Jammu, July 10
For more than a century, Kanak Mandi-Rajinder market-Raghunath Bazaar were a major commercial and transit point for traders across the state. But successive governments have been unable to maintain their glory.

Beneath the long queues of vehicles and crumbling old structures in the background, these markets are crying for attention. Facing problems such as poor civic infrastructure and parking facilities to accommodate hundreds of vehicles, which carry tonnes of goods to different parts of the Jammu region everyday, even drinking water and electricity supply is made through the age-old infrastructure which has not been changed since over past four decades, giving an ugly look to once fledging business hub of the state.

Till late 1990's, these markets which were established by erstwhile Dogra rulers in 1850's were a major market to buy goods on wholesale rate, traditional handicrafts and every household item today presents a picture of neglect.

On one side, long queues of load carriers all along from the City Chowk up to other end meet the Residency road gives it a bad look, the project to develop Raghunath Bazaar as historical souvenir is stuck due to lack of funds. The government has failed to release more than Rs 3 crore required to develop infrastructure here.

It is a nightmare to walk through the markets. There is no space for people to walk as vehicles have eaten up all the space. It is a terrible reminder about the failure of the administration to improve the basic infrastructure.

“We have been asking the government to rehabilitate the traders in Kanak Mandi, Rajinder Bazaar to some other place and allow them to keep just small shops. The area can be developed as heritage point," said Yash Pal Gupta, president, Associated Chamber of Traders Federation (ACTF).

The bazaars came up after Maharaja Gulab Singh become ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. His dynasty was spread till the border of Tibet and Afghanistan. When the construction of the Raghunath temple started, the area become a major commercial hub and till 1947, when the country won its independence, it was a major transit point for the traders from Kashmir, Sialkote in Pakistan and Muzafarabad-Mirpur areas of Jammu and Kashmir, now under the occupation of Pakistan.

Raghunath Bazaar Business Association (RBBA) president Baldev Khullar said, “Traders are waiting for funds as no work is being carried out for the development of bazaar as promised by the government and the Tourism Department. Despite several meetings with the district administration, we have got only assurances in return.”

Hundreds of devotees pull the chariot during a rath yatra in Jammu on Wednesday. Tribune photos: Anand Sharma

Jammu, July 10
Shri Jagannath rath yatra was taken out in city with religious fervour and enthusiasm.

Chariots of Lord Jagannath, his brother Baldev and sister Subhadra, were pulled with ropes by hundreds of devotees, who had come from several parts of the city.

People from Oddisa mostly working in local industries also took part in the event.Thousands of devotees thronged the rath yatra path to seek the darshan of Lord Jagannath.

It is belived that Lord Jagannath comes out on the streets to embrace his devotees.

He is said to shower His blessings even on even those who cannot come to him.

Jammu, July 10
Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) today seized 15 kg polythene carry bags and imposed a fine of Rs 11,200 on defaulters across the city.

Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, KL Khajuria, deployed teams of the Enforcement Wing led by the Chief Enforcement Officer and Municipal Veterinary Officer, respectively, undertook extensive drives in Talab Tillo, Bhori, Patta Chungi, Akhnoor Road and inspected the shops, vendors and other outlets.

The team also made the people aware of the ban on the use of polythene carry bags and the adverse effects of polythene carry bags which are made of non-bio degradable material and requested them to use the bags made of bio-degradable material to carry their commodities.

The state government as per SRO-182 (ban on carrying polythene bags) under the non-biodegradable material (Management, Handling, and Disposal Act 2007 in 2009 and in pursuance of its SRO 122 issued later, delegates powers to different authorities to punish the offenders. A ban was imposed on 16 items of non-biodegradable material, including polythene, poly bags, nylon etc.

Jammu, July 10
The J&K State Sports Council has been reconstituted after its term ended on June 3. Many new faces have been included in the autonomous sports body. These include outstanding sportspersons.

The Chief Minister, along with the Minister for Sports, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, and the administrative secretaries of finance, planning and development and youth services and sports departments, held discussions with the experts in the field of sports.

Chief Minister will be the president of the new Council while the Sports Minister will be the vice-president. The administrative secretaries will be the members whereas Daleep Thusu has been retained as the Member Secretary.

Outstanding sportspersons who have been given a berth in the council include member of the national cricket team Parvez Rasool, Kayaking and Canoeing player, Bilquis Mir, Dushyant Sharma, outstanding wrestler and former president, Wrestling Federation of India, ace fencer, Rashid Ahmed and Indian Wushu coach Kuldeep Handoo.

Other members from Jammu include Ranjeet Kalra, Dr Nirmolak Singh, Rangil Singh, Vijay Gupta, Ram Khajuria, Narinder Gupta, Dr Brij Biloria and Siddarth Sharma.

