Jammu, November 15
In face of losses due to a sharp decline in the number of admissions for the 2012-14 batches to the Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) course in the state, various institutes have decided to cut down on the staff.

Sources said following a notification issued by the J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) regarding the start of admissions for ETT 2012-14 batch in more than 400 institutes, 1,000 students got enrolled for the course. Following this, owners of ETT institutes have taken the decision to sack their employees.

Sources said non-resumption of examination of 2008-10 batch and undecided fate of other batches had left the students in the lurch. Most of the students hail from Rajasthan and Haryana. Students who have taken admissions in various ETT institutions in the state to pursue the course are shifting towards Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to pursue the course.

“We feel sorry for all those employees who will be sacked by the managements of ETT institutes but there is no other option for the colleges," Deep Singh, President, Jammu Private Schools and ETT Institutes Association (Progressive) said.

"The salaries of these teachers were drawn from the fees submitted by the students for the course but right now the institutes are not in a position to pay their salaries. We were hoping that things would improve with the passage of time but unfortunately it did not happen," Deep Singh said.

“The admission figures for the 2012-14 batch is proof of the present state of affairs and students are wise not to take any risk with their academic future,” he added. “Every ETT institute has an intake capacity of 127 students, including seven admissions under the management quota but the colleges are now struggling to get even half of their capacity,” said Gurtaj Singh, owner of an ETT institute.

“In fact, ETT institutes are generating employment by recruiting teachers to impart education to the students but over the past few years, the colleges are facing huge financial losses due to meagre number of admissions. The decision to sack the employees is harsh but we have to go ahead with it,” Gurtaj claimed.

Jammu, November 15
Call for a 'wheel jam' given by private transporters on November 19 to demand hike in passenger fare and freight has put the state government in a fix.

The Cabinet is waiting for an approval of the recommendations of a standing committee on fare hike for past one month.

The transporters have accused the government of forcing them to go on a strike keeping in view the losses which they had to face due to hike in diesel prices in the middle of 
September.

Sources said the state government was awaiting the Cabinet's nod to the recommendations of the Standing Committee which had recommended 14 to 15 per cent hike in passenger fare after the Rs 5 per litre hike in diesel prices on September 13.

“The government is in a fix after the wheel-jam strike call given by private transporters. The Cabinet generally meets every Wednesday and the strike looks imminent as the transporters have given November 18 deadline to the government to issue a notification about a decision on hike in passenger fare," sources said.

Sources said the chances of holding a Cabinet meeting before or by November 18 are bleak as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is busy. “If the private transporters remain adamant on their demand, the strike would bring normal life to a grinding halt across the state,” sources said.

Various transport unions have called for a complete wheel-jam on November 19, as they had been demanding that the state government should announce hike in the passenger fare and freight with immediate effect in view of the hike in diesel prices.

On October 8, the Standing Committee constituted by the government to look into the demands of private transporters held hectic parleys with the representatives of various bus, mini-bus, taxi and auto-rickshaw unions from Kashmir and Jammu regions. Three rounds of talks had failed to achieve any breakthrough with transporters as they were adamant on their demand for a 50 per cent fare hike.

The Committee headed by Financial Commissioner, Mohammad Iqbal Khandey it is learnt has recommended a "substantive hike" of 15 per cent in passenger fare to the government.

Minister for Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon evaded queries on the subject and suggested that the Transporter Commissioner should be approached in this regard.

Mehraj Kakroo, Transport Commissioner, J&K, said the transporters' demands were under consideration of the government and recommendations of the standing committee would soon be placed before the Cabinet for approval. "We are hopeful that the Cabinet would give its nod to the standing committee report shortly," Kakroo said.

Vijay Sharma, general secretary, All J&K Transport Welfare Association, has blamed the government for forcing the transporters to go on a strike. "The government had promised transporters that they would announce the fare hike before the Durbar Move on October 25. It has failed to take a final decision till date. We have given enough time to the government. All the passenger vehicles, including buses, mini-buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws will remain off the roads on the day."

Sharma said the transporters were suffering losses due to hike in diesel prices and it was difficult for them to run their vehicles on existing passenger fare.

