Srinagar, February 5
Snow and rainfall continued to lash Kashmir for the third consecutive day today. The weather office has forecast more snow in the Valley during the next 24 hours.

Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, recorded 26.2 mm snow/rain from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm today, an official of the Meteorological Department said. Srinagar, too, recorded 9.6 mm rain/snow during the day.

Even though sun shine for a while around noon, the summer capital witnessed gusty winds in the afternoon amid rain and very light snowfall.

Similarly, Pahalgam, a tourist resort in south Kashmir, recorded 13.8 mm rain/snow, while the border town of Kupwara recorded 15.0 mm rain/snow till 5.30 pm. Incessant rain/snowfall led to a dip in day temperatures across the Valley.

The day temperature at ski resort Gulmarg, as per the Meteorological official, fell to 0.4 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam recorded the maximum temperature at 4.5 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperatures recorded at Srinagar and Kupwara were 8.2 and 3.6 degrees, respectively.

While Gulmarg recorded minus 5.0 degrees Celsius minimum temperature, night temperatures in other parts of the Valley remained above the freezing point.

The minimum temperatures recorded at Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kupwara were 1.6, 0.8, 0.5 and 0.0 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The official said most parts of the Valley were expected to receive moderate to heavy rain/snowfall during the next 24 hours. The Meteorological office has already predicted inclement weather conditions in Kashmir till February 7.

The Meteorological Department had also issued an advisory earlier where it warned of a severe western disturbance system approaching the state.

Anantnag, February 5
The Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for the second consecutive day today after heavy rain triggered landslides at many places along the highway.

While no passenger, sources say, remain stranded on this side of the Jawahar Tunnel, more than 300 vehicles have been left stranded at various places from Banihal to Patnitop on the other side of the tunnel.

Sources said the highway was closed after heavy rain caused landslides at many places since Monday morning.

Although, there was no snowfall along the road but heavy rain continued to lash for more than 24 hours. Landslides and shooting stones at Nashri, Panthal, Banihal, Ransoo and other places forced the authorities to close the road for any vehicular movement, sources said.

Keeping in view the slippery conditions and blockades caused by the landslides along the highway, the authorities have advised people not to travel unless an all-clear signal is issued.

“There were some people stranded at Lower Munda and the Jawahar Tunnel; however, they were advised to return to their bases after the weather report suggested that the rain will continue to lash the Valley in the next 24 hours,” said a senior traffic police official from the area.

The traffic police has erected barricades at many places along the Khannabal-Jawahar Tunnel stretch and are making Jammu-bound vehicles return to their bases.

“There are some people who ignore the directives of the department and they are being sent back by the policemen on duty,” said the police official.

Sources said the police and the Border Roads Organisation were making efforts to clear the highway so that the vehicles stranded on the other side of the tunnel could be allowed to move further.

“There are vehicles stranded at Patnitop, Ramsu, Banihal, Batote and Kud areas along the national highway. The vehicles will be cleared on a priority basis once the road is cleared,” said a senior police official.

Kupwara, February 5
Black marketeers are fleecing consumers in Kupwara district of north Kashmir by selling essential commodities at sky-high prices. Consumers in major towns of Kupwara, Handwara, Langate and Kralpora complained that most of the shopkeepers, including vegetable and fruit vendors, were overcharging them for essential commodities.

They said under the garb of snowfall on Sunday, the shopkeepers were fleecing them on almost all essential commodities. The consumers said broiler chickens were sold at exaggerated rate of Rs 140 to Rs 150 against the genuine rate of Rs 110 per kg. “I bought chicken at Rs 140 per kg and when I argued with the shopkeeper over the exaggerated rate, he claimed that the rates of broiler chickens had gone up by Rs 20 per kg after the recent snowfall,” said Javid Ahmad.

Additional Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department (CAPD), Ghulam Hassan Bhat said teams of officials had been sent to different markets in the district and erring shopkeepers would not be spared.

