Rallies
throttle entire Jammu throughout day
Is anybody serious to tackle ever-increasing
traffic mess?
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Is anybody in the administration serious to
tackle ever-increasing messy situation on the
roads of winter capital? The answer to question
seems to be negative as all the proposals aimed
at decongesting the arteries of the city have yet
to take practical shape and people are put to
great inconvenience like on Sunday when two major
political rallies throttled the entire city
throughout the day.
Since morning
there was chaos and confusion on almost all the
roads on the right bank of River Tawi and the
life remain halted till evening as thousands of
vehicles carrying political workers were seen
creating hurdles in smooth plying of the traffic.
Though this was
not for the first time that such an unprecedented
chaos was witnessed on the roads yet the same
exposed that nobody in the administration was
serious to give practical shape to all the
proposals aimed at decongesting the arteries of
Jammu city.
"Had even
some of the proposals been implemented on ground,
the messy situation, which created strong
resentment among the people today, could have
been avoided", official sources said.
"During the
past several years, the issue of acute shortage
of Traffic Police personnel is being raised at
different fora but till now the strength of the
cops in blue has not been increased", they
said.
In Jammu city,
where unprecedented chaos and confusion has
become a routine, only 150 cops have been
deployed on roads to regular the movement of
lakhs of vehicles thereby exposing the
seriousness of the Government towards increasing
the strength of cops in blue. "Despite acute
shortage of cops in blue, there is lack of
coordination between them and District Police in
regulating traffic", sources regretted.
Another
much-talked about proposal— widening the
roads has not seen light of the day so far.
"In every meeting, the Ministers are talking
of upcoming fly overs in different parts of city
but on ground nothing indicates about immediate
start of work on the same", they said,
adding "during the past several decades,
none of the road on the right bank of River Tawi
has been widened despite addition of lakhs of new
vehicles every year".
"Shifting of
bus stands to the outskirts of the Jammu city,
installation of traffic lights and dividing of
ever busy roads by installing metal dividers are
the other much talked about proposals which have
not seen light of the day so far", sources
said, adding "all this indicates that
Government is totally non-serious towards the
problem of chaos and confusion on the
roads".
Notwithstanding
the claims about better regulation of traffic
during two political rallies today, the mess on
the roads throughout the day was clearly
indicating that there was no planning by the
administration to cope up with the situation,
they said, adding "the steps by Traffic
Police like parking of vehicles on flyover
instead of ensuring smooth plying of vehicular
traffic was creating problems".
Gupta
terms Justice Sageer report as highly
controversial
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Advocating for free flow of the Indian
Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir, the leader of
BJP legislative party, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta has
termed the Justice Sageer Ahmed Committee report
as highly controversial.
Commenting upon
formation of Cabinet Sub-Committee by State
Government to examine recommendations of Justice
Sageer Ahmed, Prof Gupta said that because of
lack of vision at the Centre, the State
Government was trying to unsettle the already
settled issues and Congress, devoid of national
outlook, was playing the role of a B-team.
Stressing for full
application of the Indian Constitution in this
State, the BJP leader asserted that the so-called
special status to J&K has harmed the national
interests. He said if Indian Constitution can
prove to be useful for over 120 crore of people,
including several crores of Muslims, how could it
be harmful to a few lakhs of Muslims in Kashmir
valley, he questioned.
He alleged that
separate status was being used for black-mailing
the country and discouraging nationalism through
despotic methods while the people willing to join
the main stream have been pushed to the wall.
BJP high
level delegation in Valley to discuss torture
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
A four member fact finding delegation of the
BJP today reached Srinagar to get facts about the
torture of the party leaders and workers during
‘Ekta Yatra’ rally.
The delegation
comprised Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, BJP’s
Legislature Party leader, Ashok Khajuria and
Jugal Kishore, both MLAs and Chander Prakash
Ganga.
They met BJP
leaders and workers, who were injured in
‘police torture’ and demanded an
inquiry against the police officials responsible
for ‘atrocities’ against the party
activists and stern action against them.
The BJP delegation
would stay in the Valley tomorrow also and meet
more party leaders and workers, who became the
victim of ‘police torture’. They will
boost the morale of party leaders, BJP chief
spokesperson Dr Jitendera Singh said.
The BJP also
planned to take up the ‘torture’ of
party leaders and workers at the highest level.
"The party
will leave no stone unturned to get justice done
with the BJP leaders and workers’’, Dr
Singh said.
Militancy
affected people frame "Tehreek-e-Insaf
Jammu Province"
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
The militancy affected people from Jammu
region have decided to stand united and formed
new body under the banner "Tehreek-e-Insaf
Jammu Province" and elected its office
bearers, here today.
They unanimously
elected Mohd Farooq Mir (Ex-MLA) as chairman of
the newly formed body. Bali Bhagat (Ex-MLA) and
Dr Mumtaz Hussain Shah Bukhari were made
vice-chairman.
On the occasion,
Mohd Aslam Kohli was elected as president,
Advocate Mukhtar Sheikh and Sunil Sharma as
vice-presidents, Ashok Sharma (Ex-MLA) as legal
advisor, Mohd Shafi Dar and Ravinder Raina as
general secretaries, Lal Singh, Advocate, Ahasan
Mirza, Lal Man Singh and Sher Singh as
secretaries, Advocate Kanwar Jeet Singh and
Ishtaq Wani as spokesmen, Narinder Singh and Som
Raj as coordinators.
The
Tehreek-e-Insaf members also decided to hold
tehsil level protest on February 6 and February
13 while stage dharna protest would be held at
Raj-Bhawan on February 26.
