Jammu, October 29
The National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) today appealed to the Chief Minister, Finance Minister and Chief Secretary to ensure that the pension/pay dues of pensioners and employees of the state government for the current month are released well before Diwali.

Addressing an NMC workers' rally at Gandhi Nagar, Subash Shastri, president NMC said pay dues and pension of government employees and pensioners are being delayed for the last four-five months due to paucity of funds, due to which, the salaried class and pensioners as also their families suffer a lot, there having been a sharp increase in the prices of all commodities fuelled by inflation. He added that Diwali is approaching and sufficient funds should be released immediately to all treasuries of the state so that pensioners/employees are able to get their pension/pay dues on Diwali.

Expressing his grave concern over non-payment of wages to daily wagers/casual labour and seasonal labourers of various departments of the state government, Shastri also demanded release of their wages to them on this festival.

Sanction of 10% DA due from July in favour of state government employees and pensioners and early release of third instalment of Sixth Pay Commission arrears were other demands highlighted at the rally.

Rajouri, October 29
A class IX schoolgirl was run over by a rashly driven tempo in Kotranaka area of border district Rajouri today. It resulted in massive protest against the district administration and health department.

Shamima Akhtar was on her way to school at 9 am when a rashly driven tempo ran over her outside Jamia Masjid, leaving her seriously wounded, locals said.

Reports said she was taken to the local hospital at Kotranka. Doctors referred her to District Hospital Rajouri.

According to reports, there was no ambulance availability in the Kotranka hospital, resulting in a lot of time being wasted in shifting her. Unfortunately, the girl succumbed to her injuries on her way to the district hospital.

There was a protest in Kotranka area, where bazaars and other business establishments were shut down and movement of vehicles remained suspended from 11 am to 3 pm as people demanded strict action against the accused tempo driver, and the health department for unavailability of ambulance.

Kin of the deceased and locals suspended their protest after intervention of senior officers of the administration.

Reports said the police has lodged an FIR against the tempo driver and investigations have started.

* Shamima Akhtar was on her way to school at 9 am when a rashly driven tempo ran over her outside Jamia Masjid, leaving her seriously wounded

* There was no ambulance availability in the Kotranka hospital, resulting in a lot of time being wasted in shifting her from one hospital to another. Unfortunately, the girl succumbed to her injuries on her way to the district hospital

* There was a protest in Kotranka area, where bazaars and other business establishments were shut down and movement of vehicles remained suspended from 11 am to 3 pm as people demanded strict action against the accused tempo driver, and the health department for unavailability of ambulance

Jammu, October 29
Emphasising on the need to address the gap between students passing out of elementary classes and those enrolling in secondary schools in the state, the Department of Education of Groups with Special Needs (DEGSN) has recommended that the Inclusive Education of the Disabled at Secondary Age (IEDSS) Scheme needs to develop a data base for tracking the child's progress from elementary to secondary level in partnership with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

“There may be gaps owing to a number of reasons, for example, some students may take admission in private schools, special schools or opt for vocations. Low enrolment of girl students is a serious concern at this level of education. Strong initiatives are required to increase enrolment of girls,” said the DEGSN study.

“The class size must include to a maximum of 30 students in general and a maximum of 20 in case the class includes children with Special Education Needs (SEN). All such classes should be made architecturally barrier-free, irrespective of the enrolment and category of students with disabilities”, it added.

DEGSN, in its recent study, recommended that all the facilities earmarked for this purpose like escort allowance, stipend to girl students, transport facilities, hostel facilities and adapted toilets should be a priority for the state. It stated that children studying through the open school system which may be another option for gaining education at secondary and higher secondary levels, must also benefit from the provisions of the scheme. The scheme can be revised accordingly.

“Linkages need to be developed between this scheme and vocational education component at secondary and senior secondary level. There is lack of awareness regarding different types of aids and appliances suitable for different disabilities as well as their availability. Also, the aids and appliances component of the scheme may include provisions for the maintainance of devices,” a study maintained.

For effective implementation of IEDSS scheme, DEGSN recommended identification of SEN should be built on the earlier assessments under SSA. It added that interpretation of SEN should be done more broadly and not restrict to definitions given in the PWD Act, 1995.

Jammu, October 29
Continuing its drive against the menace of adulteration, especially in milk and in view of the ongoing festive season, a joint team of food safety officers and municipal veterinary officer today inspected prominent sweet shops selling milk, milk shops as well as milk vendors in the area of Kunjwani, Channi Himat, Satwari, Nanak Nagar, Rehari Colony, Janipur etc. About 2,100 litres milk was checked.Urea detection formed part of the tests conducted. Rs 12,400 was realised from defaulters.

Four samples of Milk, milk products and sweet items were lifted from prominent sweet shops and sent to the food analyst, public health laboratory, for ascertaining their standard of purity.

Shopkeepers have been warned not to display their sweets openly on the roadside and out of their premises and have been directed not to use colour for preparing sweet.