In September last year, the government had hiked passenger fares for all private transport services. The government had then increased the passenger fare of buses by 15 per cent, auto-rickshaws by 16 per cent, mini-buses by 14 per cent and taxis by 12 per cent.

Batote, November 15
A group of senior from Gandoh and Thathri tehsils of Doda district today embarked on a journey to explore the country. The Army has organised the 10-day tour 'Watan Ki Sair'. The 25 members of the group wore white kurta-pyjamas, blue caps and brown shoes gifted by the Army for this goodwill tour organised under Operation Sadbhavna of 26 Rashtriya Rifles, Kumaon.

Officiating General Officer Commanding, Brig HS Faujdar, from the CIF (Delta) here flagged off the tour here today. The group will return on November 24 after visiting several historical places and shrines at Jaipur and Ajmer in Rajasthan. They will also meet prominent civil and military dignitaries there. They will also stay in Delhi.

Brig Faujdar called it a motivational tour and hoped that on their return the members will share their rich experiences with one and all in their villages after witnessing the rich cultural diversity and the pace of development the country is experiencing.

“This would refine their thinking about the country, its cultural heritage, Army and its ethos," said Brig Faujdar.

Jammu, November 15
Even after 36 hours, the city police still remained clueless about whereabouts of a baby boy who was allegedly stolen by an unidentified woman within hours of his birth from a maternity ward of the state’s oldest hospital, Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) on Wednesday. Official sources say the police was still groping in dark over the missing newborn as the baby had not been found so far.

“The police has failed to collect inputs from the footages of CCTV cameras as the pictures were not clear. Senior police officers are still relying on the footages, which are repeatedly being verified to get the clear identity of the woman,” the sources said.

They added the police teams had been sent in different directions to crack the mystery of a missing baby.

Inspector Bishnesh Kumar, SHO city police station, said they had yet to achieve any breakthrough in this regard. “There is still no clue about the baby boy and a search has been launched to recover him,” he said.

On Wednesday, an unidentified woman had allegedly stolen a newborn from the SMGS Hospital.

The parents of the baby, however, refused to leave the hospital till the authorities concerned recover their child. “We will not leave the hospital till we get our child. The thieves could not take away the child from the hospital without the involvement of the hospital staff. Senior doctors, who were on round to the hospital, asked us to leave the ward. Had they not asked us to leave the ward, the tragedy could not have struck,” Chand told The Tribune.

He said his wife was inconsolable after she heard about the “missing” of her child from the hospital. “She had been crying since last night. She had fallen unconscious several times as she had been crying for her child. The hospital authorities are responsible for the incident and they must identify the thieves within the staff members to stop such incidents in future,” Chand said.

Jammu, November 15
Residents may learn to follow traffic rules here but non-functioning traffic lights at major spots in city have become a headache for residents. Thanks to a manifold increase in the number of vehicles, traffic jams have become a common sight. The road length of city area is 704.22 km while the density of vehicles is 574 per km. The district has come in traffic danger zone wherein the density of vehicles has assumed alarming populations. A traffic cop controls 1,700 vehicles on Jammu roads.

Even a minor mismanagement leads to chaos and traffic jams that last for two to three hours.

Surjeet Dogra, a resident of Rehari Colony said, “Either it is the increasing traffic in the city or traffic mismanagement, even a 15- minute drive takes more than half an hour. There are no rules and regulations. At some places, the traffic lights are not working, though they are repaired immediately but the problem exists.”

“Buses and mini-buses stop anywhere as there are no designated stops for them. Roads are narrow so there is no space for other vehicles to pass leading to long queues of vehicles. In the past few days these jams have increased especially on the Canal road and Bakshi Nagar Chowk,” he said.

SSP, Traffic, Manmohan Singh, admitted that frequent traffic jams were a problem in the city. He claimed that some minor faults were responsible for the jams. The department needs to act fast to solve these problems, he added.

“Today there was a two-hour traffic jam from Bakshmir Nagar to Akhnoor Road . The reason was that a bus had developed some technical snag which took us two to three hours to remove the bus. Whenever we face traffic jams, we make the traffic lights free so as that there is no problem because of these lights and we can manage the traffic on our own,” he added.

Rajouri, November 15
A youth allegedly committed suicide in Rajouri today. His body was found hanging from the ceiling fan at his residence.

