Srinagar, April 18
To prevent road accident deaths involving schoolchildren, the police has launched a special drive against overloaded school buses in Srinagar.

Over a dozen school buses were challaned and impounded by the police in Lal Chowk and other neighbouring localities today during an early morning drive. The impounded vehicles were mostly hired by various schools to ferry schoolchildren from various localities of the city.

“The drive was launched after complaints about overloading of school buses were lodged with us. The drive will continue in the coming days also,” said a police officer. “All those vehicles which were challaned today were found carrying children more than their capacity,” he added.

The police would also take up the issue of overloading of school buses with school managements.

“If the overloading of school buses continues, the vehicles would be impounded permanently,” he said.

The drive against the overloaded school buses has been launched in many parts of the Valley to ensure safety of schoolchildren in the wake of a recent road accident in Anantnag on April 4, which had left nine schoolchildren dead.

“The schools found violating safety norms will be taken to task,” he added. A number of school bus drivers in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley can also be seen violating traffic rules, posing a threat to lives of students.

Srinagar, April 18
A protest march of casual workers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department was foiled by the police here today. Carrying placards and raising slogans, a large numbers of protesters under the banner of PHE Joint Employees Association (PHEJEA) took out a procession from the PHE office at Raj Bagh to Press Enclave.

Casual workers of the Public Health Engineering Department scuffle with policemen during a protest in Srinagar on Thursday. Tribune photo: Amin war

After protesting at the Press Enclave, the PHEJEA members tried to take out a procession towards the Divisional Commissioner’s office. However, the bid was foiled by the police. The police also canecharged the protesters near Court Road.

Over 12 protesters were detained while a few others sustained minor injuries in the police action. Movement of vehicular traffic in and around city centre Lal Chowk was briefly disrupted during the police action against the protesters.

Talking to reporters earlier, PHEJEA president Sajad Ahmad Parrey flayed the government for failing to address their concerns. He said no major steps were being taken towards the fulfilment of their demands.

He said several casual employees had been working in the PHE Department for more than 10 years and were still awaiting regularisation of services. Parrey said their demands included regularisation of services and release of pending salaries. He also demanded that the salaries of the casual employees be released on a monthly basis.

Parrey said they would continue to hold protests till their demands were met. He said the PHEJEA would soon announce its next course of protest programme while adding that they would intensify their stir.

Srinagar, April 18
Separatist leader and National Front chairman Nayeem Ahmad Nayeem Khan has approached the high court with an application seeking his lodgement at Srinagar Central Jail on health grounds.

Khan, who is also a senior executive member of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was booked under the Public Safety Act on April 5 and had been lodged at high-security Kotebalwal Jail in the Jammu region. Subsequently, Khan had challenged his detention under the PSA by filing a habeas corpus petition before the high court, which was listed today.

“We have filed an application before the high court, wherein we have sought Khan’s lodgement in Srinagar Central Jail on health grounds, as he is currently undergoing treatment at the SKIMS, Soura,” said Khan’s counsel M Ashraf Wani.

He said the single Bench of the High Court, which heard the application, has sought a status report from the government and posted the matter for further consideration on Friday.

Nayeem Khan was produced before a local court here on April 17 in connection with a case (FIR 72/2011) registered against him in Karan Nagar police station, wherein he has been accused of raising provocative slogans on September 16, 2011.

Later, he was admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, Srinagar, for medical check-up on the instruction of the Sub-Judge Passenger Tax Srinagar, Ashwani Kumar, after his counsel had submitted to the court that his client was not keeping well and needed immediate medical check-up.

Before being detained under the PSA, Khan was earlier arrested on March 8, 2013, in a case registered with Pattan police station under FIR No 5/2000. Subsequently, on the court’s directions, he was released on March 20 in the said case and re-arrested the same day for “unknown reasons”.

Srinagar, April 18
Reiterating his shutdown call on Saturday to protest against the supply of spurious drugs to the Valley hospitals, chairman of hardline separatist faction Syed Ali Geelani has appealed to international human rights organizations, including International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to take note of the scam and investigate into the matter.

He has termed the silence of the state government over the issue as “meaningful” and demanded registration of an FIR against the guilty.

The scam of sale of spurious drugs surfaced in the Kashmir valley recently when an analytical report of an antibiotic drug found that it contained no medicine.

The Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) and an association of the region’s chemists have demanded registration of cases against senior officers who passed the drug for sale and also sought resignation of a senior minister during whose tenure the allotment was done.

