Jammu, October 7
The Power Development Department (PDD) continues to risk the lives of the staff engaged in the repair work of power distribution lines in city.

The department has engaged hundreds of workers to replace old electricity cables without providing them with the mandatory safety equipment.

Despite directions of the Union Power Ministry to provide safety equipment to the staff engaged in maintenance work, the directions are being ignored openly.

Without helmets, high quality ropes and special gloves, daily wagers continue to risk their lives.

Repeated pleas of the employees unions to equip the field staff with the safety gadgets have fallen on deaf ears. No efforts have been made to ensure their safety as a matter of policy. “PDD seems to be waiting for a major tragedy. Why not invest money in buying necessary equipment so that workers can work without any fear," said Tarun Gupta, president Daily Wagers Union.

At present 5,500 daily wagers engaged by the department for Rs 2,000 to 3,000 as per month wages work under highly hostile and odd conditions without any safety kits to keep the electricity supply running in the state.

“Lives of many daily wagers engaged in the maintenance work have been lost due to lack of safety gadgets. A majority of them died due to electrocution or by falling from the poles and high tension towers. The kind of ropes and safety gadgets we have proves the lack of concern about our safety,” said Ramesh Sharma, a daily wager.

Nearly, 2,160-km long power lines have been changed in major towns of the state. However, MoS Power Shabir Khan said safety equipment has been brought for the workers. "We have issued directions that safety gadgets should be provided to the workers. If there is any violation, we will take action against the officials," Khan said.

Jammu, October 7
Goods worth crores were gutted in a fire that broke out in a pharmaceutical factory at the Industrial Growth Centre of Samba this afternoon. No loss of human life was reported in the incident.

A huge stock of pharmaceutical products and chemicals perished in the fire. It took 12 fire tenders five hours to extinguish the fire.

Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out at the packaging unit of Cadial Pharmaceutical Limited at Phase-I of Industrial Growth Centre at Samba at 1:15 pm. The fire soon spread to other parts of the unit.

"The magnitude of the fire could be gauged from the fact that the district administration had to arrange fire tenders from Kathua, Jammu as well as the Army after which 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire," eyewitnesses said.

No loss to human life was reported in the incident as there was no employee was present inside the unit owing to Sunday holiday, he added.

Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Mubarak Singh, who supervised the fire-fighting operation, said the cause of the fire was yet to be established. "The unit suffered extensive damage in the blaze. Our priority was to restrict the fire to prevent more damage. We arranged fire tenders from Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Army to douse the fire. The presence of huge stock of pharmaceuticals fuelled the fire," the DC said.

Later, Minister for Industries, Surjit Singh Slathia, and SSP Samba, Israr Khan visited the spot to take stock of the situation. Slathia said the cause of the incident was known so far.

Jammu, October 7
Activists of the Dogra Front and Shiv Sena today staged demonstration against the hike in cooking gas price by the Congress-led UPA government.

Raising slogans against the Centre, the protesters were carrying empty LPG cylinders and blamed the UPA government for pushing the common man to the brink.

“The government has already removed the subsidy from cooking gas cylinders and the hike in prices will subject people to great hardships. The day is not far when the people will buy a LPG cylinder on loans,” said Ashok Gupta, president of the Dogra Front.

Gupta demanded the government should rollback all its “anti-people decisions” in the interest of middle and low middle class citizens of the country.

“It is an acid test for the UPA allies to show whether they stand by people and rollback the prices or blindly support the government for sake of power,” Gupta said.

Rajouri, October 7
Terming the UPA tenure a “disastrous period in India’s history for the common man”, the BJP expressed anger over the government’s decision to put a cap on LPG cylinders. The party said the government was facing corruption charges after many of its scandals got exposed and now it was diverting the attention of the nation. The party also expressed anguish over the price hike of diesel and LPG.

In a press release, BJP state secretary Vibodh Gupta said the common man had been landed in trouble due to rising prices and corruption.