Body of Maqbool Ahmed (29) of Ward number 9 here was found at 10.30 am, reports said.

The family members of the deceased youth informed the police, which took the body to the district hospital Rajouri for the post-mortem.

Police Post incharge, Rajouri, said, the deceased was mentally disturbed. The police after completing formalities handed over the body of the deceased to his family for the last rites to be conducted.

Katra, November 15
The number of pilgrims to Vaishno devi shrine may be increasing every year but the state government has failed to develop places of tourist interest around the shrine.

Residents feel developing picnic spots around the holy town Katra could provide options to the tourists to explore them along with their visit to the shrine.

President Hotels and Restaurant Association Katra, Sham Lal Kesar said the world famous holy shrine still faces apathy at the hands of the state government. A number of holy-picnic spots, if developed on modern lines, would not only open doors to employment to local youth but also economically better prospects for people living in the far-flung areas.

He said in 2009, 8.65 lakh devotees had visited Shiv Khori shrine in Ransoo area of Reasi district. The number increased to 14 lakh in 2011.

Kesar stressed upon the need to develop nearby temples and holy spots like Boomika Mandir, Deva Mai, Baba Aggarjitto, Seearah Baba, Dhansar Baba and Nu Devi to its potential as a lot of progressive works need to be done to lure devotees. 

Rajouri, November 15
Inam Choudhry of Dhanoure village has been booked under Sections 419/420/467 and 471 of the RPC by the district police.

He is accused of cheating beneficiaries of the Central schemes in three blocks.

Naheem Akhter of Dhanoure village in her complaint lodged with the police had alleged that Inam Choudhry approached them in January and took two photos of her in the name of getting a loan from the Sheep and Husbandry department.

After few days Inam approached her and three other beneficiaries and asked them to give him photographs of five sheep each to get the loan sanctioned before March 31, she alleged.

After failing to get a reply about the loan from Inam Choudhary, the beneficiaries approached the department concerned which told them that the loan has been sanctioned in their name and had been withdrawn by Inam Choudhary with their fake signatures, Naheem stated in her complaint. No arrest has been made so far.

Jammu, November 15
Harsh Dev Singh, MLA and chairman of the National Panthers Party (NPP) has flayed the government for its failure to ensure proper traffic management in Jammu and its suburbs resulting in inconvenience for the public.

In a statement issued here today, Singh regretted that repeated announcements and slogans given by the government to decongest the city with effective traffic regulation and provision of flyovers had fallen flat. He said no action had been initiated by the government to tackle the menace.

He said increased traffic on city roads in the recent past coupled with the additional load that has hit the Jammu roads due to the Darbar move has intensified traffic problems in the city of temples. He said even light vehicles take hours to reach from one part of the city to another in view of acute traffic problems created due to ever increasing number of vehicles and non-expansion in the road connectivity sector.

Rapping the government for its despicable apathy and criminal negligence in expanding road network and provision of much publicised flyover projects, he called upon ministers belonging to Jammu to assert in the face of growing public concern and resentment. He called for early commencement of construction work on fly-overs from Vikram Chowk to Satwari, Amphalla to Janipur, Jewal Chowk to Canal road, Balwinder Chowk to Rehari, Gandhi Nagar to Narwal besides others in view of pressing public demands. He lambasted the government neglect in taking up the fly- overs programme despite sanctions and approvals for the same having been conveyed under Asian Development Bank (ADB) scheme.

Singh further demanded immediate shifting of bus stand for various routes of buses as per the original plan and also in light of directions of the High Court relating to traffic management. He called for early operationalization of bus stand terminals at various places including Transport Nagar (Narwal), Nagrota besides establishment of other bus stands at places in the outskirts of the city as a measure of decongesting the city. He said the movement of passenger buses for various routes as well as load carriers and trucks not needed in the city routes were required to be diverted accordingly so as to facilitate smooth traffic movement of light motor vehicles including smaller passenger vehicles in the city. He accused the government of not shifting the bus stands to approved locations due to vested interests. 