Caretakers
fail to keep proper check in Education Deptt
Lakhs of rupees drawn fraudulently from Govt
treasury
By Rajesh Dutta
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Government on the one hand trying its level
best to provide quality education and
infrastructure in the Education Department while
on the other hand caretakers have failed to keep
proper check on its workers who were robbing the
Department and fraudulently withdrawing lakhs of
rupees from Government treasury.
Chief Minister
Omar Abudullah has rightly said recently,
"it is not good enough to trap somebody
taking Rs 5000 when we cannot trap somebody
taking in lakhs". This is pretty much the
story today in Education Department and officials
have failed to take on monster of corruption,
fraud and scandals in Jammu and Kashmir State,
which is second in rank across the country.
There is no doubt
that corruption, frauds and scandals have raised
to such levels that Government and its
administrators are unaware about the various
facts that lakhs of rupees were drawn every month
from Government treasury in Education Department
fraudulently.
One such glaring
example of multi-lakh scandal was recently
detected in Marwah zone of Kishtwar district
where officials of Education Department with the
help of others have withdrawn lakhs of rupees
every month.
According to
officials sources, seven salary bills were drawn
for the entire zone under different schemes for
general line teachers under 2202 head through
treasury Nowpachi, tehsil Marwah, out of these
seven bills three bills show fake names, against
whom huge amount was drawn every month. The fake
names against whose the pay was drawn prior to
December 12, 2010 (before detection) were Ab
Rashid, Zahida Begum, Gh Mohd, Bal Krishan, R
Krishan, Gh Rasool, Gh Mohd, Rajinder and Bashir
Ahmed from PS Girls (non plan), PS Boys (non
plan) and MS Boys (non plan).
Sources added that
all nine fake names have been shown as teachers,
but without deduction on Rs 26,931 as GP and SLI,
an amount of rupees Rs 2,42, 379 was withdrawn
fraudulently since 2003.
On condition of
anonymity, a teaching community member of the
area said, "In PS Girls (non plan) under
this scheme, there are in all 22 teachers posts,
physically 17 are working and five posts are
vacant. But under the fake names salary was drawn
against 3 vacant posts. On the fake names Abdul
Rashid, the salary was drawn against the vacant
post of PS Hynun, Zahida Begum against PS Tender
and Gh Mohd against PS Changer. The excess pay
was drawn from the A/C CD 31 of Nowpachi Marwah,
J&K Bank Branch.
He added that at
PS Boys (non plan) under this scheme, out of
total 70 vacant posts 8 were shifted to other
zone and 4 working so 58 vacant posts were left.
Bill reflects that fictitious names with no
service record as mentioned in the bill were Bal
Krishan, R Krishan and Gh Rasool. Similarly, in
MS Boys (non plan), actual position of vacant
posts under the scheme is 23 and 3 are working
where 20 were left vacant. The fake names
adjusted in the bill were Gh Mohd, Rajinder and
Bashir Ahmed and their pay was drawn against
three vacant posts of MS Changer.
It was further
detected that these nine fake names shown as
teacher against each Rs 26931 without GPF and SLI
deduction was withdrawn, which means in every
month Rs 2, 42, 379 rupees were drawn
fraudulently before December 2010.
When contacted,
ZEO Marwah Nazir Ahmed, admitted that such cases
were detected and report has been submitted to
Minister for Education, Commissioner Secretary to
Government, Director School Education Jammu on
January 12 and January 15 through fax and
personally. They assured enquiry to be conducted
into the matter. He further added that some
miscreants have threatened not to expose such
scandals and were blackmailing my family members.
Replying to query, he said that Police Department
was also approached but no security or steps have
been taken in this regard till now.
Director School
Education Gulzar Ahmed Quershi said that ZEO has
submitted the report and immediately two-member
committee of Joint Directors rank was constituted
about the issue and investigation is on.
It’s impossible to say anything and after
the whole investigation gets completed the matter
would be shared with one and all, he added.
'Time
ripe for implementation of working group
recommendations'
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR,
Jan 30:
Ruling National Conference today advocated
early implementation of recommendations of
working groups set up by Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh and improvement of ties between
India and Pakistan for establishing peace in the
State.
"The time is
ripe for implementation of recommendations of the
working groups on Kashmir especially the Justice
Sageer (committee) report," general
secretary of the National Conference Sheikh Nazir
Ahmad said in a statement here.
He said Justice
Sageer's report on autonomy to the State is
appropriate and timely. "Delaying the
recommendations of the working groups is
harmful," he said.
Appealing to India
and Pakistan to resume the composite dialogue for
resolution of all outstanding issues including
Kashmir, he said, "The friendly relation
between New Delhi and Islamabad is imperative for
everlasting peace in the region and also holds
the key to resolving Kashmir issue."
"We appeal to
the leadership of India and Pakistan to improve
their relations by fruitful dialogue for peace in
the sub-continent. Bitter ties between the two
countries has a direct impact on the people of
Kashmir," he said.
Criticising the
policy of right-wing parties, Ahmad said,
"BJP and its like-minded parties should be
aware that the State was not merged with India.
"As per the
document of accession executed by Maharajah Hari
Singh, the State acceded to the dominion of India
on condition and as a consequence of this
conditional accession, Article 370 of the
constitution was incorporated to grant special
autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir," he
said.
He said the state
has its own flag and Constitution and does not
believe in the politics of hatred.
"The State is
playing its role with sincerity for maintaining
integrity of the country and ensure its
development."
Lauding Omar
Abdullah-led coaltion Government in the State,
Ahmad said the Government has taken the State to
new heights of development. (PTI)
EJAC (Q)
asks Govt to avoid confrontation with employees
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Employees Joint Action Committee (Q), Jammu
today appealed the Chief Minister to take
personal interest in solving the genuine demands
of State employees so that confrontation between
Government and employees could be avoided.
