Jammu, November 15
Traffic remained disrupted at Janipur Chowk for more than three hours after family members of a PHE daily wager, Naresh Gupta, blocked the road after his death, in protest against the department, alleging that the junior engineer (JE) stopped his salary for one year and threatened him.

Protesters placed the body of the deceased on the road and refused to cremate it until an action was taken against Deepak Gupta, JE, Public Health Engineering (PHE). The family members also demanded compensation and job for his wife.

There was a total chaos during the morning hours as thousands of vehicles were struck on the either side of the chowk, which connects outskirts with the main city.

Rakesh Gupta, a relative of the deceased said, “A day before Diwali, on November 2, the said JE threatened him that he would dismiss him from the job, when Naresh asked him to release his salary.”

“After coming back home, Naresh felt uneasy and we rushed him to a hospital. Later, doctors referred him to Ludhiana, where he died on Thursday. He must have died due to a shock after the threat of the JE,” he alleged.

Naresh Gupta was working as a daily wager in the department for the past six years. At present, he was paid Rs 3,700 as salary, which was pending for the last 18 months.

The vehicular movement started after Sunil Gupta, Superintending Engineer (SE), PHE, and police officials reached the spot and pacified the protesters.

JK Sharma, executive engineer, PHE said, “The road was blocked for about three hours after the death of the daily wager. The SE has given a written assurance of accepting all their demands. All his medical expenses at Ludhiana will be reimbursed.”

“There was no issue of harassing him, all the daily wagers were paid one-month salary on Diwali, but they were asking for a two-month salary, so the JE was asked to mobilise them, the allegation of threatening is wrong,” he added.

Udhampur, November 15
The Labour Department has penalised only two violators for flouting child labour laws during the past three years in Udhampur district. Paradoxically, the department doesn’t have any data about the number of children working in domestic as well as commercial places in the violation of labour laws.

Sources said the Labour Department which was supposed to take stern action against the violators for engaging children at harmful working places has penalised only two defaulters during the past three years while two other cases were still pending in the court for prosecution.

What is more surprising is that the State Child Labour Prevention Act neither covers child beggars who are often found begging in and around busy markets and localities nor do these officials have any powers to randomly check the presence of domestic child labours in the district.

Parvesh Parihar, general secretary of NGO Indian Democratic Human Right Organisation, J&K, claimed that the survey which was conducted five years back under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, suggested that around 450 child labourers were there in the district.

“This figure does not include children begging on roads and streets as the Child Labour Act does not cover them. Organised begging in and around Udhampur has increased manifolds after the beginning of train services between Jammu and Udhampur. The irony is that the administration neither has any record nor does it consider begging as child labour,” he said.

When contacted, Seema Gupta, Assistant Commissioner, Labour Department, Udhampur, said they had constantly been inspecting dhabas, sweets shops, provisional stores and industrial units to maintain a check on child labour.

“We have prosecuted four defaulters out of which two have been convicted by the court who would pay Rs 10,000 each whereas two other cases are still pending in the court,” the officer said.

She expressed complete disagreement with the figures of the NCLP and claimed that the number of child labourers in the district was dwindling, following the constant efforts of the department.

Jammu, November 15
With the civic authorities turning a blind eye to the rampant encroachments of roads and lanes, people in residential areas, particularly posh localities, occupy lanes, bylanes, roads and parks for erecting tents to hold wedding parties and other private functions illegally with impunity.

Consequently, motorists and pedestrians are a harried lot as the blocking of main roads and occupation of public parks--which has now become a general phenomenon in posh localities like Gandhi Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Greater Kailash, Sainik Colony and Channi areas--put them at a great inconvenience.

What annoys the most is the indifferent and inaction of the authorities concerned to stop this growing culture which not only hampers the normal movement of traffic, but also poses problems to pedestrians.