Jammu, November 15
Vishal Cricket Academy (VCC) XI will take on Simula XI while JKP XI to face Ishar XI in the semifinals of the ongoing Eid-Diwali Milan Cup T20 Cricket Tournament being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Police Department in collaboration with Simula Software at MA Stadium.

Earlier, VCC XI beat RCC XI by 8 wickets in the quarterfinal. Winning the toss and batting first, RCC XI accumulated 105 at the loss of nine wicketsin the stipulated 20 overs. Shabaz was the top scorer with 28 runs off 23 balls. Rahul contributed 17 runs that came off 15 balls, including one hit to the fence.

For VCC XI side, Bansi Lal was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Kaka and Varun took two and one wicket respectively.

In reply, VCC XI overhauled the target in 16 overs for the loss of two wickets. Bansi Lal was the top scorer with 51 runs off 44 balls, including nine boundaries while Avinash and Parveen made 18 and 14 runs respectively. For RCC XI, Kuldeep scalped two wickets.

Bansi Lal was adjudged man of the match.

In another match, Ishar XI got the better of HPCC XI in a keenly contested match by 9 runs. Batting first, Ishar XI garnered 153 at the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Paras was the top scorer with 24 runs while Abhimanue chipped in with 20 runs. For HPCC XI, Wasim was the chief destroyer with three wickets while Nadeem and Habib took two wickets apiece.

In reply, HPCC-XI failed to chase the target and skittled out for 144 runs. Sunny Malik was the top scorer with 33 runs while, Wasim and Yasir contributed 23 and 18 runs respectively.

For Ishar XI, Vishwajeet, Deepak and Pavit scalped two wickets apiece while Sahil took 1 wicket. Deepak of Ishar XI bagged the man of the match award.

The matches were officiated by Suhail and JD Singh as umpires, while Yogesh maintained the scorecard.

Jammu, November 15
Members of the sub-junior volleyball team left today for Karim Nagar in Andhra Pradesh. The team will take part in the 35th Sub-Junior National Volleyball Championship to be held from November 19 to 25.

Prior to proceeding for the venue, the team attended a 15-day coaching camp at Shastri Nagar Play Field held under the supervision of Ravi Singh.

The Volleyball Association of the state has wished good luck to the team which is being accompanied by Ram Lal Sharma, Mohammad Ayaz and Azar Raina as manager, coach and assistant coach, respectively.

The J&K team is placed in pool D along with Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Pondichery and Tripura.

The team includes Ankush Sharma, Sunil Singh, Sanjay Singh, Rajat Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Sharma, Abhimanyu Jasrotia, Abneet Sharma, Shuvam Sharma, Waqar Yunus, Kashish Sharma and Amit Sharma.

Jammu, November 15
The PG Club and PT Tigers today scripted convincing wins to storm into the semifinals of the ongoing T20 Cricket Tournament at Government Degree College Ground here.

In the first quarterfinal, PG Club toppled Bafliaz XI by 8 wickets. Batting first, Bafliaz posted 121-5 in the allotted 20 overs.

Nadeem Bhat was top scorer with 28-ball 36 runs while Sajjad Ahmed contributed 24. For PG Club, Riyaz and Dheeraj Kumar snared two wickets apiece while Bhupinder took one.

In reply, PG Club did the needful for the loss of two wickets in 18 overs. Vikas Sharma played a match-winning knock of 32 runs while Dheeraj Kumar made 26 runs. For Bafliaz XI, Wasim and Nadeem scalped one wicket each. Dheeraj Kumar was declared man of the match.

Meanwhile, in another quarterfinal, PT Tigers defeated Royal Cricket Club (RCC) Mendhar by 91 runs.

Batting first, PT Tigers set a target of 195 runs. Sachin played a brilliant knock of 79 runs. Sunil Kumar contributed 30 runs. For RCC, Asif took four wickets.

In reply, RCC was skittled out for 103 runs in 19 overs. Raja was the top scorer with 23-ball 27 runs while Munna contributed 20. For PT Tigers, Raju took three wickets. Sachin was adjudged the man of the match.

The matches were officiated by Kewal Krishan, Sanjay Mishri, J S Tondan, N S City, Rajinder Singh and Gurvinder Singh. DySP Headquarters, Mohammad Rashid and Mohammad Tariq Khan, convenor of the tournament, were the special guests.