Talking to
media-persons here this afternoon, the leaders of
EJAC (Q), Jammu province said, "despite
assurances from time to time to concede the
demands of the employees, the Government has
backtracked thereby compelling the Joint
Consultative Committee (JCC) led by Abdul Qayoom
Wani and Mohammad Khursheed Aalam to announce
protest demonstration program on February 1, 2011
in front of Civil Secretariat".
"We being the
constituent of JCC fully support the program and
request the leaders of other factions to attend
the protest", they said, adding "we
have finalized the boarding and lodging
arrangements for hundreds of leaders coming from
Kashmir, Ladakh and far flung areas of
Jammu".
They appealed the
Chief Minister to take personal interest in
solving the demands of State employees so that
confrontation between Government and employees
could be avoided. "EJAC (Q) State president
believes in negotiation but if those at the helm
of affairs will backtrack the agreement then
there will be no option than to come on roads for
restoration of rights of employees", they
said.
The 6th Pay
Commission arrears in favour of Government and
retired employees, enhancement in retirement age
from 58 years to 60 years, confirmation of all
temporary employees, redressal of pay anomaly
cases and financial assistance to all PSUs are
the demands of the employees.
The employees
leaders namely Amrik Singh, Ganish Khajuria,
Joginder Pal Singh and Amrik Singh Sasan
addressed the press conference.
Gujjars
for special census of nomadic tribes
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Demanding in J&K special census of lakhs
of nomads and shelter-less Gujjars -Bakerwals in
J&K , the community today expressed distress
over the exclusion of nomads during house listing
and preparation of National Population Register
in first phase held between June and September
2010 in the State as all migratory tribes were
under migration to upper reaches of Himalayas at
that point of time.
In an appeal to
Union Government sent through Tribal Research and
Cultural Foundation –a frontal body of
Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir the community urged
for a correct enumeration of their tribe in
second and last phase of census 2011 under
Nomadic or "Shelter less category".
Dr Javaid Rahi,
Secretary of the Foundation demanded a special
census of around 6 lakh nomads, other migratory
communities who are presently under by annual
migration to plane and warmer areas of State.
He suggested that
Registrar General of India (RGI ) should hold
exclusive mapping to list the movement of nomads
in Himalayan region of J&K and provide a new
column in registration forms of census by
introducing "Nomadic Category" or
"Shelter less category" which will help
the enumerators to accommodate a big chunk of
tribal population during the process.
He said last years
during process of house listing lakhs of
Gujjars-Bakerwals left un enumerated as they were
under seasonal migration.
Dr. Rahi aappealed
mobile school teachers and local community member
to co-operate with census officials and get
themselves enumerated as ST community with Gojri
as their mother tongue.
USTA
criticizes Govt for failure to fulfill demands
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
The J&K United School Teachers
Association (USTA) today criticized the
Government for its failure to fulfill agreed
demands in a meeting held under the leadership of
Banarsi Dass Sharma, provincial president.
In the meeting,
the Association strongly condemned the State
Government’s anti-employees policies. They
rejected the Government’s road map of 6th
Pay Commission arrears and failure to fulfill
agreed upon demands of employees. They also
demanded arrears in two installments,
regularization of contractual, ad hoc and daily
rated workers and removal of pay anomalies.
The Association
members also support the Protest Dharna Programme
announced by employees Joint Action Committee
outside the office of Divisional Commissioner
office Rail Head complex.
Among others
present on the occasion were Darshan Lal, Hari
Singh, Seaba Ram, Shashi Paul Singh, Raj Kumar
Rajeev Kumar and Neatir Chand.
Natrang
stages ‘Kava Chala Hans Ki Chaal’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Moliere’s World Clasic Comedy ‘Kava
Chala Hans Ki Chaal’ was staged by Natrang
at Abhinav Theatre, Jammu under its weekly
theatre programme Sunday Theatre. Nawang Ringzin
Jora, Hon’ble Minister for tourism and
Culture was the chief guest on the occasion, who
not only appreciated Natrang efforts in reviving
the cultural scene of state but also assured all
possible support from the government.
Welcoming the
august gathering, Natrang Director Balwant Thakur
dwelt in detail about the Sunday theatre
programme which Natrang is successfully running
since last seven years.
Directed by Sumeet
Sharma, the play takes place at ‘Mr.
Kumar’s house, he is a middle-aged
"bourgeois" whose father grew rich as a
cloth-merchant. He has one aim in life, which is
to rise above this middle-class background and be
accepted as an aristocrat. To this end, he orders
splendid new clothes and is very happy when
anyone calls him High class.
He applies himself
to learning the gentlemanly arts of fencing,
dancing, music and philosophy, despite his age;
in doing so he continually manages to make a fool
of himself, to the disgust of his hired teachers.
His philosophy lesson becomes a basic lesson on
language in which he is surprised and delighted
to learn that he has been speaking
"prose" all his life without knowing
it. His intelligent wife sees that he is making a
fool of himself and urges him to return to his
previous middle-class life, and to forget all he
has learned.
A cash-strapped
nobleman called ‘Bhalla’ has attached
himself to Mr. Kumar.
