Jammu, April 13
To provide relief to drought-affected population, the state government has demanded a financial assistance to the tune of Rs 211.18 crore from the Centre as compensation/relief besides free ration for the farmers whose crop has been totally damaged due to prolong dry spell.

A high-level team of the Centre government has already completed on-the-spot assessment of the situation in different areas of the Jammu region.

Farmers of Jammu have suffered third successive loss of crops due to less rainfall. Although farming community of whole Jammu region has been confronting with numerous problems, situation is worst in Kandi belts where whole crop has been damaged this season.

Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister of Agriculture, has admitted that average rainfall recorded in the Jammu division during the last one year was about 68 per cent below the average. Farmers of some plains have somehow saved their crops due to the availability of irrigation facilities, but the situation is worst in the rain-fed areas.

In the rain-fed areas, farmers have lost their third successive crop and chances of getting another crop are bleak due to the depletion of natural resources.

Raman Bhalla, Minister of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, had himself admitted that condition of farmers in the Kandi areas was worsening with every passing day due to the non-availability of water. He said the main aim of the visit of the team was to assess the total loss, especially in the Kandi area.

The team visited several parts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua district and conducted on-the-spot assessment of the drought situation. Members of the team also interacted with some farmers during their visit in these areas.

Sources said the government has asked the Centre to release adequate funds for the affected families. Besides a package of Rs 211.18 crore, the government has also demanded additional ration to be supplied free of cost of the rural people.

The government has already announced free of cost ration in favour of those farmers/families whose crops had suffered losses to the extent of or more than 50 per cent. Free ration has been sanctioned irrespective of the category of the rationees i.e. whether APL, BPL or Antodiya.

The government, with a view to providing relief to the affected population, has already released an amount of Rs 70.45 crore out of the Calamity Relief Fund for providing free ration to the drought-affected families.

Jammu, April 13
Juicy Sharma, a class III student of Presentation Convent School, who would be the upcoming artist of the state, rendered all art lovers as well as art critics speechless by displaying around 32 paintings in her first solo painting exhibition held a few days ago.

Juicy wants to become an IPS officer, besides being a renowned artist of not only of national, but also of international fame. During the exhibition, Juicy received appreciation and complements from art lovers and critics.

Juicy had special attraction towards drawing and colours from her early school days, which was first noted by her classteacher Ashi in 2006. Later, the teacher told her parents about her talent and appealed them to encourage her love for art.

Besides being a good artist, Juicy has always remained top in other activities like poetry recitation, dancing and singing. Juicy is equally brilliant in her academics. Owing to her brilliance, she is the youngest council member of the school.

“She has always remained a topper from beginning of her academic career, said her father Arvind Sharma while talking to The Tribune.

Juicy took admission in MK Wadhera of Indian Art Centre from where she started getting painting lessons under MK Wadhera, who was kind enough to admit her in his centre, Sharma added.

Finally in 2007, she went to guru Shivashish, who has been guiding her for the past three years.

According to Shivashish, when Juicy started to learn paintings from him, he was totally surprised to see her zeal and enthusiasm.

“She has a habit of quick learning. Whenever she does composition, she always try to understand and ask me Sir, why we do this type of work in art field? Why we make colourful animals as they did not look like this? She has a good sense of application. She wants to learn everything in the shortest possible time”, said Shivashish.

“Whenever Juicy wins any award in painting, I feel that I have won that award which gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction, he added. Juicy had won prizes in various painting competitions. In 2007-08 she had won first prize in painting competition organised by the Indian Art Centre and a consolation prize in on-the-spot painting and poster-making competition held at SOS Hermann Gmeiner School.

In 2008-09, Juicy has won the first prize in inter-school on-the-spot painting/drawing competition held at Banyan Tree School, first prize in drawing competition held at Bulbuls at Presentation Covent School, first prize in card-making competition held at Presentation Convent School and first prize in painting competition organised by the Indian Art Centre held at Government Women College, Parade.

In 2009-10, Juicy clinched the first prize in inter-school poster-making competition held at JK Public School, Kunjwani, first prize in on-the-spot painting competition organised by Annizonne School, Rehari, first prize in the junior group category in painting competition held at UC MAS head office at Sarwal, first prize in the painting competition organised by the Indian Art Centre at Gandhi Nagar, first prize in photo frame-making competition organised by Pidilite Industries and third prize in inter-school drawing competition held at Hotel Asia.

Leh, April 13
Youth of surrounding areas of Hemis High-Altitude National Park, who, until recently, has been earning a meagre amount from camping sites, have now broken the monopoly of travel agents by venturing into community-based tourism in the national park.

The park, situated in the Markha valley in a remote area in Leh district, is the one of the most sought after tourist destination for adventure trekking and wildlife searching for endangered animals like snow leopard, ibex and Tibetan argali.

