Report card

* There were 358 sanctioned posts in the GMCH faculty, including 63 posts of Professor, 66 Associate Professors, 82 Assistant Professors and 147 Lecturers

* Of the 358 sanctioned posts, only 182 have been filled,thus 176 posts are vacant

* As many as 68 posts of lecturer, 38 of posts of Assistant Professor, 33 Associate Professor and 37 Professor are vacant in the college

Jammu, April 18
The family of a 45-year-old man was today forced to shift a critically injured patient to a private hospital after the latter was allegedly denied ventilator facility at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here.

Anees Malik was brought to the hospital after he received a head injury in an accident at Sunjwan on the outskirts of the city this morning. His family had to face a tough time in the hospital as no ventilator was available for Anees.

“Malik received head injury and the doctors recommended ventilator facility for him, but no ventilator was available for us. Some ventilators were occupied by chronic patients, while others were out of order,” Amir Karim Tantray, a relative of the victim alleged.

Tantray said Malik was shifted to a private hospital at Bari Brahmana where he was put on ventilator immediately. “Most of the patients who need to be put on ventilators are either being shifted to private institutes in Jammu or neighbouring states. The possibility of a planned conspiracy to keep the ventilators out of order to benefit the private institutions can’t be ruled,” he alleged.

Sources say, nearly half of the ventilators out of 12 were out of order in the 800-bed hospital. They also said the patients from the SMGS Hospital, the only premier Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital of the region, were also referred to the GMCH as there was only one ventilator available in SMGS Hospital against the requirement of six.

Last year, the management of the GMCH, Jammu, had constituted a committee to inquire into the alleged discrepancy of Ventilators in the Emergency of the Hospital.

Medical Superintendent GMCH, Jammu Dr Manoj Chalotra said he would collect the exact information vis-à-vis total number of ventilators functioning in the hospital and the same would be made available by tomorrow.

Principal GMCH, Jammu, Dr Aniece Choudhary, was unavailable for comments.

Jammu, April 18
The local railway station is now under round-the-clock protection of two “battle-hardened” commando teams of the Government Railway Police (GRP). The commandos have also been armed with sophisticated AK series weapons.

The authorities have also installed 16 CCTV cameras, four X-ray machines and deployed sniffer dogs at one of Northern India’s busiest railway stations that witnesses arrival and departure of 60 trains and an average footfall of 80,000 everyday.

IGP Railways, Dr Kamal Saini, said, “Besides regular deployment of constables, two commando teams comprising 16 commandos of the GRP and equipped with AK series weapons, guard the station 24x7.”

Similarly, 16 CCTV cameras keep an eye on the passengers while four new X-ray machines have also been installed to scan luggage,” he added.

He said the railways have also been advised to construct a compound wall at the railway station.

“We have already removed encroachments from the periphery of the railway station and from Kathua and Udhampur stations as well,” he said.

“Manpower shortage is a common problem in almost every sphere and we are no exception but we at the GRP make the best of the available resources, which is possible only by deploying the right people at the right place as well as effective supervision. We believe in quality and not quantity,” the IGP said.

“We deploy dedicated and devoted staff on key posts and keep shuffling our deployment depending upon security scenario,” he said.

“Though the Katra railway station has not been commissioned yet, but we have already set up a GRP station there,” he added.

He said the 17-km long railway track between Banihal and Qazigund having a tunnel of over 11 km is likely to be made operational next month. Known as Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, it is India's longest and Asia’s third longest railway tunnel. China's Taihang Tunnel (28 km) is the longest and Wushaoling Tunnel (21 km) comes at the second place.

The tunnel is equipped with the state-of-the-art air quality monitoring system, ventilation system, communication system, fire fighting system and emergency rescue system in case of an emergency.

The tunnel’s average elevation at 1,760 m (5,770 ft) is 440 m (1,440 ft) beneath the existing road tunnel.

“Orders to deploy constables have already been issued to guard this strategic stretch,” he said.

