Jammu, June 20
With the BC Road already in a dilapidated condition, the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) has dug up the Janipur road leading to the high court only to worsen heavy traffic jams thus adding to the woes of commuters.

The entire stretch from Janipur to New Plot is facing a total chaos with thousands of commuters facing hours of traffic jams for the past few days here. The Janipur-New Plot stretch is one of the busiest roads in the city as it not only caters to the needs of local people but thousands from outside the city also frequent it since the high court is also located on the same.

The failure of the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) to stick to the time schedule to complete one tube of the BC Road from the Rehari Chowk to the Shakuntala Crossing has further aggravated the problem for the commuters. A pitiable condition of the stretch will further compound the confusion during the Amarnath Yatra when the number of vehicles plying on this road will increase considerably.

At present, there are 21 roads having an aggregate length of 12 km-9.60 km under the ERA and 2.40 km under the NBCC, which are damaged and yet to be handed over to the Public Works Department (PWD) for black topping.

Some residents said at times it seems the government was only busy digging trenches in and around the city. “You will not find a place where digging work is not going on. This results in traffic jams besides causing a lot of problems for pedestrians who walk through the area. The problem is more during the evening hours,” said Shubam Chaudhary, a local resident.

“An entire portion along Janipur to the BC Road has been dug up, which has also resulted in frequent traffic congestion. Same is the condition in other parts of Jammu,” said Vishal Mehra, another local resident.

Jammu, June 20
With the transformers installed by the Power Development Department (PDD) for supplying electricity to residents receiving an increased amount of power load, their damage rate in Jammu has gone up to 40 per cent.

The department, already facing shortage of spare parts, is hassled to get them repaired well in time. It is learnt that as people are drawing electricity above the marked load from these stations, the service life of transformers has shortened leading to frequent tripping at various places.

A senior PDD official said the present installed capacity of every transformer was about six times the total agreed load of consumers fed from these transformers. The rate of damage of distribution transformers had increased during the summer in the Jammu region and winter in the Kashmir Valley.

The available data reveal that 5,972 distribution transformers were damaged across the state, last year, which is highest in the country. The department has two repairing stations, one at Pampore and other at Gladni.

“In many areas, there have been problems of grid overloading or transmission line overloading as load growth has been very irregular. Moreover, an absence of consumer cooperation has further compounded the problem,” the official said.

The department claims that in absence of proper load schedule, it has no choice but to bring in a curtailment regime for the metered and unmetered areas in the state.

“At various occasions, workshops are overburdened by these damaged transformers and to facilitate their speedy repairs, the department employs registered repairing agencies as well,” the officials added.

The PDD has registered 20 private workshops where it is sending damaged feeder transformers for repair but due to an increased influx of damaged equipment, it is taking time to repair many of them.

“There are very hard days ahead for the residents and the PDD as the Central Transformer Pool in Jammu is running short of ready transformers,” sources said.

Jammu, June 20
The Zambia Cultural Dance Troupe (ZCDT) from Africa enthraled Jammu audience with their power packed music and dance performances at the Police Auditorium today.

Dilbagh Singh, IGP, Jammu Zone, was the chief guest on the occasion. This was the first international performance organised by the Regional Office of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The dances performed by the group were “Nyakasanga”, “Tamaya”, “Fwemba”, “Ndendeule”, “Vimbuza”, “Chiyanda”, “Akalela”, “Manchancha” and “Chingande”. These dances are performed on different occasions, seasons and stages of life in Zambia.

Balwant Thakur, Regional Director, ICCR, said, “The ZCDT is a group of professional artistes drawn from nine different professional community-based cultural ensembles in Zambia with a view of supporting the “One Zambia, One Nation” motto, through art and culture. The group has worked with different organisations both locally and worldwide, including the Government of Republic of Zambia, through national and international activities. The group is headed by the Director of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Republic of Zambia and is escorted by the first secretary of the High Commission of Zambia in India.”

Thakur said the 12-member ZCDT group of artistes had come to Jammu from Lusaka, Africa, to perform before the Jammu audience, the traditional music and dance performances of Africa.

“By organising such programmes, the ICCR is making an effort to strengthen the cultural relations and mutual understanding with other countries since 1950. With the opening of the regional office of the ICCR in Jammu, people out here will get a global cultural connect and this part of the world will be exposed to the world cultures,” he added.

