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Academy accused of rigging drama fest results
Four-tier mechanism to monitor RMSA
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Gujjars to fight for social, cultural rights
Shah Mohd Chawdhary, president, J&K Gujjars United Front addresses mediapersons in Jammu on Sunday. A Tribune photo
Participation in National School Games on a decline
Pressure eases on traffic police as Durbar moves to Srinagar
A view of the Civil Secretariat Road which reopened for traffic in Jammu on Sunday.
Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
If governed properly, J&K can have a bright future, says Mufti
BJYM blames NC-Cong for ‘backwardness’ of Rajouri, Poonch
Members of the BJYM during the ‘Yuva Adhikar Yatra’ in Jammu on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Shaheed Manjeet Club win volleyball tourney
Natrang group stages comedy play ‘Mehmaan’
A scene from a play directed by Anil Tickoo, ‘Mehmaan’, being presented at Natrang Studio Theatre in Jammu on Sunday. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
J&K Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra sign memorandum
AJKPC announces Jammu district unit
Two held for thefts in Batote
The accused in police custody with the stolen goods in Batote on Sunday. A Tribune photo
Sub-health centre for Novgaran
Eye hospital opens at Sainik Colony
Army holds recruitment programme
‘Private schools must adopt poor children’
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Academy accused of rigging drama fest results
Jammu, April 28 Miffed over the "biased judgements", these directors and artists demanded for immediate cancellation of ADF results. A total of nine plays were staged in the 12-day-long festival which was held between March 16 and March 27. Two plays ‘Government Inspector’ by Natraj Natya Kunj and ‘Do Kori Ka Khel’ by Amateur Theatre Group were adjudged the second best production respectively. Abhishek Bharti and Ifra Mushtaq Kak were awarded as second best directors for the play ‘Government Inspector’ and ‘Do Kohri Ka Khel', respectively. No first prize was announced for best production and best director categories. Kumar Bharti, the organising director of play 'Government Inspector, alleged, “It is a cruel joke with the entire art fraternity. They (Academy and judges) should have the courage to declare one of the second best plays as best production. One of the three judges was absent when we staged the play. The declaration of the results was deliberately delayed and it (result) should have been declared at least 15 days back.” Aaditya Bhanu, director of play 'Raj Dharsan', which was staged in the festival said there was a common perception among the artistic fraternity that ADF results were rigged every year. “As a director, I took part in the festival for the first time and the delayed results where no best production award was announced vindicated the apprehensions of the artists," he alleged. One of the artistes said, “The results now openly appear to be rigged to benefit some close aide of the Academy officials. This shows either the judges were of calibre of some ultra mundane capabilities or Jammu theatre doers do not have the potential to produce the best performance. This result should be cancelled forthwith.” Sudhir Mahajan, senior drama instructor of JKAACL who was person-in-charge to conduct the festival, said, "Never in my more than a decade long stint dealing with the drama festival have I come across such results where best production award as well as best director award have been missing and the second best production award as well second director award is shared between two groups. Judges are the supreme but such decisions have, of course, created ripples with many queries landing at our office." “As far as the results of the festival are concerned, same are influenced by the pressure tactics by the Academy which involves the role of the media as well. Results are pre-determined before the show as I too have suffered such claptrap, under which I never buckled down. This is the reason, they don't even care to send me an invitation card for any Academy event,” said Kavi Rattan, the doyen of state theatre milieu. Rattan is the first NSD pass out and former Additional Secretary of JKAACL who was a judge at the 2011-12 ADF. Mohan Singh, one of the judges at the festival, claimed the results were based on a consensus of the three judges. “There may be divergent views on the judgments made by us but we did our best while judging the performance of the JKAACL Secretary Khalid Bashir was not available for comments. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is the president of the JKAACL and the Academy has remained in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent times.