Kumar’s
daughter ‘Dolly’ loves a middle class
boy ‘Kukku’ but this relation is not
acceptable to ‘Kumar’ as he is very
class conscious and wants to marry his daughter
in a very rich and reputed family. On this
refusal, ‘Bittu’, Kukku’s close
friend plots a plan, he takes ‘Kukku’
to him as the ‘Prince’ of some country
who wants to honour Kumar by marrying his
daughter, foolish Kumar gets very easily caught
in this trap and agrees to give his daughter to
‘Kukku’ who is disguised as
‘Prince’
Pawan Verma as
‘Kumar’ was successful in living his
character, his acting was equally reciprocated by
the continuous applauses from the audience. Anil
Tikkoo, the most senior actor of the team was to
the play what Sachin Tendulkar is for Indian
Cricket team. Tajasvi Sharma as
‘Dolly’, Rajni Bhatti as
‘Merry’, Vikram Sharma as
‘Kukku’, Charanjeet Sharma as
‘Bittu’ and Amarpreet Kandhari as
‘Wife’ were very impressive and could
muster high appreciation. Others who supported
the play to be a very successful comedy with
their vivid performance include Gaurav Triyal,
Niharika Sharma, Sunil Bhardwaj, Shifali Gupta,
Chitra Thappar, Vijay Goswami, Ruhi Singh and
Kuldeep Mehra. Lights were operated by Gaurav
Jamwal and Jai Ram. Music was executed by Rahul
Singh. Mohd. Yaseen looked after the Public
Relations. Sanjeev Gupta did the presentations
and Deepak Virdi was the stage manager.
IGP
Security bereaved
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Fayaz Ahmad, younger brother of IGP Security
Farooq Ahmad passed away today in Srinagar due to
prolonged illness. He is survived by his wife,
daughter and son. He was a Sub Inspector in
Traffic Police.
He was buried this
afternoon in his ancestral graveyard of Ziarat
Syed Mansoor. Rasam-e-Qul will be observed on
Tuesday (February 1) at the same Ziarat
graveyard.
A large number of
people from all walks of life joined the burial
of Fayaz Ahmad and extended their condolence to
Farooq Ahmad on the sad demise of his brother.
They prayed for peace to the departed soul.
Politicians,
social activists, general public
pay tributes to Gandhiji
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang
Rigzin Jora today said spreading of message of
peace to evolve a global society based on mutual
trust and faith for all world communities and
nations is the only way to fight back
perpetrators of violence.
He was speaking at
a seminar "Friendship with neighbouring
countries- its need and necessity" organised
by Gandhian Global Family State chapter, here at
Dogra hall to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, the
father of the nation.
Paying rich
tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, on his death
anniversary, the Minister said that it was this
great leader who secured freedom to India from
British Rulers by adopting non-violence as a tool
to fight with the oppressor.
Throwing light on
various aspects of the Gandhian Philosophy, he
underlined the need for making the coming
generations of the country acquainted with his
glorious principles of Stayaghrah and
non-violence to hold back the tendency of
violence among them.
On the occasion,
President Bar Association B S Slathia and S P
Verma, noted Gandhian, also threw light on the
life and works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Meanwhile,
Minister for Health, Horticulture and
Floriculture Sham Lal Sharma has called for
collective efforts to eradicate leprosy from the
State. He stressed for maintaining close
coordination between Health Department and NGOs
to achieve better results.
The Minister was
speaking after paying tributes to the Father of
the Nation on the occasion of Anti Leprosy Day at
Leprosy Centre (Kusht Ashram), Bhagwati Nagar,
being organized by the Zonal Leprosy Society,
Jammu.
The Minister said
that Gandhiji throughout his life struggled for
the upliftment of weaker sections of the society
and down trodden people and reached out to the
needy personally. He wiped out the tears of the
patients suffering from the Leprosy and gave them
new hope of life. He said that best tribute to
this great saint will be to follow his philosophy
of non-violence, truthfulness and helping the
needy.
Stressing the need
for launching a massive awareness campaign to
educate the people especially in the far-flung
areas about the Leprosy and its preventive
measures, the Minister said that 60 per cent
diseases can be prevented through the awareness.
He said that Leprosy is curable disease and we
should handle the Leprosy patients with love and
sympathy.
The Minister also
distributed blankets and essential commodities to
the Lepers on the occasion.
Among others
present on the occasion included Director Health
Services, Jammu, Dr Ashok Sharma, Mission
Director, NRHM, Dr Yashpal Sharma, Controller
Drugs and Food Control Organization, Satish
Gupta, Medical Superintendent, Rajiv Gandhi
Leprosy Hospital, Dr Ravinder Khajuria, Medical
Superintendent, Gandhi Nagar hospital, Dr Madhu
Khullar, besides D S Langeh, Gurdarshan Singh, Dr
Gurdeep Singh and members of NGOs.
The Gandhi Global
Family in collaboration with Department of
Agriculture, Jammu also organised function at
Talab Tillo in which the officers and
representatives of various Non-Government
Organizations paid tributes to Father of Nation.
Among those who
paid homage on the occasion were Joint Director
of Agriculture, Extension, T Dorjey, Joint
Director of Agriculture, Inputs, V K Bhakhri,
District Agriculture Officer, Kathua, Lok Nath
Dogra, Potato Seed Inspector, B K Mahajan, Junior
Agriculture Extension Officer, O P Sharma,
Shreyansh Kumar Jain, G N Jain, Dr O P Gupta, Lal
Singh Naag, G C Sanhotra and Hans Raj.
The State unit of
Nationalist Congress Party organised shardhanjali
Samaroh under the chairmanship of Former Minister
Randhir Singh to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at
Party headquarters. Mr Randhir appealed the young
brigade to follow the preaching of Gandhiji and
fight against the menace of rampart corruption
among politicians, bureaucrats and contractors to
clean society.
Large number of
party workers paid rich tributes to Father of
Nation.
The activists of
Socialistic Democratic Party led by Dr Darakhshan
Andrabi paid rich tribute to Father of Nation
Mahatma Gandhi by lighting the candles for peace
and non-violence at Nagrota. She said that these
illuminating lamps signify our resolve to defeat
all kinds of darkness and spread the light of
goodwill among all religious and regional units
within the state.