The youth of 10 hamlets of the park has been promoting home stay as simple, economical and ecological option of accommodation for tourists visiting the rural areas of Ladakh.

Under the scheme, people have furnished their extra rooms for commercial purposes where tourists are allowed to stay as guests on nominal charges.

Dorjey Stanzin, who stays in Leh to provide information to tourists and travel agents, said, “With the increasing response from tourists for home stay since they get an opportunity to interact with the local people, travel agents are coming forward to include home stay as one of the options for the stay of tourists visiting the ecological sensitive areas”.

“Sixty per cent households of the park are providing home stay services and it has become the primary source of income for us. Also, it acts as a sort of compensation for killing of goats and sheep by wild animals which incurs great loss to us,” Stanzin further added.

Khanrup, a local youth, said, “To ensure benefits to everyone in an equitable manner, we have formed an association through which home stay is being managed.”

Recognising home stay as a means to promote eco-tourism, the district administration recently organised a five-day workshop on basics of housekeeping for locals. Home stay, which was pioneered in 2004 by a local NGO, Snow Leapord Conservancy, in Rumbak village of the park, is gaining popularity in the other wildlife-protected areas.

Who do you feel is justified, striking employees or the government, on the issue of non-payment of arrears? TNS asked this to a cross-section of people. This is what they had to say.

	I think the strike by the employees is justified because the government had earlier promised them to pay revised salary and arrears. When it has paid revised salaries to them, then it should also pay revised arrears to them. The government should fulfil its promise immediately so as to minimise the problems of common people. — Rajdulari Koul, housewife
	The government has no money. The employees need to understand this and withdraw their strike without pushing the society into crisis. The government has raised its hands and cannot fulfil the demand of the employees and they need to understand it. — Rohit Sharma, school student
	The government is not doing any favour to the striking employees. It will have to pay for its authoritarian attitude. The public has a weapon to vote, which they shall surely use in the next elections against this government. — Rozi Sharma, PG student
	The government has the money to give perks to legislatures and ministers whose monthly travelling bills touch lakhs, but it has no money to pay to its employees. It should cut wasteful expenditure on ministers and legislatures and pay arrears to the employees. — Ankush Singh, private teacher
	The government’s advertisement against the striking employees demonstrates that all successive governments have followed wrong employment policies where people have been given jobs without generating avenues for their salaries. Employees are not responsible for the crisis of the government. It should mobilise the resources whichever way it likes, but it has to pay the employees their due. — Gurjeet Singh, private employee

Srinagar, April 13
In the foothills of Zabarwan and on the banks of the world famous Dal Lake, Tulip Garden in Kashmir is emerging as a major heart-throb tourist destination.

The garden is in full bloom and has been thrown open to general public in the last week of March. Thousands of locals as well as domestic tourists have been visiting the garden. The response is overwhelming.

Initiated by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, the garden adds not only more colours to the idyllic valley, but also to the state coffers as well. About 15 lakh tulips of 72 varieties are reported to be in full bloom in the garden.

The scenic view in and around the garden is mind blowing. In the lap of this enchanting beauty stands a beautiful garden with red, white, blue, purple, variegated, pink, white, orange, light blue and magenta tulips. Apart from tulips, other flowers like lilium add colour to the garden.

Tourists could be seen standing in lawns in between flower rows and posing for photographs. Sanjeev Sharma, a tourist, said, “Why to go to Holland to see tulips. “It’s so beautiful here”.

Water points in the garden add to its charm. Locals are also having a good time. “We thought it better to take a day out of the routine work and what better option we could think of at this time. It has been worth visiting the garden,” says Naheed Wani, a local visitor.

“We have sold tickets in thousands and response of people has been encouraging,” says an employee at the entrance of the garden.

“Tulip bulbs are planted in November and they start blooming in March. We have planted them in rows. It has attracted people in numbers,” says a gardener, adding, “It makes us feel proud”.

The Floriculture Department has brought more acreage under tulip cultivation in the garden as nearly eight hectares is covered by flowers presenting rainbow-like formation. The garden was initially started over five hectares and new terraces are added every year. Earlier known as Siraj Bagh, the garden has been rechristened as the Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden.

The Shanghai flower port in Nanhui district of eastern China boasts of 28 hectares Tulip Park, which is five times larger than the Tulip Garden in Kashmir.

Jammu, April 13
Continuing with its effort to win hearts of the local populace, the 19 Sikh in the Gigrial sub-sector of the Crossed Swords Division organised a 10-day motivational tour of North India for schoolchildren from the forward villages of the Khour block on the Indo-Pak Border.

From March 3 to 13, schoolchildren from this backward and underdeveloped area witnessed the impact of information technology and infrastructure development in major cities of North India like, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi and Amritsar.