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Four-tier mechanism to monitor RMSA
Jammu, April 28 On the directions of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who holds the charge of the school education department, the committees have been made broad based. The Chief Secretary would head the committee at the state level and it would comprise administrative secretaries of the planning, education and the R&B departments besides Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir regions, Directors School Education, Jammu and Kashmir regions, Chairman BOSE, State Project Director (SDP) RMSA, eminent educationist and head of the department of Education, University of Jammu/Kashmir. The respective Divisional Commissioners would head the committee at the divisional level. The committee would comprise respective Directors of School Education, Chief Engineer, R&B, Jammu and Kashmir, SPD, RMSA, Principal State Institute of Education (SIE), Jammu and Kashmir regions and the State Coordinator, RMSA. At the district level, the committee would be headed by the respective District Development Commissioner comprising Superintendent Engineer, R&B, Additional District Development Commissioner, Chief Education Officer, Principal, DIET and state coordinator RMSA. The school level monitoring committee would comprise the head of institution, school management and development committee and representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions. The school education department has taken up the matter with the General Administration Department for concurrence and issuance of orders. Tightening the noose The J&K School Education Department has framed a four-tier mechanism for effective monitoring of Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA) at the state, divisional, district and school level in the wake of alleged irregularities in the implementation of the centrally-sponsored schemes
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Gujjars to fight for social, cultural rights
Jammu, April 28 At a day-long convention of prominent Gujjar leaders, social activists, panch and sarpanch at the Gurjar Centre for Heritage and Culture here, community leaders also discussed the present political, economic and social scenario of the Gujjars and identified some major areas for “sustained” struggle. The convention was held under the chairmanship of Shah Mohammad Chowdhary, president, J&K Gujjars United Front. The convention was organised in the backdrop of deteriorating political and economic profile of Gujjars and their “complete absence from the political and administrative priorities” of the government. The issues discussed were political reservation in the Legislative Assembly and Panchayats at the village, block and district level. Shah Mohammad Chowdhary demanded that imbalances in recruitments and promotions to various state services be removed and called for due representation to community in the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the SSRB. The speakers regretted the alleged misutilisation, misappropriation of central funds and called for its rationalisation and accountability besides Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub Plan be adhered to strictly. They also demanded that the government should also bank on special contingency funds so that no more excuses in execution of development and welfare projects for tribes. To safeguard and protect the interests of tribal communities, the leaders urged the Centre to direct the state government to create specially-dedicated Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the state. It was also resolved to conduct a special survey to ascertain economic conditions and poverty level among the Gujjar tribals and devise special measures for the disadvantaged sections. The speakers also pointed out that the community has been ignored during the special recruitment drives for recruitment in the police. It also called for special recruitment drive for Gujjars in the police, Education Department (Rehbar-e-Taleem), Health Department, Urdu teachers etc. |
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Participation in National School Games on a decline
Jammu, April 28 As per data available, an 849-member contingent, comprising 524 boys and 325 girls, had participated in the 58th National School Games in 2012-13. As many as nine gold, 17 silver and 27 bronze medals were bagged by the state contingent in the event. In 2011-12, a total of 1,324 players, comprising 756 boys and 568 girls, had taken part in the 57th edition of the sports event. The contingent had managed to bag 83 medals, including 16 gold, 28 silver and 39 bronze medals. In 2010-11, a 1,387-member contingent, comprising 801 boys and 586 girls, had competed in the 56th National School Games and had won 53 medals, comprising six gold, 29 silver and 18 bronze medals. Sources said the non-disbursal of sports scholarships among outstanding performers of the 57th National School Games was one of the reasons behind the decreasing participation of students in the event. “It was not less than a shock for budding sportspersons when they were informed by the sports department that they were not going to get the scholarships as the additional grant had not been provided by the government for this purpose,” said a source in the Department of Youth Services and Sports. “In fact, these sportspersons had then stated that they would ask their counterparts not to represent the state in the forthcoming edition of the event. Looking at the strength of the state contingent in 2012-13, which is less than 1,000, the possibility of the sportspersons’ words making an impact cannot be ruled out,” said the source. As far as the distribution of sports scholarships for the year 2012-13 is concerned, 613 sportspersons, including 387 from Jammu Division and 226 from Kashmir Division, were eligible for it. From Jammu Division, Jammu district had the maximum number of participants (238), followed by Doda (31), Udhampur (29), Reasi (28), Poonch (24), Samba (16), Kathua (12), Kishtwar (6), Rajouri (2) and Ramban (1) districts. From Kashmir Division, Srinagar district had the maximum participants (85) who got sports scholarships. From Budgam and Baramulla districts, 40 and 29 sportspersons, respectively, participated. |
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Pressure eases on traffic police as Durbar moves to Srinagar