The Mahatma Gandhi
Intellectual’s Society also paid rich
tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Chowk,
Satwari. They lauded the role of Mahatma Gandhi
and appealed the general masses to follow the
steps of non-violence, peace and brotherhood.
Large numbers of senior political leaders paid
tribute on the occasion besides children and
teachers.
Slathia
asks people to strengthen coalition Govt
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Minister for Industries and Commerce Surjeet
Singh Slathia today appealed the people to
strengthen the hands of the present Government.
He said that
Government is committed to fulfill the
aspirations of the people, adding that a massive
development plan has been initiated across the
State to address the development needs of the
people under various sectors.
Addressing a
public Darbar at Vijaypur, Minister was apprised
about the problems being faced by the people of
the area. He said the Government is abreast of
the problems and hardships confronting the people
and has prioritized the sectors like PHE,
Education, Power, R&B and Housing which have
direct impact on the everyday life of the people.
People put forth
various demands which include to supply of water,
un-interrupted supply of power, quality
education, road connectivity, lanes and drains,
implementation of schemes under Indira Awas Yojna
and BPL cards to the poor people.
Referring to the
power sector, he said several power projects have
also be taken up. On completion of these power
projects the power position the state would be
stabilized, he added.
Under, R&B
sector many far-flung and remote areas have been
provided with better road connectivity which is
must for the overall development of the area.
Amar
Balidan Trust starts counselling centre
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Amar Balidan Trust inaugrated its counselling
centre at Buta Nagar Muthi today and the trust
distributed its first admission forms for the MBA
programmee of Maharashtra for the displaced
students of the community.
The counselling
centre was inaugrated by the Relief Comissioner,
Vinod Koul who also gave away the MBA admission
forms to the displaced students on the ocassion.
The counselling
centre at Buta Nagar Muthi will also be advising
students about the other courses that will be
announced from time to time.
It was announced
that shortly the centre would be computerised to
provide online facility to the student community.
Chairman of the Amar Balidan Trust H.L.Chatta
gave a detailed account of the various activities
of the trust to the dignitaries on the ocassion.
It was also announced by Chatta that the centre
would also undertake activities for the economiic
upliftment of the women of the community by
taking programmes like stitching,weaving and
other hanicrafts.
Prominent among
those who attended the function included Virender
Raina, senior leader Panun Kashmir, R.K.Raina,
Ravinder Raina advocate, Subhash Chatta and
others.
Akhoon
for speedy development of border areas
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30 : The
Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public
Distribution (CAPD) and Transport, Qamar Ali
Akhoon has said that the present Government is
giving focused attention to provide all the basic
amenities to people with emphasis on under
developed areas.
Addressing a
public gathering at Chachwal, Chalari at Samba,
the Minister said that the present Government is
well abreast with the problems and hardships
confronting the people of border areas and has
prioritized vital sectors like PHE, Health
Education, Power, R&B and Housing which have
direct impact on the day-today life of the
people. He sought cooperation in implementing
various development and welfare schemes and
ensuing judicious use of funds.
Mr. Akhoon said
several schemes have been launched by the Centre
and State Governments for the welfare of the
people of the State. He appealed the people to
come forward and avail the benefits of these
schemes. He asked the unemployed youth to avail
the benefits of Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and
Welfare Programme for Youth launched by the
present coalition Government for a dignified
livelihood instead of hankering after government
jobs the youth should become job providers by
venturing in self-employment avenues.
The Minister said
that Panchayat elections are round the corner in
the State and people should actively participate
in the elections and elect the genuine
representatives who can ensure development of
their respective areas. He said that Panchayat
elections will strengthen the democracy at
gross-roots level and empower the people for
overall development.
He appealed the
people to strengthen the hands of Omar Abdullah
Government for overall development of the hilly
and border areas.
Referring to the
demand of the people regarding crop compensation
to the farmers of border areas, enhancement of
draught compensation, land compensation of barbed
wire fencing, land acquisition compensation,
relief of crop compensation of fire victims and
tracterization and leveling of land put forth by
the people of the Chachiwal, Chalari, the
Minister assured them that these demands would be
looked into.
Political Advisor,
M. A. Goni and prominent citizens also spoke on
the occasion and appealed the people to
strengthen the hands of the government for
overall development of the State.
Father
of PDP chief spokesman passes away
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR,
Jan 30:
Mohammed Sayeed Andrabi a leading religious
and spiritual personality and father of PDP chief
spokesman Naeem Akhtar Andrabi passed away here
today.
He was ailing for
couple of days and breathed his last in the SKIMS
today where he was under treatment for some time.
Mohammed Sayeed
Andrabi as a teacher and religious scholar had
provided productive instructions and guidance to
a large number of people particularly in
Bandipora.
People in the area
have widely mourned the demise of Mohammed Sayeed
Andrabi.
PDP patron Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed and president Mehbooba Mufti have
expressed deep shock and grief over the sad
demise of Mohammed Sayeed Andarbi. In a message,
the two leaders recalled the tired less efforts
of Late Andrabi as a teacher, administrator and
his religious work for the betterment of the
society and said that he will be remembered for a
long period.
The two leaders
expressed their sympathies with Naeem Akhtar and
prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.
Shri
Amarnath Yatri Niyas discusses pre-Yatra issues
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
A working committee meeting of Shri Baba
Amarnath and Shri Baba Budha Amarnath Yatri
Niyas, under its president, Surinder Mohan
Aggarwal, discussed various points to be taken by
Niyas for facilitation of pilgrims to both the
shrines this year.
The members
discussed the issue of toll tax levied on
vehicles of various Langer organizations coming
from different states of the country for these
Yatras and agreed to take up the matter with
concerned State authorities for total exemption
of this tax, so that matter was resolved well in
time before start of these Yatras.
