Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Choudhary Garu Ram visited various villages of Suchetgarh Assembly Segment and addressed the Party workers at various places.
He visited Dablehar, Kotli, Muffi, Kotli Raiyan, Biaspur,Parlah and Shere Chak. At Shere Chak while addressing the Partymen he urged them to strengthen the party and be ready for Assembly poll which are round the corner.
The speakers also highlighted their various problems which include erratic power supply, bad condition of electric poles etc.
Garu Ram visits various villages of Suchetgarh
Teachers discuss various demands
Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, June 2: Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum, Lakhanpur zone held a meeting under its president Balbir Singh and general secretary Bharat Bhushan Sharma.
The speakers in the meeting expressed resentment against Government for non adjustment of the deployed masters till date and non-release of salary grant under SSA, RMA and NPS schemes. They appealed the Government to resolve the problems faced by teaching community at an earliest.
Those who spoke included Kehar Singh, Mohan Lal, Rajesh Singh, Manohar Lal, Sanjeev Kumar, Lekh Raj, Hans Raj, Mani Ram, Angrez Singh, Avtar Krishan and Charan Singh.
JCC leader resents Minister’s remarks
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 2: Senior JCC leader and president EJAC Abdul Qayoom Wani has taken strong exception to a statement issued by Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir regarding the delaying of age of retirement and other demands of the Government employees.
An EJAC spokesperson said that Mr Wani chaired a meeting of the senior leaders of EJAC on Monday in which the various issues were discussed. Mr. Wani said that the issues of enhancement of retirement age up to 60 and enhancement of upper limit up to 40 years for the unemployed educated youth are long pending and much discussed issues in the corridors of power. The issues are quite non political and concerning the bread and butter of lakhs of employees of the State. The issues of such paramount importance cannot be delayed for reasons of political interests of any person.
Since the functioning of the Government cannot be left in limbo for months to come so that new Government takes over, the normal functioning of the Government has to continue for the interest of public anyway.
The Ministers statement reflects his double standard and perhaps lack of proper information on the issues. The enhancement of retirement age in particular is the oldest issue on which final agreement was signed with Government as far back as September 2011. Later, Government made repeated commitments in this regard and after long period of time seems to have made the mind to fulfill its agreement and the committeemen’s. In this atmosphere when employees need everybody’s support, the Minister’s statement has come as a rude shock to the employees. Playing of politics with the genuine and agreed demands of the employees of the state is highly unfortunate and uncalled.
Mr. Wani has impressed upon the Chief Minister not to get swayed by such stray and illogical statements that come out of frustration and address the issues of the employees as soon as possible.
Yamaha domestic sales up 40.14 pc
NEW DELHI, June 2:
Yamaha Motor India today reported 40.14 per cent increase in domestic two-wheeler sales at 47,680 units last month.
It had sold 34,021 units in May 2013, Yamaha Motor India said in a statement.
The company last month exported 19,440 units as compared to 15,356 units sold in May last year, up 26.6 per cent.
Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd Vice President (Sales & Marketing) Roy Kurian said: “This has been a good month for us as we witnessed brisk growth due to our excellent product line-up and innovative customer-centric activities.”
He said the new scooter Alpha, launched at the Auto Expo this year, has been a major growth driver.
“We seek to sell 200,000 units of Alpha alone, along with 1,00,000 units of Ray and Ray Z combined, thereby constituting almost 50 per cent of our total sales in 2014,” he added.
Sounding bullish about better performance going forward, Kurian said: “We expect to witness more rapid double-digit growth in the two-wheeler segment based upon policies of the new government and the improved buying sentiment of customers.” (PTI)
Power shut down
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: To carry out erection of 132 KV SF-6 Breaker (CGL) make in 132 KV Bus Coupler by at 132/33 KV Grid Station Sidhra, the power supply to parts of Janipur, Jhajjar Kotli, Bahufort, Sidhra, ASCOMS, Malori Jagir, Bajalta and Toota-de-Khoi will remain affected on June 4, 2014 from 7 a m to 1 p m.
Meanwhile, in order to carry out the work of fixing of short members on towers from dismantled material on 132 KV D/C Rajouri-Draba transmission line, the shut down of 132 KV Rajouri-Draba transmission line from Rajouri Grid station is allowed on June 4, 2014 from 9 a m to 3 p m.
As intimated by Chief Engineer, S&O Wing Jammu, during the shutdown period, the power supply to district Poonch will be affected.
Warm send off accorded on retirement
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: Panchayat Inspector Shiv Raj Singh Bhaum, who attained his superannuation on May 31, 2014, was accorded a warm and affectionate farewell by the staff and officer of the Block Development Office, Akhnoor.
