Srinagar, August 3
Many villages in central Kashmir's Budgam district are facing an acute shortage of water as the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Departmental is yet to finish the work of supplying tap water to homes. Villagers said they failed to avail the benefits of the water supply scheme under the National Rural Water Drinking Programme.

The Central and state governments have sanctioned a number of PHE schemes to provide safe drinking water to every citizen of the state particularly in the remote areas and those which have not been covered yet. But the implementation of these schemes remains an elusive dream in Budgam district, one of the most populous districts of Kashmir.

Amidst sweltering heat and the month of Ramadan, residents of a majority of the villages in this district have been forced to fetch water from borewells and tubewells clearly unfit for drinking.

Despite repeated representations of village heads to the authorities concerned, Budgam residents said no action had been taken to speed up the construction work of water tanks and laying of water pipes.

"There is a water reservoir in Batapora, Budgam, where the water tank has been built. But there is no connectivity of most of the villages with this water tank because the construction work has been abandoned. In the month of Ramadan too, there was no serious effort made by the authorities to ensure the availability of potable water to thousands of residents of this district," said Muhammad Ashraf, a resident of Wadwun village in Budgam district.

“The people here are prone to water-borne diseases as the tubewell/borewell water is unfit for drinking. Our panches and sarpanches had met PHE and Irrigation Minister Shyam Lal Sharma and apprised him of the sluggish approach of the agencies concerned in the implementation of these schemes. But, even when the holy month of Ramadan is on the verge of completion and Eid around the corner, authorities seem to be not bothered about it," said Irshad Ahmad, a local panch.

Srinagar, August 3
Admitting an appeal by the Deputy Director, Archives, Archeology and Museums, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the authorities concerned not to regularise the services of the incumbent director of the Archives and Museums department.

These orders were issued by a Division Bench of the high court while admitting an appeal by Mohammad Shafi Zahid, Deputy Director, Archives and Museums, who had challenged the appointment of Nasreen Khan as the Director of Archives, Archaeology and Museums (J&K).

In his appeal before the Division Bench, Zahid had challenged the dismissal of his earlier writ petition by a single bench of the high court. The Bench while dismissing his petition had observed: “Nothing stated herein (in the judgement) shall stand in the way of official respondents to make an objective appraisal of performance of incumbent director Nasreen Khan during the period of six months commencing from September 27, 2012.”

However, Zahid chose to file an appeal against this verdict as instead of an objective assessment of the performance of Khan, the government authorities concerned had just sated that Khan’s performance was “satisfactory”, Zahid has submitted in his appeal.

The Bench after hearing arguments of the petitioner counsel, advocate Mian Qayoom and state counsel, admitted the appeal and put the matter for final hearing on September 2. The Bench, however, ordered that “meanwhile, service of Nasreena Khan as Director, Archives, Archaeology & Museums, shall not be regularised.”

Earlier, the high court had directed the government to place on record the performance report of respondent Nasreen Khan for the period of six months for which she was given the charge of the post of Director, Archives, Archaeology and Museums. The government filed the performance report after availing many opportunities.

Srinagar, August 3
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Ali Mohammad Sagar, today asked the state administration to ensure availability of ration and other essentials, including cooking gas, sugar and power supply, to the people during Shab-i-Qadr and Eid-ul-Fitr.

“Ensure supply of three kg sugar instead of two kg to the consumers in view of Eid-ul-Fitr,” Sagar asked the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) authorities, while heading a meeting of divisional administration here ahead of Shab-i-Qadr and Eid-ul-Fitr.

The minister also asked Chief Engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE) to ensure adequate water supply to people during the auspicious days.

He directed Chief Engineer, Electric Maintenance Rural Electrification Kashmir, to make arrangements for better power supply on the occasion.

The senior leader also insisted on installation of street lights in Srinagar city to ensure proper lighting system in city lanes.

He also reviewed traffic arrangements on the occasion and was informed that the traffic department has formulated a new plan, which would be put to use from August 6.

Sagar, meanwhile, directed the municipal authorities to ensure cleanliness in and around mosques and shrines, especially around Jamia Masjid and Dargah Hazratbal.

Srinagar, August 3
Three persons were killed and one was injured in road accidents across the Kashmir valley, a police spokesman said here today.

A motorcyclist sustained serious injuries after his motorcycle skidded off the road at Chowkibal in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, the spokesman said.

Irshad Ahmad Mir, a resident of Trehgam, who was riding the motorcycle without a registration number, succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital.

The police spokesman said the second person to die in last 24 hours was a car driver who was injured in a road accident early this week. Abdul Kabir Bagh, a resident of Bijhama, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here where he was admitted on Thursday after suffering critical wounds in the road accident.

In another incident, a person who had been injured in a road accident last month in the city had died, the spokesman said.

Nisar Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Ishbar-Nishat locality of the city, was injured in a road accident on July 26 near his house. He succumbed to injuries at a hospital in the city here.

A cab drive was injured after his vehicle fell off a road at Bumhama in Kupwara district. Irfan Ahmed Khan, a resident of Gugtiyal, was shifted to a hospital in the city, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, August 3
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today alleged that the present coalition government in the state had become a symbol of repression, political chaos, poor governance and rampant corruption.