“We will not spare any shopkeeper found violating the rate list issued by the department. The teams this morning raided a few major markets in the district and penalised the erring shopkeepers. They have to ensure that rate lists of all commodities remain displayed in shops and commodities sold according to it,” said Bhat.

He said the rate list of commodities had already been distributed among the shopkeepers and they should not invite trouble for themselves by resorting to black marketing of commodities.

Another consumer, Nisar Ahmad, said, “Rates of onion, tomato, cauliflower and other vegetables have gone sky-high overnight.

“Onions and tomatoes are being sold at Rs 30 and Rs 40, respectively in Kupwara. After the recent snowfall, which affected traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, vegetable and fruit vendors are selling vegetables and fruits on their “own” rates. The food department should book the erring shopkeepers to put a check on black marketing,” he said.

Reports said shopkeepers in Baramulla towns were also overcharging on essential commodities. Residents of remote villages, including Rajwar, Magam, Kralpora, Langate and many other villages in Lolab, complained that vegetables, fruits and other essential commodities were sold to them at very high rates.

They appealed CAPD to send teams and take action against the erring shopkeepers fleecing the consumers. “We are made to pay very high prices especially for vegetables and chicken. Chicken is sold around 150-160 per kg and vegetables are also sold at high rates,” said Abdul Majid of Kralpora. “The CAPD should send checking squads and book the erring shopkeepers fleecing gullible consumers,” he added.

Srinagar, February 5
Thousands have died in Kashmir region in the past 23 years of conflict and hundreds continue to die every year in road accidents, yet there is no specialised emergency care hospital in the entire region.

There is also no provincial hospital, no general hospital, not a single urban health centre and no mobile medical aid centre in the entire region and three districts have no district hospitals, according to the data provided on the state Health Department's website.

The mapping of healthcare facilities and existing infrastructure in the region show a systematic failure of successive governments in the region to streamline the system.

Kashmir valley has nine maternity hospitals. Three, including Lalla Ded Hospital, are located in the Srinagar city and six are located in Ganderbal district, a powerful political constituency which has a population of 2.97 lakh. Both these districts are located in the central Kashmir and are adjacently located. The 10 other districts in the region, many located on the edges of the Valley, have no maternity hospital and patients have to travel, in some cases, for a day to reach the nearest facility.

The remote Kargil district, which has a population of 1.43 lakh has 100 medical aid centres and north Kashmir’s Kupwara district with a population of 8.75 lakh has 86 medical aid centres. The rest of the 10 districts in Kashmir Division, with a population of 61.73 lakh, have 94 such centres.

A senior official of the state Health Department said the existing pattern shows the decisions to allot the infrastructure was influenced by “political dispensation” instead of expert advice.

“The entire infrastructure available today is decided by the political dispensation from time to time,” the official said.

The official cited the example of Gousia hospital, which is among the newest hospitals of Srinagar city, located in the congested Downtown and a mile away from another hospital. The hospital is housed inside a shopping complex. “It was a political compulsion because the local MLA wanted to please his voters. There are no lifts available, that place has not at all okay for being a hospital,” the official said.

“Accessibility of the healthcare has not been done with rationality, it has not been decided on the specialist advice,” the official said.

This assessment was attested by a scientist of the Remote Sensing Department who has completed the work on the project to measure physical accessibility of healthcare network in the region. Humayun Rashid, who completed the two-year survey in November 2012, said: “A sizeable population living in far-flung areas is ‘still attendant’ to healthcare within a predetermined time frame.”

“There is still a sizeable population which is not covered under the present dispensation because this population mostly lives in far-flung and inaccessible areas,” Rashid said. In his survey, which has been ordered by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Rashid used the parameters of travel time, topography, physical barriers, mode of transportation, road network, landscape features to assess the healthcare accessibility. “There is an uneven distribution," he said. "If we use the results that are put forth under this project there will be some sort of rational distribution in future.”

Srinagar, February 5
Independent MLA Abdul Rasheed Sheikh today led a protest march against the defaulters of the Power Development Department (PDD) who have failed to pay their electric dues amounting to lakh of rupees.

