Jammu, April 3
The state government has decided to exploit magnesite, lime stone in Painthal, and Jungalgali areas in Reasi. The minerals would be supplied to other parts of the country as well as used for domestic consumption.

Minister for Planning and Development, Ajay Sadhotra, on behalf of the Industries and Commerce Minister, said magnesite ore could generate revenue for the state.

He said taking into account the nature of these deposits the estimated reserves of high-grade magnesite had been established at 2.5 million tonnes. He said in 1988-89 under a joint venture arrangement, the National Mineral Development Corporation Limited and the J&K Minerals Limited decided to develop these deposits and use the ore as feed material for production of Dead Burnt Magnesite (DBM) with an equity ratio of 74:26, respectively, but it could not take off.

He said for a variety of reasons, the project activities were kept on hold and the project remained dormant for more than 20 years. He said the project was reviewed in February 2009 and after evaluation it was decided that the project would be realised.

Sadhotra said according to the revised Project Report and Due Diligence Report was prepared to ascertain viability of the project. After vigorous efforts requisite formalities for realisation of the project now stands completed, he said. At present, the civil work for developing necessary infrastructure, including other packages of the project was on at Panthal in Reasi.

He said the technology package of the project was under process and the project was likely to be launched within two years at an investment of Rs 160 crore.

The minister said as per the mapping done by the Department of Geology and Mining, no limestone deposit of economic importance had been found in Panthal and Jangalgali of Reasi and Udhampur districts, respectively.

Jammu, April 3
Expressing concern over the poor education system, the government has issued instructions to all the heads of educational institutions concerned to streamline their functioning in the state. An official of the Director School Education, Jammu, said the circular had been received by the department.

Director School Education, Jammu, was unavailable for comments but one of the officials of the department confirmed that the circular would be followed in letter and spirit to bring about necessary changes in the education system.

As per the circular, the Director School Education, Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Education Officers, Principal District Institutes of Education and Technology, Principal Higher Secondary Schools, headmaster of various institutions, high schools, middle schools and primary schools have been asked to strictly follow instructions to improve the education system in the state.

The institutes have been instructed to train teachers by DIETs during holidays, conduct parent teacher meetings once a month without fail and 10 minute lecture on moral education be given to students in the morning assembly. The circular said any violation, in this regard, will be viewed seriously.

Rajinder Khajuria, Principal, DIET, Jammu, said, “Our department is already conducting training for teachers in holidays and it is proving beneficial in achieving the specified targets. During training, all teachers are informed about the introduction of latest trends in teaching to achieve the desired results.”

“The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has published the National Curriculum Framework-2005 with focus on research or inquiry-based teaching which has enabled teachers to create conditions for children through which they can discover, enquire, construct, research and investigate their knowledge,” he added.

“There is need to broaden the curriculum (for students and teachers) to include different traditions of knowledge; train and educate teachers to connect school knowledge with community knowledge and life outside the school, and thereby enrich the curriculum so that it goes beyond the textbooks and contextualize educational experiences,” another senior Education Department official said. The HRD Ministry had done various modifications in the National Teacher Curriculum in 2009 so that teachers should change their perception of child as a receiver of knowledge encourage its capacity to construct knowledge.

Jammu, April 3
The government today said 31,799 displaced families from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) were settled in the state since 1947.

“As per records, 31,619 displaced person families of 1947 are registered. The number of families settled district-wise is not available as per records of the Custodian (ex-officio provincial rehabilitation officer), Jammu,” Minister of State for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Ajaz Ahmad Khan said in the Legislative Council. Khan said besides, 80 families displaced from PoK were registered and settled in Gurez tehsil of Bandipora in Kashmir.

“A total of 31 such families live in Shangus tehsil of Anantnag. The number of families has risen to 101 due to division of the families,” the minister said.

Khan said cash assistance to the tune of Rs 3,500 per family was given to the urban displaced persons of 1947. “Besides plots and quarters were also allotted to urban displaced persons of 1947 at various colonies set up for their rehabilitation,” he said.

He said the government had sanctioned Rs 5,000 per kanal and maximum of Rs 25,000 per family in favour of those displaced person families of 1947 who had deficiency in their allotable unit of land and Rs 423.71 lakh stand disbursed among 1,837 families. 

Jammu, April 3
The Department of Posts will conduct the Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant Examination on May 19 in the state. This was announced by John Samuel, Chief Postmaster General, J&K. He informed that candidates, who had applied for the post of postal assistant and sorting assistants, would start receiving admit cards from next week.