“It has now become a regular feature in the posh localities of the city where people don’t hesitate to put up tents in narrow lanes, bylanes and roads, putting the motorists and pedestrians to great hardships as they are forced to take either alternate route or face difficult to move,” said Tarun Sharma, a resident of Shastri Nagar.

Leave aside road and lanes, people do not refrain from erecting tents in public parks which, in most of the cases, have already been occupied by the private security personnel of VIPs and influential persons.

Meenakshi Khajuria, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, remarked: “What irritates me more is the fact that the authorities concerned have turned a blind eye to it and take no action against the violators. It also encourages others to follow suit.”

She said it appears that the people have lost civic sense and behave irresponsibly towards the society. In the guise of their joys, they forget that this kind of action on their part is creating trouble for others.

“Apart, people also play high sound music which creates nuisance for others. I have never seen any officials from the police or Municipal Corporation visiting these people and penalise them for their misconduct,” Khajuria said.

A autorickshaw driver, Mukesh Kumar said, such acts on the part of the people force them to change the route as they are left with no option if they confront a tent erected on a lane or road. “We can’t charge anything extra from our customers for taking long route and it affects our earnings,” he said.

Kiran Wattal, Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation, was unavailable for comments. 

Jammu, November 15
Marriage season has become a costly affair now as city residents are being forced to buy commercial refills of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at Rs 1,800 per unit.

Though the official cost of non-subsidised refill is around Rs 930, people are being forced to buy it at Rs 1,100.

Since the announcement on curtailing the subsidised cylinders to nine per family per year, even relatives and friends are not coming forward to provide refills, which was a norm in the past. Off the 15-lakh LPG users in Jammu and Kashmir, 7 lakh are registered in Jammu region, but its demand increases manifold during the marriage season.

“Our distributor says that only commercial cylinders are available and there is a shortage of non-subsidised refills. I had to shell out Rs 20,000 to get 10 cylinders. Even relatives are not coming forward to offer their refills keeping in view the cap put by the government last year,” said Surinder Krishan, a local resident.

Despite assurances by the Consumer Affairs Department and oil companies that people will not be put to hardships on account of gas supply, no alternate arrangement has been made to ensure required supply during the marriage season and distributors are making merry and charging excess amount from the people.

“Marriage is a costly affair, be it vegetables, eatables or LPG refill, families are feeling pinch and for a middle-class family, its frustrating to even think of any function when the cost of every item is going high,” said Roshni Sharma, a government teacher.

In most parts of the city, connection holders are asked either to collect refills themselves or are being made wait for days together, posing problems for the commuters.

“Our distributor says that the home delivery will take 10 to 15 days or I will have to visit a collection point, which is five km from my home. My husband is posted in Udhampur,” said Kiran Sharma, a housewife.

Last year, the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department had constituted a task force at district levels, particularly in the snow-bound areas of Jammu region, to check black marketing, but it seems that nothing much has been done to streamline the system.

Meanwhile, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution director GS Chib could not be contacted after repeated attempts.

Jammu, November 15
Though the state Cabinet is yet to approve the much-awaited draft of the state sports policy which has also emphasised upon maximum participation of women in sports competitions conducted at different levels, the J&K State Sports Council has started working on various modalities to strengthen sports in women section, especially belonging to rural areas.

Dilip Thusu, secretary, J&K State Sports Council, while talking to The Tribune said the autonomous sports body was making all out efforts to ensure maximum participation of women in sports/games at all levels.

“The department is very much aware of the importance of women in sports competition and that is why we have taken various initiatives to ensure that more competitions would be held in the future so that maximum women would compete,” Thusu said.

When asked him about the approval of the sports policy by the state Cabinet, Thusu said, “I am not sure how much time will be taken to approve the draft, but we are hopeful that the process will be completed soon.”

“The centrally-Sponsored Scheme, Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA), is playing a pivotal role in achieving the targets to some extent but still we are looking for more options,” the secretary said.