Jammu, April 28 The Secretariat road, which was closed owing to security reasons in November last year, would remain open for general public for the next six months. “Reopening of the Secretariat will ease the movement of vehicles between Dogra Hall and Shalamar areas. For a distance of just 200 metres, commuters needed to cover a distance of two to three kilometers to reach Shalamar from Dogra Hall so far. It is a great relief that people would have direct access to Shalamar area for next six months," Sushil Khajuria, a government employee said. More than 20,000 vehicles would be off the road in Jammu with the shifting of Durbar offices to Srinagar. Sources say the traffic police was struggling with the shortage of manpower and each traffic policeman had to control 1,700 vehicles in the city. “Since the shifting of offices to Jammu from Srinagar in November last year, 300 traffic policemen were regulating 4.75 lakh vehicles in Jammu. Thousands of additional vehicles from outside the state also entered the city, which makes the situation more chaotic here," a senior traffic police officer said. “We make an additional deployment of 40 to 50 policemen in and around the Civil Secretariat to regulate the movement of vehicles, particularly those of the VIPs and VVIPs, but it is a difficult task to streamline traffic in other parts of the city with such small manpower. Around 50 cops are sent back to their original place of posting after the Durbar Move," he said. |
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If governed properly, J&K can have a bright future,
Srinagar, April 28 Addressing a public meeting at Srigufwara in south Kashmir’s Anatnag district, Mufti said the state had suffered due to governance deficit and educated youth were either unemployed or had jobs which were below their potential. Mufti said the break between 2002 and 2008 of the NC domination on the political and government scene had established clearly that the standard of life of people in the state could be drastically improved. “It was not only the security scenario, which had improved during that period but the development process had also invigorated. If that process had continued, the state would have changed beyond recognition. The impression that ‘all governments are alike’ is a deliberate attempt by non-performers to dilute the achievements of the PDP in its brief tenure,” Mufti said. The former CM said there were instances within the country in which the development scenario had been changed perceptibly by a new government. He said, “Bihar was considered the worst governed state and was cited as an example of backwardness but it is now the fastest growing state in the country. Similarly, Jammu & Kashmir had experienced an unprecedented activity on all fronts under the previous coalition.” “We had been able to change the discourse from conflict to resolution and from personal safety concerns to demands for speedier development and from a status of siege to the freedom of travel across borders, across LoC and even internally between the regions,” he said. Senior party leader and former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussein Baig said the NC had sold out vital resources of development for its own power. He said the party handed over the most feasible power projects to the NHPC just for securing a junior ministry for Omar Abdullah when it had aligned with the BJP. He said the darkness in the state was the result of the NC’s lust for power.
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BJYM blames NC-Cong for ‘backwardness’ of Rajouri, Poonch
Rajouri, April 28 Addressing the youth rally at Dak
Bunglow, Rajouri, BJYM state president Ravinder Raina said it was unfortunate that the hilly districts of the Jammu region were ignored by the successive National Conference and Congress governments. He said both the Congress and the National Conference were responsible for the “backwardness and sufferings of common man” in Rajouri and Poonch districts. Raina said families who had suffered due to terrorism were still waiting for justice. He said about 70 per cent of such families from
Rajouri, Kalakote, Budhal, Dhral, Thanamandi, Baffliaz, Suronkote,
Mendher, Poonch, Mandi, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar had been deprived of justice by the state government. He alleged that the present Congress-NC government was most corrupt government in the history of the state and it had failed on all the parameters of governance. He demanded special industrial and developmental packages for Rajouri and Poonch districts and said the government should organise special recruitment drives for these districts. |
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Shaheed Manjeet Club win volleyball tourney
Jammu, April 28 The tournament was organised by the Volleyball Club, Muthi, under the aegis of the Volleyball Association of J&K. Earlier, in the first semifinal played, Shaheed Manjeet Singh Memorial Volleyball Club, Poonch, got the better of 157 Territorial Army by 3-0 sets in an exciting contest. The Manjeet Club took won the first set by 25-13 and then stretched their lead further by taking the second set by a margin of 25-18. In the second semifinal match, the 4 Madras Core had the last laugh against the Volleyball Club, Pallanwala, by 3-2 sets. The 4 Madras Core started off brilliantly by taking the first two sets by 25-17 and 25-16 but the Pallanwala Club made an excellent comeback to win back to back sets. They minimised the margin by taking the third set by 25-17 and then drew parity by pocketing the fourth set by 25-23. In the decider round, the 4 Madras Core took the set by 15-11 to secure a berth in the finals. |
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Natrang group stages comedy play ‘Mehmaan’
Jammu, April 28 Tired of making expenses on their hospitality, Lalit keeps thinking of ideas to get rid of them. His wife fights with him whenever he shows his resentment over her relatives’ stay. A very ironical situation arises when it is revealed in some conversation that earlier, when his sister-in-law was unmarried, Lalit was an excellent host but now as she was married and had come with her husband, he was having problems. The issue flares up and the relatives decide to leave Lalit’s home immediately. This appears to be a blessing in disguise for Lalit but his happiness is short-lived as all of them come back giving him an unpleasant surprise that they were only joking with him. Ashwani Bali, Sajra Qadir, Vineet Sharma, Aarti Rajput, Vikram Sharma, Shekhar Sharma, Sachin Saini and Vishal Sharma were the artistes who performed in the play. Lights were operated by Uplaksh Singh Kotwal while Subha Rajput handled the sound. Sets were put up by Neeraj Kant and Mohammad Yaseen and the show was presented and coordinated by Sumeet Sharma.
