he wrote.

A source close to Trump and a second source with knowledge of the situation told Axios that Trump had grown increasingly frustrated about the negotiations with Iran over the past several days.

On Tuesday, he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted to give diplomacy another chance, but by Thursday night, he was leaning toward ordering a strike, the two sources told Axios.

A source close to Trump said the president has raised the possibility of a final “decisive” major military operation, after which he could declare victory and end the war.

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Petrol, diesel price hiked by 87-91 paise per litre

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Petrol, diesel price hiked by 87-91 paise per litre

New Delhi, May 23: Petrol and diesel prices were increased by up to 91 paise per litre on Saturday, the third increase in less than 10 days.

Petrol price has been increased by 87 paise in Delhi from Rs 98.64 to Rs 99.51 per litre. Diesel rates have gone up by 91 paise from Rs 91.58 to Rs 92.49.

This is the third increase in rates since May 15, when state-owned oil companies started passing on the elevated energy prices arising from the West Asia conflict in a calibrated manner.

Prices were hiked by Rs 3 a litre on May 15, followed by a 90 paise increase on May 19. In all, rates have gone up by almost Rs 5 per litre.

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PC slams NC over omission of Sajad Lone’s name from Drugmulla bridge plaque

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PC slams NC over omission of Sajad Lone’s name from Drugmulla bridge plaque

Peoples Conference Chief Spokesperson and former MLA Kupwara Bashir Ahmad Dar Friday accused the National Conference of resorting to undemocratic practice and destroying the Constitution after the name of MLA Handwara Sajad Gani Lone was omitted from the inauguration plaque of the newly inaugurated Drugmulla Bridge.

Talking to reporters at the newly inaugurated bridge in Drugmulla area of Kupwara, Dar said that excluding the name of an elected representative from a public development project was against democratic principles and amounted to disrespecting the public mandate. Dar alleged that the move was politically motivated and reflected an undemocratic approach by the ruling National Conference.

“An elected MLA does represent the people of his constituency and ignoring his name in the inauguration of a public project happens to be an insult to the democratic system,” he said.

Dar criticized the National Conference for sidelining opposition representatives and indulging in political vendetta. ” Such actions weaken democratic institutions and create unnecessary political confrontation,” he added.

The remarks came in view of the inauguration of the Drugmulla-Hatmulla Bridge by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary in presence of Rajya Sabha MP Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan and MLA Uri Dr Sajad Shafi.

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JKSA raises tribal evictions, census exclusion, reservation concerns in meeting with MP Sanjay Raut

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JKSA raises tribal evictions, census exclusion, reservation concerns in meeting with MP Sanjay Raut

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) National Convenor Nasir Khuehami on Friday met Sanjay Raut, Member of Rajya Sabha and Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, and submitted a detailed representation highlighting the pressing concerns of students, youth, tribal communities, aspirants, and marginalised sections of Jammu & Kashmir.

During the meeting, Khuehami extensively briefed Raut on a range of critical socio-economic, educational, and humanitarian issues confronting the people of Jammu & Kashmir, particularly students, unemployed youth, tribal populations, residing in remote and border regions.

He highlighted that reports from various districts of Jammu & Kashmir continue to indicate demolition of kothas, dhoks, seasonal tribal shelters, grazing structures, and settlements belonging to Gujjar and Bakarwal families.

The Association stressed that the issue is not merely related to forest administration or land ownership, but is intrinsically connected to constitutional justice, dignity, livelihood, cultural identity, democratic inclusion, social harmony, and long-term peace-building in Jammu & Kashmir.

Khuehami emphasised that historically, Gujjar and Bakarwal communities have played a significant role in maintaining social stability in remote and inaccessible regions. He stated that continued demolitions, abrupt eviction drives, denial of grazing access, and branding traditional forest dwellers as “encroachers” risk creating resentment, alienation, humiliation, and mistrust among already marginalised tribal populations. Such actions, the Association stated, weaken the trust painstakingly built over decades between tribal communities and state institutions. During the interaction, the Association also raised serious concerns regarding the ongoing Census 2027 self-enumeration exercise and the possibility of exclusion of nomadic tribal populations, particularly Gujjars and Bakarwals, who are presently migrating with their livestock towards upper reaches and highland pastures across Jammu & Kashmir. Khuehami informed Raut that the ongoing self-enumeration process, which relies heavily on digital access and internet connectivity, may leave out a substantial section of migratory tribal populations residing in inaccessible terrains without mobile phones, internet facilities, electricity access, or awareness regarding online census procedures.