The IGP, however, felt that the absence of barracks, offices and duty hutments along the railway track from Lakahanpur in Kathua district to Katra in Reasi district continued to give a tough time to the GRP constables, who had to live in tents.

“The matter has been taken up with the railways and we hope to get the basic infrastructural facilities for our personnel soon,” he said.

He said the GRP was being assisted by the Special Police Officers and Indian Reserve Police constables to protect and secure rail network in the state.

The state, as of today, has 421 km of railway tracks from Ravi Bridge in Lakhanpur to Baramulla, out of which 253 km is operational from Lakhanpur to Udhampur in Jammu region and Qazigund to Baramulla in Kashmir Valley. “A 168 km long track from Udhampur to Qazigund is yet to be made operational. There are 90 railway bridges and 20 rail tunnels from Kathua to Baramulla,” he said.

on a secure track

* The railway authorities have also installed 16 CCTV cameras, four X-ray machines and deployed sniffer dogs at the railway station

* Two commando teams with 16 members of the GRP each have been armed with AK series weapons

* The railways have been advised to build a compound wall at the railway station

Jammu, April 18
A long queue of applicants was witnessed today at the office of the Fire and Emergency Services, J&K, at Gandhi Nagar to submit the forms for the 45 state cadre posts advertised by the Departmental Recruitment Board, Fire and Emergency Services, J&K.

Applicants submit forms at the office of Fire and emergency Services Department in Jammu on Thursday.  Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

The posts of Steno Typist (Sub Officer-S) and Junior Assistant (Leading Fireman-M) were advertised by the department on March 12 and today was last day to submit the application forms.

For the convenience of the applicants, the department had made the facility to download the application forms from its website besides it had also accepted typed/photostat copies of the application forms.

The application forms were also made available and received at the District Fire and Emergency Headquarters and some remote Fire and Emergency Stations.

The call letters shall not be issued individually. The Departmental Recruitment Board would inform the eligible candidates about the venue and dates of the interview through the print and electronic media as well as the department’s website.

Jammu, April 18
Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have greeted people of the state on the festival of Ram Navmi. They have expressed that the auspicious occasion would be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

In his message, the Governor said the celebration of festivals, which are an important part of our glorious pluralistic history, strengthen communal harmony, brotherhood and secular belief.

The Governor prayed for the well-being of the people of the state.

Omar Abdullah said the pluralistic ethos of Jammu and Kashmir and its high traditions of communal amity get further strengthened by celebrating the holy occasions in an atmosphere of brotherhood and harmony.

“Let us spread love and happiness universally and remember the needy and poor on the holy occasions of festivity and joy,” he said.

He hoped that the festival would herald a new era of peace and development in the state and the country.

Jammu, April 18
Minister for Road and Buildings Abdul Majid Wani met Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development, and informed him about the difficulties in the completion of several road projects under the flagship programme-PMGSY in the state, due to the unavailability of funds required for land acquisition.

Wani informed Ramesh that Rs 1,277 crore were required to complete the ongoing schemes. He said till date only Rs 577 crore had been released under the PMRP and the balance amount of Rs 700 crore was still pending.

Responding to the issue, Ramesh said he had already taken up the matter with the Prime Minister and was hopeful that the balance amount would be released to enable the state government to implement the PMGSY programme in totality in J&K.

He also assured that as many as 200 new projects, submitted by the state government for road length of 2,000 km under the PMGSY to provide connectivity to remaining areas of the state, shall be shortly sanctioned. The total cost of these 200 new projects is approximately Rs 2,000 crore.

Wani raised the demand for revision of schedule of rates, which were required to be revised by the Union Government in view of the price escalation, especially labour costs. He also brought the dilapidated condition of some existing roads in the state to the notice of the Union Minister, besides raising the issue of construction of concrete pavements in far-flung snow-bound areas.

Ramesh assured Wani that these demands would be considered.

He asked the Minister to submit the projects to upgrade existing roads which were in extremely poor conditions so that the same could be considered for approval.