He said the departmental exam for the postmen/multi tasking staff would be held on April 7, 14, 21 and the results would be declared the same day. The DoP, after six years, has initiated fresh recruiting process for filling of posts of postmen and MTS. Samuel said the railway station post office would be developed as a tourist post office with unique design and infrastructure.—TNS

Jammu, April 3
Refusal by the management of KC International School to review increased fee structure today led to a protest by the Parent Association.

Protesters urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Education Department to take action against the private institutions, affiliated to the CBSE, who were increasing fee ‘arbitrarily’.

A protest was organised at the Press Club seeking intervention of the state government to ease the pressure on the people, who were forced to shell out money, without any reason by the private educational institutions in the name of development funds.

Association president Raj Kumar Gupta alleged that every year there was an increase in the fee and annual charges, which had increased to Rs 10,000.

He said even the Education Department had refused to take any action, saying that it does not have any control on the CBSE affiliated private schools.

“We want justice. It is the duty of the state government to control the education system. Though a committee has been framed by the Director School Education (DSE) so that the issue could be discussed with the management, but it seems that there will be no respite for the parents,” Gupta said. “We appeal to the administration to take a suitable action so that common man, who is making every sacrifice to provide best education to the children, do not feel suffocated by attitude of the management,” said Sunita Sharma, a parent.

On March 29, hundreds of parents had blocked the Jammu-Poonch National Highway in protest against the arbitrary hike. They alleged that the management was harassing their children as they had opposed the move to pay additional charges to the school.

Later, the management had sought a three-day time to discuss the issue, but so far they had not announced any decrease in the fee structure.

In 2009, the Education Department had constituted a special cell to monitor the working of the private schools, including the CBSE affiliated institutions in Jammu, but it remained on the files as no action was taken to streamline the system.

Jammu, April 3
Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmed Mir today said Gujarat has always supported the tourism sector in Kashmir.

Mir was interacting with the tour operators of Gujarat and other states, after inaugurating a promotional campaign in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, to showcase the scenic and cultural beauty of the J&K.

“Guajarati’s have supported Kashmiris in turbulent times and we can never forget that. Our campaign for 2013 is explore new Kashmir. So we could not think of any other place other than Ahmedabad to kick start this campaign in the country,” Mir said.

He said one of the thrust areas of the department in 2013 is high end golfing and angling. Kashmir has a complete golf circuit with a golf course in Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Srinagar, Mir said. He said new destinations which will be focused on this year, include Kokernag, Veerinag, Deksum, Watlab, Manasbal, Wadwan, Simthan pass, Yusmarg, Lolab, and Gurez.

He said adventure motor sport has been a great success in the J&K state with rallies like Mughal car rally, Raid-de-Himalayas and many more. Motor sport has helped the department in exploring, connecting and bringing new destinations on tourist map of the state, he added.

The campaign was started with association of tour and travel fraternity of Kashmir, Gujarat Travel Agents Association, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India, representatives of Gujarat Tourism, J&K Tourism Alliance, Association of Kashmir Tour Operators (AKTO), Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners

Association (KHARA), Hoteliers Club, Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners Federation (KHAROF) and other prominent tour and travel players of the J&K and Gujarat.

Mir assured full support to tour and travel operators of Gujarat. He said J&K has extensively worked on new facets of tourism products. “These activities include new skiing techniques and programmes, regular ice skating championships, snowboarding, snow cricket, snow rugby, snow zorbing, and helliskiing,” the minister said.

Jammu, April 3
On the directions of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu, on the basis of a complaint filed by Ashish Sharma, a lawyer, the police has booked Dr Aneece Choudhary, principal Government Medical College, Jammu, for refusing to treat a patient during recent strike by junior doctors.

On March 31, the complainant had gone to the GMC, with a friend's mother. The junior doctors who were on strike asked them to contact the principal who refused to help.

Poppy husk seized

Batote: The police arrested a truck driver Manjit Singh of Indira Nagar with 8 kg of poppy husk at Ramsu today. The contraband was concealed in the cabin of the truck above the driver’s seat. —OC

Jammu, April 3
The three-member inquiry committee headed by JP Singh, former Director, Youth Services and sports, which had recently given a clean chit to Ashok Singh, the then in charge manager, Indoor Sports Complex, in the alleged betting incident had took a serious note of lack of proper vigil.

Sources in the Sports Council said the inquiry committee was of the view that being the premium coaching centre located in the heart of the Jammu city, there was a huge responsibility lying on the officers concerned to ensure strict vigil so that no such incident would happen in future which could malign the image of this important institution.

Sources added that before the alleged betting incident, the stadium officials had earlier urged the higher authorities to install the CCTVs in the complex to closely monitor all the happenings with a better view but it was not materialised due to unknown reasons.

