Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 8: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Samba held a membership drive outside District Hospital Samba. BJP team members interacted with people and informed them regarding the policies and good governance of the Party.
The BJP members also celebrated its membership drive on becoming the first party of world having largest members. They informed the people about the membership and asked them to give a miss call on the party membership number 18002662020. The party deligates who were present on the occasion were Kashmir Singh district president BJP, Omkar Padha spokesman, Sanjeev Padha Mandal President, Sanjay Gupta district vice president, Madhu Sudhan Khajuria Mandal secretary, Sanju Kumar general secretary, Vikas Mahajan City president, Sandeep Sharma, Mohinder Pal Sharma, Amit Sharma, Sahil Chandel, Lucky Singh, Sunil Kumar, Rewa Sambyal, Rama Khajuria, Sanjeev Kumar & others.

Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Apr 8: Senior Citizen Welfare Forum Katra organized ‘Bhoomi Poojan’ for establishment of Gho-shalla at village Kadmal about one kilometer away from the base camp of holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.
The prominent citizens including president, Senior Citizens’ Welfare Forum, Katra, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Santosh Sharma, Sarpanch Romesh Chander, Rakesh Dubey (general secretary, Keshav Ashram) and Romesh Chander Sharma (treasurer) were present on the occasion.
The land (5 kanals) for the Gho-shalla was donated by Santosh Kumar Sharma.
While speaking on the occasion, president, of the Forum, Shiv Kumar Sharma disclosed that a separate 11-member trust will be constituted for smooth functioning of the Gho-shalla and land donor, Santosh Kumar Sharma, will be the life-long chairman of the said trust.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 8: The owners of mini-buses, plying on Shastri Nagar route held a meeting and framed Mini-Bus Owners Union.
During the meeting, the participants also elected committee members including Vimal Sharma, Jagdish Choudhary, Surat Singh, Ajay Kumar, Tony, Vinay Gupta and Sohan Singh.
The committee will take up the issues being faced by the Union with the concerned authorities for redressal.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 8: Principal Sessions Judge Jammu, R S Jain today rejected the bail application of one Suresh Kumar, who was arrested by the police under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
“In the present case, accused was in possession of 6098 capsules. The question arises, should the accused be keeping such a large quantity of capsules in his possession and if he was keeping the illicit drug in such a large quantity while on the street, it cannot be obviously for his personal use but rather to deal in illicit trade of selling the same to the drug addicts”, the court said.
“Keeping in view the nature and seriousness of accusation against the applicant, the character of evidence, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, the larger interest of the society and State, this court is of the view that no good ground is made out by the petitioner for enlarging him on bail”, Principal Sessions Judge said.
“Any observation made in this bail application will not prejudice the merits of the challan as and when filed”, the court said while rejecting the bail application.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 8: The officers of Legal Metrology today conducted extensive checking at Air Plaza Retail Holdings Pvt Ltd with the brand name Vishal Mega Mart at Bahu Plaza and booked different suppliers.
As many as 12 suppliers, dealing with sale of rice, stationary items, biscuits, kitchen utensils and dry fruits were booked by Pooja Kumari, Inspector Legal Metrology for different violations under Packaged Commodity Rules and Enforcement Act for not declaring mandatory declarations like MRP, PKD, Net Weight and not adhering to the prescribed manners of providing information to the consumers.
One such Manufacturer was booked for unfair selling as LPG Stove with inferior metal as the weight declared was 3.5 Kg against the actual Weight, which on inspection came to be only 1.5Kg.
All the deceptive packages were seized and seizure memo was issued to the management of all the companies by the concerned Inspector through Air Plaza to show cause why legal proceedings may not be initiated for the omissions.