He said, “The decision to put cap on LGP cylinders should be rolled back in the interest of farmers, lower and middle class people. Even the Congress and non-Congress parties in various states have increased the subsidised cylinders to 15-20 but the Omar Abdullah-led government in J&K has adopted silence on the issue.”

He said that it was an acid test for the UPA allies to show whether they stand with the people and get rollback of prices or blindly support the government just for sake of power.

He said each ordinary family required one cylinder a month on an average and the likely cost of Rs 961 for each cylinder beyond six was "a cruel joke". He said it was like rubbing salt on the wounds as people were already suffering due to rising prices.

Gupta also took a dig at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleging that she wants to drain the wealth of the country to developed nations by implementing retail FDI in India.

He added that during the UPA government, a handful of ministers and top officials accumulated wealth while the poor and middle class got nothing and their situation turned even grimmer. Various scandals have come to the limelight and the coal scam is one of the biggest scandals in the history of India, he said. He said it was really strange that the Prime Minister was still holding the chair even though his name figured in the coal scam.

Jammu, October 7
Government employees under the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) have served an ultimatum to the state government demanding a final decision over enhancing the age of retirement from 58 to 60 years.

As many as 4.5 lakh government employees have decided to suspend work on October 10 in protest against alleged betrayal of the state government in implementing the agreement signed in 2010. The JCC has also urged the teachers and lecturers to suspend work in support of the demand.

Addressing a press conference, senior member of the JCC, Muhammad Gafoor Dar, endorsed the decision of the employee body in Srinagar for starting an agitation from October 10 at all district headquarters in the state against the delaying tactics of the state government to implement the July 8, 2012, agreement to enhance the retirement age, removal of pay anomalies of clerical cadre and regularisation of leftover daily wagers of pre-1994 batch.

“We appeal to the employees, including the teaching fraternity to hold demonstrations in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in their respective areas,” Gafoor said.

Ganesh Khajuria, another senior member of the JCC said thousands of daily wagers and ad-hoc workers who are awaiting regularsation in the various departments but the government is silent over the issue.

“We want a firm decision on our demands as the Cabinet Sub-Committee which signed the agreement had assured that all our demands will be met in a phased manner. Only the release of the 6th Pay Commission arrears has been implemented properly,” said Kulwant Singh, another employee leader.

JCC leaders said last year, a committee of ministers had assured the Unions that their demands will be accepted before the annual budget is presented in the Assembly, but nothing has been done so far.

Apart from clearing pay commission arrears, agitating employees are demanding removal of pay anomalies in cleric’s grades, extension of the retirement age by two years and an increase in the House Rent Allowance (HRA) to equal that of the Central employees.

Rajouri, October 7
An eight-year-old child was killed and seven others were injured in separate mishaps in Rajouri on Sunday.

In the first incident at Manjakote area of the border district, an eight-year-old Ajaz-Ul-Haq was crushed to death by a Sumo bearing the registration number JK12-4649 on its way from Poonch to Jammu. The child was crossing the highway at Manjakote at the time of the incident. Local residents informed the police about the incident and took the child to the District Hospital, Rajouri, where he succumbed to his injuries later. The police arrested the driver.

In the second incident, seven passengers were injured in a head-on collision between two vehicles at Naria early in the morning.

The victims were on their way from Rajouri to Nowshera to attend a function. The injured have been identified as Mohammed Farid, Mohammed Rafiq, Mohammed Iqbal, Jameel, Mohammed Younis and Mohammed Shabir of Atti village, reports said. The injured have been admitted to the District Hospital, Rajouri.

Jammu, October 7
The police claimed to have solved a case of murder of a man who was allegedly killed in Landar area of Pancheri block on September 27. The man was allegedly killed by his wife and her paramour because he came to know about their illicit relations. The accused have been identified as Jamila Bibi alias Kali of Sarandi, Landar and Salim Mohammad, a resident of Dubbi Gali in Reasi.