Sources said the main focus of the authorities was on strengthening the infrastructure in rural areas where young girls were deprived of competing in competitions even at zonal and district level.

Sources said financial assistance would also be provided for achieving excellence. Due care will also be taken to ensure that there are sufficient infrastructure, training facilities and competitive events to enable women players to participate fully in sports.

It may be mentioned here that the sports policy draft has put the women sports under special sector games wherein the competitions will be held at the block, district and state level. It also suggested that women teams would also participate in various games in national level women sports competitions.

The draft further claimed that as many as 15 best sports women will be honoured and rewarded under Madr-E-Meharban Sports Award every year for winning medals in national competitions. 

Jammu, November 15
Former Indian cricket team captain and sitting Member of Parliament, Mohammad Azharuddin, has given his consent to become the coach of Jammu and Kashmir team.

Azharuddin has conveyed his decision and willingness to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) president, Farooq Abdullah, to harness the cricket potential in the state and take the charge as the coach of the J&K cricket team.

“Yes, Muhammad Azharuddin has given his consent to become the coach of the J&K cricket team a week back. He wants to lift the standards of cricket in the state,” Majid Khan, private secretary of Azharuddin told The Tribune over a telephonic conversation.

Khan said the former Indian cricket team captain feels that he could serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir through cricket. “Azharuddin feels there is a huge potential of players in Jammu and Kashmir, but it needs to be harnessed. He is eagerly waiting for his new assignment,” Khan added.

He said they were waiting for a call from the JKCA president. Sources in the JKCA said almost all modalities with Azharuddin have been finalised and he is all set to take the charge. “As it is the mid season, Azhar will be joining after March 2014. We are hopeful that Azhar’s entry will boost the cricket in the state,” sources added.

Jammu, November 15
The formulation of new terms and conditions by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) for the inclusion of sports/games to keep a check on the participation of sportspersons in unimportant disciplines in the National School Games did not get much success as sportspersons continue to participate in such disciplines in the state.

It may be mentioned here that The Tribune had reported that the state contingent had performed miserably in the 58th edition of the National School Games by winning a meagre number of medals in major disciplines.

Later, the SGFI not only informed the Department of Youth Services and Sports (DYSS) to strengthen the contingent in important disciplines, but also keep a strict vigil on the participation of players in unrecognised competitions. The SGFI claimed that individuals with ulterior motives were using their influence to get their associations affiliated with the apex sports body and then started conducting competitions.

Sources said a sub-committee of the SGFI, under the chairmanship of its secretary general Dr Rajesh Kumar Mishra, held a meeting at the Chhatrapati Shivaji sports complex in Pune to formulate a strategy.

It was decided that the popular sports/games of India and which are 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.

Sources said the DYSS had issued strict instructions to its district officers to ensure that the school children would get ample training in important disciplines both in indoor and outdoor.

The sports department had recently conducted competitions at the district, state and divisional level in major disciplines like kho-kho, kabaddi, football, fencing, badminton, swimming, table tennis, judo, volleyball, basketball and athletics. Sources claimed that the competitions in non-important disciplines were also organised and that too when strict instructions were given by the authorities.

"Unfortunately, poor performance of the state contingent in the earlier editions of competitions is solely responsible to provide an opportunity to the individuals with ulterior motives to constitute a new association and then get it affiliated with the SGFI using their influence," said sources in the DYSS.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar, vice-president of the SGFI, said: "The new terms and conditions introduced by the apex body will definitely help in curbing this practice. Though it will take time, but we are confident of achieving success. 

Jammu, November 15
Fed up with the erratic mobile services of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), its customer can not even switch to other telecom operators with Mobile Number portability (MNP), as BSNL is not providing them the unique code which is mandatory for MNP.

As BSNL was the first telecom operator to start mobile services in the state in 2003, most of the people were using BSNL services. Now a days, due to the erratic service of BSNL, a government enterprise, many customers want to switch to other telecom operators plying n the state. But the company has chosen a simpler way to make its customers stick to BSNL, by avoiding their requests.