The shopkeepers were also advised to cover their sweets and other eatables, so that these are not exposed to dust and flies. Their workshops should be neat and clean failing which action under law will be initiated against them, it was stated. — TNS

Katra, October 29
The District Red Cross Society, Reasi, in collaboration with the District Information Centre celebrated foundation day of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) at Reasi.

The function was organised under the guidance of the District Development Commissioner, Reasi, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary. The main function was held at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Reasi.

Reasi Additional Deputy Commisioner (ADC) Rajinder Singh Tara was the chief guest on the occasion. The planning officer, District Rural Development Agency, Dr Jagdish Mehra, was the programme coordinator.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mehra said Red Cross had contributed significantly to the relief of human distress and misery and it was credited to provide life to millions of people across the globe.

While addressing the gathering, the ADC said the functioning of the Red Cross Society had got a new life in Reasi district under the guidance of the District Development Commissioner, who is also the chairman of the District Red Cross Society. He urged the students to know more about Red Cross and also search for new ways to serve the needy.

Tara further said, “We must put in more efforts to make sure that neutral, impartial and independent nature of humanitarian activities of Red Cross are understood by all.”

A symposium on ‘The role of Red Cross Society’ was also organised on the occasion in which Ruchika Sharma was adjudged the best speaker. Samni Langeh and Chinta Devi bagged the second and third positions, respectively, while Akshita Dogra and Versha Suri got a consolation prize. The chief guest distributed prizes to the participants.

General manager of the District Industries Centre Krishan Lal, District Information Officer Parvinder Kour, Assistant Director Fisheries Bodh Raj, Child Development and Planning Officer Pritam Lal Thappa, Principal of Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Reasi PD Sharma, staff members and students were present on the occasion.

The Principal presented a vote of thanks and proceedings were carried out by Swatantar Dev Thakur.

Later, a film on ‘Save the girl child’ and ‘Role of Red Cross’ was also screened, which was highly appreciated by the dignitaries, staff members and students.

Jammu, October 29
The NCC cadets attending the National Integration Camp got an opportunity to present a cultural programme in front of officers, JCOs, jawans and families of the White Knight Corps at Usman Auditorium yesterday.

Lt Gen DS Hooda, the GOC, White Knight Corps, and his wife Rashmi Hooda were the guests of honour.

The programme was hosted by Maj Gen Neeraj Verma, ADG NCC, J&K.

The cadets presented dances and songs on the occasion. Lt Gen Hooda appreciated the NCC for organising the event.

Jammu, October 29
LoC Club trounced Kings XI by 24 runs to move into the next round of the ongoing Shaheed Manjeet Singh T20 Cricket Tournament being organised by Shaheed Manjeet Singh Club at Government Degree College, Poonch, today.

Winning the toss and batting first, LoC mustered 142 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.

Khalid and Govil contributed 32 and 26 runs, respectively.

For Kings XI, Ranjeet bagged 3 wickets while Pinku chipped in with 2 wickets.

In reply, Kings XI could manage to score 118 runs in the allotted overs by losing 7 wickets. For LoC Club, Khalid and Sonu shared 2 wickets apiece. Khalid was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant all-round performance.The match was officiated by Sanjay Misri, Kewal Krishan, Gurvinder Singh, Ramesh Kumar and Tariq Khan.

Jammu, October 29
Teams from Chandigarh, Delhi and Guwahati notched up victories over their respective rivals in the ongoing Eid-Diwali Milan T20 Cricket Cup being jointly organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP), Simula Group of Companies and Atman Educational Society at MA Stadium.

In the first match, Chandigarh overcame the challenge of Stadium XI Kathua by 7 wickets. Batting first, the Kathua team accumulated 106 runs. Arvind was the top scorer with 32 runs while Prashant and Arun contributed 14 and 13 runs to the team, respectively.

Hardeep scalped 3 wickets for Chandigarh while Sandeep and Devinder claimed 2 and 1 wicket, respectively.

In reply, Chandigarh overhauled the target by losing 3 wickets. Sandeep, Lalit and Vishal hit 34, 23 and 22 runs, respectively.

In another match, Delhi got the better of Mumbai by 56 runs in a one-sided affair. Batting first, Delhi posted a decent total of 153 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.

Abhishek (33), Aamir Malik (29) and Nishant Rana (25) were the main contributors. Rahul Gunjan and Vijay took 2 wickets each whereas Varun claimed one.

In reply, the Mumbai team suffered a batting collapse and was bundled out for 97 runs. Sachin was the top scorer with 33 runs while Vijay contributed 13 runs. Abhishek and Rathi scalped 2 wickets each for Delhi.

In the last match, Guwahati toppled Meghalaya by 5 wickets. Batting first, Meghalaya was all out for a paltry total of 60 runs. Sharma was the top scorer with 19 runs. Karan Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Guwahati, who bagged 3 important wickets.

In reply, Guwahati did the needful, losing 5 wickets in the process. Sunil top scored with 19 runs.The matches were officiated by Sandeep Singh, Sandeep Manchanda, Farooq and Vishal Singh.