Jammu, August 9
Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, heavy rainfall has flooded the Parade Ground, the venue for the event in Jammu.

With just a week left for the event, workers have been pressed in to pump out water from the ground, which has accumulated due to the downpour for the last over a week. Officials said if the rainfall continued for the next few days, it might cast a shadow on cultural programmes to be showcased on the day.

On every Independence Day, hundreds of schoolchildren take part in cultural programme at the Parade Ground, which is also known as the mini-stadium.

The city is experiencing heavy rainfall for the past one week, which has created a lot of problem for the people.

The Jammu Municipal Corporation is using heavy pumps for draining out the water. 

Jammu, August 9
The Jammu-Udhampur railway track remained closed for the fourth consecutive day today after a major landslide destroyed the track near Tunnel-16 between Manwal and Ramnagar on Tuesday. The authorities are still not sure about the restoration of the vital rail link.

Railway officials said the traffic remained suspended for the fourth day today on the track linking the Northern Command of the Army with the rest of the country. RN Meena, Divisional Traffic Manager, Jammu, said, “The work is in progress. However, due to rain, the restoration of traffic may take some time. All the trains for Udhampur are being operated from Jammu”.

“The team of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) is doing their job under the supervision of the DRM,” he added. There are seven trains for Udhampur from Jammu, Malwa Express, Jammu Mail, Uttar Sampark Kranti, Summer Special and three DMUs. All these train have been affected due to the landslide.

Thousands of passengers who travel daily on this track in DMUs are the worst sufferers due to the suspension of the rail traffic on the route.

Shalender Sharma, a bank employee said, “I use to travel up and down daily from Jammu to Udhampur. Due to the closing of the track, I have to travel by bus daily, which consumes a lot of time and money.

My daily routine has been disturbed because of this. I cannot understand why the authorities are taking so much time to restore such an important track that connects the Northern Command to the rest of the country” .

Sourav Kumar, an Armyman posted at Udhampur, said, “I had my ticket for Delhi from Udhampur, but I had to reach Jammu by bus as the track is closed since the last four days”.

“The Railways should announce in advance when the track will be opened,” he added.

Jammu, August 9
Faced with manpower shortage and legal tangles, land settlement process is not expected to be completed by 2020 in Jammu district.

Officials said out of 679 villages in the district, process had been completed in just 381 villages and there were still disputes between people in several hamlets, which had become difficult for the Revenue Department.

Across the Jammu region, the department has been able to complete the process in just 841 villages out of 2,150 villages identified for the purpose. The process was to be completed in five years in a phased manner after it was started in 2008.

The officials said at many places villagers were non-cooperative due to disputes over land and within families cases were pending in courts, which led to slow progress of the cases.

Further, due to non-identification of sites and non-establishing of basic infrastructure for setting up of computer centres for computerisation of land records, the department failed to utilise Rs 20.56 crore to take up for the computerisation of land records in 257 sub-tehsils, said a senior officer. The officials said the shortage of patwaris and other employees was hampering the work as the present strength was too overstretched, slowing down the process initiated under the National Land Record Management (NLRM), with the Revenue Department urging the Centre to release additional funds to recruit manpower so that the process was taken on a fast-track basis.

As per records, despite government announcing it as a priority project in the state, the Revenue Department has failed to achieve targets due to insufficient patwaris and computers to process the voluminous data.

Jammu, August 9
As the 59th edition of the National School Games to be conducted by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) in different disciplines across the country is not far away, the sports body has instructed all the sports departments of the country to strictly follow the new terms and conditions for the inclusion of sports/games in the upcoming edition of sporting event.

The decision was taken by the SGFI after reports came from different sports departments of various states across the country, including J&K, regarding the creation of unrecognised associations by some individuals with ulterior motives and later using their influence to get them affiliated with the SGFI.

Sources said the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) had already made it clear to its officials that there was no need to send weak contingents for the event, but at the same time issued instructions to conduct competitions at district, division and state level to tap the potential of budding sportspersons.

The sources said the poor performance of the state contingent in the competitions had given a chance to individuals with ulterior motives to constitute a new association and then get it affiliated with the SGFI using their influence. This has not only put an additional burden on the department to conduct the competitions but also they have not been able to focus on important games/sports.

The sources claimed that a sub-committee of the SGFI under the chairmanship of its secretary general, Dr Rajesh Kumar Mishra, was constituted to formulate a concrete strategy. The sub-committee decided that the popular sports/games of the country, which were in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian School Sports Federation and World School Games, will be considered as regular sports/ games of the SGFI.

The other important terms and conditions decided in the meeting included National Federation/Association should have proper registration under the Society Act, 1860, National Federation/ Association should have state unit/association in all the state/union territories, disciplines which are not listed in the SGFI but listed in the 2012-13 calendar should also fulfil the terms and conditions within a maximum period of three years, otherwise the disciplines will be removed from the SGFI calendar without any prior notice. “Ever since the new Director General, Youth Services and Sports, Naveen Aggarwal, has assumed charge, the department has taken various initiatives not only to ensure adequate sports activities at different levels but also to hone the skills of promising players through coaching camps,” said an official of the DYSS. 

Jammu, August 9
A team of the health wing of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has imposed a fine of Rs 9,600 on the traders found using polythene carry bags in the city. The JMC team also seized 27 kg banned polythene items.

A team of officials, led by Health Officer Dr Vinod Sharma, directed the traders not to violate the ban on polythene, which was enforced in 2009.

