  |
|
| Sagar asks engineers to work with zeal Excelsior Correspondent KISHTWAR, Nov 10: The Minister for Irrigation and PHE, Mr Ali Mohd Sagar has called upon the engineers to work with zeal and dedication to mitigate the sufferings of the people like drinking water and irrigation facilities in hilly and inaccessible areas like Doda district......more PDD
employees stage Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: To lodge protest against failure of the State Government.....more Over Rs
9-cr for vital Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: The construc-tion work on 450 metre span motorable....more Probe
ordered into Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 10: The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir...more |
 |
Possession
of assets worth Rs 15 lakh Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: Special Judge Anti Corruption Jammu.....more Crackers
retailers Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: Lakshmi Crackers Retailers Union has blamed....more New
telephone exchange Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: With the commissioning...more ABVP
constitutes Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: ABVP in a meeting held under the...more |
|
Sagar asks engineers to work with zeal Excelsior Correspondent KISHTWAR, Nov 10: The Minister for Irrigation and PHE, Mr Ali Mohd Sagar has called upon the engineers to work with zeal and dedication to mitigate the sufferings of the people like drinking water and irrigation facilities in hilly and inaccessible areas like Doda district. The Minister who is on two-day tour of Doda district was addressing at a meeting of district engineers of the hydraulic wing at Kishtwar yesterday to review the functioning of the department. Among others, the meeting was attended by the Transport Minister, Mr BA Kitchloo, Chief Engineers, PHE and Irrigation of Jammu division, District Development Commissioner, Doda, Mr DK Nargotra, MLA Inderwal and NC district president. Mr Sagar exhorted upon the engineers that priority should be given to such schemes which are near completion so that these schemes could be completed within time bound limit to accrue the benefit of the scheme to the people. He said that due to last ten years of militancy various infrastructure development and employment projects on priority basis to provide basic amenities. Reviewing the functioning of the departments, the Minister was apprised that under PHE sector, under district plan for the current year, an outlay of about Rs 426 lakhs have been kept for ongoing water supply schemes and upgradation of existing schemes in Doda district. By the end of October 1999, Rs 171.65 lakhs have been expended. Presently there are five ongoing, 53 upgradation schemes and 24 hamlets are under execution. The Minister was further told that three ongoing schemes such as Teller, Gandoh and Trigam in Kishtwar division, are being completed at an expenditure Rs 51.61 lakhs. On completion, 5300 souls will be benefitted by these schemes. The Minister was also apprised that three water supply schemes under State sector for Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar towns have been projected for an amount of Rs 270 lakhs for the current year. The loan for these schemes will be received from Life Insurance Corporation of India. Similarly, under Irrigation sector, the district plan component for current year is of Rs 88 lakhs. Of this, Rs 41 lakhs is to be obtained as loan assistance from NABARD. The Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Jammu told the meeting that two new schemes for an amount of Rs 30 lakh of Kandote and Figsoo villages have been submitted to NABARD for sanction. Later, the Minister also hold workers meeting and various problems being faced by the people due to drought like condition in the district was brought to the notice of the Minister. He said that Govt. has approved the plan for providing free ration at 5 kgs. per head per month for four months besides providing subsidy for purchase of seed an d fertilisers for the affected families whose crops have been damaged due to drought. |
|
PDD
employees stage dharna, warn indefinite Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: To lodge protest against failure of the State Government to fulfill long pending demands of the Power Development Department employees, the Provincial Power Employees Union (PPEU), under the leadership of Mr Shakti Gupta, today staged a protest dharna in front office of the Chief Engineer, M&RE, PDD Jammu. The agitating PDD employees have been demanding releasing of the wages of the daily wagers, regularisation of daily wagers who have completed seven years in service, convening of DPC for all categories in PDD, grant of two and half day pay for left out categories including drivers of PDD and filling up of vacant posts of Tech. III among Departmental