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Permanent Resident Certificate issue
Prison inmates to be computer literate
NRHM official to attend training course in Sri Lanka
Army helps physically challenged to get back on their feet
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Kashmir tulips go the commercial way
Army holds snow festival in Pahalgam to boost tourism
jammu DIARY
Govt to promote adventure sports in Gulmarg
Diversity showcased in Hindi kavi gosthi
Change in lifestyle reason for caesarian deliveries: Expert
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Permanent Resident Certificate issue
Nagri (Kathua), February 21 About 428 families of the Nagri area of Kathua district were identified under the centrally-sponsored Integrated House and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) for getting financial assistance for improving the condition of their houses. The first instalment of the financial assistance of worth Rs 30,000 was given to each of these BPL families. After getting the first instalment, these families dismantled their existing structures with a hope that they will get another instalment and will complete the construction of their houses before the commencement of the winter. After releasing the first instalment, the authorities started the verification process of these slum-dwellers. It was found that 205 families did not possess the Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) or State Subject so financial assistance was stopped to them. Due to the special status of Jammu and
Kashmir, a PRC is required to get the ownership rights of land. For the last three months these families have been living in incomplete structures. “It is a glaring example of the inhuman approach of the authorities concerned. These families are living here since 1947 so the PRC should not be a rider to deny them the benefit,” social activist Haridutt Shishu told The Tribune. “If authorities do not want to give them ownership rights, they should then think of some other way so that at least these people have proper shelter during the winter,” he said and added that the issue was also brought into the notice of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, but nothing had been done so far. “If the PRC was a precondition for getting benefit of this scheme, then the authorities concerned should have taken this step earlier before identifying
the beneficiaries,” he said. A majority of these slum-dwellers are West Pakistan refugees, who had migrated from Pakistan after the Partition in 1947 and had settled here in the Jammu region. Despite living in Jammu since 1947, the successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir have denied them citizenship rights. Haridutt said local residents of Nagri along with the slum-dwellers would launch an agitation soon to force the authorities to shun their inhuman
attitude. The IHSDP is applicable to all the cities and towns, as per the 2001 Census. It is not applicable to cities and towns covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM).
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Prison inmates to be computer literate
Jammu, February 21 Almost all 13 jails of the state are abuzz with activity these days as the state Home Department has launched various welfare programmes for the inmates with a view to changing their mindset and enabling them for living a better life after their release. “We have started various programmes, including adult education, computer training, courses on cloth weaving, spinning, embroidery, tailoring and carpentry, yoga training and mediation for the reform of the inmates. The sole purpose of these reforms is to change the mindset of prisoners and to prepare them for a new life after their release,” Director-General (Prisons), J&K, Naveen Aggarwal, said. The Director-General said Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and DOEACC-oriented computer courses were being run in jails to impart quality computer training among inmates to enable them for getting a god job after their release from jails. “These courses were started last year and they had received good response from the inmates who were eager to learn computer,” he said. “Some inmates were interested in cloth weaving, embroidery, carpentry, electrical works and spinning. All such skill-development programmes were introduced so that the prisoners don’t sit idle and easily get a better job after completing their jail term,” Aggarwal said. Up to February 8, there were 2,716 prisoners, including 106 women, lodged in 13 jails of the state which are bursting at the seams due to slow judicial process and bureaucratic red tape. Of all, over 2,100 are undertrials, while the number of convicts -- under militancy related and Civil Law - stands at 324. As many as 256 foreign nationals, including six women are also languishing in various jails of the state. The Director-General also said the authorities had also started yoga and meditation courses for inmates, besides imparting religious and spiritual education inside the jails. “All these programmes are started to change the mindset of the prisoners, helping them to join the mainstream of society. We are hopeful that this noble mission will yield good results,” he said. Apart from these reforms, the state Prison Department had created separate barracks for petty criminals and hardcore terrorists. The move is aimed at keeping away the petty criminals from indulging in serious criminal activities.
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NRHM official to attend training course in Sri Lanka
Jammu, February 21 He is one amongst the three-member team selected for the purpose from India to participate in the training course in Sri Lanka. Dr Sharma, besides the prestigious assignment as Mission Director, NRHM, is also working as OSD to the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Sham Lal Sharma, was conferred with the Eminent Author’s Award in the recently held Silver Jubilee meet of the Hospital Administrators at AIIMS in New Delhi. He was also awarded for his special contribution to the field of Hospital Administration and elected to the executive body of the Research Foundation of Hospital and Healthcare Administration. Prior to his present posting, he has served in the Health and Medical Education Department in different capacities. He has also served as Medical Superintendent and Deputy Medical Superintendent in Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu, and SMGS Hospital, Jammu. Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sham Lal Sharma has expressed happiness over the selection of the doctor for the course and has appreciated his endeavour for getting recognition at the national level. “I hope that the experience gained from the prestigious forum will further help him in improving his capabilities and experience back home,” said the minister. Dr Sharma said his visit would be quite beneficial for the state as most of the projects in health had been executed through the
NRHM.