A spokesperson of the police said some inhabitants of Pancheri village noticed the body of a man floating in Door nullah at Lander on October 1 and informed the police. A police party from Pancheri police station rushed to the spot and fished out the body. The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Rafi, a resident of Sarandi. The police had started inquest proceedings under Section 174/CrPC.

The spokesperson said investigations had revealed that the wife of the deceased had developed illicit relations with Salim Mohd. "The wife of the deceased hatched a conspiracy in connivance with her paramour to murder her husband because he was creating problems for them,” he said.

On September 27, Salim Mohd (Phalwan) took Mohd Rafi to an isolated place near Door nullah on the pretext of fishing and killed him," the spokesperson added.

Poonch, October 7
The Border Road Organisation has started repair work of the Surankote-Bafliaz road in Surankote. The road connects Poonch with the Valley.

Even the commuters are uncertain about the completion of the repair work.

The Tribune had highlighted the plight of the 14-km stretch of the Surankote-Bafliaz road in its July 17 edition that the connecting the Mughal Road with the rest of the Poonch district is in a dilapidated condition thus in needs repair urgently.

A budget of Rs 650 crore has been allocated to create an alternate way through the Mughal Road connecting Jammu with the Valley.

The residents of Draba, Bafliaz and adjoining villages had raised the issue several times but in vain. They had also protested against the authorities several times for the poor condition of this road. Over 50,000 commuters travel on this route every day.

The condition of the road has been discouraging thousands of visitors to tourist spots like Noori Chham, Pir Ki Gali, Behram Gala and Seven Lakes every month.

The condition becomes worse especially in the morning hours when overloaded jeeps and matadors carrying passengers to Mughal Road ply on the stretch.The residents have been complaining against the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department for its failure to provide better roads around these villages but to no avail.

The commuters allege that the BRO had started the repair work several times earlier also but could not complete the project.

“The main road which connects Surankote with Mughal Road is in a shambles. The road is dotted with potholes,” said Sanjay Kumar, a local resident.

The BRO conducts repair work at the road once in a two to three years but the poor quality of the work has worsened the situation, he alleged. The BRO has dumped sand and road construction material on the road near Sub District Hospital, Surankote, he added. If the road repair work is not completed on time it will affect the daily visitors to the hospital, residents said. The residents have appealed to the higher authorities of the BRO to monitor the road repair work, he said.

Jammu, October 7
Minister for Revenue Raman Bhalla today said the government was making all-out efforts to develop all areas in the state. The departments concerned are working in a more organised manner to ensure fast track development, he said.

The minister said this while interacting with the residents of the A and B blocks of Gandhi Nagar and also listened to their development-related demands.

Bhalla said the aim of the coalition government was to upgrade the living standard of people by providing all basic amenities like safe drinking water, electricity, health, education, road connectivity besides better lanes and drainage system.

The minister said the government had taken various measures to develop all the peripheral localities. He said there was no constraint of funds under development sectors like the PHE, R&B, JMC, ERA and PDD. He said the state government was getting liberal funding from the UPA government which greatly helped in raising the socio-economic standards of people in the state. He said many more projects were in the pipeline to develop both the urban and rural pockets of the state.

The minister asked the senior functionaries to conduct regular inspection of under-execution works to keep a check on quality of material being used.

The minister said that people’s cooperation was imperative to make Jammu and Kashmir a prosperous state. He called upon not to pay heed to the “nefarious designs of those who mislead people” by false slogans to meet their personal interests.

Udhampur, October 7
An ex-servicemen rally will be organised by the Headquarters Northern Command on October 23 in Udhampur.

All the ex-servicemen, war veterans, veer naris of the district and nearby areas are supposed to participate in the rally. The rally is being organised to resolve issues of veterans and also assist them by providing information on various schemes and entitlements. Senior functionaries from the CDA pension, records office, district administration and other agencies will attend to resolve the pending issues. — TNS

Jammu, October 7
Baazi, the Hindi version of classic Russian play The Bet, was today staged by Natrang theatre group here. The play is written by one of Russia’s most celebrated writers Anton Chekov.