Tech. IV having matric with ITI. Addressing the dharna, Mr Shakti Gupta, provincial president of the PPEU briefed all the employees about the steps taken for getting wages of the daily rated workers. He regretted that despite their repeated representations authorities have not pay any heed to the woes of the daily wagers. He warned that if wages of the daily wagers were not released by November 25, a total strike would be started. Mr Gupta said that Chief Secretary has released Rs 7.00 crores under M Head 4801-T&D, after prolong discussions with the representatives of the PPEU. The amount was kept under the disposal of Financial Secretary, PDD, who in turn released only Rs 2.33 crores vide Government order No: 331-PDD dated 12-8-99 and second installment has not been released yet with the result the daily rated workers of the PDD are facing great hardships due to non disbursement of wages to them for the last 3 to 4 months. Mr Gupta said that daily wagers of PDD could not celebrate Deewali. He said Principal Secretary PDD through fax message was appealed to release the wages of the daily wagers before Deewali but of no avail. PPEU, provincial president further demanded that all the daily wagers who have completed seven years of service should be regularised. He expressed his anguish over the indifferent attitude of the authorities in regularising daily wagers. It has been unanimously decided by the Power Development Department employees that in case the demands are not conceeded by November 25, total strike in the PDD organisation would be observe from November 26 on the risk and responsibility of the State Government. PDD employees also served a memorandum to the Chief Secretary in this regard. |
|
Over Rs 9-cr for vital bridge in Poonch Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: The construc-tion work on 450 metre span motorable bridge over Betar Nallah at Ajote in Poonch town is in full swing. Being constructed at a cost of Rs 9.62 crores, this vital communication link would connect about 8 villages round the Poonch town benefiting about 15000 people. The Works Minister, Mr Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah discussed the pace of progress on this bridge with a deputation led by MLA, Poonch, Mr G M Jan here today. The Minister said that NABARD has approved to provide loan assistance for construction of this bridge. The Jammu and Kashmir Projects Constructions Corporation has been asked to complete this bridge within a stipulated period so that people of this border area are provided with better road communication system. Mr Shah said that sub-structure of the under-cvonstruction bridge has already been completed whereas laying of super structure is in progress. He said advanced technology is being used in construction of the bridge. He said cost per meter of the bridge has been worked out to be of the order of Rs 1.98 lakhs. The Minister reiterated Govern-ment's resolve to provide efficient road communication network to the people which is imperative for the all round socio-economic development of the State. Mr Shah hoped that with the liberal central assistance, the gigantic task of rebuilding the damaged infrastructure in the State would be accomplished, adding that officers and engineers dedication and hard work was also important in this regard. |
|
Probe ordered into killing of couple Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 10: The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mr Khurshid Ahmad Ganai has ordered magisterial inquiry into the incident in which a couple got killed in the firing near Nowhatta Police Station on November 7, 1999. The District Magistrate, Srinagar will conduct the inquiry and submit the report within one month. |
|
|
|
New telephone exchange commissioned at Samba Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: With the commissioning of new telephone exchange at Samba today, the people of this town and its adjoining areas will have all the modern facilities in the world of advanced communication. This 1000-line C-DOT Exchange of state of the art technology, was commissioned at the newly constructed building near the Industrial area, on the Jammu Pathankot National Highway by the acting Chief General Manager, Telecom J&K Circle Mr S M Talwar. The inaugural call to the CGM, Telecom was made by the Sub Divisional engineer (Installation) Mr Randhir Singh. Besides, the General Manager, Mr T K Chander Shekhar and Dy GM, Operation & Maintenance Mr G C Pandey, various other senior Telecom officers were present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Talwar said that with the commissioning of this telephone exchange, the long pending demand of the people of this important tehsil headquarters has been met and all the waiting list of this station shall be cleared soon. He said the telephone connections shall be provided on completion of cable works which are