Srinagar, January 11
The results of the Class X annual examinations conducted by the State Board of School Education in the Kashmir valley in October last year were leaked at least 36 hours before they were officially scheduled to be declared tomorrow morning. However, the board authorities posted the results on the official website later this afternoon.

The results were leaked through a link posted on a page, Frontline Kashmir, on social networking site Facebook around 9 pm yesterday, sources in the education board told The Tribune.

However, Commissioner, Secretary Education and education board chairperson Naseema Lankar said, “There is nothing like leak. We had to give a trial run of the results on the Internet, which we did. The results are now available on the site.” Lankar was earlier quoted in the Internet edition of a local English daily saying the board was yet to declare the results for the Class X exams.

The first link appeared on the page, Frontline Kashmir, late last evening but was disabled by the board officials at 11 am today. Within minutes, the page administrator posted another link that enabled users to access the results till this noon. Shabir Ahmad Bhat, a student who appeared in the exams, said he got a call from his friend at 4 am telling him about the results.

“The link was connected to the official website of the JK Board of School Education, but it could only be accessed through Facebook,” Bhat said. However, according to some students, the link was later taken off the website. “Some friends accessed the results through a link on Facebook in the wee hours today and asked me to do the same.

However, when I clicked on the link, it had been removed,” another candidate, Gousia, said.

“This is for the first time in the history of the education board that the results have been leaked,” a board official said. The involvement of senior functionaries of the board in the leak could not be ruled out. This could not have happened without the “consent or green light” from the officials concerned, he added.

Following the “leak” on the hacked website, a number of candidates, particularly in Srinagar and some other major towns of the Valley, were able to check their results since last night. However, in view of the confusion created among the students, the board authorities posted the results on the board’s website later this afternoon.

According to board officials, only 10 per cent of the candidates in urban centres were able to check the results online, while 90 per cent of the candidates living in distant rural areas had no access to the Internet and rely only on the result gazette that was available at all educational institutions.

The board was scheduled to declare the results tomorrow and was making arrangements to make the result gazette available by tomorrow morning at all higher secondary schools across the Valley. The result gazettes were brought here by air today after compilation at a reputed computer company in New Delhi.

However, in the normal course, the results were made available on the board’s website about an hour before the actual time of the declaration, the officials said.

They added that as per the procedure the results would have been made available on the website by tomorrow morning only.

While a majority of people and officials of the board are demanding an inquiry into the leak of the results, insiders say there was need to make the things more clear. 

Jammu, January 11
The Board of School Education announced the Class X results of the Kashmir province following the grading system today and the same procedure would be adopted for the Jammu province this year.

The Education Department has introduced the grading system from this academic year and nine grades have been fixed under it.

Javed Khatib, joint secretary, education board, told The Tribune that students, who had got E1 grade in Class X but disqualified in any of the five subjects, would be promoted to the next class. However, he/she could not appear in the final examination till the backlog was cleared. “However, the student with the E2 grade is not eligible to be promoted to the next class,” Khatib added.

“We have introduced the grading system from this academic year, as we have noticed that by achieving less marks many students get demoralised. Under depression many even attempt suicide,” said Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Minister for Education, while addressing a press conference here today.

“I am glad that the results of Class X of the Kashmir province this year are comparatively better than the previous year. Despite the closure of schools for around four months due to the unrest in the Valley, the results have shown a three per cent increase than the previous year,” he added.

Dr Sheikh Bashir Ahmad, secretary of the education board, said around 56,358 students passed the examinations. The total pass percentage this year was 65.98 per cent as compared to 62 per cent last year. “We conducted classes for 30 days during winter in the Valley to enable the students to compete in the national-level competitions. We have used only school funds for conducting the classes during winter,” Ahmad added.

He said they would keep a strict vigil on private coaching centres. “We have come to know that some people are running private coaching centres without adequate infrastructure. They are even fleecing parents by charging a hefty fee. Thus, we have made it mandatory for all private coaching centres to get themselves registered with the Education Department,” he added. 

Srinagar, January 11
The state has decided to continue the selection process for medical graduate and postgraduate courses through its Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), trashing the Medical Council of India (MCI) proposal to conduct the national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET).

