Jammu, October 8
Though the health department has announced establishment of eight sample collection centres at Samba district to identify fresh dengue fever victims, it could take about three weeks before the disease could be contained.

Officials said they are waiting for a fall in temperature which could contain spread of the disease as the mosquitoes spreading the virus apparently do not breed in cold weather.

The health department said keeping in view the large area which had got waterlogged due to heavy monsoon rains during the past few months, it is becoming difficult to reach every village and dip in temperature is a natural way to contain the epidemic.

Till now, about 364 persons have been affected by the fever and three people have lost their lives in Jammu, Samba and Kathua. The number could be higher as many families have admitted patients in hospitals outside the state.

“We are making efforts to contain or stop it, but the present weather conditions somewhat facilitate breeding of the mosquitoes responsible for spread of the fever. Our main effort now is to prevent deaths,” said a senior health officer.

The first case of fever was reported in August. Though the government had claimed that adequate measures were taken to contain the epidemic, people particularly in Samba district allege that the administration failed to take the initiative.

“The fever spread could have been avoided but there was no cooperation between the administration, the health department and the local municipal committee. People had been protesting against the apathetic attitude, but no one heard us,” said sarpanch of Madhera village, Ramesh Chand.

Director Health Services, Jammu, Dr B S Pathania said, “Eight sample collection centres have been established in the district as maximum cases have been detected from there. Besides, every district has been equipped with sample collection centres and a monitoring cell has been set up at all the district headquarters."

He admitted that the weather conditions are creating further problems for the teams established for controlling the disease.

Dengue fever, also known as break bone fever, an infectious tropical disease, is caused by a virus. The symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to that in measles.

In case of late medical help, the disease could develop into the life-threatening dengue haemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or in dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.

Jammu, October 8
Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy today organised a Dogri Mushaira at K L Saigal Hall, Jammu, giving a platform to the new pens along with senior poets with an aim to have tips from the seniors.

The programme commenced with the welcome address given by Additional Secretary, Neeru Sharma. She said this Dogri Mushaira is a different one because in this, the new Dogri poets have been given a chance to sit with senior poets.

They may interact with them and gain from the experiences of the senior poets during the journey of their life.

Jagjeevan Lal, ex-Minister of the Jammu and Kashmir state was the chief guest on the occasion while Bisshan Dardi presided over the function. SS Anand Lehri, senior advocate of the Supreme Court, was the guest of honour.

Jammu, October 8
Angered over “unwarranted action” and alleged high-handedness of JMC, milk vendors today threatened to suspend the supply of milk and its products within municipal limits indefinitely if their harassment was not stopped and prices were not hiked immediately.

Scores of Gujjars supplying milk in city limits also staged a noisy demonstration at Kunjwani Chowk and demanded immediate increase in the prices of milk.

They warned that they would go on an indefinite strike from November 4 — the day when the Civil Secretariat, seat of governance, will reopen in Jammu after six months.

“The cost of fodder and cattle feed has increased manifold in the recent times, but the farmers are getting a meagre Rs 26 per litre for milk. Instead of increasing the rates of milk in view of the high cost of cattle feed, the authorities are resorted to harassing them in the name of adulteration which will not be tolerated at all,” the protesters said.

Jammu, October 8
Finally, the traffic police has made plans to abandon traffic lights as means to control movement of vehicles in the city and it has decided to revert to the manual mode to ensure order is restored on the roads.

Sources said experts had already expressed apprehensions about the success of the project when it was announced, but it was carried forward to benefit certain individuals, who drew financial benefit from the installation. These lights were installed by Onnyx Electronics, a New Delhi-based company, at the cost of about Rs one crore of tax-payers' money.

The project was one of the priority areas when it came to getting rid of traffic chaos in the twin capital cities and dealing with shortage of police personnel monitoring vehicular movement. Electronic signals created further mess with frequent stopping of vehicles.

At the moment, most of them have become sheer showpieces, as buses, cars and mini bus drivers don’t follow the directions, particularly at Bikram Chowk, Janipur, Kachi Chawni, Gandhi Nagar and Indira Chowk.

Officials said that despite conducting several surveys before installing lights at 30 places around the city which become operational in September 2012, most of them proved useless just weeks after they were thrown open in September last year.

“The problem is that roads are not wide enough and per km concentration of vehicles is much higher than Chandigarh, New Delhi and other cities. When traffic is stopped for just two minutes, there is a traffic jam,” said a traffic police officer.

SSP (traffic) Manmohan Singh said signals will be relocated soon, keeping in view their utility. “They have been put on blinking mode while some of them are being repaired by Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC). Some more options are being sought to streamline traffic movement,” said Singh.

The plan was initiated in 2005, when the traffic department had submitted a proposal to the government. Later, the administration had also constituted a task force which had sent a report to the Home department and it was decided to implement the project on the basis of Built, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) mode.

At present, the traffic scenario is in a mess, with lack of staff at the disposal of the traffic police, making it an uphill task to deal with the problem, but at the same time, the increased influx of the vehicles has further compounded the problem.

Jammu, October 8
Muslim artisans from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh are busy these days making effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Meghnad for Dasehra.

Two generations of these Muslim artisans travel their way to the City of Temples from their hometown Menaputhi in Sardhana tehsil of Meerut and prepare the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Meghnath. This is the main source of their livelihood.

“We are making effigies for almost all districts of the state. It takes days together but we feel happy seeing these burn. I have been in this profession for 26 years and we feel happy to prepare these effigies for our Hindu brethren.” Mohammad Rehman (54), an artisan, who heads the 30-member team, said.

He said the largest effigies (75 ft) were being prepared for Parade Ground, Jammu, where thousands of people are expected to assemble on Dasehra. For other districts, effigies are being prepared as per the demand.