being executed by Telecommunications Consultant India Limited, Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Communications. The work is expected to be completed by ending January next year. The people of the area would now be able to avail of the facilities like internet, morning alarm, call waiting, call transfer, STD/ISD dynamic lock, conferencing and is also Y2K compliant. With this, all the working telephone numbers of Samba Exchange have been changed to level 43xxx against the existing level of 40xxx. For example, the old number 40225 will become 43225. Mr Talwar, while referring to adoption of latest technologies said that a trial basis Point to Multi-Point System (PMP) has been commissioned at Kathua covering nearby villages namely Janglote, Kharote, Pandrar, Sherpur and Lachhipur. Telephone connections have been provided from this system to subscribers of these villages and the work for commissioning at other villages is in progress. This shall provide reliable communication to the villages. On its successful completion, the work will be extended in other areas of the state. Within the range of 50 kms as per the national Telecom policy, the people of the adjoining districts will have the access to dial from the non-STD phone. Apart from these system, Digital Loop Carrier System (DLC) and Intelligence Network (IN) System have also been introduced. IN System was launched in Jammu in September this year to facilitate the subscribers to make STD/ISD calls from Non-STD telephones. He said there are 860 internet subscribers working in J&K Circle . The capacity of access channels has been augmented from 32 ports to 96 ports for easy access to customers, he added. Mr Pandey disclosed that Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) system has been commissioned in current development plan at Marh, Ganjansoo and Sangrampur and work is in progress for Birpur, Suchani and Gho Brahmana and Rajpura exchanges. Capacity of existing 8 MB OFC system also stands upgraded to 34 MB for all exchanges falling enroute Kathua to Jammu and Bari Brahmana to R S Pura to provide more channels for easy inter-changes calls. He said the switching capacity of the order of 4848 lines have been augmented in various exchanges in Jammu SSA from Ist April till date and about15,000 more lines are planned for augmentation in the current development plan. Another system (HDSL) has also been introduced for the benefit of the people of J&K, especially those residing in Kargil, Leh and Poonch. |
|
ABVP constitutes MAM College unit Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: ABVP in a meeting held under the presidentship of its state president, Mr Narinder Singh constituted the unit for MAM College today. As per a release, Mr Jasdev Singh of B A Part III was elected as president and Mr Vikramjeet Singh also of B A Part Third was elected vice president. Sanjay Singh Danoo of BA Part First was elected as secretary while Rakesh Singh, Devinder Singh and Ramnik Singh were elected as joint secretaries. Vineet Sharma was elected as cashier, Narinder Singh as office secretary, Hakikat Singh as press secretary and Shamsher Singh as public relation secretary. Besides them Mohinder, Ajay Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Rakesh Singh, Chander Shekhar, Naresh Singh Bhau, Ajeet Samyal, Rajesh Sharma, Neeraj Nagotra, Wani, Krishan Dev Singh and Kewal Krishan were elected as executive members. The meeting also discussed various problems of the student community. |
|
HMT Srinagar employees flay management Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 10: The employees of the HMT, Srinagar have not been paid their salaries for the last two months as the unit has been starved of necessary operational funds by its corporate head office at Bangalore. Even outstanding towards employees Provident Fund has not been deposited at the employees trust and has accumulated upto the tune of Rs 4 crores. The dependents of the deceased employees have also paid full gratuity. These harsh facts were revealed by the president of the employees union, Mr Mohammed Yaseen Bhat, union secretary, Mr R K Bhat and other employees at a press conference today. They alleged that non-professional local management headed by Mr F A Harjani is totally in-efficient and has misappropriated Rs 2.5 crores meant for the renewal of the plant and machinery. The employees alleged that corporate management and the government are conspiring together to wind up the operations of the HMT Srinagar and in the process have started harassing employees by non-payment of salaries and related perks. The employees union felt that by delaying payment of wages, the management was paying way for closure of the factory by Government of India. They pointed that the Management, which has drawn crores of rupees in the name of unit, in running away from their responsibility and asked the State Government and the Central Government to take appropriate measures so that the employees would be protected from starvation. |