“Whenever I send a SMS on 1900 to get the unique code for MNP, it always shows ‘message sending failed’ and if we call on this number, no one picks the phone,” said Sunil Gupta, a post-paid mobile subscriber in Jammu.

“I am fed-up with the erratic service of the BSNL as neither the call nor the data works properly on BSNL, whereas other operators like Vodafone and Airtel are giving better services,” he added.

The MNP was started in Jammu and Kashmir more than a year ago. The BSNL has got more than 1500 numbers ported in from different telecom operators, but less than 800 have gone out from BSNL to other operators.

Mohd Shahid, another BSNL customer said, “When I did not get the unique code to change the operator, I bought another SIM of Vodafone to get better services. The MNP has no worth in the state if BSNL does not provide the unique code for it.”

“Most of the customers are willing to move to other operators, but due to this kind of attitude of BSNL they are forced to stay with it,” he added.

R K Koul, Chief General Manager, Telecomm, BSNL, while refuting the complaint said, “There is nothing like we have stopped it. As per my information, MNP with 1900 is active but there is limited access due to the ban on SMS, but that is for all the operators, BSNL is not an exception.”

“If someone is not getting the code, there must be some technical problem,” he added.

Batote, November 15
The Union Health Minister and former Chief Minister, J&K, Ghulam Nabi Azad had to trek about 50 km for 19 hours, in six to eight feet of snow, to appear in a science practical test of his matriculation examination.

It was revealed by Azad here today during a public rally at Top Neel of Ramban Assembly Constituency, falling in Doda district. He was listening to the demand for a science laboratory at the Government Higher Secondary School, Top Neel in Doda, by one of the villagers and a schoolgirl, for want of which the students of class X, XI and XII have to go about 60 km by road and 5 km by foot to Doda.

This reminded him of the difficulties of his school days. Nostalgically, he said after appearing in the class X theory paper of science at the Government High School, Kilhotran in Bhallessa (Gandoh tehsil of Doda district), he had to go to Bhaderwah for appearing in his science practical examination.

“But by the evening of the previous day, when I had to start to trek for Bhaderwah, about six feet of snow had accumulated in the area. My father sent 8 to 10 Gujjars with me, who kept on cleaning the snow from the path to make way for me. At some places, there was about 6 to 8 feet of snow. But we kept on trekking the whole night to reach the exam venue at Bhaderwah at 12.45 pm, just 15 minutes before the scheduled time, after trekking for about 19 hours and covering about 50 km of hilly terrain,” he narrated.

“So, you people are still facing the situation what I had faced in my childhood and who else other than me can realise your difficulty,” he added.

Jammu, November 15
Governor NN Vohra emphasised upon the importance of imparting quality education, along side focusing on ethical and moral values, to nurture the younger generation to successfully shoulder the future responsibilities of nation building.

Interacting with a six-member delegation of the Dewanini V Badrinath Educational Trust, Jammu, which called on him at Raj Bhavan here today, the Governor observed that continuing efforts were required by all stakeholders to provide an enabling environment to the students so that they could shine in their chosen fields of study.

The delegation briefed the Governor about the establishment, history, growth and functioning of the Trust educational institutions and its future action plan. They stated that about 2,000 students were pursuing education in the three educational institutions run by the Trust in Jammu. Of them, two were upto the 10+2 level and the third one was up to class X. The delegation invited the Governor to be the Chief Guest at the golden jubilee year’s joint annual function of DBN Trust Institutions next month. The delegation comprised Rajendra Kakkar, Manager Trustee, Lila Karan Sharma, I D Soni, Krishan Gopal Agarwal, Yashpal Puri and Suresh Sharma, members of the Management Committee of the DBN Trust Institutions.— TNS

Katra, November 15
The District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Reasi, organised the 29th district-level science exhibition under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Science Exhibition Scheme, at Katra today. The exhibition was inaugurated by District Development Commissioner (DDC), Reasi, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

In the exhibition, 46 models from different education zones of Reasi were exhibited by higher secondary, secondary and elementary level students.