State’s Minister for Medical Education RS Chib told newsmen here today that a communication in this regard had already been sent to the Union government. He said it was not in the interest of the candidates of Jammu and Kashmir to do away with the BOPEE, which had been created through a legislation passed by the state legislature. “Whatever happens in the rest of the country, the BOPEE will continue to conduct such examinations in the state,” the minister said.

The MCI had issued a notification on December 21, 2010, for conducting the NEET for admissions to graduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses in the country. It sought to introduce NEET for MBBS and postgraduate admissions and fixed 50 per cent marks as cut-off for being eligible to appear in the entrance examination.

The MCI notification also said it would abide by the reservation norms, as applicable in various states, for such courses. But the Union Health Ministry struck down the MCI notification, calling it “invalid as the MCI had gone ahead without consulting it”. — IANS

Srinagar, January 11
Members of the Sikh community in the Kashmir valley celebrated the 345th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh today. Braving the snowfall in the morning, members of the community in a large number thronged various gurdwaras across the Valley. Shabad kirtan was performed at all gurdwaras and langar was also served to the devotees.

In his felicitation message, Jasdeep Singh, president of the Guru Manyo Granth Society, said, “The Guru, who sacrificed everything for the welfare of others, taught us that all human beings are one and we are no one to differentiate between them. We should learn to live together with peace. I pray that peace returns to the Kashmir valley and people of different faiths learn to coexist.”

Jasdeep Singh said he had time and again been asking the state and central governments to accept the genuine demands of the Sikh community living in the Kashmir valley. The Chairman of the All-Parties Sikhs Coordination Committee, Jagmohan Singh Raina, said, “We should follow the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh and draw a lesson from his sacrifices. We should stand against injustice and fight for peace and communal harmony even at the cost of our lives.”

Terming the recent statement of the BJP as unhealthy for peace in the Valley, Raina said, “It is time that we should resolve the Kashmir issue on table and not create war-like situation at a historical place like Lal Chowk.”

Jammu, January 11
Students of a school in the Gujjar Nagar area were lucky to have a narrow escape this morning as a fire broke out in a shop where gas cylinders were being refilled illegally.

The incident brought to light the laxity on the part of the administration in ensuring public safety in the residential areas and also its inability to check the illegal refilling of gas cylinders.

According to the Fire and Emergency Services Department, the fire broke out due to the leakage of gas from the cylinders. Around five fire engines were used to control the fire in the area.

However, a loss of property worth Rs 5 lakh was reported by the Fire Department.

A person had taken the shop on rent in a three-storied residential building. An Islamic school being run under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is also situated near the shop.

According to a source, around 500 students are studying in it and they were in the school at the time of the incident.

Jammu, January 11
A Rashtriya Rifles battalion, under the Sector Rashtriya Rifles and the Romeo Force, organised a medical camp at Parore Gujran today. A total of 520 persons, including 160 women and 153 children, were checked up in the camp.

A large number of civilians from the adjoining areas of Parore Gujran, a militancy-infested area of Rajouri district, attended the camp. Doctors of the Army and the Civil Health Department checked up patients and provided medicines and vaccinations free of cost to them.

Parore Gujran is a remote area of Rajouri district and no medical establishments are present nearby, the closest being at Rajouri.

Furthermore, there are a number of under-privileged villagers who cannot afford to go to Rajouri for medical check up and these remote areas are seldom visited by doctors.

Jammu, January 11
Chairman of the Panthers Party Bhim Singh paid tributes to a former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, on his death anniversary here today.

He paid rich tributes to Shastri for his undaunted leadership that raised the morale of the soldiers and the farmers during the 1965 aggression of Pakistan. Bhim Singh said Shastri was the only man who rose to the position of the Prime Minister from a humble background of being a farmer and had no bank balance till his death.

According to a handout issued by the party, Bhim Singh described Shastri as the greatest son of the country, who strengthened sovereignty, integrity and defence of the country.

The Panthers Party expressed concern over the mounting corruption allegedly among Congress leaders and their patronised bureaucrats.

Bhim Singh urged the Prime Minister to show the door to Congress ministers and leaders who were indulging in money hoarding, promoting corrupt bureaucrats, flouting laws and shielding criminals.