Jammu, July 10
Even though the J&K State Sports Council has recently rolled back its earlier decision by announcing a concession in the registration fee of trainees, the tussle still continues as both trainees and their parents have expressed displeasure over the new concession in fee, claiming that it is still too high.

Sources said when the State Sports Council had announced a hike in the registration fee a few months back, parents of sportspersons had refused to pay it and went to stadium authorities and the Sports Minister. The minister agreed to give concession, but that failed to solve the vexed issue.

Sources said after the concession in fee was announced, the authorities had told the trainees to deposit the fee as per the new fee structure otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the premises. Sources claimed that when the parents have refused to pay the fee, the concerned authorities have now decided to allow only those trainees who would pay the fee.

"The authorities have announced fee concession, but still the justice has not been done. We are not going to pay the fee and if possible we are ready to again meet the Sports Minister and appeal to maintain the old fee structure," said one of the aggrieved parents.

"If you look at the new fee structure after concession, the yearly registration fee for a trainee of the U-14 age group at the Indoor Sports Complex is Rs 200. Earlier, it was very meagre and the parents showed keenness to admit their wards in the stadium," he claimed.

"The yearly registration fee for trainees of 21 years is Rs 400 while for trainees of above 21 age group, it has been fixed at Rs 600. No doubt, some of the parents might be able to pay it, but the authorities have to take decision in the interest of all. The strictness being shown by the stadium authorities by not allowing our wards to entering the complex is really unfortunate," another parent said.

When contacted, Satish Gupta, in charge manager, Indoor Sports Complex, MA Stadium told The Tribune "We have to follow the instructions of our officers. Stadium has already given ample time to the trainees to deposit the new fee, but they have not responded positively."

"Sports Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din has issued strict orders to take action against erring trainees who will not deposit their fee in the respective age groups," he claimed.

Jammu, July 10
The Department of Youth Affairs, Government of India, has recently prepared a draft of National Youth Policy (NYP) for all states. The policy proposes to change the target age-group from the existing 13-35 to 16-30 years.

Sources said this change was proposed mainly to realign the definition of youth with the prevailing international standards. The definition of youth as per the United Nations (UN) is 15-24 years and in the Commonwealth, it is 15-29 years.

Sources said the target groups identified under the draft policy include student youth, migrant youth, rural youth, tribal youth, youth in violent conflicts, school dropouts, groups with social /moral stigma and youth belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged communities especially in the North-Eastern states including the state.

Sources said the draft policy aims to divide the broad age bracket of 16-30 years into three groups. The first sub-group will be 16-20 years covering mostly youth who require educational facilities. The second sub-group of 20-25 years for those who require access to employable skills. The third sub-group of 25-30 years for those who require access to self employment and entrepreneurial skills.

The draft policy aims to empowering youth through skill development to enhance employability and provide entrepreneurship opportunities through convergence with other ministries and departments.

It may be mentioned that world's 1.2 billion young people are aged between 15 and 24 years and constitute 18 per cent of the global population. In India, youth within the age group of 13-35 years constitute 40 per cent of the total population. While youth population in the total population of the country is 41.56 per cent, its population in the rural and urban areas differs. In the rural India, 39.63 per cent of the population is in the age group of 13-35 years and in the urban areas 44.77 per cent.

Jammu, July 10
The Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) today organised an on-the-spot light music and painting competition for children in Kargil.

The competition was organised for 16-21 age group at Government Higher Secondary School, Panikhar, Kargil. Around 60 boys and girls students participated in the day-long competitions.

In the light music competition, Zainab Banoo was adjudged winner while in the painting competition, Nusrat Batool secured the first prize.

Ladakh autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) councillor Aga Syed Abbass was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion after distributing certificates of merit and cheques among prize winners, Abbas appreciated the role of cultural academy, Kargil, for having organised such children-based competitions in the rural and far-flung areas of Kargil.

He said the access of creative arts and the spirit of competition to the children would enable them to face the future challenges in life.

He congratulated the JKAACL for its continuing efforts in encouraging students of far-flung areas through such initiatives, and appealed to them to organise more programmes in future.

Nissar Naseem, programme head, All-India Radio, Kargil, congratulated the academy for its talent hunt drive for the rural youth.

Earlier while welcoming the children, teachers, judges and other guests, Cultural Officer Muhammad Ali Tak said this competition was a part of the series of children-based competitive programmes being held by the JKAACL across Kargil.

Highlighting the aims and objectives of these competitions, Tak said the main objective of this programme was to introduce the young minds to the realm of creative arts in painting and music.