|
Neglected hydro-electric power house at Bhaderwah Excelsior Correspondent BHADERWAH, Nov 10: The work on mini-hydroelectric power house has been abandoned by the state government due to unknown reasons. The much needed power house, which is hardly 4 kms away from this town in district Doda, is to be constructed on Basti nullah. This power house has been under construction since 1990-91 and was scheduled to be completed by 1994-95, as per the assurance of then the Governor, Gen K V Krishna Rao. According to Mr Shariq Majeed, the Power Development Corporation, which undertook the work on this project with 2 MW capacity at the initial stage, has abandoned it due to alleged financial crisis. It was learnt that the main channel to power house which is about 2 kms long, is showing leakage and moreover, the main complex has not been completed. On the electrical side, no work has been initiated and the machinery lying at Udhampur, is being rusted for the last seven years. He said if the government is facing financial crunch, it should take up the matter with the Central Government as majority of the Power stations are Centrally funded. As the power cuts are rampant in the area and the State is losing revenue to the tune of crores of rupees, it should lay emphasis on the commissioning of more power projects in the state to overcome this problem. The buying of power from the neighbouring states has caused more liability on the ruling government and there is no proper revenue recovery system in the state. He demanded that government should immediately release funds for the early completion of this power house which is pending for the last seven years. |
|
Pushp’s magazine takes up cause of border people Excelsior Special Correspondent NEW DELHI, Nov 10: A new quarterly magazine, Border Affairs, ably edited by a Jammuite Mr Pushp Saraf, has created instant impact by its very first issue. This magazine is devoted to all the important matters exclusively related to border areas of India. It has been received well in the political, social and business circles across the country. As Jammu and Kashmir has 740 kms Loc and kms J&K IB with the hostile neighbour, the focus on all issues in the print media will be of deep interest to the people. Pushp, who belongs to noted journalist family of Jammu, has stated in the inaugural issue that" the Border Affairs commits itself to becoming a forum for highlighting the genuine aspirations of the people of border states. Its Endeavour would be to serve as a link between the country’s heartland and the remote areas to create better understanding and a stronger bond". Equipped with vast experience in the line, having worked in Motherland, Indian Express and The Pioneer, he is expected to maintain high standards of journalistic profession. The first issue containing "Why the Kashmiris were indifferent to Kargil war", a piece on border states of Assam, Punjab and Rajasthan make the readers absorbed in the subject dealt therein. The informative and interesting are the two write-ups by Air Marshal Asghar Khan on "Pakistan’s war for cease-fire" and Air Marshal Noor Khan’s "Let’s Forget Kargil, get on to economic development" make candid confession of state of affairs across the border in Pakistan. In the Book Review section the doctorate thesis of a very senior IAS officer Sudhir S Bloeria titled " The Battles of Zojila, 1948" and Lt Col Bhagwan Singh’s "The War on Two Fronts" have been taken up. Significantly, both these concern Jammu and Kashmir. This 32-page well printed publication priced at Rs 30 per copy and annual subscription of Rs 120 has attracted the attention in the first go. It has won some laurels too. |
|
2 attempt suicide Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: One person was killed while four others including a minor boy sustained critical injuries in separate road accidents. Besides, three persons made an abortive attempt to end their lives. According to police reports, one person was killed and two others were seriously injured when their scooter was hit by speeding non-civilian vehicle at Nagrota this morning. Some passers-by immediately rushed to the site and shifted the injured to Government Medical College Hospital where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The deceased has been identified as Nissar of village Chowadhi. The condition of injured was stated to be critical till the last reports came in. They have been identified as Noor Mohd son of Saif Din and Abdul Farman son of Abdul Latif. Nagrota Police has registered a case in this connection and held the driver of non-civilian vehicle on charges of causing death due to rash driving. In another road accident, a minor boy sustained critical injuries after being hit by negligently driven matador bearing number