Convenor of Niyas,
Dineshwar Singh Jamwal, sought the opinion of the
members regarding increase in Yatra period of
Shri Baba Budha Amarnath Ji for three days
instead of two days, to which all the members
gave their nod for the proposal.
It was decided
that soon a delegation of Niyas would meet
Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora as also with
Finance Minister A R Rather to discuss about the
total exemption of Toll Tax on Langer
Organizations.
Other members of
Niyas present in the meeting included Karan Singh
Charak, Dr V K Gupta, Satish Gupta, Pawan Kumar
Jain, Inderjeet Khajuria, Kuldeep Wahi, Chander
Mohan Sharma, Jagdish Sharma and Anoop Aggarwal.
Federation
demands release of arrears in 2 installments
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
The JK United Teachers Federation, Jammu
today demanded to release the 6th Pay Commission
arrears in two equal instalments, in an emergent
meeting held under the chairmanship of Prem Paul
Singh.
The Federation
stressed on the Government to release the 6th Pay
Commission arrears in two equal installments as
per commitment made with employees’ leaders
to avoid any confrontation.
State president of
the Federation, Satish Sharma said Finance
Minister has proved himself to be having as
anti-employees attitude. He appealed the Chief
Minister to intervene and redress the grievances
of the employees without any further delay.
Among others
present on the occasion were Raghunanadan Sood,
Parshotam Sharma, Rashpal Singh, Dalbir Singh,
Anil Vaid, Bua Ditta, Mohd Iqbal, Balraj Singh
and Puran Shastri.
Philanthropists
should invest in education: Rather
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Maintaining that the knowledge was imperative
for enlighting of the social set up, the Minister
for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, A.R.Rather today
called upon the philanthropists to invest in
education sector as their contribution in
building a just society free from prejudice,
violence and hatred.
"Philanthropists
have an onerous duty to invest in the education
sector, without caring for profit and loss, to
supplement the Government efforts to develop an
evil free society", Mr. Rather said while
speaking at the annual day function of JK Public
School, Kunjwani near here this evening. He said
spending in education in real terms would be an
investment for the future of the State and the
country as a whole.
Mr. Rather also
underscored the importance of private sector in
education, adding that private schools have done
a commendable job in raising the standard of
education in the State and polishing the talent
of budding children. He said private sector has a
much bigger role in spreading the light of
knowledge and grooming the youth to meet the
stiff and challenging competition in the job
market. He also called upon the teaching
community for extra dedication to create new
benchmarks in the education arena adding that
teaching is a noble profession which transforms
all round personality of children to make them
responsible citizens of the society and nation
builders. "Teaching profession needs due
recognition, respect and honour, adding that
teachers too have to strive for regaining and
restoring the most respectable place in the
society and restoring glory of this
profession", Mr. Rather added. The parents
too have an important and basic role in shaping
the future of the children by constant monitoring
and evaluation of their performance in the
schools.
Mr. Rather also
called for providing a congenial academic
atmosphere to the children as a catalyst to give
vent to their potential and exposure of talent.
Mr. Rather also urged for co-curricular
activities for students to make them mentally and
physically fit, adding that sportsmanship helps
to inculcate discipline, quick decision making
and presence of mind among the students.
Mr. Rather also
called for imparting moral education to the
students to fight social evils and menace of
corruption in the society.
Principal of the
School, Anita Bhatia presented annual report of
the school and highlighted the achievements of
the school in academics and co-curricular
activities.
Yamini
Cultural Society stages "Jaan Se Pyaara
Tiranga"
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
The Yamini Cultural Society today staged a
children play "Jaan Se Pyaara Tiranga"
written and directed by Gautam Singh at S G R D
Community complex, Jammu in which 35 children of
different ages participated.
The Play is all
about the feelings of children who have so many
questions but no one has the proper time to
answer them. How children by their own ways try
to understand the things around them and they all
reach in the ground where large number of people
gather to celebrate Republic day. These little
children asked them about their gathering on that
particular place. They got reply about their
questions one-by-one from the people about
National flag and its meaning. The old man whom
children called "Chacha" explained what
this all means and tells them the importance of
"Tiranga".
The participating
children of the play were Abhishek Choudhary,
Hitakshi, Kumar, Krishant, Shivani Kangla, Shivam
Sharma, Jatin Sharma, Arman Shah, Caan, Nikhil
Singh, Siddharth Singh, Vishal, Sahil, Mannu,
Peehu, Nitigya, Roma, Ritu Garg, Navel, Kishore,
Ram Kumar, Neelam Pangotra, Rahul Bakshi, Sandhya
Shasrti, Nivedita Manhas, Komal Gupta, Gudia
Chibber, Nikhil Anand, Veena Jamwal, Niketan,
Nahila Khan, Saurab Srivastva, Saurab Bhagat,
Akhil Rajput, Haroon Salaria and Nikita.
Play was prepared
in thirty days children theatre workshop
organized by Yamini Cultural Society Jammu.
Gautam Singh after
the play said that this play shortly would be
staged at Abhinav Theatre, Jammu.
Sukrit
Trust starting Carnival 2011 in J&K
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
Sukrit Trust has initiated a movement to
promote work culture among the youth of the
country under the banner-Kirat Carnival-2011, to
commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr Inderjeet
Singh, former chairman, Punjab and Sind Bank.
Akhand Zkirtani
Jatha, Bhai Sahib Bhai Santokh Singh, Dr
Arvindeer Singh Amn, Additional Secretary,
J&K Academy of Art Culture and Languages and
Er Manmeet Singh, chairman Ranjit Educational
Trust released the brochure of the Carnival
amidst delegates from all over the J&K State
today at Ranjit College of Education, Kunjwani
Jammu.