Dasehra marks the triumph of good over evil. It is celebrated to mark the defeat of Ravana by Lord Ram. Gayas-ud-Din (36), an artisan, said, “We come here every year one month before Dasehra. Some members in our team are Hindus and we complete the month-long task with unity. This year, we are preparing around 50 effigies each of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad for the entire state.”

The artisans said the cost of the effigies had shot up drastically. “The cost of the effigies to be erected at Parade Ground will be around Rs 4 lakh to 4.5 lakh,” they said.

Jammu, October 8
Rakesh Kumar from the Department of Urdu, University of Jammu, and Muneer Hussain from Government MAM College, Jammu, shared the first prize in the poetry recitation contest organised by the Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu, under Display Your Talent’, here today.

Rakesh recited Urdu poem “Iss Ki Joo Sadaa Hai” while Muneer recited “Hoon Mangtoo Swaali”.

Swati Vijay from the Department of English, University of Jammu, won the second prize, and Poonam Khajuria from GGM Science College, Jammu, bagged the third prize.

The certificates of merit were given to Mehak Gupta from Government College of Engineering and Technology (GCET), Jammu, Monika Mitter from Model Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jammu, Divya Bhogal from the Department of Zoology, University of Jammu, and Avinash Kahnotra from GGM Science College, Jammu.

The young poets, in their presentations, vociferously raised the issues related to women empowerment, female foeticide, dowry, patriotism, communal harmony and brotherhood, terrorism, unemployment and environment degradation.

The participants recited poems by established poets in Dogri, Hindi, Urdu, Gojri and English.

Noted poets Jitendra Udhampuri, Zahoor-ud-Din and Professor Lalit Magotra were the judges for the event.

Jammu, October 8
A collection of Dogri poems titled ‘Aas Puchaa De’, written by Balak Ram Baral, was released at a cultural function held at Harsh Niketan Higher Secondary School, Sunderbani, in Rajouri today.

On the occasion, students presented cultural extravaganza, including dance performances on Dogri songs, while local poets recited their poems.

While presenting the paper on the content of book, Mohan said it reflected realities of life and underlined the importance of a just and equitable society. He said it was the first Dogri book by a writer from Rajouri district.

Balak Ram Baral, the author of ‘Aas Puchaa De’, which comprises 101 poems, said, “I was inspired by the need to promote Dogri. It is my mother tongue and the book is my tribute to the language and its rich literature.”

In his keynote address, the chief guest on the occasion, Block Medical Officer, Sunderbani, Dr Govind Sharma, said, “Art and literature encourage humanity and form bridges between communities and countries. A society should always encourage and promote its artists and writers.”

Ashutosh Sharma presented a vote of thanks. KK Khaki, Nek Ram Sharma, Kundal Lal Khajuria, Vidya Sagar, Terath Ram and Ravinder Sharma attended the function.

Katra, October 8
The Rashtriya Rifles Battalion based at Sarh today organised a training programme on mobile repairing for boys and jute bag making for girls hailing from far-flung areas of Mahore under the ongoing Operation Sadbhavana.

The programme was held under the aegis of Counter Insurgency Force (Uniform) in collaboration with Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Institute, Jammu.

The training aimed at making the youth self-reliant.

Over 20 boys and 20 girls would undergo the training.

Virender Singh from the MSME Institute was present during the inaugural function. He said the aim of organising such programmes was to provide the youth with subsidiary avenues of employment. He was optimistic that after undergoing training, youths would be able to earn a livelihood for themselves.

The Commander of Mahore based Headquarters Sector Rashtriya Rifles, while inaugurating the training programme, complimented the youths for availing such opportunities. He said the civil administration, along with the Army, had brought them the opportunity to learn the nuances of mobile repairing and jute bag making in the region. 

Jammu, October 8
The J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, today appreciated the efforts of the Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), to make the city neat and clean.

In a press statement issued here, general secretary of the association Ranjeet Singh said the drive of the JMC was a “welcome step in the present scenario when the menace of adulterated food items and unhygienic conditions in and around Jammu city had become the order of the day.

“Adulteration has become a root cause of many diseases like dengue, malaria etc. We appeal to the shopkeepers to cooperate with us in making the cleanliness drive to a success,” he said.

He also made an appeal to the Municipal Commissioner to start a cleanliness drive on the court premises also.

Jammu, October 8
The National Secular Forum (NSF) today constituted its Government Gandhi Memorial (GGM) Science College unit for 2013-14 and appointed Zafar Hussain as its college president.

The unit was announced by state president of the forum Sukhdev Singh, who also listened to the problems being faced by the students.

Other office-bearers of the unit were chairman Viren Satti, vice-chairman Rahul Katal, senior vice-president Parnav Sharma, vice-presidents, Vishal Manhas, Shameem Ali and Rohit, general secretary Rishab, secretaries Mohammad Akhlaq, Rajat Kotwal, Sadan, Ankush, and press secretary Mohsin Khan.

Besides, Saddam Hussain was appointed cashier while Ajay Thakur, Guljar, Vikas, Arun, Jatinder, Amit Sharma, Irfan Khan, Gopal, were elected members of the unit.

Addressing the students, Sukhdev Singh welcomed the new members and hoped that they would work in unity for the organisation.

Jammu, October 8
The Jammu and Kashmir Sikh Council, under the presidentship of S Harmohinder Singh, has strongly condemn the attack and ransacking of a gurdwara at Bijmour, Andhra Pradesh, by some miscreants.

“We strongly warn the Centre and Andhra government to restrict such brutal acts of miscreants. Otherwise Sikhs in other parts of country will be compelled to come on roads,” said Harmohinder Singh.

“It is a prime duty of the government concerned to safeguard gurdwaras and property of the Sikhs residing in their areas,” he added, while demanding strict action against the culprits.