The services rendered by the retiree were applauded by one and all and he was wished a happy and healthy post retirement life.
Summer camp inaugurated
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: A fun filled, lively and scintillating free Summer camp was inaugurated by Narinder Gupta, the Managing Director of the Daffodils School today.The camp is open for the children of other Schools also.
The main activities of the camp are Dance, Music, Swimming, Games, Memory Tricks and English Laureates.
The children enjoyed dance class, clay modelling, games and races on the very first day. The main attraction of today was the Game -Treasure Hunt in which children were asked to find out the hidden toys on the basis of the given clues.
They were very excited and enjoyed playing this game. Apart from regular school parents, the camp was overwhelmed with the inquires from the parents, of the other Schools also.
De Villiers, Amla vie for Test captaincy
Johannesburg, June 2:
Star batsmen AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla are the leading candidates to succeed Graeme Smith as South Africa’s Test captain.
Cricket South Africa’s board meets in Johannesburg Tuesday to make what is seen as a crucial decision after a decade of Smith at the helm.
Smith captained South Africa in a world-record 109 Tests before announcing his retirement during the third and final Test against Australia last March.
The national selectors will table their recommendation for the captaincy, but the final decision will be made by the board.
The first assignment of the new captain will be to lead South Africa in two Tests in Sri Lanka during July.
De Villiers, 30, was vice-captain under Smith and is the one-day international (ODI) skipper. He has led the side in 40 ODI games. He had no prior captaincy experience.
He struggled initially, but appeared to grow into the job last season. He has expressed his willingness to lead the Test side.
Amla, 31, captained the South African team at the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2002 and was appointed captain of the Dolphins franchise early in his first-class career.
He resigned as captain after one season to concentrate on his batting.
Amla was appointed De Villiers’ vice-captain of the South African ODI team in 2011 and led the side in three matches, but gave up the job last year.
But Amla has informed the selectors he would be available to captain the Test side.
Both players have outstanding records as batsmen and would bring different styles to the leadership. (Agencies)
Non-teaching employees submit memorandum to Director Education
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: A meeting of All Jammu and Kashmir School Education Employees Coordination Committee Non-Teaching Forum, (Jammu Division) was held under the chairmanship of Bharat Bhushan Kotwal to discuss their demands and they submitted memorandum to Director School Education, Jammu.
The memorandum demanded issuance of adjustment order of junior scale stenographers as senior scale stenographer, regularization of I/C Head Assistants and I/C Section Officers, promotion of Senior Assistants to Head Assistants, Head Assistants to Section Officers, Issuance of formal promotion/adjustment order of Junior Assistants to Senior Assistants and promotion of Junior Scale Stenographers to Senior Scale Stenographers and drivers as chauffeurs and providing of uniforms to drivers.
The memorandum also demanded clarification from Finance Department regarding time bound promotion under SRO 14 functional/non functional and re-organization of Education Department.
New technology turns manure into clean water
WASHINGTON, June 2:
Researchers have developed new technology that turns cow manure into clean water.
Researchers at Michigan State University have developed the technology known as the McLanahan Nutrient Separation System.
It takes an anaerobic digester – a contraption that takes waste, such as manure, and produces energy as a byproduct – and couples it with an ultrafiltration, air stripping and a reverse osmosis system.
The result is water clean enough for livestock to drink, or, at the very least, to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner, researchers said.
“If you have 1,000 cows on your operation, they produce about 10 million gallons of manure a year,” said Steve Safferman, an associate professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering who is involved in the project.
“About 90 per cent of the manure is water but it contains large amounts of nutrients, carbon and pathogens that can have an environmental impact if not properly managed,” Safferman said.
While turning the manure into clean water makes environmental sense, the team also is conducting research on how it can make good financial sense for farmers. And in some cases it could have a significant impact on the long-term viability of the farm.
“Here in Michigan we have a tendency to take water for granted,” Safferman said.
“But out west, for example, where drought remains an issue, the accessibility of clean water could make the difference between a farm remaining viable or going out of business,” Safferman added.
The process “goes beyond a typical digester,” said Jim Wallace, a former MSU student who earned his doctorate under the direction of Safferman and William Bickert, former professor of agricultural engineering.
It does this by extracting nutrients from the manure that can be harmful to the environment and can be re-used as fertiliser.
“For example, we’re able to capture a large percentage of the ammonia that would otherwise be lost in the atmosphere. Ammonia is a negative from an air-quality standpoint,” said Wallace, who now works for the McLanahan Corp, which is working to develop the technology.
Currently the system produces about 50 gallons of water from 100 gallons of manure. Wallace said the goal is to increase that number to about 65 gallons.
The Nutrient Separation System is expected be ready for commercialisation by the end of this year. (PTI)