The other two members of the committee set up by the government comprised Mohammad Afzal Malik, administrative officer, J&K State Sports Council and Prof Bashir Ahmad Shah, joint secretary, Sports Council, Kashmir.

In its submitted report to the commissioner/secretary, Technical Education, the committee had not only warned the officers to remain extra vigilant but also recommended a constructive utilisation of the existing infrastructure.

The inquiry committee has further claimed that the Indoor Sports Complex was utilised by veteran players for recreational purposes only and the players actually involved in the conduct of activities were not provided ample time required for training. The committee also came down heavily on unregistered players saying that they too came on the stadium premises for fun only.

Meanwhile, a senior officer of the sports council said, “The department has already issued clear cut instruction to its officers that no unregistered player should be allowed to enter on the stadium premises.”

“All the registered players have been informed to renew their cards immediately after their expiry and if they failed to do it, we will take strict action against them,” he added. 

Jammu, April 3
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) said beautification of Raghunath Bazar area was a welcome step by the Tourism Department. Anil Gupta, junior vice-president, CCI, Jammu, said it was necessary to beautify the surrounding areas of Raghunath Temple.

During the visit of Sojanya Sharma, Director, Tourism, Jammu, the shopkeepers had apprised that modern poles, lights, modification of water chabeel, beautification of park on the temple premises, antique water taps, tiled footpaths and sitting chairs with sheds outside the temple were necessary works to be done.

Earlier, on the request of the CCI, Sojanya Sharma had an extensive tour of lower Raghunath Bazar, Gumat Bazar, Hari Market, Lower Hari Market and New Kaleeth Nagar area to have an on the spot assessment for extending beautification of Raghunath Bazar and the areas surrounding the temple.

Sharma said he would try his best to start the work at the earliest. He added he was always at their services to boost tourism in Jammu.

Prominent among the others present on the occasion included Rajiv Gupta, president, Gumat Bazar Businessmen Association, Rajesh Raina, president, Hari Market Businessmen Association, Rajesh Dewan, president, Lower Hari Market Businessmen Association and Guru Swaroop Gupta, president, New Kaleeth Nagar Businessmen Association. 

Jammu, April 3
The traffic police is yet to figure out where to put signals which were put at less viable spots. The decision to shift the lights was taken in December last year during a high level meeting chaired by the then Minister for Home and Urban Development, Nasir Aslam Wani. The government had installed these lights at the cost of Rs 1.89 crore of the tax payers’ money at 30 spots in the winter capital.

Putting question mark over the usefulness of the survey conducted before the installation of traffic signals, directions were passed to relocate the lights from places where they proved unviable and shift them to places where the flow was more.

Replying to a Calling Attention Motion by MLA Chaman Lal Gupta, the government has stated, “Traffic police has put few lights on blinker mode to arrive at a logical decision with regards to shifting of some lights.”

“For taking a simple decision, it is taking months. This puts a question mark on the survey conducted by civic authorities and Onnyx Electronics, a News Delhi-based company which has installed these lights,” said Gupta.

Most of the traffic signals have become mere showpieces, as busses, cars and matador drivers don’t follow directions, particularly at Bikram chowk, Janipur, Kachi Chawni and Indira Chowk, where the concentration of vehicles per km is very high and traffic jams are rampant.

“Lights were installed at 30 locations in the Jammu, but experts have said in the absence of wide roads, signals will further create a mess as vehicles will stop frequently. Problem with the traffic signals is that the roads are not wide enough and concentration of the vehicles per kilometre is much higher than Chandigarh, New Delhi and other metropolitans. If traffic is stopped for just 60 seconds every few minutes, there are frequent traffic jams,” a source said.

The project was implemented after much delay since the state government announced it in the Legislative Assembly five years back. 

Jammu, April 3
Minister for Urban Development, Nawang Rigzin Jora, today visited various areas of Jammu city, including Janipur Colony, Sarwal and Rajpora, Lower Mangotrato and took stock of the status of various ongoing projects.

During his visit, residents met the minister and apprised him of their problems regarding sanitation, drainage, sewerage etc.

He said the government was trying to make Jammu city slum-free and promote Srinagar and Jammu cities as engines of economic growth. He said the government was committed to provide basic civic amenities in 84 municipal councils/committees under annual plan schemes by way of construction lanes, drains, culverts, bathrooms, lavatory blocks, passenger sheds, installation of streets lights, construction and upgrade of bus terminals and other mini bus stands to resolve the transport related problems.

He said issuing of online birth certificates, building permission besides addressing the grievances of the common people through e-governance on the spot were some big achievements of the government.

