Victim of apathy

* National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) was not allowed to carry a separate study on the project

* NBCC was forced to carry work on a “faulty detailed project report” prepared by the Urban Development Department (UDD)

* The NBCC has been allegedly grappling with lack of support from various government agencies 

Jammu, January 17
The state government today put a ban on the private practice of all heads of departments (HoDs) posted at government-run medical and dental colleges in Jammu and Kashmir and their associate hospitals.

An order to this effect was issued by Commissioner-Secretary, Health & Medical Education, MK Dwivedi.

The decision has been taken to further improve patient care at these hospitals and make senior doctors available at their respective departments.

The decision was taken by Minister for Medical Education, Youth Services and Sports Taj Mohi-ud Din during the first review meeting after he assumed charge of the said departments.

Dwivedi apprised the minister about the working of the department. He also brought to the notice of the minister various issues concerning the department. The decision to put a ban on the private practice of HoDs has been taken with a view to improve efficiency and supervision at government-run medical, dental colleges and associate hospitals.

Terming healthcare as a critical sector, the minister said there was a need for bringing in more reforms in the department to infuse efficiency, transparency and a qualitative change in patient care at these tertiary care hospitals. He said improvement of services in terms of patient care, medication and other facilities at theses hospitals was as important as strengthening the basic infrastructure. 

Jammu, January 17
Expressing displeasure over the “non-serious attitude” of the J&K Amateur Fencing Association, state fencers say the sports body has been misleading them on the name of conducting selection trials.

They say the association is instead indulging in pick and choose policy to select fencers for participation in national-level championships.

The ‘aggrieved’ fencers alleged that the association did conduct any selection trial on January 14 for the forthcoming Senior National Fencing Championship slated to be held at Rohtak in Haryana from February 9 to 12.

“Earlier, we were informed by the association that the selection trials will be held at MA Stadium on January 14 at 11 am. But later we were informed that the venue has been shifted to the University of Jammu,” one of the fencers said.

“We reached the University of Jammu on time, but surprisingly enough, not even a single office-bearer and coach was available there. All the fencers waited till 3 pm and when nobody came they again went to MA Stadium for reconfirmation but in vain. Many fencers were made to stay at the varsity for the whole day with the hope that somebody. from the association will arrive to initiate the process,” the fencer added.

“Later, we were informed by some fencers that the association had already submitted a list of selected fencers to the Sports Council,” the fencer said.

“J&K Amateur Fencing Association is least bothered about our career. Forget organising tournaments, the association is not even informing the fencers from other districts of the state about taking part in selection trials for senior national championships,” another fencer trued.

MS Baba, Chief Sports Officer, J&K State Sports Council, said, “It is not possible that no coach was available at the venue. If the fencers have any problem regarding selection trials, conduct of coaching camp, screening, coaching etc, they should not hesitate approaching and informing us.”

“I talked to the fencing coach Chotu Lal to discuss the matter. He informed me that the fencers could contact him on his mobile number at any time to clear their queries,” Baba claimed.

Vijay Sharma, General Secretary, J&K Amateur Fencing Association, refuted the fencers’ claims. “There is no question of submission of final list of selected fencers in the Sports Council. We had issued notification to hold selection trials on January 14. But if the fencers are claiming that there was no office-bearer or coach available at the venue, we would look into the issue on priority basis,” Sharma said. 

Jammu, January 17
Prof JPS Joorel from the Department of Statistics, University of Jammu, has been elected as the new president of the Jammu University Teachers Association (JUTA) while Dr Rakesh Vaid from the Department of Physics and Electronics of the varsity was elected the general secretary for 2012-13.

The election for these positions was held today at the Seminar Hall of the Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu.

Announcing the results, Prof NK Tripathi, Dean Students Welfare, and Election Commissioner for the election, apprised the teaching fraternity that out of the total 262 votes, 242 votes were polled. Prof Joorel secured 132 votes while Prof Vibhakar Mansotra from the Department of Computer Science and IT got 107 votes.

In another close contest, Dr Rakesh Vaid from the Department of Physics and Electronics, defeated his nearest rival Dr Satinder Kumar from the Department of Law by a narrow margin of only one vote. In total, 119 votes were polled in favour of Dr Rakesh Vaid whereas Dr Satinder Kumar received 118 votes.

Dr Kavita Suri from the Department of Lifelong Learning, Dr Vijay Saigal from the Department of Law and Dr Vivek Sharma from the Department of Lifelong Learning were already elected unopposed as the vice-president, joint secretary and treasurer respectively.

Dr Kavita Suri became the JUTA vice-president for the second consecutive time.

Dr Shailendra Singh, Associate Dean (SW) and Dr Muhammad Monir Alam, Assistant Dean (SW), acted as returning officer and presiding officer respectively.

Jammu, January 17
The Innovation in Scientific Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Science Internship Camp began in the University of Jammu (JU) here today. The camp has been sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

Prof TP Singh, Member, Scientific Advisory Committee to Chief Minister was the chief guest on the occasion. In his address, he said the basic objective of the INSPIRE camp was to encourage youth for creative pursuits of science.

JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar said the top performers in the class 10th board examination, who were presently pursuing science in the 11th standard, would be given exposure in the camp. He said fellows of various science academies, Bhatnagar awardees and scientists will be invited to interact with the participants. These include Prof N Sathya Murti, Director, IISER, Mohali; Prof Shalabh, IIT-Kanpur; Prof Avinash Khare, Delhi University; Prof V Sri Nivas, TIFR, Mumbai; and Prof AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, GNDU, Amritsar. The JU Vice-Chancellor advised students to ask as many questions as they could from these experts.

Prof PK Srivastava, coordinator, INSPIRE camp, in his address encouraged students to pursue science as a career. He said the inter-school science quiz competition would be held on January 18 as part of this camp.

As many as 265 students from 24 schools of Jammu province are participating in this five-day camp. 

Jammu, January 17
With a fresh spate of rainfall and snowfall lashing the state, chilly weather conditions have engulfed the city affecting normal life here. According to the officials of the Indian Meteorological Department, the city received 7 mm rain till late noon today, bringing down the temperature considerably.

Residents preferred to remain indoors as the mercury plummeted to about 13 degrees Celsius. With the western disturbance playing a role, the temperature is likely to dip further in the next few days.

“Rains will continue for next 24 hours as a strong western disturbance is looming over Jammu and Kashmir. People will have to face the chilly conditions for a few more days,” said Dr MK Khushu, senior weather scientist at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu.

He said they were expecting more rainfall in plains and snow in higher reaches in the next 48 hours, which will further decrease the maximum and minimum temperatures in the city.

The weather conditions in upper reaches influence the local conditions. More the snowfall in mountains, the colder the city will be.

Though it being a weekday today, people mostly remained in their homes taking succour from electronic heating gadgets.

However in many localities, power supply was disrupted for a few hours due to some fault in transformers and power lines.

“Power outage is a major headache during the winter season. At such a time, traditional sources of heating provide respite,” said a local resident.

For many, the rainfall has dashed the hopes of enjoying the weekend outside their homes. “The chill is at its peak. I hope it gets sunny soon. After Lohri, we were hoping there would be clear skies so that we could visit various places,” said Surbhi Abrol, a college student.

The director of the Indian Meteorological Department in Srinagar, Sonum Lotus, said, “Intermittent rain is likely in the Jammu region in the next 24 hours, while snowfall will lash Kashmir and other hilly areas. There will be an improvement in the weather from January 19 across the state.”

Lotus said the system was likely to effect the southern part of the state, particularly the Jammu region. She said the western disturbance was moving towards north-east Ladakh.

Jammu, January 17
The Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Food and Supplies teams have entered the finals of the 7th Christmas Gold Cup Football Tournament scheduled to be held on February 18.

In the first match played at the Mini Stadium at Parade Ground, the JKP notched up a narrow win over the J&K Forest team by 6-5 goals via a tie-breaker.

Earlier, after a 2-2 draw in the stipulated time with Zahoor and Imtiyaz scoring goals for the JKP and Bilal for the J&K Forest, the match was decided through a tie-breaker wherein the JKP beat its opponent.

In another semifinal match, the Food and Supplies got the better of the J&K Bank by one goal. Naresh scored a crucial goal in the 27th minute.

The matches were officiated by Moon Stephen, Saudhagahar Mattoo, Client Mattoo, Vijay Kumar, Kaushal Kumar and Harmanjeet Singh. The tournament has been organised by the All J&K Christian Welfare Association. 

Jammu, January 17
A 12-member team along with three officials today left for participation in the 15th Youth National Volleyball Championship to be held at Shegaon, Buldana, in Maharashtra from January 19 to 24.

Before the final selection, the team attended a 15-day coaching camp organised by the State Sports Council at Gulshan Ground.

The team was flagged off by the general secretary of Jammu District Volleyball Association, HS Gill.

The team consists of Anil Kumar, Ankit Kumar, Mohd Aris Khan, Sajid Ahmed Khan, Mohd Sahil, Vicky Singh, Mushtaq Ahmed, Rahul Singh, Puneet Sharma, Chandan Sharma, Vikram Singh and Arvind Verma.

Shashi Sharma, head coach; Amit Sharma, assistant coach; and Abdul Ahad Shah, manager, are accompanying the team.

Jammu, January 17
The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) team beat the Skara team by one goal in the finals to lift the 1st Lalit Suri Ice Hockey Challenge Cup at the Karzoo Ice Hockey Rink in Leh today.

In the women’s section, the Semol Ice Hockey team bagged the top honours by defeating the Siachen Angel team by 4-3.

The tournament, in which 12 men’s teams and five women’s teams participated, was organised by the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. Lalit Suri Hospitality Group managing director Dr Jyotsna Suri, who was the chief guest on the occasion, distributed trophies and cash awards to the members of the winning teams.

She said the group would extend further support for the promotion of winter games in Ladakh keeping in view the vast potential of the game in the region.

CAPD executive councillor Ghulam Abas Abidi, Leh Additional Deputy Commissioner Tsering Morup, Superintendent of Police (SP) Vivek Gupta, Additional SP P Sonam and Assistant Commissioner Revenue Tashi Dolma were among those present on the occasion.