Directed by Anil Tickoo, the play emphasises the idea that human life is far more valuable than money. The story begins with an argument at a party over which was more moral-- capital punishment or life imprisonment. A banker believes that capital punishment is more moral because the death sentence kills the victim quicker.

The lawyer at the party said he would choose life sentence to be more moral saying that any life is better than no life at all. The banker makes a bet of two million dollars that the lawyer cannot last five years in solitary confinement.

The lawyer accepts it but pushed it to fifteen years to make his point. As per the terms, the lawyer had to live in solitary confinement without any human interaction for fifteen years but was granted books, music, wine he wanted. After fifteen years, the lawyer discoverS the significance of human life.

Rahul Singh and Balwinder Singh were in the lead roles. They were supported by Rohit Verma and Ashwani Bali.

Earlier, Natrang artists condoled the death of prominent theatre and TV actor Raj Singh Jamwal.

Jammu, October 7
A one-day non-gazetted forest officers’ conference was held by the All India Forest Officers Federation today in Jammu. Divisional president of the Non-Gazetted Forest Officers Association (NGFOA), delegates, office-bearers of the state, office-bearers of Kashmir province, members of North Zone Forest Employee Federation attended the conference.

A brief introduction of NGFOA was given by Nazir Ahmed, general secretary wherein he said the state had been bestowed with heavenly beauty and it was the responsibility of all to protect this.

He said the youth were a vital part of the nation and were responsible for protecting the nature as the green cover guaranteed good health, prosperity and progress. The participants were suggested to take preventive steps for protection of forests and also added that the government too needs to take some important steps in this regard.

Sheikh Zafferullah, president NGFOA, highlighted the demands of forest employees like removal of pay anomalies, speeding up of promotion process, creation of more posts of deputy forest officers and range officer grade-2 and regularisation of all contractual and ad hoc epmployees.

He also appealed to the employees of the forest department to settle their differences and work for the betterment of the department.

Jammu, October 7
Two day-long 4th State Martial Arts Championship organised by the Freedom Society concluded at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Ambphalla here. DBN School, Mubarak Mandi secured the first position while Bhartiya Vidya Mandir had to settle for second position.

DBN School, Mubarak Mandi, bagged as many as 11 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals whereas Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School clinched our gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals. Jammu Public School bagged three gold, two silver and eight bronze medals managing the third position.

Nissar Ahmed, District Youth Co-ordinator, Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), was the chief guest who distributed medals to the winners. Earlier, the championship was declared open by Dr Subash Gupta, president of the management committee of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Ambphalla. — TNS

Jammu, October 7
The All J&K Chess Association is going to conduct 7th All India FIDE Rating Chess Championhip ‘Patnitop Open’ at the picturesque Patnitop from October 11 to 15.

Talking to the media, Atul Kumar Gupta, president of the association, said about 70 players from Nagaland, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab had confirmed their entry for the championship.

He said the association was organising the championship to provide a platform to chess players of the state. One girl player of J&K had recently won a gold medal in U-7 age group in the Asian School Chess Championship held at Delhi, he informed.

Baldev Raj, secretary of the All J&K Chess Association, said the association would provide the best possible platform to its chess players by conducting more such tournaments and coaching camps in future.

Jammu, October 7
Shahid Mohammad Arif, the Dronacharya awardee badminton coach, visited the Indoor Sports Complex of MA Stadium and shared insights with budding shuttlers of the state.

Arif was conferred with Padamshree award this year. He asked the budding shuttlers to work hard by maintaining a perfect balance between education and sports in order to achieve desired results.

The former Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach said he had learnt in his 42 years of experience that only those players performed well who were intelligent and meritorious in their studies.

Arif was instrumental pioneering badminton in J&K when he was first appointed as the Sports Authority of India coach from 1972-1978. — TNS