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Army helps physically challenged to get back on their feet
Srinagar, February 21 He said the quality of limbs was such that a person could walk comfortably, ride a bicycle, run, jump and even climb a tree. The physically challenged persons were able to get back on their feet due to the efforts of the 14 Rastriya Rifles (GARH RIF) and the Bhagwan Mahavir Viglang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) of Rajasthan. “Individuals in batches of four were escorted to regional office of the BMVSS in Srinagar over a period of 15 days. There disabilities were assessed by experts and suitable limb supports satisfying orthopaedic criteria’s were provided free of cost to the poor and needy,” the Army spokesman said. Meanwhile, the 47 Rashtriya Rifles and the 152 Infantry Battalion (TA) SIKH under the aegis of the Headquarters 8 Sector Rashtriya Rifles distributed clothes to the poor children of Gujjarpatti and Keegam villages in Kupwara district earlier this week. The spokesman said the exercise was a part of the Army’s programme to reach out to the masses of the Valley. “The step will go a long way in fostering bonds of mutual respect and brotherhood between the Army and the local population,” he added.
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Kashmir tulips go the commercial way
Srinagar, February 21 “While the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden starts blooming every March, enterprising flower growers managed to get the first bloom last December,” said an official of the Floriculture Department. “The ‘Kashmir tulip’ was introduced as cut flower on a commercial scale on the Christmas eve and the first order was supplied to a flower chain in Mumbai,” Javed Ahmad Shah, in charge of the
garden, said. The bloom in extreme harsh winter was possible due to the introduction of hi-tech polyhouses — an experiment started last year — which bore the results this year,
he said. “Earlier, tulips in the country were mostly imported from Holland. But, if everything goes as per plan, we shall have Kashmir tulips catering to all the markets in the country,” he said. The Kashmir tulip, as the Floriculture Department is trying to brand the flower from the Valley, is currently being sent to the markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and
Bangalore. Shah said private growers, who were very few in number at the moment, got orders even on Valentine’s Day from these cities, indicating that the ‘rose’ might soon turn red by the competition it would face from tulips. According to Shah, more and more farmers in Kashmir were taking to tulip cultivation due to the high returns of cut flower business. “The cost of rearing a tulip bulb into a cut flower is between Rs 20 and Rs 22 including all expenses like labour, transportation and heating facilities. The average return per tulip cut flower at present in not less than Rs 35,” he said. “Around 30,000 bulbs can be cultivated in a 200-sq m area which can fetch a profit of Rs 3-4 lakh to the farmer,” he added. Shah said an expert from Holland had recently visited Kashmir to train the tulip farmers from the Valley in the cultivation and post harvest techniques. “The expert was of the opinion that Kashmir has the best climate, soil and water for tulip cultivation. The colour of Kashmir tulip is also brighter and intense compared to Holland tulip due to these reasons,” he said. Tulips were introduced in the state in 2007 when the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had the Siraj Bagh turned into the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden. The aim of setting the largest tulip garden of Asia was to give another option to tourists and to advance the tourism season, which begins in May. The garden has been a success story with thousands of tourists thronging it every year during the three weeks when tulips bloom. — PTI
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Army holds snow festival in Pahalgam to boost tourism Pahalgam, February 21 The Army’s 3 Rashtriya Rifles, the Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) and the state government's Department of Tourism organised the snow festival. “This winter festival is especially for the locals in order to strengthen our bond and so that we can provide them basic facilities. Our main aim is to boost the tourism industry, as it is the most important industry of the state. As we witnessed scores of tourists in 2011, we hope that this year, too, we receive more tourists which will benefit the entire state,” said General Officer Commanding, Victor Force, Major-General Gurmeet Singh. During the snow festival, a number of attractive games, including arm rustling, Pepsi fishing, race and many more, were available for the locals and tourists. The locals were enthusiastic as they won gifts during lucky draw, which was also an attraction of the festival. Tourists from plains were thrilled to see the snowfall, which was a fresh experience for several people. “This is the first time that I am attending a festival like this. This is a good step taken by the Army. There is no charm without snowfall in Kashmir. Many stalls have been placed and people are participating enthusiastically and enjoying the snowfall,” said a tourist, MK Bhan. More than 2,000 people participated in the festival and insisted that festivals like these should be organised quite often for promoting tourism in the Valley. Meanwhile, officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism have planned special campaigns to promote Pahalgam as a global winter tourism destination. Located in the southeast of the Kashmir Valley, Pahalgam is surrounded by lofty mountains and is washed by gushing streams and rivulets making it a perfect tourist
spot. - ANI
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jammu DIARY Green, yellow and red traffic lights don’t make much difference to vehicles on the city roads. Reason: The sample traffic lights are equipped to receive a traffic pre-emption signal relating to vehicular density. The Traffic Department had installed traffic signals on an experimental basis, but they failed to yield any good result. Interestingly, these signals are blinking for none, as the situation vis-a-vis’ long traffic jams doesn’t witness any change. Road users are continuously facing hardships due to prevailing traffic congestion while traffic policemen are conspicuous by their absence. The road users believe that the Traffic Department should give some direction to rectify the sample lights before regulating and streamlining traffic.