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J&K Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra sign memorandum
Srinagar, April 28 The MOU was signed by Pushap Kumar Tickoo, president, J&K Bank, and Arun Malhotra, chief sales & customer care officer, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd in the presence of Abdul Hamid Banday, executive president of the bank, and Jyoti Malhotra, senior general manager, sales (north zone), M&M. “The tie-up will enable both J&K Bank and M&M to leverage on the inherent strengths of each other’s network of 685 business units and over 250 dealer outlets, respectively, across India. In the state, the bank has 577 business units and M&M is having a network of six dealers,” said J&K Bank spokesman in a statement issued here today. Abdul Hamid Banday said, “J&K Bank is expanding its operations in commercial and passenger vehicle financing. It has been making niche offerings to its customers and this arrangement with M&M will be one such special initiative. Customers of J&K Bank will benefit from this tie-up since they will have access to specialised services of M&M.”
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AJKPC announces Jammu district unit
Jammu, April 28 A decision in this regard was taken after a meeting of AJKPC leaders was held. The meeting included general secretary Anil Sharma, provincial president Kulbushan Khajuria, provincial secretary
Gautam Singh Jamwal and other senior members of the executive committee. Bishan Dass has been appointed senior vice-president, Om Parkash vice-president, Janak Raj district secretary and Puran Chand joint secretary of the Jammu district AJKPC unit. Ram Das, Hari Das, Sham Lal, Mohinder Singh, Radha Rani and Avinash Devi have been appointed members of the district executive body. Kulbushan Khajuria congratulated the new members of the district body. Later, Anil Sharma while addressing the gathering appreciated the role of provincial president and congratulated him for selecting potential panches and sarpanches in
his team. He said the AJKPC was an open forum for panchayat members who wanted to serve the community and raise genuine issues of people. |
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Two held for thefts in Batote
Batote, April 28 The arrests were made after a night-long swoop. A .12-bore double barrel gun allegedly stolen from the house of a retired Superintendent of Police, five LPG cylinders, electronic goods, including a colour television, VCR, two-in-one, set-top box, satellite receiver, radio and antique metal items were also recovered from a small cave in the jungle above the tourist bungalow at Batote. The thieves struck in five houses simultaneously at Tringla in Batote on April 17 in the wee hours. Thefts at houses used by their owners only for a few summer months have become common over past several decades. |
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Sub-health centre for Novgaran
Rajouri, April 28 Addressing a rally at Novgaran village in Rajouri today, he said a sub-health centre would be set up during this financial year in the village to provide healthcare to the villagers at their doorstep. He said to provide road connectivity to Androoth Panchayat halqa via Bugla and Thondigasi, the construction work of the road had been taken up at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The work would be completed this fiscal, he said. He said to solve the water scarcity problem in the area; work on the water supply scheme for Androoth would be completed this year. |
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Eye hospital opens at Sainik Colony
Jammu, April 28 The institute offers services for cataract, cornea, vitreo retina oculoplasty, refractive surgery-lasik/ICL, C3R for keratoconus, glaucoma and squint. All the sub-specialties are under the care of expert consultants from Amritsar and Jammu. The group has conducted more than 400 free cataract surgeries in Jammu and Samba districts in the last two months and aims to conduct free camps in Doda, Rajouri and Kishtwar districts. |
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Army holds recruitment programme
Jammu, April 28 The students were told about the National Defence Academy (NDA), Combined Defence Services (CDS), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc and the qualifications and age required to opt for these services. Lieutenant Roshan Kumar advised students to choose the Indian Army as their career so that they could serve their nation for its betterment and progress of their nation. The students talked to Army personnel about applying in the defence services and requirements. |
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The Gujjar community would launch a “sustained” struggle for their “long and overdue” political, social, economic and cultural rights in the state. The leaders of the community also made a fervent appeal to all political parties “to give due priority to numerical position, historical legacy and contemporary concerns of the Gujjars and Bakerwals” in the state.
The Civil Secretariat road, which connects two of the busiest residential localities; Dogra Hall and Shalamar area in the old city, was thrown open for general public today after the Civil Secretariat which is the seat of governance of the winter capital closed. The Civil Secretariat and some government departments are part of the biannual Durbar Move, which will resume in Srinagar on May 6.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the
BJP, has launched ‘Yuva Adhikar Yatra’, a statewide drive to garner support of youth for its agitation against the alleged soft approach of the state government towards militancy.
The yatra reached Rajouri town on Sunday with full enthusiasm. The yatra was welcomed by BJYM district president Vikas Gupta Nishu and state secretary Ranjeet Tara.
Jammu, April 28
at Tringla area of
Batote, in early this month. The arrests were made after a night-long swoop. A .12-bore double barrel gun allegedly stolen from the house of a retired Superintendent of Police, five LPG cylinders, electronic goods, including a colour television, VCR, two-in-one, set-top box, satellite receiver, radio and antique metal items were also recovered from a small cave in the jungle above the tourist bungalow at
Batote.