Jammu, January 11
Union Minister for New and Renewal Energy Farooq Abdullah today assured full protection to the Sikhs living in the Kashmir valley.

Addressing a religious congregation on the occasion of Gurpurb, Farooq reiterated the state government’s commitment to provide security to all minorities living in the Kashmir valley. He said the Sikhs in the Valley would be given complete protection and the government would make every possible effort in this regard.

Farooq, while referring to an unfortunate incident at Baramulla some months back, said members of the majority community came forward to provide security to the minorities, especially the Sikhs, living there. “Some forces have been trying to create divisions among various sections of society, but it is the duty of all citizens to frustrate the designs of such divisive elements,” he said.

The Union minister appreciated the Sikh community in the Valley for not migrating after the eruption of militancy in the early 90s. Responding to the demands raised by the community members in the congregation, Farooq assured them that he would take up their issues with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for redress at the earliest.

While presenting a siropa to Farooq, president of the State Gurdwara Parbandhak Board (SGPB), TS Wazir, submitted a charter of demands to him. In the charter, the SGPB drew attention of the minister towards the sense of insecurity among the Sikhs in the Valley. It demanded that effective steps be taken to remove the fear psychosis among the Sikhs.

It also demanded that a member of the Sikh community should be made a Cabinet minister in the state government to give it the due representation. The SGPB also reiterated its demand for the constitution of the Minority Commission in the state. It also sought that the problems of the 1947 refugees should be resolved and teachers be appointed to teach Punjabi in schools.

Jammu, January 11
With job avenues in the government sector drying up rapidly, the NC-Congress government, which had launched the Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth in 2009, today announced that a placement fair would be organised in the twin capital cities from January 14.

Under the government scheme of things, 16,000 youths will be trained in various trades in various ITIs in Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Chandigarh during 2011-12 to boost their chances of getting jobs in the corporate sector outside the state.

“Unemployment is the biggest challenge today and right from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah everyone is concerned about it,” said Minister for Medical and Technical Education RS Chib while addressing mediapersons here today. “Being fully aware of the problem, the state government has formulated a skill development mission and in this context the Directorate of Technical Education is organising the placement fair to provide job avenues to the youth of the state in the corporate sector,” added Chib.

During the placement fair, interviews for the technically-trained students would be conducted at Government Polytechnic College, Jammu, from January 14 to 22 and at the ITI, Srinagar, and KG Polytechnic, Srinagar, he said. Subsequently, free of cost pre-placement training of the pass-outs would organised on January 14 and 15 at Government Polytechnic, Jammu.

The minister said various industries in and outside the state, including electrical, computer, information technology, mechanical, automobile, AC and refrigeration, required more than 700 diploma/ITI/MES-SDI pass-outs. More such placement fairs had been planned for the future by the Technical Education Department, he added.

“With skilled manpower being the buzzword in the country, the Central government under the Skill Development of Youth of Jammu and Kashmir has allowed us to train 16,000 youths from the state in demand-driven trades in the next two years at a total project outlay of Rs 23.08 crore,” Chib said. He added that 8,000 youths would be trained in 2011, while remaining 8,000 in 2012. They would be trained outside the state in places like Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Hyderabad, Chib said. In fact,as many as 1340 youths were already being trained in various technical institutes in the state, while 1,006 youths had been sent to different parts of the country, he said. 

Udhampur, January 11
Youth Congress leader and lawyer Sheikh Nasir Hussain has demanded air service to the far flung areas of Marwah, Dachan, Warwan and Padder in Kishtwar district, which have been cut off from the rest of the country due to the recent snowfall.

In a statement issued here today, Hussain said hundreds of people from these areas were stranded in Kishtwar and the only surface link had closed after the recent snowfall. “The air service will not only provide a link to the areas but will also help in ensuring the delivery of basic amenities to the local population,” he said while appealing to the state government to start a regular air service, especially during winter, on concessional rates for the residents of these far-flung areas and the employees who were posted there.

The government, he said, should consider starting a regular air service to these areas so that the people may not be forced to suffer. Being the remotest areas of the state, the people there were not only cut off from the rest of the world but were also facing a shortage of essential commodities, including foodgrains, during winter.