The Association recalled that during the 2011 Census, a large number of tribal families reportedly remained excluded because they were residing in high-altitude meadows and seasonal pastures during the survey period, resulting in underrepresentation of the actual tribal population. JKSA warned that repetition of such exclusion during Census 2027 could seriously impact welfare schemes, reservation policies, political representation, resource allocation, and development planning linked to census data. Responding to the concerns raised by the Association, Sanjay Raut assured the delegation that he would take up the matter with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and also urge the Government and Census authorities to either extend the self-enumeration deadline or preferably conduct enumeration of migratory tribal populations during the winter months between December and March, when nomadic families return to the plains and can be properly counted. Apart from tribal concerns, the Association also apprised Raut about prolonged delays in recruitment examinations, shrinking employment opportunities, lack of transparent and timely selection processes. He also raised concerns regarding the present reservation policy and rationalisation framework in Jammu & Kashmir, stating that the current structure has significantly altered the landscape of opportunities in higher education and public employment, particularly affecting open merit aspirants from the Kashmir division. The Association thanked Sanjay Raut for patiently hearing the concerns raised by the Association and expressed hope that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs would take serious cognisance of these important issues and support necessary policy interventions in the larger interest of constitutional justice, dignity, inclusion, peace, and social harmony in Jammu & Kashmir.

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PTMs bring Govt schools to life, strengthen parent-teacher bond

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PTMs bring Govt schools to life, strengthen parent-teacher bond

On May 22 of 2026, all the government schools organised Parent Teacher Meetings (PTMs) across Kashmir, which saw encouraging participation of parents of the students.

Earlier, the PTMs, as per the DSEK orders, were supposed to be held on the 26th of every month. However, in view of Eid Ul Adha, the PTM for this month was preponed to May 22 of 2026.

During the PTMs, the parents, mostly mothers, acknowledged the role of teachers in grooming the students while taking care of their academics and social development as well.

During a PTM organised at Government Middle School Hamray, a parent showered praises on teachers while and highlighted the need for greater parental involvement in government schools.

She said that regular interaction between parents and teachers was essential for the academic growth and proper upbringing of children.

“Teachers are doing their job in grooming students, and parents must share equal responsibility in monitoring children’s education and behaviour,” she said.

She said while teachers spend limited hours with students in schools, children remain at home with their families for the larger part of the day, making parental attention crucial in shaping their future.

“Many families often fail to remain connected with schools or adequately monitor their children’s studies, particularly in government institutions. Even if parents are illiterate, they must keep a close watch on the academics and activities of their children,” she said.

She added that teachers in government schools were making sincere efforts to guide and groom students.

“We as parents witness the care and attention teachers provide to children in schools, but these efforts can yield better results only when supported by active parental participation,” she added.

Drawing a comparison between private and government schools, she said that parents tend to remain more concerned about children enrolled in private institutions because of the financial investment involved, while comparatively less attention is paid to students studying in government schools.

“Parents must visit schools regularly, interact with teachers frequently and remain actively involved in the educational journey of their children,” she added.

Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK), Naseer Ahmad Wani, earlier said the PTMs were scheduled on the 26th of every month but were scheduled on May 22 in view of the forthcoming Eid-ul-Adha, to ensure maximum participation of parents and other stakeholders.

DSEK had directed all school heads to make the meetings meaningful and outcome-oriented by ensuring active participation of parents and focusing on both academic and social issues concerning students.

“The discussions during the PTMs would not remain confined to students’ academic progress but would also cover behavioural changes among children in the backdrop of increasing concerns over substance abuse in society,” he said.

DSEK said that parents must share their observations regarding the behaviour and activities of their children at home, while teachers would also brief parents about students’ conduct and performance in schools.

“Any unusual behavioural changes noticed either by parents or teachers should be immediately communicated so that timely intervention could be made to prevent children from falling victim to drug abuse and other social evils,” he said.

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