Jammu, September 26
Twin terror attacks in Hiranagar and Samba that claimed 11 lives, including a Lt Colonel and four policemen today sent shockwaves across Jammu. Residents remained glued to their TV sets throughout the day to get the minute-to-minute updates on the fierce encounter between the security forces and the terrorists in Samba.

Security was also stepped up outside all vital installations and police stations across Jammu. The police had set up special nakas at all important roads where all the vehicles entering the winter capital city were being thoroughly frisked.

Security agencies also sounded a high alert in the region and additional deployment of policemen and paramilitary personnel was made near and outside vital installations.

Traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot highway also remained suspended due to security reasons, subjecting commuters, particularly school teachers and government employees to great inconvenience. They could not return to Jammu after the highway was closed.

Earlier in the day, people in the walled city remained glued to their TV sets to know the happenings in Samba where a fierce gun battle was on between fidayeens and security personnel. The twin terror attacks were also the talk of the town as the people, in small groups, were seen discussing the situation at busy markets of the city.

Apart from expressing strong resentment against the Congress-led UPA government's "soft approach" to weed out terrorism from the country, they demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should snap all ties with Pakistan.

It was also a day of rumours as residents made frantic calls to their loved ones following rumours of the shutdown call, attack in Katra and blockade of the highway at different places.

Interestingly, the gates of all police stations, police posts and district police lines and police control rooms, which used to remain open and unmanned, were guarded by the bullet-proof jacket wearing and armed policemen, while additional deployment of policemen was also made at all regular check posts in the city.

Similarly, additional deployment of army, paramilitary and policemen was also made along the Jammu-Pathankot highway in the wake of encounter that took place in Samba Army camp.

Those living close to the highway stayed indoors and didn't send their children to schools amid the rumours of movement of terrorists in the area.

Jammu, September 26
Members of the civil society demanded immediate suspension of talks with Pakistan after the twin terror attacks today claimed 11 lives.

In protest against the terror attacks, members of the Jammu Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA), Jammu, abstained from work in all the courts, including the High Court. They will also suspend work tomorrow.

A meeting of the Bar Association, Jammu, chaired by its president MK Bhardwaj, condemned the killing of innocent persons, policemen and Armymen. He described it as "cowardly and deceitful" attack by the terrorists.

The JKHCBA members also expressed concern over the failure of the intelligence agencies to collect and pass on the information regarding infiltration on the border to right agencies. despite the fact that it was expected in the present circumstances when the militant's repeated attempts to cross the border had been thwarted by the armed forces.

They also stressed upon the state and the Centre to strengthen the deployment of armed forces, J&K Police, Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in the entire state so that the nefarious designs of disruptive elements could be thwarted.

The Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association members have also condemned the terror attacks. They demanded that a strong message be sent to the neighbouring country so that no such attacks occur in future. 

Jammu, September 26
Unfinished tourism project in Jammu has cast a shadow on plans to attract millions of Vaishno Devi-bound pilgrims to the city. There are several tourism development projects taken up in the city, which have not been completed for years now.

If completed on time they could have become a major attraction but years have gone by but there is no sign of these getting completed. Tawi Lake Project, Mubarak Mandi-Bahu fort ropeway, modern Zoo at Manda, renovation of Mubarak Mandi palace complex and host of other places are example of the flawed policies of the government. Except a garden at Bahu Fort city, the Tourism Department or the Floriculture Department has failed to establish any park over three decades.

“Same is the fate of ancient temple complex of temples at Purmandal block of Samba district, which has not been brought in the pilgrim tourism circuit, which could create employment opportunities for thousands of youth,” said YV Sharma, president, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

It may be mentioned here that the lake project on Tawi River is facing a fund crunch as well as design problems and the much-hyped ropeway, is pending for clearance from the Supreme Court because the state government has delayed its response on the questions raised by the court on the environmental aspects.

No major initiative was taken to save the Gharana wetlands at RS Pura as the Revenue Department delayed the demarcation of the wetland thus slowing down the process of the Wildlife Department and the Tourism Department to convert it into a major tourist attraction and safeguard the habitat for migratory birds. “Except a focus on the Vaishno Devi shrine, the government is not taking much interest in other places of religious and historical significance. Every resident of this ancient city is concerned with the slow pace of the development work undertaken to bring Jammu on the country’s tourist map,” said Gambir Dev Singh Charak, senior member Dogra Heritage Development Society.

Jammu, September 26
There is a huge response to the 'Clean Jammu' campaign launched by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) as teams of officials continue to visit different wards with people demanding more accountability from the municipal staff and repairing damaged lanes and drains in their respective areas.

The Municipal Corporation, led by Commissioner Kiran Wattal, has started a month-long campaign across 71 wards in the city. Several areas, including Talab Tillo, Trikuta Nagar, Nanak Nagar and some wards of old city areas have been visited by officials so far.

“Engineering section of the JMC was asked to undertake minor repairs of lanes and drains immediately to provide relief to the residents from water logging. The Executive Engineer (UEED) was instructed to take measures for addressing the issue of choking of deep drains at Vasant Vihar, Trikuta Nagar and adjoining areas,” Wattal said.

Besides, public meets were also organised at Panj Mandir, Vasant Enclave and Mini Shopping Complex, Trikuta Nagar. Residents demanded desilting of nullas and drains, repair/installation of street lights, fogging and beautification of parks.

Officials said the initiative was to reach out to people’s door to address their grievances as there were no elected representatives of wards at the moment since the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections were pending since April 2010. The city of temples is spread over 112 sq km and several colonies came up into existence after 1990.