The march against the VIP power defaulters started from the city centre and it culminated at the headquarters of the PDD in Sonwar.

The protesters holding banners and placards raised slogans against the power defaulters and demanded action against them.

Last week, the PDD had published the names of the defaulters in local newspapers. The defaulters included J&K’s ruling party office- Nawa-e-Subah complex, the Hari Niwas Palace owned by Dr Karan Singh, son of state finance minister, family members of

People’s Democratic Party legislator Iftikhar Ansari and some top business.

Addressing the protesters, Rasheed termed the issue grave and unfortunate and said that if VIPs, industrialists and security forces were enjoying power supply round the clock but were not paying huge liabilities, it was disgusting.

“The PDD disconnects connections of poor common citizens, who don’t even get power supply as per half of the schedule they were supposed to get, when they failed to pay few hundred rupees well in time,” he said.

The MLA asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that if he was tweeting on meaningless issues why he was not coming out with a stand that the party had failed to pay electric dues worth lakh of rupees.

“I will raise the issue in the upcoming Assembly session as these politicians and political parties have given a bad name to the whole political system and it is high time to make these blue-eyed opportunists accountable,” Sheikh said.

Srinagar, February 5
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the government authorities to fill up the vacancies in associated hospitals of the Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, and complete the selection process by next hearing, which has been fixed after four weeks.

The high court also directed the authorities to file a status report about the condition of the only leper hospital in Kashmir valley, indicating the number of patients presently being treated there.

These directions were today issued by a division bench of the high court, which is hearing a public interest litigation seeking reforms in the health sector.

On December 26 last year, the high court had granted authorities concerned one-month time to complete the selection process. These directions had followed submissions by government counsel who had sought time for filling up the vacancies. In his submissions, he had also revealed that for filling up 71 posts of class-IV in the associated hospitals of the GMC, the authorities had received more than 10,000 applications.

“The court, in its orders, directed the authorities to complete the process of filling up of posts as indicated in earlier orders dated December 26, 2012, by the next date of hearing, which has been fixed after four weeks,” said a counsel dealing with the case.

The court also directed the authorities to file a status report about the condition of the only leper hospital of Kashmir. In the report, the government has been asked to give details of the patients in the hospital.

Besides, the high court today asked the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, to file a supplementary affidavit by next hearing. During an earlier hearing, all the Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police in the state except for Leh and Kargil had filed particulars with regard to the action taken against drug testing laboratories and those found guilty of selling and storing spurious drugs in the state.

The court, on a previous hearing, had directed the authorities to inform about the action taken against those found guilty of selling spurious drugs in the state.

In 2006, GM Khan had submitted a representation to the high court, which was later treated as a public interest litigation by the court.

In his representation, Khan had complained about the violation of the orders banning private practice by doctors. He had also pointed out about the absence of doctors in government hospitals, dispensaries and other primary health centres.

Besides, Khan in his representation had also expressed concern over mushrooming of private hospitals, which according to him, were neither registered nor licenced under the relevant acts.

Since then, the high court has passed a slew of directions aimed at reforming the ailing health sector in Kashmir.

Srinagar, February 5
As Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has started holding pre-budget discussions, the stakeholders of the tourism sector are demanding promotion of the state as less expensive tourist destination.

Kashmir Hotels and Restaurant Association (KHARA) president Showkat Chowdhary demanded the state government to announce several tax exemptions for hospitality sector in the upcoming budget session to promote J&K as less expensive tourist destination.

The budget session is scheduled to commence in Jammu from February 28.

Chowdhary said the state government should announce reduction in the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) which he said was the highest in the state.

“The hoteliers have to import most of the items for consumption from outside the state which increases the input cost. The VAT on sales of food is charged at 5 per cent in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan but our state charges 13.5 per cent which further compounds the problem for the hoteliers,” he added.

Chowdhary claimed that both locals and tourists were unwilling to pay high VAT charges which resulted in loses to the hospitality sector.

