M A I N   N E W S

Fresh snow ends dry spell in J&K, HP

CHANDIGARH, Jan 8 (UNI) — The entire Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining tribal belt in north of Himachal Pradesh had fresh spells of welcome snowfall and rain for the second day today, ending a prolonged dry spell, while the rest of north-west India reeled under intense cold wave conditions coupled with dense fog.

Westerly disturbances advancing further portend snow and rain in Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, and adjoining areas of Himachal Pradesh over the next 24 hours. Rest of the region would remain dry.

After yesterday’s brief respite, dense fog again today disrupted normal life in the region as normal schedule of road, rail and air services went haywire.

Most of the trains on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Kalka, Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar and Jammu sections ran late by one to four hours as dense fog reduced visibility to nil at most of the places.

No flight could land or take off till nine this morning from Delhi as the entire national capital region was enveloped by thick fog. Delhi reported a low of 5.7° Celsius this morning, while the minimum at Palam was 5.2° C, both one degree below normal.

Reports here available said that the northern-most Ladakh district wore a white blanket of snow with Kargil, Thoise, Leh and Dras reporting widespread snowfall for the second day today.

The minimum temperature in and around Srinagar rose this morning to 2.5° C, five degrees above normal.

Udhampur and surrounding areas in the Jammu region received first welcome winter rain today, while Jammu turned warmer with minimum rising to 7.8° C, one degree above normal, and against the lowest of 4.5° C recorded yesterday.

The entire tribal belt in Himachal Pradesh bordering Jammu and Kashmir had fresh spells of snowfall today. The snowfall on some of the higher reaches in the wee hours was continuing, a report from Shimla said.

With westerly disturbances advancing further, Himachal Pradesh, the entire Shimla region, parts of Sirmour, Mandi and Chamba were heavily overcast, portending rain or snow overnight.

The continued dry weather had been causing anxiety to orchardists in the entire apple basket of Himachal Pradesh, comprising Shimla, Kulu and upper areas of Mandi district.

Surprisingly, state capital Shimla turned further warmer with minimum rising to abnormally high at 7.4° C, five degrees above normal. Solan, too, was warmer with mercury in the low rising to seven degrees Celsius.

Hisar and Ambala were colder places in Haryana, each reporting the low of 4.5° C and 5.9° C, both one degree below normal.

Amritsar with 4.7° C, one degree above normal, brought some respite to the people from shivering cold wave conditions. However, Patiala with 5.5° C, two degrees below normal, was colder.

The minimum in and around Chandigarh today rose slightly to six degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, as people stayed indoors because of dense fog. Dense fog was also reported from Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda (Punjab), Ambala, Palam, Gurgaon, Sirsa (Haryana), Suratgarh (Rajasthan), Saharanpur, Sarsawa, Hindon, Ghaziabad and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh).

Weathermen here warned of ground frost at some places in Punjab and Haryana and lower reaches of adjoining Himachal Pradesh over the next two nights.

A report from Phagwara said the New Delhi-bound 2498 Shan-e-Punjab was cancelled today as its corresponding train arrived late at Amritsar due to poor visibility caused by thick fog. Railway sources said Amritsar-bound 2497 Shan-e-Punjab will not run from New Delhi tomorrow either.

Meanwhile, 4805/4806 Jammu Tawi-Jodhpur Express 333/334 Amritsar-Ambala Express and 3jmp/4jmp/Jalandhar-Pathankot passenger train remained cancelled for the eighth day today. Sources said 4805/4806 Jammu Tawi-Jodhpur Express would be restored from tomorrow.

Sonia removed as IGNCA chief

NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (PTI) — The Government today reconstituted the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) and removed Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as its president by declaring the amended trust deed of 1995, which made her the life president of the centre, as ultra vires.

Announcing the reconstitution of the centre, Culture Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters that the government, after obtaining legal advice, decided to treat the amendments to the IGNCA Trust Deed as “null and void and non-est and liable to be ignored” and restored the original deed.

“We have advised the new trustees to elect a new president at the earliest in the spirit of democratic principles”, he said, adding that the tenure of the trustees would now be 10 years in accordance with the original trust deed.