A noble cause Just two days after his weeding, S Tajinder Singh Wazir, a social activist, reached Gandhi Nagar Hospital Blood Bank to donate blood. He said donating blood on National Donors’ Day (in United States of America) was the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. He said donating blood was the best way to help somebody. This was not the first time when Wazir had donated blood. He started donating blood years ago. Letters seem to have lost their significance in the present era of Internet when countless networking sites and e-mail networks are available just at the click of a button. Most of the letterboxes, which had played a vital role in securing our emotions until they were delivered, reveal their plight with broken locks and decaying metal panes (see photo). Though many philatelic seminars and shows are organised, but the Postal Department has undermined these letterboxes. The day is not far when these red coloured boxes with black central portions will find their place in museums, that too in dented outlooks. (Contributed by Arteev Sharma, Sonika Raina and Varun
Suthra)
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Govt to promote adventure sports in Gulmarg
Srinagar, February 21 “Gulmarg has positioned itself as an important adventure sports destination, which, besides attracting high-end off season tourists, will also help our youngsters to train and excel in winter sporting activities,” Wani said. The Minister, while lauding the contribution of the IISM in producing trainers out of youngsters in various adventure sports, said activities like heli and water skiing, parasailing, trekking and hot-air ballooning would be taken up in a big way to groom youth as future “The government has subsidised courses at the IISM and the response among young adventure aspirants has been encouraging,” he added. The minister also highlighted the potential of Kashmir in aero, land and aqua adventure fields and said the services of the IISM would be fully utilised in promoting these activities.
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Diversity showcased in Hindi kavi gosthi
Jammu, February 21 Interestingly, some established poets of other regional languages also presented their poetic creations in Hindi for the first time, in the recital organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. Sonia Upadyaya, who made her poems public for the first time said, “I am writing poems in Hindi since 1989, but this is for the first time that I read them in public. Being a girl it was never easy to express my poetic recitations in public, but this time I got the permission,” Sonia said, adding, “Attending such events surely help us to learn the depths of imagery of different poets and develop a sense of understanding with our counterparts." Arvind, who recited his poem, “Deewarein” said, “This was the third time i participated in a recital and it was an encouraging experience. My poem was based on intentions of human minds behind creating walls. Since time immemorial we have been engaged in raising walls on the available pieces of land to secure our space on the earth. I tried to reflect a bit of those intensions through my poem.” The audience lauded the presentation of Sushil Begana, an eminent Dogri poet, who presented his first Hindi creation. “Language is a beautiful tool to reveal your thoughts. It hardly makes a difference to me as to which tool I use. What matters most for a poet is the flow of his thoughts and contemplations,” said Begana. An eminent art critic and Hindi poet, Kapil Anirudh, who was also among the participants said, “A poet’s imagery knows its freedom, it can willingly choose any language. I feel we all must come out of this language barrier and focus on the contemplation part.” Senior editor of Hindi literary magazine, Sherraza, Neeru Sharma said she was glad to share the presidium with the poets writing in the Kashmiri and Dogri languages.
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Change in lifestyle reason for caesarian deliveries: Expert
Jammu, February 21 “Change in the lifestyle, food habits, and lack of patience among the pregnant ladies as well as their families leads to deliveries through caesarian section,” a doctor working with a government hospital at Jammu said. He added, “The cases of caesarian section of deliveries are more in urban areas. In Poonch and Rajouri about 80 per cent of deliveries occur in a normal way. Rural women are willing to go for normal deliveries, but in urban areas the case is different.” “The doctors in the government hospital wait for a normal delivery, but due to time constraint they at times opt for the caesarian, as doctors do not want to take any risk. Even if they see some minor problem they go for the caesarian. In private hospitals doctors opt for caesarian, as they make more money out of it,” he added.
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Broken letter boxes