Kashmir Hotels and Restaurant Owners Federation (KHAROF) president Faiz Bakshi also demanded exemption from entry tax on goods imported from outside the state, besides extending exemption of service and other taxes on room rent.

“The tourism infrastructure in the state is deteriorating and there is an urgent need to upgrade it. We have to import material from outside the state which should be kept free from entry or any other such tax,” Bakhshi said.

He said the government should announce incentives for the hoteliers for upgrading the tourism infrastructure.

“We have huge infrastructure which can cater to about 25 lakh tourists annually. But most of the infrastructure is in a bad condition due to its non-use, misuse and non-maintenance during the past 20 years of turmoil in the Valley. We want the subsidy do be announced for only upgrading and maintaining existing infrastructure. The state government should therefore amend its package of incentives for hospitality sector,” Bakshi said.

The hoteliers had met the Finance Minister yesterday while Chowdhary said they had put forward their suggestions for the budget during the meeting.

He said the hoteliers also reiterated their demand of according full industrial benefits to tourism sector as was available to small scale industries.

Meanwhile, in statement, the Finance Minister today said special incentives and tax concessions had been earmarked in the budget to boost the tourism sector in the state.

Jammu, February 5
Minister for Housing Raman Bhalla has called upon the teachers and parents to educate children about the rich heritage of the state, adding that it would help them to work towards communal harmony in all circumstances.

This was stated by the minister, while addressing a large gathering of students, parents, teachers and non-teaching staff, besides prominent citizens at a prize distribution function organised by the Youth Talent Search Forum (YTSF) at the police auditorium, here today.

The function was organised by the YTSF with a forum of 10 CBSE and state board affiliated schools of city of temples with the aim to provide an organised platform where children could exhibit their hidden talent in the best spirit of competition and excellence.

Srinagar, February 5
The moderate Hurriyat faction has hailed the statement of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari on Kashmir saying that India should come forward and show political courage to end tensions in the region by solving the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan once again raked up the Kashmir issue in the United Nations when its President Asif Ali Zardari sought a solution to the issue under the UN resolution.

Zardari in his 20-minute speech at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly said Kashmir remained a symbol of failure of the UN system and Pakistan's principled position on territorial disputes remains a bedrock of its foreign policy.

“The statement given by president Zardari on the eve of Kashmir’s solidarity day reflects the wishes and the aspirations of the people,” Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, adding that the moral, diplomatic and political support by Pakistan has helped Kashmiris garner support for their cause at the international level.

Urging India to show flexibility over the Kashmir issue, Mirwaiz said India should take steps to end tensions in the region.

“In response to the realistic and positive efforts by Pakistan, India should also demonstrate political courage and come forward to end the tensions in the regions by addressing the Kashmir issue as per the wishes and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people,” Mirwaiz said.

Srinagar, February 5
The death of former minister, Abdul Azaiz Zargar, has been widely condoled with the leaders of various political parties expressing grief and sorrow over his demise.

A condolence meeting was held at the party headquarters here in which senior leaders paid rich tributes to the departed leader. — TNS

Jammu, February 5
Sheikh Rizwan scored a brilliant goal via penalty kick to help the J&K team register a hard fought win over formidable Assam in the ongoing Santosh Trophy national football tournament at Sports Stadium, Sigra in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). With that win, the team has also qualified for the quarterfinals.

The contest witnessed a fierce tussle between two seasoned teams. After the goalless first-half, both the teams made desperate attempts to take a lead but did not succeed. Finally, it was Rizwan, who scored the all important goal for the team in the 70th minute through penalty kick.

Earlier, J&K got the better of Rajasthan by 31 goals with an utmost ease. The goal scorers were Rizwan, Yaseen and Zubair. Now, J&K team would leave for Cochin in Kerala to play their quarterfinal match.

The team is being accompanied by Satpal Singh as coach, Zahoor Ahmed as manager and Dr Karan Nayyar as physio.