The artists who mesmerised the audience with their performances included Joseph M Mwansa, deputy director, Department of Culture, Zambia; Jarson Phiri, producer, Darius Daka, Robert Mulenga, Malibi Mtonga, drummers, Tasili Phiri, Alice Luundu, Ireen Kabangu, Martin Kabwe, Fungulani Njovu, Remmy Munshya and dancers.

Naislele from the Zambian High Commission, New Delhi, also accompanied the artistes.

Jammu, June 20
The Power Development Department (PDD) said there had been an increased electricity consumption of 100 megawatts (MW) in Jammu this year as compared to last year. According to the PDD, this had been due to increased demand owing to a hot summer in 2012.

According to the department, there was a power consumption of 952.71 lakh units in Jammu from June 9 to June 15 this year as against 914.3 lakh units last year. It said despite a shortage of 152 MW due to low local generation, the department had supplied 38 lakh units more power in Jammu region keeping in mind the harsh summer this time.

The department, citing yesterday’s supply figures, said 20 lakh units more power was supplied to Jammu consumers as against the 134.54 lakh units on June 19 last year.

An allocation of 1,264 MW and 1,406 MW has been made available from the NHPC, NTPC, NPC and the Easter Region, the PDD said. To maintain grid discipline and to avoid instability, the department has to stick to allocation schedule by the Northern Grid. Overdrawing of power from the Northern Grid leads to grid instability leading the entire region of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Delhi to bear prolonged power cuts.

The spokesman said the warnings were issued for immediate load shedding and the state had to pay five times the normal rate for this unscheduled interchange. From June 11 to 16 this year, the state received 49 such warning messages, the spokesman added.

Jammu, June 20
The J&K State Sports Council has made an appeal to all parents of sportspersons not to allow their wards to participate in unauthorised or unregistered tournaments. The move has come after the council had issued a stern warning to defaulter associations for not granting any financial aid to deploy teams for national sporting events.

The council said some individuals with vested interests were organising such sporting events to meet their selfish ends.

The council took the decision after it found that the certificates and medals won by sportspersons in these unauthorised games later lead to disputes when they approach the Sports Council for seeking benefits under sports category for jobs and admission in various professional courses.

The council also issued a notification wherein it was mentioned that the sportspersons should compete in only such games or tournaments which are directly organised by respective state sports associations or through their recognised clubs or district associations.

Kiran Wattal, Secretary, J&K State Sports Council, while talking to The Tribune maintained that the parents are solely responsible for getting their wards admitted to those clubs which are not recognised by the council. “Such individuals or associations are not only misleading the budding players and their parents but are also bringing a bad name to the state,” Wattal added.

The council has also cautioned its affiliated associations against any complacency in the matter. The recognition of those associations will be withdrawn which are found guilty of not furnishing outstanding audited accounts or breach of constitutional provisions of the council guidelines.

Jammu, June 20
The Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) has directed all players and supporting staff who participated in the national-level tournaments in various age groups during the year 2011-12 to submit copies of their PAN cards.

The JKCA said the copies of the cards were to be submitted at the JKCA office in Bhatindi before June 25 in order to finalise the match money.

Poonch, June 20
To train women in fruit preservation, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Poonch, in collaboration with the Department of Horticulture organised one-week training programme on the premises of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

PK Koul, Chief Horticulture Officer, Poonch, was the chief guest on the concluding function here today.

In the first batch, 60 women from the Mendher Tehsil which include women of the Nari Niketan were given training for the preparation of jam, pickle, squash etc. During the programme, experts from the KVK and the Horticulture Department delivered speeches and trained candidates.

Speaking on the function, Gulsayeed Choudhary, Manager-cum-Chemist, Horticulture Department, said, “Poonch has a great potential in horticulture and training in food preservation can give good results.” He appealed to the candidates to start small-scale units at their houses to earn for their livelihood.”

Dr Shahid Ahamad, Programme Coordinator, KVK, Poonch, said, “The Krishi Vigyan Kendra has been providing required inputs and training to farmers from time to time and they should come forward to avail the facilities being provided to them.”

Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma, SMS, informed the participants regarding various schemes of the KVK for farm women of the district.

Jammu, June 20
The Janipur police today handed over a child to his parents, who was reported missing from Katra yesterday.

The police said Gaurav (4) was travelling on a bus along with his uncle. On reaching Jammu, he lost contact with his uncle while a Janipur-based couple, Dhan Singh and his wife, found him. They handed him over to the Janipur police and the police later informed the Katra police about the missing child.

Finally, Gaurav was handed over today to his parents in presence of the Katra police. 