Later, Wani also met Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, CP Joshi and presented him an overview of the road network in the state and the need for making funds available under centrally-sponsored schemes, including the CRF, in order to achieve equitable percentage of road connectivity, especially in far-flung and difficult areas.

Jammu, April 18
Pinning high hopes on the forthcoming crucial working committee meeting, to be convened by Dr Farooq Abdullah, president, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), the cricketers said it was the dream of every cricketer to have an exclusive state-of-art cricket stadium of international standard.

While expressing resentment over the alleged inordinate delay by the state cricket body JKCA, cricketers said the association needed to do something special for the completion of the dream project.

“On March 18, 2013 we were very excited about the foundation stone laying ceremony of the much-awaited proposed international cricket stadium at Bajalta but the postponement of the function has left us shocked”, said one of the cricketers on the condition of anonymity.

“One of the promising cricketers of the state, Parvez Rasool has proved his worth at the higher level, which shows that there is no dearth of talent in the state, provided the cricketers have adequate facilities at their disposal to sharpen their skills further. In fact, the first and the most important thing needed to improve your skills is to have an exclusive practice venue where you can spend time to work on them”, he added.

“Unfortunately, the state cricketers are being deprived of having an exclusive cricket stadium but we hope the JCKA chief would take some decisive measures in the upcoming meeting to make a headway in the construction of the international stadium”, said another cricketer.

“Look at the way the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) has made rapid strides in a short span of time in international cricket and is promoting its cricketers at higher levels”, the 
cricketer opined.

“The beautiful stadium situated at Dharamsala is not only hosting IPL matches on routine basis but the recent hosting of an ODI between India and England is a perfect example of achieving excellence by the association”, he added.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Manzoor Wazir, JKCA Treasurer said “No fresh date has been announced yet for the foundation stone laying ceremony. As I have already informed, Dr Abdullah will convene a working committee meeting to decide the future course of action”. 

Jammu, April 18
Jammu Private Schools and ETT Institutes Association (progressive) said the constitution of the Education Advisory Board was incomplete without the participation of civil society members, including private stakeholders.

While commenting on the constitution of the board, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Deep Singh, president of the association, said “Experience of the past reveals that the government’s total dependence on retired or working functionaries had failed to yield the required results in different fields, including the so-called priority sector of Education”.

He added that one such futile exercise, based on majority of the retired J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) officers, was initiated in the recent past by the former School Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed to propose amendments in the new Board Act.

“The retired participants had failed to frame the rules of the old Board Act, 1975 which are even missing as on date, during their service. One fails to understand the motive of our rulers who, despite knowing the facts, are not ready to amend their working style”, Singh claimed.

“The recent disclosures during the budget session and prevailing defunct working of government schools of the state are sufficient to know the seriousness of our government and its functionaries.” 

Jammu, April 18
The IRP 15 Battalion got the better of IRP 17 Battalion in the final to clinch the volleyball title in women section of the ongoing Inter-Battalion Sports Meet, being organised by the J&K Police at different venues, here.

In hockey (women), IRP 4 Battalion and IRP 19 Battalion will be face to face for the final. Earlier in first semifinal, IRP 4 Battalion got the better of IRP 7 Battalion by 3-0. Indpal Singh, Gurmukh Singh and Mushtaq scored a goal each while in the second semifinal, IRP 19 Battalion overcame the challenge of IRP 17 Battalion by 2-0 goals. The scorers were Satwant Singh and Rana Pratap.

In 12 km cross country, Vikram Singh of IRP 2 Battalion, Lal Singh of IRP 12 Battalion and Shallu Ram of IRP 9 Battalion secured the first, second and the third positions respectively.

In discus throw, Latief Ahmad of IRP 17 Battalion, Sandeep Kumar of IRP 4 Battalion and Shahnaz Ahmad of IRP 5 Battalion fetched the first three positions.