Addressing a
gathering of various NGOs S Jaswinder Singh,
National chairman of Kirat Carnival, stated that
Dr Inderjeet Singh was a legendry banker in the
history of modern India banking who pioneered in
small lending and agricultural loans.
According to I P
Swingh, Coordinator Sukrit Trust J&K, in this
carnival 100 seminars would be held all over the
world on the issues and hard and smart work. More
than 2 lakh students were expected to benefit
from this carnival. A book "Vadde Nishane
Vaddeean Praptian" on the life of Late Dr
Inderjeet Singh would be published.
Among those who
graced the occasion included S Parveen Singh
(Kathua), A P Singh (Nowshera, Rajouri), Harjit
Singh (Beli Charana Jammu), Gurdeep Singh
(Vijaypur), Bibi Kirandeep Kour (Sainik Colony),
Harmohinder Singh (Baramulla), Daljeet Singh
(Pulwama) and Hardev Sinmgh (Sainik Colony) etc.
Gaddi-Sippi
deputation calls on Azad
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan. 30: A
deputation of Gaddi/Sippi Congress Cell, led by
Dr S S Uttam State president of the Cell met G N
Azad, the Union Health Minister at Circuit House
today.
While apprising
the Union Minister about the plight of
Gaddi/Sippi tribes in J&K State, Dr Uttam
suggested that the twin tribes have lagged behind
in every aspect of development for want of
political reservation/nomination of members of
these tribes in State Legislative right from the
independence. He also emphasized the need for
creation of Advisory Board for Development of
Gaddi/Sippi tribes and also appointment of
members of these tribes in other boards at all
levels.
Mr Azad heared
their problems and assured implementation and
special reservation to STGS, resumption of
scholarships to Gaddi/Sippi students.
The prominent who
led the deputation included Hari Lal Lelhal,
Joginder Singh Chauhan, Janak Raj Uttam, Lekh
Raj, Kesru Ram, Hans Raj, Prem Singh, Sanjay
Uttam, Jeevan Lal and Jai Singh Chuhan.
Teachers’
Forum highlights problems
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30: The
Billawar unit of Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum
highlighted the various problems and demands in a
meeting, here today.
The meeting was
held under the chairmanship of Master Subash
Chander and Vikram Singh in which they
highlighted that the service books of
teachers/masters have not been completed till
date as also timely release of grants in their
favour etc. They appealed the CEO Kathua to take
necessary action in this regard and instruct the
concerned officials for early redressal of their
problems.
The other members
present on the occasion were Durga Dass, Pawan
Kumar, Ajit Singh and others.
2 held
with 36 bottles of liquor
Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA,
Jan 30:
Sleuths of Excise Department arrested two
persons and seized 36 bottles of Indian Made
Foreign Liquor at Lakhanpur today.
The Excise men
during checking found two persons moving on a
motorcycle towards Kathua. They were carrying
some stuff on bike. During checking 36 bottles of
Rum were recovered from them. Those arrested were
identified as Sukhdev Singh, son of Girdhari Lal
and Tarsem Lal, son of Bua Ditta of Tharyal near
Madhopur ( Pb). A case under Excise Act was
registered against them.
NSTSE
conducted
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30:
United Council, Hyderabad, conducted National
Science Talent Search Examination-2011 in Jammu
in which over 2500 students drawn from Government
and private schools including CBSE, BOSE and
ICSE, participated.
The exam was open
to the students from Class 2nd to 12th in which
objective type questions were asked from the
respective class syllabus, making the children to
use their brain faculty to understand and assess
their reasoning and analytical ability in
learning how to break through all the national
and international competitive examinations.
This exam is
conducted once in a year, last Sunday of every
year. All the parents and their wards were seen
enthusiastic to appear in this exam, which is
based on scholarship which ranges upto Rs 50,000.
BSE, RSL
hold awareness programme
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30: The
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in association with
Reliance Securities Limited (RSL) organised an
Investor Awareness Programme (IAP).
Head Marketing
Reliance Securities Limited said that this is
part of our ongoing drive to educate prospective
investor all across the country. He briefed that
during last couple of years, the Indian stock
market have witnessed tremendous technological
advancements and investors can now trade online
at a place and time of their choice.
Rajeev Gar,
Head-North of BSE added we will continue with
these initiatives in the remaining part of this
financial year and also in the coming years for
wider participation.
Youth’s
body found in fields
Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA,
Jan 30:
Dead body of a youth was found in the fields
near village Barnoti in district Kathua this
morning.
A police spokesman
identified the deceased as Jacky (23), son of
Ashok Singh of Barnoti. He said the boy went
missing during last evening. The family kept
searching for him up to late in the evening but
he could not be traced. The people of the
locality alleged that he used to take drugs and
overdose could be the reason behind the death.
The police,
however, registered a case under Section 174 CrPC
and started investigation. The body after
postmortem was handed over to the family.
Replacement
of leads of power transformer demanded
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Jan 30: A
meeting of Joint Action Committee of Kashmiri
Migrants under the chairmanship of Bhushan Lal
Raina held at Purkhoo demanded immediate
replacement of transformer leads to ensure
uninterrupted power supply to their area.
The meeting held
that the Chief Engineer concerned had assured to
replace the leads of the transformer but nothing
has been done so far.
Various other
community leaders also spoke on the occasion and
urged the Government to do the needful at an
earliest.
Survey
of Kahara Jai road
The work on
Kahara-Jai road is almost complete upto Halaran,
Tehsil Thathri, District Doda from Halaran to
Jai, even the survey is not getting finalized
because of the interference from the vested
interests. The ingenuity of their demands is as
under :-
(a) It is argued
that the road must touch the Hr. Sec School which
lies in Jamala, which is above Halaran. Actually
they want their own houses to be touched. More
over, it is not an important consideration at all
if it amounts to violation of other norms as
given in (b) and (c) below.
