Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 23: Leading industrialists and hotelier  Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya and Baldev Singh Raina have been re-appointed as Mentor and Chairman of Kashmir chapter of PHD Chamber, while Rahul Sahai as Chairman of Jammu Chapter of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
These new appoints were made after Sanjay Aggarwal, Pradeep Multani and Saket Dalmia, have respectively, taken over as president, senior vice president & vice president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 115th Annual General meeting held at New Delhi.
Chaya heads the Radisson Hotels and Resorts and Shopping Malls in J&K.  Baldev Singh Raina is a leading young entrepreneur of Jammu and Kashmir. An engineering graduate from Karnataka University with business management course from IIM Bangalore and has diversified business in automobiles, real-estate, Food-processing.
Rahul Sahai, son of Late Ram Sahai is a successful young entrepreneur of Jammu and presently heads the Sahai Group of Companies in region employing big human resource in the Jammu region.

Excelsior Correspondent
KARGIL, Oct 23: Lieutenant Governor Ladakh Radha Krishna Mathur inaugurated the newly established RTPCR Laboratory at COVID-19 dedicated hospital Kurbathang here today.
Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor LAHDC Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan, Executive Councillor for Health Muhammad Ali Chandan, Executive Councillor for Works Mubarak Shah Naqvi, Deputy Commissioner and CEO, LAHDC, Kargil Baseer ul Haq Choudhary, SSP Kargil Dr Vinod Kumar, officers of Health Department besides other concerned officers were present on the occasion.

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The RTPCR Lab with fully automatic Biorad RTPCR Machine with RNA Extractor Machine has the capacity to conduct tests of 96 samples in one run. With the capacity of conducting 3 runs per 24 hours, the lab can conduct 292 tests in 24 hours.
The LG went round different sections of the lab including the Storage Section, Sample Processing Room and the RNA Extraction Room and expressed his satisfaction on the testing facilities there.
LG Mathur stated that this lab is one of the highly sophisticated labs in the country with bio safety level 2 which is presently available only in a few districts in the country and with the coming up of this facility test facilities and test results will now be available to the people in hassle free manner.
Later, the LG in presence of the CEC, Kargil, ECs and DC Kargil laid the foundation stone for construction of Assembly Hall Council Secretariat LAHDC Kargil at Kurbathang which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 7.56 crores.
The double storey assembly hall structure will have the facilities of meeting hall, VIP lounge, VIP suite, assembly hall, waiting lounge for officers and other allied facilities.
The LG also visited the LAHDC Council Secretariat Kargil and took stock of the ongoing works for the construction and up gradation of the Secretariat building.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 23: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, today chaired a high level meeting to review progress on major road projects under PMDP being executed by various agencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Shailendra Kumar; Chief Engineer R&B, Kashmir, Showkat Jeelani, RO NHAI, Hem Raj; representatives of BRO and other officials while as representatives of NHIDCL, BEACON and other concerned officials participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on the present status of the works on major highway projects and other main roads that have been undertaken by the executing agencies besides any impediments coming in execution of the works on these projects were discussed in detail.
Discussing the projects executed by NHIDCL like Jammu-Akhnoor Road, Chenani-Sudhmahadev-Goha Road, Batote-Khilani-Chatru Road to Anantnag (NH244) and others, the Advisor was informed that the work on these projects is going on in full pace and are expected to be completed in time.
He directed the concerned executing agency to expedite the pace of work of these prestigious projects so that they can be completed within the fixed timelines and dedicated to the public.
Regarding the projects executed by NHAI like construction of Semi Ring Roads in Srinagar and Jammu, Udhampur-Ramban raod, Ramban-Banihal Road, 4-laning of Banihal-Srinagar NHAI and few others, project wise discussion was held on present status of these projects with expected time of completion of all related works.
RO NHAI briefed the Advisor about the progress of various projects executed by the agency besides reasons of delay in some projects which are running behind the given completion dates. He informed the Advisor that on the hilly stretch of Ramban-Banihal Road 14 km tunnel road has been added to the existing 3 km tunnel road in order to bypass the treacherous points on the road.
The Advisor directed the concerned officials of NHAI to speed up the pace of work and remove the bottlenecks that are hindering the pace of the works and complete all the alloted projects within fixed timelines. He stressed upon the officers to provide timely compensation on land acquisition cases.
Similarly, Advisor Bhatnagar reviewed Project Sampark and other road projects like Srinagar-Uri LOC road, Uri-Kamanpost road, Akhnoor-Poonch road and other projects executed by BRO.
Officers from the BRO apprised the Advisor of the status of these projects and informed the Advisor that works are going on in full swing at these important projects.
Advisor Bhatnagar also reviewed the status of 82 km Srinagar-Shopian-Qazigund Road being executed by the R&B department. The Advisor was informed that 72 km of said road has been completed while as work is in full swing at the rest of the places.
Addressing the officers of these executing agencies, Advisor Bhatnagar directed them to gear up their men and machinery so that desired work speed can be maintained for achieving the results on the ground. He asked the officials of concerned departments to maintain constant coordination with other line departments so that ongoing works are carried out smoothly.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 23: Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma today reviewed the status of work on various ongoing development projects in Jammu.
The Divisional Commissioner reviewed the progress on the establishment of Centers for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT) at Government Polytechnic Bikram Chowk Jammu.
The Principal Government Polytechnic Jammu informed about the works taken up at the campus for setting up of 9 competency centers to conduct 18 courses for M.tech/ B. Tech/ Diploma and ITI students.
It was informed that out of total 9 blocks work on 5 blocks has been completed besides work on other blocks is at different stages, while tenders have been floated for landscaping, drainage and other allied works.
The Divisional Commissioner asked the concerned officers to expedite the work and set timelines for completion of each component of the project so that CIIIT could be made functional at the earliest. He also instructed JPDCL engineers to expedite the work on installation of power substation. He also asked other concerned officers to conduct a visit of site and resolve the issues which are hampering the work progress.
Meanwhile, the Divisional Commissioner reviewed the progress on the Jammu Ring Road project.
Project Director NHAI informed about the work completed so far and future work plan. It was informed that work on each phase is in progress.
The Div Com asked the SDM South to remove structures if pending and also asked the NHAI to expedite the work progress.
He also reviewed the progress of the Tawi Barrage Project and the concerned engineers apprised him about the present status.
The Div Com asked the SE I&FC to submit the structure design of the project at the earliest.
The meeting was attended by ADC Jammu, SDM South Jammu, Project Director NHAI, Principal Government Polytechnic Jammu besides engineers of JPDCL, I& FC, PWD and other concerned officers.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 23: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that administrative apathy in absence of democratic setup is compounding the miseries and sufferings of general masses across J&K.
“The administration has turned a deaf ear towards the plight of masses. All programmes and policies being announced everyday stay on papers while the ground situation is messy”, Rajinder Manhas, District President PDP said while addressing a meeting here today.
Speakers in the meeting resolved to stand firm behind the party president and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti in her “fight for integrity, dignity and unity of the erstwhile State of J&K.”

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Addressing the meeting Rajinder Manhas said, people are suffering badly in the absence of democratic setup while BJP has hijacked entire administration.
“From civil secretariat to the lowest office in the government sector the masses have no access with the administration,” he claimed adding that the people of Jammu are worst sufferers and every section of the society has now realized the importance of being a special State.
He flayed the BJP for toll plazas to outsourcing construction material to the non-locals.
The meeting was attended by Harmeet Singh, Varinder Singh Sonu, Sohit Sharma, Ranbir Singh Manga, E. Peter, Darshan Mangotra, Rashpal Biloria, Dimple Kumar, Deepak Gupta, Sunil Pangotra, Parth Sharma, Neeraj Chandel and others.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 23: Former State president BJP, Sat Sharma (CA) started works for laying of tiles and railing at Open Gym in Krishna Nagar Park, Ward 12 and domicile certificates were also distributed to dozens of local residents of the Ward by him. He was accompanied by district president of the party from Jammu West, Munish Khajuria, chairman SJC (Social Justice Committee) and corporator, Jeet Angral, Talab Tillo, Mandal president, Keshav Chopra and many others including local residents and political activists of the area.
Speaking on the occasion, Sat Sharma said that in last some years, J&K has progressed towards an era which was absent before 2014 and after BJP took over the reins of the country, overall scenario pertaining to everything has changed and now people look at a different J&K today. He said revolutionary steps were taken by PM Modi for the UT which has led to peace, prosperity and development in J&K. Sharma also highlighted the development done in Jammu West Assembly segment during his tenure as MLA and stated that the development will continue to prevail in all spheres of the Assembly segment.
Munish Khajuria said that BJP has met the expectations of the masses and every activist of the party will keep working for betterment of society. He lauded the work of former MLA and local corporator for overcoming the problems of people. He also talked about development done in all 26 Wards of Jammu West by former MLA.
Jeet Angral said that development in the Ward has reached new heights and basic amenities are being provided to the masses regularly which were not done before. He also expressed his gratitude towards former MLA for doing works worth crore of rupees in the Ward which solved many decades old problems. Angral also stated that more developmental works will also be taken up in coming days in order to avoid public distress.
Varinder Dogra, Surjit Singh Chib, Kuldeep Kumar, Ramesh Thakyal, Labha Ram, Anil Angral, Tarun Kumar and several others were also present.

Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 23 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also In-Charge Public Grievances, disclosed here today that the Jammu & Kashmir grievance system has been integrated with the Central Grievance Portal, thus making it the first Union Territory of India to have its district level grievance offices integrated with Central Government Portal of CPGRAMS (Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System).
In a significant effort to strengthen the governance mechanisms in Jammu & Kashmir, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in the Union Ministry of Personnel collaborated with the Union Territory Government of J&K to extend and establish Grievance Portal for online grievance redressal. Following a series of discussions over three months, the Jammu & Kashmir- Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (JK-IGRAMS) has been integrated with the offices of District level in Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and also with the Central Portal.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the Department of Public Grievances in Government of India had collaborated with the Union Territory government of Jammu & Kashmir to implement the pilot phase in the districts and integrate them with the Central Government Portal of CPGRAMS.
Describing it as a successful story of the first-ever experiment to integrate District Portal with State and thereof with the National Portal, Dr Jitendra Singh hoped that this mechanism will also be emulated with other States and Union Territories of India.
Meanwhile, Manipur Minister for Forest and Environment, Awangbow Newmai called on Dr Jitendra Singh today and discussed the centrally funded projects in the State. He thanked the DoNER Minister for giving special emphasis for the upliftment of Tamenglong District by according the newly initiated special scheme of “Hill Area Development Project”.
Awangbow Newmai also put across proposals for some new road projects including the Silchar Airport to Kamelong via Harinagar. The DoNER Minister said, there have been some financial constraints due to COVID pandemic but said that his Ministry would try to be as supportive as possible.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 23: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha met leaders of various political parties at Raj Bhavan here today.
Former Minister and Congress leader RS Chib submitted a memorandum of demands which included establishment of Sainik Colony at Srinagar, expediting four-laning works on Jammu-Suchetgarh National Highway, instating a mechanism of monitoring works of Rural Development Department and improvement in COVID care facilities being provided in the UT. He also submitted that the Tawi Golf Course Jammu be overhauled and developed into a major tourist destination of Jammu region.
Former Minister and General Secretary Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Yogesh Sawhney also presented the Lt Governor a host of demands including improvement in traffic management and parking facility in old Jammu city, reopening of gates around Mubarak Mandi Complex, completion of pending projects of pending projects of Jammu city like Peerkho Project, Tawi Ghat, Artificial Lake Project, shifting of Government Higher Secondary School, Panjtirthi, release of pending installment of Rs 25 lakh assistance to refugees, issue of abolition of Self Help Groups, issues pertaining to land rights and jobs of locals and construction of new roads and flyovers to decongest the city.
President Dogra Sadar Sabha and former Minister Gulchain Singh Charak discussed with the Lt Governor a host of issues pertaining to Jammu region and the Dogras. In a memorandum he highlighted the urgent need for restoration of Mubarak Mandi Complex and underlined its significance in Dogra heritage. He also highlighted the issue of blockade of old city roads due to winter Darbar, demanded widening of Indira-Chowk to Raj Bhavan Road, showcasing Jammu’s heritage through annual Jammu Festival, starting Duggar Channel to cater to the Dogri speaking region, permanent functioning of Civil Secretariat at both the capital cities and the issues pertaining to National Highway 44. Issues of Armed Forces, War Widows and their other welfare meaures were also highlighted by Sh Charak.
State General Secretary of BJP, Arvind Gupta while meeting with the Lt Governor submitted a detailed proposal of development of Katra-Reasi tourist circuit. His memorandum included issues like exploring potential of religious tourism around Katra, development of Katra bazaar as ‘heritage market’, development of other sites of district Reasi like Siarh Baba and Sula Park and starting a cable car service between the park and the Bhimgarh Fort among other proposals.
BJP Spokesperson Tahir Chowdhary raised the issue related to shortage of faculty at GMC Jammu and demanded that the same be filled on priority. He also apprised the Lt Governor that the department of Urology and Gastroenterology are lying defunct despite availability of medical equipment, and demanded that senior doctors be dissuaded from private practice.
The Lt Governor gave a patient hearing to all the leaders and assured them that the government is taking all necessary steps for the betterment of public. He reiterated that the government is committed to improving the lives of all the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lt Governor also assured them that all the issues presented would be looked into and addressed on merit.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 23: Son of the soil, Sidhant Sharma, a final year student of BE Mechanical at BITS Pillani, Dubai Campus, UAE and son of Rajnish Sharma (Mian) and Dr Reva Sharma (Director Training, J&K IMPARD) and grandson of late Pt Mangat Ram Sharma (former Deputy Chief Minister of J&K), bought laurels by winning Future Entrepreneur (FE) Award.
The award was announced by Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ADCCI) under Technical Project Category with 200 plus participants/ entries. The team OFFYCE headed by Sidhant Sharma showcased the upcoming innovation of OFFYCE Platform which provides virtual office space for offices replacing physical offices where ever applicable, especially during pandemic when many companies made their workforce go online and telecommunicate.
The FE Awards showcased the very best in upcoming innovations across five inspirational categories and team OFFYCE was awarded the ‘Best Technical Project’. The OFFYCE team consisted of Sidhant Sharma (4th year Mech), Hardik Bhatia (4th year CS), Khushdeep Singh (4th year CS) and Vyome Pathak (4th year Mech).
The OFFYCE is a web platform where companies can register their offices and customers/ people can simply go to the website and visit the offices and interact with employees rather than going and finding emails and making cold calls. It would be helpful to small and medium startups who are struggling to pay their rentals and the bigger companies who can telecommunicate and want flexibility in their working.
The award conferred on his team included a monetary award of AED 20,000, Project Patent registration by Abu Dhabi Government, future financial help by the Government of Abu Dhabi and FAZAA Card.