As per the DAK, around two lakh fake Maximizane-625 tablets were distributed in the Valley hospitals during 2011-2012.

“The state has become a big market for medicines worth crores of rupees. And the spurious drugs scandal indicates that there is a plan to kill the people”, Geelani said in a statement here. He had on April 16 issued a call for observing a complete shutdown on Saturday (April 20) over the issue of spurious drugs.

“As the government is silent over the issue, it appears this is not a simple case but a planned operation in which many high-profile people are involved,” Geelani said while terming the supply of spurious drugs a “human rights” violation.

Demanding action into the matter, the separatist leader has also called for registration of an FIR against those involved in the scandal and asked international organizations to take cognisance of the issue and investigate.

The state government has already filed a case against the drug company which manufactured the spurious drug Maximizane-625 mg, which has been found containing zero mg of amoxicillin instead of 500 mg of amoxicillin.

Srinagar, April 18
Members of the civil society today staged a protest in the heart of the city and demanded punishment for those involved in the purchase of "fake” drugs for the hospitals.

The protesters sought a judicial probe into the scam that has surfaced recently and is snowballing into a major controversy.

“We reject the probe already ordered by the state government on the issue and demand a judicial probe so that whosoever is responsible in the purchase of fake drugs is punished,” said Shakeel Qalander, a senior member of Kashmir Centre for Social And Development Studies (KCSDS), which had called the protest.

The protest started from Sher-e-Kashmir Park and it passed through the commercial hub and later dispersed peacefully. The protesters were carrying banners seeking punishment for those involved in the drug scam.

Meanwhile, South Kashmir Civil Society (SKCS) also took out a protest march against the sale of spurious drugs. The protest started from industrial estate Anantnag and marched through various streets of Anantnag and culminated at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

The SKCS later submitted a memorandum to Anantnag Deputy Commissioner, seeking independent and time-bound inquiry into the supply of spurious drugs to government hospitals.

Srinagar, April 18
The Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has devised a special technique called Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers as against conventional method of saline gauze dressing. This breakthrough procedure has been developed on the basis of a study conducted by Dr Ali Mohammad Lone under the guidance of Mohammad Inam Zaroo of the Department of Plastic Surgery, SKIMS.

The study was presented in the recently held 17th Annual Postgraduate Research presentation at the SKIMS, Soura.

Diabetes is the most common disease in Kashmir and patients suffer from complication of foot ulcers and various other infections as a result of this disease.

Doctors at the SKIMS say serious problems like ulceration, infection and gangrene are common complications that develop in diabetic foot ulcer patients. They have found that the VAC procedure is very effective in terms of healing rate, safety, patient satisfaction and helps in management of such disorders effectively.

The patients treated with VAC procedure have reported quick healing of wounds and are quite satisfied. 

Anantnag, April 18
The academics of the students enrolled in different Government Schools across south Kashmir, particularly Anantnag, are severely hampered in wake of the dismal teacher-student ratio, reports said.

As per the reports, government schools in various zones have hundreds of students and just two or three teachers. However, there are schools with only a dozen students and an equal number of teachers.

Sources in the department said the menace existed because, despite of the government orders, the practice of attachments and deployments remained rampant throughout the region.

“Teachers with good connections get themselves posted near their homes or in some cases bribe is paid for the postings,” said the sources.

The authorities get these teachers attached or deployed at a school of their choice in case there is no vacant post, without even taking into consideration the overall requirement of the schools.

Citing an example, a source said, “The Government Primary School in Shilpora, Mattan, has two teachers for three students while Government High School, Wantrag, has five teachers for 200 students”.

Reports said most of the students from schools like these were either getting enrolled in private schools or dropping out of the school in case they could not afford a private school.

“I cannot afford a private school for my son. However, seeing the condition of the school, I will be forced to get him enrolled in a private school. That will no doubt break my back but I do not have any other option,” said Ali Mohammad, whose son studies at the school at Wantrag.

The students of Government School at Aru village of Pahalgam, along with their parents, recently held protests at the Deputy Commissioner Anantnag’s office.

“We do not have a single teacher in our school,” said the students.

Even though the Education Department has been paying attention to the matter for quite some time now, most of the transfer orders remain pending.

“We are getting requisition lists from schools in different zones so that we can assess their requirements,” said an official of the department. 

Srinagar, April 18
A special cover was released by the Department of Posts, Jammu and Kashmir Circle, at the Government College for Women (GCW), Maulana Azad Road, here today.