The municipal corporation had imposed a fine of Rs 11,200 on defaulters across the city a few days ago and a major campaign had been launched by the civic body as despite ban, polythene carry bags were being smuggled in the state.

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, delegated powers to different authorities to punish the offenders.

The ban was imposed on 16 items of non-biodegradable material, including polythene, poly bags, nylon and thermocol.

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

Jammu, August 9
Dogri Sanstha, a literary and cultural organisation of the state, has hailed the beginning of Dogri announcements for all programmes by Radio Kashmir, Jammu.

In a meeting of its executive, the sanstha termed it a historical event when the primary channel of Jammu station opened its first transmission with an announcement in Dogri followed by all announcements in the same language.

It was for the first time in the history of the 66-year-old station that such an initiative has been taken to deliver all announcements in Dogri, irrespective of the language of the programmes transmitted.

Chairing the meeting, Prof Lalit Mangotra, the president of the sanstha said the Jammu radio station was declared a Dogri station by the AIR but the decision was never implemented by the local authorities.

Terming it a pleasant gift on Eid by AIR, the executive body appreciated the efforts of the present in-charge of the station.

Jammu, August 9
After SP College, Srinagar, hosted the first J&K Women’s Science Congress in December 2012 on the theme “Women in Science: an initiative for women scientists”, the Government College for Women (GCW), Parade, Jammu, is all set to host the second edition of the event in October this year. The science congress would be sponsored by the J&K State Council for Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology, J&K.

The programme is designed to spread the understanding of the need to empower women who constitute nearly 50 per cent of the population and involve them effectively in nation building activities, tapping their potential as innovators and implementers of innovations, other than being beneficiaries of innovations.

“Women’s Science Congress will also showcase the contributions of women to science and technology. Leading women scientists will deliver lectures on their contributions. We are hopeful that it will help in breaking the myth still persisting that women are less suited to pursue science and encourage more women to pursue the field”, said Prof Hemla Aggarwal, principal, GCW, Parade.]

The event will cover the subject areas of life sciences, environmental sciences, chemistry, physics, mathematics, earth sciences, biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, animal and veterinary sciences, medical and engineering sciences and applied and allied sciences.

In the previous edition of the science congress, Minister for Science and Technology Agha Syed Ruhullah had emphasised upon the need for the teaching fraternity to make science a general subject for all classes of society. He added that the government was engaged in designing policies and programmes for the purpose, which would revolve around the development of science and technology.

Ruhullah had asked the women folk of the state to prove their mettle in various fields of science and technology by taking up the stream from the very beginning of their academic career. 

Jammu, August 9
In its drive against bovine smuggling, the Kathua police today rescued four cattle from being smuggled into Punjab and arrested two bovine smugglers by intercepting a load carrier at Bunyari on Marheen-Punjab road.

A police party, headed by sub-inspector (SI) Surinder Raina, under the supervision of Station House Officer (SHO), Rajbagh, Inspector Naresh Kumar, during a specially organised naka at Bunyari intercepted a Bolero (JK02 AM/0856) and recovered two buffaloes and two calves being smuggled to Punjab without any valid permission.

The police seized the vehicle and arrested the cattle smugglers, namely Dev Raj, a resident of Sanji More of Kathua district and Om Parkash, a resident of Rangad Pindi of Gurdaspur district in Punjab.

A case has been registered at the police station, Rajbagh and further investigations in the case are underway.

Jammu, August 9
An Army vehicle crushed a commuter to death at Tawi Bridge in Jammu today.

The Tawi Bridge, located at the centre of the city, witnessed heavy rush after the mishap.

The police sources said Ram Asrey, a labourer from Uttar Pradesh, was crossing the road when a truck of 8-field Regiment, bearing registration number 12C-094090X, crushed him to death.

The police has seized the vehicle. However, the driver of the vehicle managed to escape. The body of the deceased has been kept in the mortuary ward of the Government Medical College GMC), Jammu, for postmortem.

The police has informed the kin of the deceased and registered a case against the driver at Nowabad police station under Section 279/304 of the RPC.

Jammu, August 9
In view of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations, the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) Battalion, located at Sarh, organised an essay writing competition for students of Government Middle School, Chaladh, of Reasi district on Wednesday.

The theme for the competition was ‘unity in diversity’.

Approximately 80 students from the school participated with enthusiasm to showcase their talents. The event was witnessed by students and teachers of the school. The headmaster of the school thanked and expressed profound gratitude towards the Army for organising the event.

He said that such event not only provided boost towards fostering the bond of friendship between the Army and local populace, but also helped in identifying budding writers of the area. The event culminated with distribution of prizes to the winners of the essay writing competition.

Jammu, August 9
The state unit of Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC) today observed August Kranti Din to pay homage to those who laid down their lives during the freedom struggle. Gourav Kapoor, newly appointed state president while addressing the gathering, said society should gather at a single platform to fight against the disruptive forces.

Former minister Thakur Randhir Singh appealed to the youth to fight against the alleged nexus of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. He added that land mafia was involved in various scams.

Kamal Gupta, senior vice-president of NCP, said the propaganda was carried out by some political parties to misguide people. Mohinder Singh Thakur suggested that the memorials of freedom fighters and honest politicians be installed in rural areas so that the new generation could know about their contributions to the nation.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Sudershan Singh Choudhary, R S Billowria, Satpal Sharma, Bansi Lal Sodhi, Amar Singh, Dr P Shastri, Tariq Nar, Ashok Singh, Gulab Chand Bhagat, Saddat Doolwal, Shahnawaz Ahanger, Bodh Raj Salaria and Jaswant Singh Rakwal.