(b) If this demand
is acceded to, two additional turns of the road
will have to be made which will involve the
wastage of many kanals of fertile cultivable land
belonging mostly to those poor families who
possess very scantly land.
(c) If the road is
made to touch the school unncessarily, it will
then pass through a thick forest area causing
much damage to the green gold.
The students of
Halaran and adjoining hamlets don’t need any
bus facility up to the school as they will have
to travel, on the average a distance of half a
kilometer only. It is the students from Budhi,
Joura, Shamdlian, Kunthal, Suranga who need a bus
facility. If the people of these areas want the
road directly from Halaran, why should the other
group clam over road via Hr Sec. School. This is
not only quite in genuine but also reflects
clearly the self interest of some influential
people who want to use the connectivity of the
school as an excuse to cover their self
interests.
So we strongly
request to the Chief Minister and the R&B
Minister that from Halaran the road should
directly go onwards to Jai via Lower end of
village Budhi sparing the water source which will
involve least damage to forest and to the
cultivable land and then via Joura Kalan, Lower
Shamdlian, Ghuroo to Jai. This survey and
alignment is equidistance from all habitations
and will cause least damage to forests. And S/C
and S/T villages Suranga and Kunthal can also get
benefit of this road.
However if a link
road from Halaran up to Hr Sec School Jamala is
given, it will be a better option because that
way it can further connect Sichal and Goela etc.
And a link road from Joura Kalan to Joura Khurd
and Chirrala via Jantron be also sanctioned and
executed immediately, a long pending demand of
the people of Chirrala and Basnota.
The X-en concerned
R&B department may kindly be directed to make
the appropriate survey accordingly and to start
the construction of the remaining part of the
first phase of Kahara-Jai road i.e from Halaran
to Joura immediately and also conduct survey of
Joura-Chiralla road via Jantron a long pending
demand of Chiralla and Basnota area.
Subash Chander
Joura (Doda)
Power cuts in
Vivek Vihar
It has become a
regular feature with the Electric Department to
cut electric supply to the residents in Vivek
Vihar Paloura. Due to these scheduled and
unscheduled power cuts life has become quite
miserable for the residents.
It was assured by
the Department that there would not be any cut in
the area where metering work stands completed and
following the said instruction Feeder No- J-6 was
not in the list of un-metered area issued in
2008. Though the area was not experiencing this
situation for some time, the area witnessed
severe power-cuts in 2010 and in the initial
months of 2011.
Chief Engineer
M&RE Jammu is requested to look into the
created situation for feeder J-6 consumers with
strict instructions to ensure a regular supply to
the metered feeder.
Suman Gupta
Vivek Vihar,
Paloura
Degree College at
Sunder Bani
In the present
globalised society, need for higher education
can’t be exaggerated. Tehsil Sunder Bani, by
virtue of its geographical position, falls on the
border of Distt. Jammu and Rajouri. Consequently,
the students after 10+2 standard have to prefer
either Jammu or Rajouri for their studies. The
duo being at equal distance, that is, 70-80 Kms
one way, the option remains neutral as none of
the stations is easily approachable and
convenient. Apparently, many unfortunate students
have to discontinue their studies. It is travesty
of justice that the facilities intrinsically
needed for progress and prosperity of the area
are not given, resulting into thick phenomenon of
illiteracy, poverty and backwardness. The degree
college given at Nowshera is still in infancy
stage. Moreover, geographically it is
unapproachable for the students belonging to
tehsil Sunder Bani and Kalakote. Absence of
adequate facilities undoubtedly retards
educational development of any area. Therefore,
need of a Degree College at a convenient place
where the students from tehsil Kalakote can also
enjoy the benefit of higher education can’t
be over emphasised. We through our elected and
selected representatives request to the Minister
for Education to project the case justifiably so
that the feelings of multitude are not ignored.
Keshwa Nand Sharma
Sunder Bani
Construct drains,
lanes and road
We the residents
of Susheel Nagar Extension/Badharwahi Colony
Tallab-Tilloo want to draw the attention of the
concerned authorities viz Municipality, ERA, the
Corporator of Ward 32 and the MLA of Jammu West
Constituency towards the plight of the colony
caused by the sheer negligence, callous approach
and lack of coordination between different
authorities.
It is hereby
submitted that our colony is beset with many
problems and these have become a cause of concern
for the Colony. Our colony suffers from acute
insanitation, as no drainage system exists. The
filthy water coming from the house-holds has no
escape route. It accumulates in pits and puddles.
The road which leads to our Colony from Gym side
is in deplorable condition. Filthy water from
nearby Colony spills on it. Old aged persons,
women folk and school going children are not able
to walk on the existing road which always remain
under dirty water. It has become a breeding place
for mosquitoes and germs of various diseases. No
body turns up to clear refuse or garbage which is
emitting foul smell and is vitiating the whole
atmosphere of the Colony.
So we request the
authorities to construct a sewerage system in the
Colony to let the dirty water escape through it
and to get the road repaired immediately through
ERA as soon as possible.
Roshan Lal Bhat
President
Susheel Nagar
Extension/Badherwahi Colony
Camp Road, Talab
Tilloo, Jammu
Black-top
Phangial-Khourani road
I want to
highlight the bad condition of 0.5 Km Plangial to
Khourani stretch (Rathian village) Udhampur. It
is about 03 Kms away from Udhampur town. The
condition of this stretch has remained deplorable
during the last 38 years. As a result of it,
school going children face many problems during
rainy season. They can’t traverse it during
this time.
It is therefore
requested to the authorities concerned to get
this road metalled at the earliest possible.
Anil Kumar
President
Development
Committee
Phangial (Rathian)
Udhampur
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