The PDP president also urged the youth to lead the movement of change in the assembly elections scheduled for next year.

Addressing a convention of party workers during the PDP’s foundation day celebrations in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, Mehbooba said she could predict “the movement of change” in 2014.

“I foresee the state’s people in general and the youth in particular leading the movement for change in Jammu and Kashmir during 2014 political battles to take the functionaries of the present dispensation to task not only for their actions but inaction as well,” she said in Ganderbal, the constituency represented by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Mehbooba alleged that the government had brought political chaos, rampant corruption, administrative anarchy and “denial of human rights to the state without making any positive contributions on political or developmental fronts.”

“On political front, a constructive dialogue process was started by the then NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Pakistan and Hurriyat Conference to address the external and internal dimensions of the Kashmir issue, while on the developmental front, momentous initiatives were taken by the then PDP-led government to boost the economic activity in the state,” she said.

Srinagar, August 3
Chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, today dismissed Panun Kashmir’s idea of a separate homeland as a reflection of communal thinking.

“Such an idea was a clear reflection of communal thinking ingrained in that party,” Mirwaiz said in a statement here.

“All parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has made it clear that it would never accept the split of Jammu and Kashmir on religious or regional basis, since it would stoke fire which would be impossible to douse,” he added.

Mirwaiz insisted that Kashmiri Pandits were inalienable part of Kashmiri society.

“Pandit community should not pay heed to the propaganda of communal fanatics and they should return to their respective homes in Kashmir,” said the chairman of moderate Hurriyat Conference.

Anantnag, July 3
People's Democratic Party (PDP) patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said that the leadership of his party has the capability to change the destiny of common masses.

"Our road-map is key to address political and socio-economic aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Mufti said, while addressing a public rally in Anantnag town.

Mufti said that his party had changed the political discourse of Jammu and Kashmir and restored the dignity and honour of people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It was result of our conviction and good intentions that successive Central governments had supported whatever steps we had taken during our tenure," the senior leader said.

He claimed that his party consolidated reconciliation process and facilitated the efforts of establishing lasting peace in the region when it was in power.

Accusing the ruling National Conference of being power hungry, Mufti said, "PDP-Congress coalition government was based on Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and wishes of all the people were incorporated in it and pro-peace agenda was given priority."

"The other things that were incorporated in the CMP were release of all political prisoners, disbanding of notorious Special Task Force (STF) and initiating unconditional dialogue with all sections of the society," he recalled.

Pointing out that after the formation of PDP-Congress government, peace was restored to a large extent in Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti said, "Our aim is not to attain power but to address the grievances of people." 

Srinagar, August 3
Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) here has started endoscopic or shunt less surgery for Hydrocephalus —a neurological disorder in which there is excessive accumulation of water in brain.

The Neurosurgery Department at SKIMS has so far conducted two successful surgeries with the new procedure, which has been initiated with the set-up of advanced equipment’s at department.

“Two successful surgeries using shunt less procedure were done few days back and the patients were discharged next day,” Head of Department, Neurosurgery, Dr Altaf U Ramzan, said.

“The procedure involves less chances of infection as there is no foreign body intervention as against conventional procedure. The procedure is more economical and has better patient satisfaction,” he added.

Ramzan said that conventional surgical procedure, called Ventricular-Peritoneal Shunt, is embedded with high failure rate of about 50 per cent and in this shunts used in patients need to be revised.

“In the conventional procedure, drain is put up to divert excessive water in brain from the ventricular system to the peritoneal cavity in the abdomen, while as in endoscopic surgery, an opening is made in the blocked ventricular system and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pathway is established, which is more efficient procedure,” he informed.

Director SKIMS, Dr Showkat A Zargar, while congratulating the team of doctors who conducted the surgery said, “SKIMS has set up state of art infrastructure and advanced equipment’s to conduct such surgeries. The poor patients who otherwise had to travel outside state for the same procedure can now avail the facility at SKIMS.”

The team that performed the surgery consisted of Dr Abrar Wani, Dr Basharat Kant, Dr Neeraj and anaesthesiologist Dr Khairat Mohammad apart from Ramzan.

Srinagar, August 3
Mother of senior PDP leader and chief spokesperson, Naeem Akhtar, passed away after a prolonged illness here today.

The 82-year-old Begum Syed Mohammad Sayeed breathed her last at her Parraypora residence this morning. Her children, including Akhtar, and grand children were by her side at the time of her death.

She was laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard at Garoora, Bandipore later in the day. Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders expressed grief over the sad demise of the mother of its chief spokesperson.

While conveying theira condolences to Akhtar, PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and party president Mehbooba Mufti described the departed soul as generous, noble and religious lady.

Others party leaders who mourned the death, include Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, party General Secretary Mohammed Dilawar Mir, Tariq Hameed Karra and Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni.

Srinagar, August 3
motorcycles were stolen from different parts of the city yesterday.

Ghulam Nabi Dar, a resident of Nowbugh, Batpora, and Umar Abubakar of MR Gunj, reported to the police that their motorcycles had been stolen.

The third motorcycle was stolen from Bemina locality.

The police said separate cases were registered and efforts were on to arrest the culprits.