The places of interest were selected to give maximum exposure of rich culture and history of the country to these children.

After Maj Gen K. Majumdar, GOC, 10 Infantry Division, flagged off the tour from Akhnoor at a ceremony on March 3, the troupe first stopped at Chandigarh, where the children visited Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake and Punjab and Haryana Secretariat. Apart from enjoying the beauty of Chandigarh, they learnt various uses of waste materials at Rock Garden.

The team then moved to Jaipur where they visited City Palace, Albert Hall and Hawa Mahal and were exposed to various facets of the rich Rajputana culture.

The children also visited Jantar Mantar where they saw development in the field of astronomy in the Medieval India.

Next day, the tour continued with visits to historical monuments built by Rajputs like Amer Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Jaigarh Fort and Jalmahal which reflected the grandeur and might of Rajput Empire at its peak.

The highlight of the entire tour was the meeting with President Pratibha Patil at New Delhi. The President interacted with the team for more than one hour and also shared a cup of tea with them.

They were given access to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mughal Garden and an exhibition being held in the premises. The President during her interaction with the children lauded the Army and the Crossed Swords Division for this noble endeavour.

Thereafter, the team visited monuments like Red Fort, Humanyu’s Tomb and Qutab Minar which greatly impressed them with the architectural technology and grandeur of the Mughals.

Their visit to Hanuman Mandir, Lotus Temple and Gurdwara Sheesh Ganj Sahib made them realise the unity in diversity of the country and they had the impression of oneness of God and universal brotherhood.

In the Capital city, the trip on Metro train excited them the most. This spectacular achievement in the advanced transportation technology made them all say: “We want Metro train in our village”.

At Amritsar, the team started with a visit to the Jallianwala Bagh which thrilled them with the sense of patriotism.

The children also visited Golden Temple not only learning about the great sacrifices and contributions of Sikh Gurus in political, social and economical reforms, but also had the feeling of spiritual well-being.

Jammu, April 13
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated health club “Swaasth” at the Jammu Club here. Inaugurating the Rs 3.6-crore health club, the Chief Minister said that a roofed swimming pool of modern specifications had also been opened, to be served by solar energy throughout the year.

Besides, there are gym, snooker, table tennis, saloon, steam and sauna bath facilities both for men and women in the complex, said the Chief Minister, who is also the president of the Jammu Club.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the upgraded squash court of international standard at the Jammu Club.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister RS Chib said the government was working on an ambitious programme to construct outdoor and indoor stadiums across the state. Two indoor sports complexes, one each at Jammu and Srinagar, were also in the pipeline while an ice hockey rink was being developed at Leh at a cost of over Rs 7.50 crore.

Srinagar, April 13
The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages felicitated the celebrated writer, critic, historian, doyen of Kashmiri language and culture and former Director General, Culture, Mohammad Yusuf Taing, at a function held at KL Saigal Hall, Jammu, recently.

Finance Minister AR Rather was the chief guest on the occasion. A large number of writers, poets and social activists attended the meet. Ghulam Nabi Aatish, a Kashmiri writer, read out a detailed paper highlighting the contribution of Taing towards research, development and promotion of Kashmiri language and culture of the state in general.

Lauding the contribution of Taing in art, culture and languages, Rather said he is the only living writer and closest associate of Sher-i-Kashmir, who could highlight the unknown facts of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s life with most authenticity.

During his two-hour-long interaction, Taing unfolded a mysterious aspect of the Kashmir history, related to the 4th Buddhist Council, held somewhere near Harwan on the outskirts of Srinagar city, during the rein of King Kanshika. Credited with having discovered the last resting place of poetess queen Habba Khatoon in Biswak in Bihar, Taing stunned the KL Sehgal Hall by revealing that he was holding to his chest the whereabouts of a location where rarest copper plaques, with perhaps golden inscription, on Buddhism were buried. He was perhaps referring to the manuscripts on the proceedings of the International Buddhist Council held in Srinagar, 2,000 years ago.

Taing also dwelt on the initiatives taken by the academy during his tenure for the promotion of various languages of the state, particularly Urdu, his association with contemporary writers and above all the biography of legendary Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah - Aatish-e-Chinar.

Replying to questions from the audience of intellectuals, historians, critics, educationists and poets, Taing made some interesting revelations with regard to the state’s literature, history, culture, ethos, etc..

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of, reads a notice board put up by the university authorities. However, students have not been keeping it clean. Various student organisations, which were critical of the decision of the administration to set up a police post on the campus, have been using it to paste material conveying their views against the decision. Besides, cellular companies are also using it as an advertisement board to promote their schemes among students. The notice board (See photo) is meant to facilitate students, but nobody is bothered to keep it clean.