Jora asked the officers to complete all the ongoing projects in time. He said a number of mega projects had been undertaken and work on these projects would be started soon. The projects include Channi Himmat drain project and Bikram Chowk-Women College, Gandhi Nagar etc. He also directed the Municipal officers that there would be no compromise on proper sanitation and cleanliness which was necessary to boost tourism in Jammu.

Rajouri, April 3
In order to ensure all round development of scholars, the polytechnic wing of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University organised a two-day techno olympiad in which students participated in various activities.

The programme was organised at the conference hall wherein Vice-Chancellor Prof Irshad Ahmed Hamal was the chief guest.

Registrar Mohammad Rashid Chowdhary, Dean of Mathematical Sciences & Engineering Prof Mohammad Asgar, Dean Academic Affairs, Prof AK Kaul, University Polytechnic principal Col KK Dogra, Head of Department of Management Studies Prof SK Gupta and Special Secretary to Vice-Chancellor Suneet Gupta were other dignitaries present at the function. Students and faculty members of the polytechnic were also present.

During the two-day techno olympiad, activities such as written test, symposium, skill development techniques, workshop on improving aptitude, reasoning and general awareness were conducted among the scholars of the Polytechnic and College of Engineering and Technology.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Prof IA Hamal said the university provides rigorous training to the students so that they could compete with rest of the world.

The Vice-Chancellor said technology had brought revolution in the world and students should learn the techniques and apply them in the practical life. He also appreciated polytechnic for organising the techno olympiad.

Earlier Principal Col KK Dogra highlighted the importance of the programme. He thanked the Vice-Chancellor for guiding and inspiring the University Polytechnic in becoming an efficient and technically sound institute.

Coordinated by the team of faculty members viz Akhil Mahajan, Sahil Hamid, Shivinder Mehta, Ankit Kapoor and Imtiyaz Khan, various students participated in the competitions and gained experience.

In the aptitude, reasoning & general awareness competition, students of Polytechnic namely Irfan, Sayyed Sohail Jafri and Zabiya Anjum stood first, second and third, respectively while in the same competition at the college level, Shakiz Ahsan Rather and Rouhan Farooq from College of Engineering and Technology were adjudged winner while Auqib Hamid and Sayed Aamir Shah stood second and Aarish Shafi Dar stood third.

Jammu, April 3
The Department of Political Science and Department of Commerce registered wins in the ongoing Inter-Department Cricket Tournament being played at the University of Jammu grounds here today.

In the first match, the Department of Political Science toppled the MCA Department by 82 runs in a one-sided contest. Batting first after winning the toss, Political Science Department accumulated 155 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.

Sajaad Malik and Shekeel Ahmed struck half centuries while Ankush Sharma chipped in with 16 runs. For the MCA Department, Pardeep Sharma took two wickets whereas Aditya and Sahib shared a wicket apiece.

In reply, the MCA Department was skittled out for 82 runs in 14.5 overs. Danish was the top scorer with 16 runs. For the Department of Political Science, Narinder was the wrecker-in-chief with a five-wicket haul while Rayees and Shakeel snared two wickets each.

In another match, the Department of Commerce had the last laugh against the Department of Statistics by 16 runs. Batting first, the Department of Commerce scored 149 runs losing four wickets in the process.

Pawan (48) and Rajat (27) were the main scorers. For Departmentof Statistics, Akhlish took two wickets while Sunny and Raja shared a wicket apiece. In reply, Department of Statistics was bowled out for 133 runs in 18.3 overs. Raja played a fighting knock of 46 runs but to no avail. For the Department of Commerce, Dilawar was the main strike bowler with three wickets while Satwinder took two wickets. 

Jammu, April 3
Mayank Cricket Club (MCC) got the better of Champs Cricket Club (CCC) by 18 runs to set up summit clash with Kashyap Cricket Club (KCC) in the ongoing T20 Cricket Tournament being played at Sarore village playfield here today.

MCC won the crucial toss and had no hesitation in batting first. MCC started their innings on a decent note. The opening pair of Vikas and Tarun added 45 runs for the first wicket.

MCC scored 178 runs in their allotted quota of 20 overs losing eight wickets in the process. For CCC, Deepak, Rishab and Prabhjot were the chief destroyers with two wickets apiece.

Chasing a stiff target to win, CCC could manage 160 runs for the loss of seven wickets and lost the battle by a thin margin. Dipesh played a gutsy knock of 46 runs but the remaining batsmen could not cope with the discipline bowling performance by the rival team.

Arun (25), Rishu (24) and Sonu (17) were the other notable scorers but it was not enough.

For MCC, Vikram was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Ramesh and Sumit snared two wickets apiece.