Rajouri, July 10
The district administration and the Food and Drug Department have formed squads to conduct checks during the holy festival Ramadan in order to check the sale of adulterated food items. Besides khoya, edible oil, ghee, maida, meat spices and other grocery items would be checked for adulteration, claimed the District Development Commissioner, Rajouri.

The checking squads, headed by food inspectors, will visit food and milk markets. If the products fail to meet the required standards of purity, offenders will be booked under the Prevention of Food and Adulteration Act, 1954, or imposed heavy penalty.

The District Development Commissioner, Rajouri, Faqir Chand Bhagat, has convened a meeting of the district and sectoral officers, besides representatives of various trade organisations to finalise the necessary arrangements being made by the administration for holy month of Ramadan.

Black marketing and difference in prices of food items are creating problems in maintaining budget for common people as the Municipal Corporation has completely failed to check prices of vegetable and food items like milk and meat.

Bhagat said, “We have instructed the teams to check adulterated food items so that people get safe food at reasonable prices.”

Jammu, July 10
Shopkeepers and traders in the vicinity of general bus stand today held a demonstration and vociferously opposed the move of the state administration to shift the general bus stand from the heart of the city to Narwal.

They also observed a complete shutdown in the area and kept the shutters of their establishments down for two hours in protest against the government decision.

Protesters raised slogans against the authorities and warned that they would launch a 'concerted' agitation against the shifting of bus stand and would continue their agitation till the authorities see the reason and desist from ruining the business of Jammu city as well as causing hardship to the general public.

Addressing the protesters, Indeerjeet Khajuria, convener, Bus Stand Action Committee, said the total area of the general bus stand at BC Road was presently more than 60 kanal, which was sufficient for serving as a “terminus point” of buses of all routes, including inter-state buses.

“The bus stand is in the heart of the city and at a place which is easily accessible to the people from all parts of the city. Besides, all utility centres are located close to the existing bus stand. The historical Raghunath temple, visited by the devotees coming to Jammu from outside the state, is only a few hundred metres from the bus stand,” he said.

Khajuria alleged that the government started taking steps to shift the interstate bus terminal from BC Road, Jammu, to Narwal transport yard all of sudden, without taking into confidence the general public, their representatives, political leaders and those from the social and trade organisation.

“This came as a big setback for the business community of the Jammu city, which is already under stress as the train will directly reach Katra by the next couple of months,” he said.

The speakers claimed that the general public as well as the business community in Jammu was highly upset by this move, since it would cause great hardship to the people. 

Jammu, July 10
Raising a serious question mark on law and order situation, a motorcycle-borne snatcher fled with a purse from an elderly woman from a busy road in Shastri Nagar locality, this evening.

The woman, Rani Gupta, a resident of Shastri Nagar, said the purse contained Rs 5,000 and a mobile phone.

She said she was on her way to purchase toffees for her grandchildren, when a motorcyclist came from behind and fled with her purse near the park in Shastri Nagar.

The incident took place when hundreds of people were in the park for an evening walk.

The residents alleged that they had already made several complaints with the police regarding the movement of suspicious elements in the area but no action had been taken so far.

“Yesterday, I made a written complaint with the police regarding the movement of motorbikers inside the park. The police officials concerned didn’t bother to initiate action,” a woman said.

She alleged it was like a “free for all” situation in the area and criminals had no fear of the police.

The police, however, remained clueless and said it was investigating the matter.

Jammu, July 10
St Mary’s Church, Gandhi Nagar, trounced Bethel Church by 45 runs in the ongoing Inter-Church Cricket Tournament being played at Bakshi Nagar here today.

Batting first, St Mary’s Church, Gandhi Nagar, accumulated 127 runs in the allotted quota of 12 overs. Sunny was the main scorer with 50 runs studded with five hits to the fence. Rajesh was the other batsman who contributed 42 runs, including five sixes.

Chasing 128 runs to win, Bethel Church tried their level best to chase the target, but lost all its wickets for 82 runs.

For St Mary’s Church, Boby and Nitu snared three wickets apiece while Rajesh took two wickets. The man of the match was awarded to Rajesh for his brilliant all round performance.

In another match, Pentecostal Church edged out St Peter Catholic Church-B. Batting first, Catholic Church-B garnered 110 runs for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated quots of 12 overs. Neelu and Sameer were the main scorers with 42 and 15 runs, respectively.

In reply, Pentecostal Church overhauled the target in 8.3 overs for the loss of just one wicket. Rohan was the main scorer with 74 runs containing 11 boundaries. Nitish also chipped in with handy 34 runs with the help of five fours. Later, Rohan was adjudged the man of the match. — TNS