JK02D-9457 at Janipura this afternoon. The injured was immediately rushed to hospital by passers-by where his condition was stated to be critical. He has been identified as Karam Kohli son of Suresh Kohli of Janipura. Three persons received serious injuries in separate accidents. They were shifted to hospital and admitted. Their condition was stated to be improving now. They have been identified as Dilbagh Singh son of Bua Ditta of Sainik Colony, Avtar Singh son of Basant Singh of Gadi Garh and Rekha daughter of Banarsi Lal of Vijaypur. Two persons made an abortive attempt to end their lives by consuming some poisonous drug at their residence. They were shifted to hospital when spotted unconscious by family members. Doctors attending them immediately washed their stomach and provided them superficial treatment. Their condition was stated to be improving. The cause behind the incident is yet to be ascertained. They have been identified as Babu Ram son of Janak Raj of R S Pura and Parshotam Singh son of Shail Singh of Khour. |
|
|
Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 11: All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) while blaming both Central and state governments for their failure in solving the problems being faced by the Kashmiri migrants has demanded reservations for them on the pattern of Jat community. The demand was made by Mr A N Vaishnavi, president ASKPC while addressing its Executive Committee meeting here today. He warned that in case the Government continued its lackadaisical attitude towards the community the KPs will be forced to launch struggle. Addressing the meeting Mr R K Raina, vice president ASKPC alleged that no steps have been taken by the Government to protect the left over property of migrants in the Valley which has been encroached by the militants and fundamentalist elements. He demanded that the Government should take this entire property in its possession and provide rent to the migrants. Mr H L Chatta demanded compensation for the property which has been damaged by heavy rain fall and snow. Mr Chatta urged the J&K Bank to come out with a concrete transfer policy against the migrants and stop harassing the displaced employees unnecessarily. He also demanded City Compensatory Allowance (CCA) and House Rent Allowance for the displaced employees. Mrs Kamla Incharge Women Wing demanded construction of more quarters for the migrants who are residing in rented accommodations. The meeting among others was addressed by Messrs Ram Krishan and P K Bhat. |
|
|
Exclesior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov. 10: The freshers in Natrang presented a play 'Vimal Mehta Second' in the Natrang Studio Theatre. The play is based on a story by Awdhesh Shrivastava and is directed by Anil Tickoo. This presentation of Natrang was organised as a part of 'Katha Kahani' series, a new project being run by the Organisation to present the short stories through theatrical performances. Vimal Mehta Second was based on the present day politics in the higher education, the conflict between the system and the anti-establishment voice of the students. Vimal Mehta a student of a post-graduate college tries to expose the misdoings of college management and in the process he unites the students voice to protest against the established norms of the college. The students get united and the college goes on strike. After having no response from the authorities, the students get agitated and the leader is killed in the police action. The authorities take it for granted that the student movement is over, but the Vimal Mehta First a colleague of Vimal Mehta-Second takes the responsibility to carry the struggle of Vimal Mehta Second and the fight goes on. The play was staged with the creative use of lights. The participants of the play included Rahul Sharma, Jayant Kohli, Gopal Singh, Ajay Chowdhary, Ravi Kant, Sudhir, Poonam Sharma, Jagdish Raj and Vikram Singh. |
|
Police urged to trace kidnapped youth Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 10: A deputation of prominent citizens from Kathua led by Messrs Ram Prakash State Executive Member BJP and Ramesh Pappa, national secretary ABVP called on DIG Jammu, Kathua Range, Dr S P Vaid here today and demanded immediate recovery of Mr Satya Bhushan who has been kidnapped on September 18. As per a release, the deputation brought in the notice of Dr Vaid entire story regarding the issue and alleged that though the FIR was registered in the concerned police station but till date it has failed to trace the kidnapped youth. The deputationists who were also accompanied by Mr Chuni Lal Sharma father of the youth alleged that the police has adopted an indifferent attitude towards the case. Dr Vaid assured the deputationists that effective steps will be taken to trace the youth as early as possible. |
|
|
| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports | |