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Apr 8: The Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) today celebrated its 240th Corps Day in the Northern Command theatre.
The milestone occasion was marked by the wreath laying at Dhruva War Memorial by Maj Gen SS Saluja, MG, AOC, Northern Command, the senior most AOC officer in the command theatre.
In his message to Army Ordnance Corps, Lt Gen DS Hooda, General Officer Commanding -in-Chief (Army Commander) extended his greetings to all ranks, civilians and families of the Corps. The Army Commander lauded the undaunted dedication and professionalism of the AOC personnel and the civilian staff members of the Corps who have ensured excellent material support to the Northern Army.
“In its glorious history of 240 years the Ordnance Corps has not only effectively managed a large inventory providing material support to the Field Army across a wide spectrum of conflict situations, but has also produced valiant soldiers who have defended the nation and earned glory in war”, the Commander said, adding the motto of the Corps “Shastra Se Shakti” adopted in February 1978 is a close derivative of their motto of 1806 “Sua Tela Tonanti” which means, “To The Thundered His Arms”.
Hooda further said that over the last two and a quarter century, the magnitude of responsibility of the Corps has under gone a total metamorphosis and today it is a dynamic Corps providing vital logistic backup to the Indian Army meeting all its requirement of Ammunition, Missiles, Vehicles, Clothing and Equipment besides spares support.
The Corps was raised with the creation of ‘Board of Ordnance’ on April 8, 1775. The establishment of this board was the first real attempt at organizing due effective control over military expenditure with a systematic distribution of Ordnance equipment and military stores to the troops of the John Company popularly known as the East India Company.

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 8 National Conference working president Omar Abdullah, in consultation with the party general secretary Advocate Ali Mohammad Sagar, on Wednesday approved the appointment of high-level committees for the three zones of Kashmir province as well as new district presidents and senior vice presidents for Pulwama, Ganderbal and Kulgam districts.
Senior NC leader and MLA Sonawari, Advocate Mohammad Akbar Lone has been appointed as president for North Zone, which comprises of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts. Advocate Mir Saifullah has been appointed as senior vice president for the zone, Mohammad Ashraf Ganai and Ghulam Hassan Rahi as vice presidents, Ghulam Rasool Naaz as secretary and Mohammad Yaqoob Wani as joint secretary of the Zone.
For the South Zone, which comprises of district Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, Mohtarma Sakina Ittoo has been appointed as the president while as Advocate Ghulam Nabi Ratanpuri is the senior vice president, MLA Pahalgam Altaf Kalloo and Showkat Ahmed Ganai as vice presidents, Dr Mohammad Shafi as the secretary and Advocate Abdul Rashid Nengroo as the joint secretary.
For the Central Zone, which comprises of district Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, Ali Mohammad Dar has been appointed as the president, Ghulam Qadir Pardesi as the senior vice president, Aga Mohsin and Abdul Rehman Mir as vice presidents and Mohammad Amin Banday as secretary.
MLA Homeshalibug Advocate Abdul Majeed Bhat (Larmi) has been appointed as the district president for Kulgam while Mohammad Safdar Khan has been appointed as the senior district vice president, Kulgam.
MLA Ganderbal Mohammad Ishfaq Jabaar has been appointed as the district president for Ganderbal.
Ghulam Mohiuddin Mir has been appointed as the district president for Pulwama while Mohammad Ashraf Bhat is senior vice president for the district body.
The working president Omar Abdullah will seek regular inputs from the presidents of North, South and Central Zones about the status of strengthening the party base in their respective zones.
According to NC general secretary Advocate Ali Mohammad Sagar, these changes are aimed at enhancing the organizational structure of the party and strengthening the cadre operations of the party. He said there would be more positive changes and systemic delegation of organizational responsibilities to further strengthen the party.

Excelsior Correspondent

RAJOURI, Apr 8: Subdivision police in collaboration with 80 Infantry Brigade and Revenue authorities organized an awareness camp on mines at Jhangar for the locals and the labourers from outside the State.
The camp was aimed at educating the locals and the labourers who were living and working in close proximity of old vintage mine field, about mines, their identification and Do’s and Don’ts on finding them.
Commander 80 Infantry Brigade, Milan Mathur, Additional SP Nowshera, Rakesh Kumar and SDPO Nowshera, Sargun Dhukla interacted with the general public of the area and reiterated that remnants of war in the form of mines, unexploded shells and grenades are a threat to life.
About 400 people attended the camp and were educated on various types of mines and unexploded shells which can be found in this area and also the actions which should be taken in case any unidentified object is found by them.
A small skit play giving out Do’s and Don’ts on finding of such unidentified objects was also organized. Practical tips were given and locals were informed not to venture inside any barricaded area. The participants were also introduced to the warning Signboards besides providing them with posters depicting various aspects of mine awareness. Simultaneously, these posters were also placed at vulnerable areas.