In 4x100mt relay, Shabir Kumar, Zubair Ahmad, Tanvir Ahmad and Danish Yousuf from IRP 17 Battalion bagged the top honours while Maninder Singh, Jangdeep Singh, Mohan Lal and Mudasir Bashir from IRP 19 Battalion secured the second position. The third spot was claimed by Madan Lal, Naresh Kumar, Rajinder Singh and Jagjit Singh from IRP16 Battalion.

In high jump, Maninder Singh of IRP 19 Battalion clinched the first position while the second and the third positions were secured by Raj Kumar of IRP 17 Battalion and Vikrant Raina of IRP 19 Battalion. In javelin throw, Harish Sharma of IRP 17 Battalion and Sahil Gupta of IRP 19 Battalion secured the first and the second positions respectively. The third position was shared by Irshad Mohammad of IRP 19 Battalion and Balwan Singh of the 
JKAP 7 Battalion.

In gazetted officers (GOs) event of badminton, Sanjay Parihar will take on Randhir Singh in the summit showdown. Earlier, in the first semifinal, Sanjay Parihar trounced Suraj Singh by 2-0 sets (21-16 and 21-15) while Randhir Singh had the last laugh against Vijay Singh Sambyal by 2-1 sets (21-10, 18-21 and 22-20).

In table tennis (GOs), Vijay Singh Sambyal and Swaran Singh Jungi secured their berth in the semifinals. In the first quarterfinal, Vijay Singh Sambyal toppled Vijay Kumar by 2-0 sets while in the second quarterfinal, Sanjay Parihar lost to Swaran Singh Jungi by 11-5 points.

In basketball, IRP 3 Battalion, IRP 19 Battalion, IRP 18 Battalion and IRP 17 Battalion scripted wins to sail into the last four. Earlier, in the first quarterfinal, IRP 3 Battalion subdued the JKAP 13 Battalion by 25-12 points. In the second quarterfinal, IRP 19 Battalion notched up a convincing 32-22 points win over the JKAP 12 Battalion. In the third quarterfinal, IRP 18 Battalion drubbed IRP 12 Battalion by 28-14 points whereas in the last quarterfinal, IRP 17 Battalion routed IRP 8 Battalion by 23-16 points.

Jammu, April 18
A six-day workshop on preparation of teaching aids concluded on the premises of the Vimal Muni College of Education, Ramgarh, here.

Prof KB Sethi, Principal (retd), Government College of Education, inspected the teaching aids on the concluding day. A committee comprising two staff members, namely Asha Verma and Vijay Laxmi, under the convenership of Prof Sethi declared the first three positions in the workshop. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Sethi encouraged the creativity of the students and appreciated the working of the college.

Earlier, the workshop was inaugurated by the principal of the college, Dr SD Gupta. He talked about the need of such workshops in the teaching-learing process. The students were given two topics related to their teaching subjects. They prepared teaching aids on the respective subjects under the supervision of the staff members.

Jammu, April 18
The Czech Republic would depute its Tour and Travel Operators, besides media persons, on a familiarisation trip to Jammu and Kashmir for encouraging its citizens to visit the state.

This was revealed by the Ambassador of Czech Republic, Miloslav Stasak, during his meeting with Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir.

He also offered the support from his country to J&K Government for promotion and showcasing of the abundant tourism potential of Jammu and Kashmir.

The ambassador appreciated the efforts of the state government for promoting its tourism by creating world-class tourist infrastructure, besides offering adventure and golf tourism for high-end tourists. He also hailed the state government’s efforts to restore peace and normalcy and added that the state was as safe as other parts of the world, so there should be no reservations among the tourists.

Minister of State for Tourism and Home, Sajad Ahmad Kichloo, Commissioner Secretary, Tourism and Culture and Atul Duloo were also present in the meeting.

During the one-hour meeting, several issues related to tourism cooperation between the Czech Republic and Jammu and Kashmir state were discussed.

Kichloo briefed Stasak about the overall tourism scenario of the state.