With the state government indecisive over holding Municipal elections, development activities in the city have suffered much during the past few years. Even day-to-day problems remain unresolved in absence of elected head of wards.

Issue of disposal of solid waste was also raised by the people at several localities as nearly 400 tonnes of solid waste is generated in the city every day, but in absence of any site, it is mostly thrown on the outskirts of Jammu and some of it is burnt by the municipal staff. 

Jammu, September 26
The Department of Horticulture today held Strawberry growers meet under the chairmanship of Anil Kumar Sharma, director, Horticulture Jammu.

The meet was attended by Rajeev Mahajan, deputy director, Horticulture (Central) Jammu, JL Raina, chief horticulture officer, Jammu, S Tarvinder Singh, Chief Horticulture Officer, Kathua, YK Kesar, chief horticulture officer, Rajouri, district cadre officers, besides a large number of strawberry growers of these districts.

The chief horticulture officer, Jammu, presented a brief resume of the motive of the meet. Strawberry growers shared their experience with the participates and putforth certain demands related to the field (strawberry cultivation). They stressed to make available high-yielding plant material from outside the state and perforated packing material on subsidised rates.

Addressing the participants, the horticulture director advocated for the adoption of latest technology with a focus on extensive land preparation and inputs like FYM so as to have a fertile rooting media.

He stressed that the land needs to be fumigated before planting materials. While promising for good varieties of runners, he asked the growers to avail facilities of shade houses in order to improve the quality of fruit and prolonged production period.

Jammu, September 26
R-47, a refugee organisation representing displaced people from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise the matter of PoK refugees of 1947 during his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York.

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, Balraj Bakshi, president, R-47, said two of the main problems which no government had ever tried to address were the non-availability of detailed records of agricultural lands, urban estates and the money left by PoK refugees in Poonch, Muzaffarabad and Mirpur.

Bakshi said no effort had been made to assess the loss of property of refugees of 1947 due to the non-availability of such information. He requested the Prime Minister to ask the Pakistan PM to provide India the records so that at least a beginning was made to assess the loss of property. 

Jammu, September 26
As part of a series of heritage exhibitions planned to showcase rich and varied cultural legacy of different regions of the state, J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages will hold Jammu Heritage Exhibition in December.

"The exhibition will portray rich and diverse heritage of Jammu through art, craft, costume, paintings, household items, images, paintings and memorabilia," said Kahalid Bashir Ahmad, secretary, Academy.

Pertinently, the first of the three exhibitions was held in Srinagar on September 18 and 19. Inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the exhibition gave an in-depth view of the rich heritage of Kashmir as most of the displayed objects had faded away from the cultural scene or people's memory. The exhibition drew people from all walks of life in large numbers.

"We are holding heritage exhibitions for all three regions of the state to showcase our rich past and also connect the present generation with it," said Ahmad who convened a meeting of Academy officers here on Tuesday to prepare a road map for the exquisite exhibition. He said important government institutions, NGOs and private individuals would be approached to take part in the exhibition which would be a major cultural event. The third heritage exhibition would be held at Leh on the heritage of Ladakh. —`TNS

Jammu, September 26
Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) -Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) of India, celebrated the 70th foundation day of the CSIR on Thursday. This autonomous body was constituted by the resolution of the then legislative assembly in 1942.

A distinguished biologist Prof Manju Sharma, NASI-Distinguished Woman Scientist Chair, Formerly Secretary to the Govt of India, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, was the chief guest and Dr Rajiv I Modi, chairman and managing director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd, was the guest of honour.

This year, on this momentous day, it was decided to dedicate this event in the memory of Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Ahmadabad, founder chairman Inravardhan A Modi.

Modi had a long productive association with IIIM, Jammu, which led to the discovery and development of Risorine, an anti-tubercular drug in 2009. After the launch, the drug had been administered to more than 50,000 TB patients.

Dr Rajiv Modi, chairman and managing director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said the path breaking work being undertaken by the teams at the CSIR-IIIM was a true celebration of Indian Science and Indian scientists. He also shared the valuable learnings of integrity, commitment and focused approach from his father Indravardhan Modi with the young scientists present there. 

Jammu, September 26
The semifinals line up has been drawn in the ongoing inter-collegiate men's football tournament being organised by the GGM Science College under the aegis of Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, University of Jammu.

Now, in the semifinals, GGM Science College will take on PG Arts while MAM College would lock horns against GDC Udhampur.

Earlier, in the quarterfinals, Science College trounced Government SPMR College of Commerce by 2-1 while PG Arts overcame the challenge of Bhargva Degree College Samba by 3-0.

In other quarterfinals, GDC (boys), Udhampur, outplayed PG Law and Sciences by a solitary goal and MAM College notched up 2-1 win over MIET College of Engineering.

The matches were officiated by Ajay Sharma, Koushay Kumar, Rohit Gupta, Dhananjay Sharma, Pradeep Katoch and Gagan Kumar.

Udhampur clinch U-19 boys volleyball title

Udhampur district toppled hosts Rajouri by 3-0 in the final as the three-day long inter-district volleyball tournament for U-19 boys concluded at Mini Stadium Sports Complex, Rajouri.

Jammu district finished third in the sporting event by defeating Samba district.

Rajouri SSP Mubassar Latifi was the chief guest on the occasion who gave away prizes to the winner and runner-up teams. Dr RP Sharma, principal, College for Women, was the guest of honour.