Jammu, June 20
Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director (Central), Youth Services and Sports, has been elected as vice-president of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) today. The decision in this regard was taken during an annual meeting of the SGFI held under the observation of J Swisvian at New Delhi.

Olympian Mahabali Satpal of Delhi has retained the post of the president while Rajesh Mishra of Uttar Pradesh has been nominated as general-secretary and N Supal of Maharashtra has been elected as treasurer of the federation.

Ashok Kumar has a vast experience in the field of sports in different capacities as a player, coach, organiser and an administrator. Olympians, Balwan Singh and Khazan Singh, were the Returning Officers during the meeting.

Jammu, June 20
The JKCA Blue trounced the Mayank Goswami Cricket Academy (MGCA) by whopping 155-run margin in the second semifinals today to enter into the finals of the ongoing U-16 Knockout Cricket Tournament being played at GGM Science College Hostel Ground here.

Batting first after winning the toss, the JKCA Blue posted a mammoth total of 257/2 in the stipulated 40 overs. Nitin Jawmal cracked a scintillating century (134 runs) to help his team post a formidable total.

The opening wicket stand of 234 runs between Nitin Jamwal and Suryansh Raina was the notable feature of the JKCA Blue innings. Suryansh Raina also contributed userful 72 runs. For the MGCA bowlers, it was a torrid day for them.

In reply, the MGCA suffered a batting collapse and skittled out for paltry 102 runs in 34 overs. Arjun was the top scorer with 29 runs while Tushar chipped in with 22 runs. For the JKCA Blue, Sahil Chib was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul. Shantnu Gupta scalped two wickets. 

Jammu, June 20
The Friends Cricket Club (FCC), Akhnoor, got the better of the Sunderbani Blues by six wickets today to advance in the ongoing 4th Pawan Memorial Cricket Tournament being organised by the Singh Cricket Club, Akhnoor, at Government Higher Secondary School Ground, Akhnoor.

Batting first after winning the toss, the Sunderbani Blues garnered 127 runs in the stipulated 20 overs. Vicky was the top scorer with 30 runs while Vinod Kumar and Shanker contributed 17 and 14 runs, respectively. Arundeep Singh was the chief destroyer for the FCC with three wickets for the FCC while Amit Singh chipped in with two wickets. Binny, JP and Vipan shared a wicket apiece.

The FCC, in reply overhauled the target in 14.4 overs by losing four wickets in the process. Jai Pal Singh played a fine innings of 59 runs, which contained five hits to the fence and three three hits for the maximum. Vijay Singh and Rohit Sharma also contributed 24 and 22 runs, respectively. For the Sunderbani Blues, Arif took three wickets while Shanker claimed one. Jai Pal Singh was adjudged the man of the match, which was officiated by Vikas Bali and Ashok Kumar as umpires. Surinder Singh Bhau acted as the scorer.

Jammu, June 20
The RCC Blues and the Amar Singh Club notched up win today in the ongoing SDA Drabu T20 Cricket Tournament played at the TRC Ground.

In the first match, the RCC Blues dispatched the CD XI by 48 runs. Batting first, the RCC accumulated 146 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted overs. Mohsin and Hashim were the main scorers with 29 runs each. Bilala and Fayaz took two wickets each for the CD XI.

In reply, the CD XI was bundled out for 98 runs in 19.2 overs. Haris and Owais took three wickets each for the RCC. In the second match, the Amar Singh Club spanked the Budgam XI by eight wickets.

Batting first, the Budgam XI was bundled out for 116 runs. Azad with 31 runs was the highest scorer while Mubashir took three wickets for the Amar Singh Club.

The Amar Singh Club did the needful in 14 overs for the loss of two wickets. Abid Nabi was the star performer with 62 runs.

Jammu, June 20
Rising Star Club beat JKCA (Red) by six wickets yesterday in the ongoing U-16 Knock-Out Cricket Tournament being played at GGM Science College Hostel Ground here. Batting first, JKCA (Red) garnered 151 runs in 34 overs. V Bakshi was the top scorer with 26 runs. Abishank (15), Ramandeep (22) and Hitesh (22) were the other major contributors.

For Rising Star Club, Tushar Agarwal made a five-wicket haul while Rahul Sagotra took two wickets. In reply, Rising Star Club did the needful in 36.4 overs losing four wickets. Sahil Lotra remained unbeaten on 54 while Sahil Mahotra and Vikrant Sharma scored 45 and 15 runs respectively. For JKCA (Red), Hitesh got two wickets whereas Ramandeep and V Bakshi took a wicket each.