“The cover was released by Amit Sharma, Director, Finance and Tanveer Ara, Principal of the College. The special cover release was a part of the ongoing programme of J&K Postal Circle to showcase the flora, fauna, important places and institutions of Jammu & Kashmir to the whole world by means of philately,” a DoP official said.

The DoP had held a seminar on women empowerment and also organised a philately exhibition in an effort to highlight the contributions of women in various fields, earlier this week.

Srinagar, April 18
A motorcyclist died and six others were injured in different road accidents across the Valley on Thursday. Police said a motorcyclist Tariq Ahmad Qureshi of Soiteng, Lasjan, died in Srinagar.

The motorcycle, bearing registration number JK04A/1047, collided with a Tata Mobile at Soiteng, resulting in injuries to Qureshi. He was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries.

The body of the deceased was handed over to his family for the last rites. A case was registered at police station Nowgam.

In another accident, a Tavera hit and injured Javeed Ahmad Mir of Nowshera, at Boniyar Market in Baramulla district.

Police said an Army vehicle collided with a Police vehicle near Pattan, on National Highway, resulting in minor injuries to Constable Hilal Ahmad and SPO Nisar Ahmad of police station Pattan. Both the injured were shifted to a hospital for treatment. Police has registered a case in this regard.

In another accident, a police vehicle bearing registration number JK02A/7931 on way from Pulwama to Baramulla for duty, hit and injured Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat of Kreeri Baramulla at Khawaja Bagh. The injured was shifted to District Hospital, Baramulla and later on referred to SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar, for treatment. Police has registered a case in this regard.

The police said a bus hit and injured a pedestrian Sajad Ahmad Kirmani of Qamarwari, Srinagar, at Pattan market.

In another accident, a Maruti 800, bearing registration number JK05C/3484, turned turtle on Nation Highway near Trumgund crossing, resulting in injuries to the driver of the car. 

Srinagar, April 18
The veterinary wing of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has generated record revenue of Rs 14.10 lakh during the current financial year.

“During the year 2012-13, veterinary wing of the corporation generated a record revenue of Rs 14.10 lakh against Rs 8.56 lakh generated last year,” SMC media relations officer said after a meeting held between SMC Commissioner Dr GN Qasba and the veterinary wing of the corporation here today.

It was informed in the meeting that 1,200 stray animals were lifted from roads, lanes and by-lanes falling within Srinagar municipal limits and the owners were penalised for the violations. Municipal Veterinary Officer Javaid Rather said a tight vigil had been kept over the livestock check post at Athwajan from where at least 1,477 truckloads of live stock ferrying around 2,23,340 animals (sheeps and goats) entered the city since the last year.

“Out of these, 1,304 animals were rejected or declared unfit for human consumption and were disposed of properly. Around 18, 48,841, poultry birds entered the corporation limits in 808 truck loads out of which, 14,593 birds were found dead or unfit for human consumption,” he added. The meeting was further informed that during the last 15 days, at least 225 anti mortem and post mortem examination of slaughtered sheep and goats at Rainawari slaughter house were conducted to ensure quality supply of meat, SMC official said.

Srinagar, April 18
University of Kashmir (KU) Institute of foreign languages will host a conference where renowned German language teachers will present their papers and interact with students pursuing the language as a subject.

Bashir Ahmad, Director, Institute of Foreign languages, said German language has had a long-standing presence at the KU as a subject at the institute of foreign languages. There was a demand from private schools and Kendriya Vidyalyas to start German as a subject. He said to cater to this demand, the Institute Max Mueller Bhavan, in cooperation with the KU, started a special programme to train teachers.

A super intensive course, fully financed by the Max Mueller Bhavan, was offered to the students of the university interested in teaching German, he said, adding that it had garnered good response from the students .

He added that a group of Kashmiri young men and women had started out on their new intensive course of study, taught by talented teachers available in Srinagar. The KU offered its infrastructure to support the course. Now, around 15 of these students are ready to start teaching in schools.

“The Kendriya Vidyalayas have already conducted interviews and will soon be commencing German teaching. Other schools will follow soon. These teachers are now also being trained in the methodology and didactics of foreign language training,” he added.

Bashir said 50 teachers from Delhi, UP, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Punjab would be attending the conference. The conference would deal with various aspects of foreign language teaching and on the sidelines of the conference, the Swiss and German Embassy and many German institutions like the German organisation for International Cooperation, will offer sessions on higher study and placement opportunities in Germany,” he added.