Exhibits displayed at the exhibition touched upon various themes related to science, society and environment. The Reasi DDC widely appreciated the efforts put forth by the students of the district in preparing such innovative models.

Chief Education Officer, Reasi, Ashok Kumar Sanyal was the guest of honour on the occasion. Zonal Education Officers and heads of different education institutes were also present.— OC

Jammu, November 15
The Royal Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of the RBS Group, awarded the RBS ‘Green Warrior’ Award to Jigmet Tapka, under the RBS Earth Heroes Award- 2013. He was honoured at a award ceremony in New Delhi.

The Award was presented to Takpa for his accomplishments in the field of biodiversity conservation, sustainable rural development and climate change mitigation. Tapka is an Indian Forest Service Officer with more than 20 years of service in the Forest and Wildlife Department of Ladakh, J&K. His involvement in the Greening Himalaya project was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records. — TNS

Jammu, November 15
Governor NN Vohra emphasised upon the importance of reviving and promoting street plays, which disseminate powerful social messages and highlight the problems of the common masses.

The Governor was interacting with the artistes of Natrang, who performed a Dogri street play ‘Gatte-ch Manu’ (man in the ditch), at the Raj Bhavan lawns here last evening.

The play is based on Kishan Chander’s Urdu short story ‘Khadda’.

Governor’s wife Usha Vohra, Principal Secretary to the Governor Navin K Choudhary, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu Sharma, officers and staff of Raj Bhavan and their families witnessed the play.

Referring to the play, the Governor lauded the outstanding performance of the artistes.

He observed that the play underlined the brazen indifference of both the administrative machinery and the society at large to the problems and woes of the common man.

In this context, he suggested to Balwant Thakur, Director of Natrang, to focus on promoting people’s theatre, which would contribute to the harmonious growth of the society.

He lauded Thakur for his contribution to Dogri theatre.

The Governor suggested to the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, to consider making the presentation of selected plays a part of the performances at the forthcoming Jammu Festival, observing that such aesthetic initiatives needed to be strongly encouraged.

Katra, November 15
The Madhav Lal Nanda Memorial Trust, Reasi, felicitated the meritorious students of the district on the occasion of Children’s Day at Shri Sanatan Dharam Sabha here last evening.

Students from Class VIII to graduation level were honoured with mementos and appreciation letters. The function was attended by a large number of people, including children and parents.

Ajeet Angraz, principal of Government Degree College, Reasi, was the chief guest at the function.

The students who were honoured were Sonali Sharma, Mahima, Radhika Suri, Riya Sharma, Palak Mengi, Akhilesh, Rohit, Hardeep, Shikha Rani, Ananya, Shalakshi, Sonali Thakur and Roshi Devi. An organising committee, headed by Kailash Nanda, had organised the function. The other members of the committee were Ajay Nanda, Arti Nanda, Sanjay Nanda, Om Parkesh Sharma, Bansi Lal Kerni and Sudarshan Singh.

Jammu, November 15
Thousands of people have started arriving for the annual fair of Baba Jitto, organised in a small village some 15 km from Jammu city, to remember the sacrifice of a peasant and her daughter who killed themselves rather than submit to the demands of a local landlord some 200 years ago.

The fair will start on November 16 and will conclude on November 24. Thousands of people from Jammu, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and even Haryana visit the small temple dedicated to the Baba and her daughter.

Keeping in view the large influx of people, the administration has already established a Control Room to monitor the arrangements and civic amenities at the site.

Meanwhile, the transport authorities were directed to arrange sufficient number of buses for transportation of devotees and fix special time table for hassle-free movement of vehicles. The Fire Services would ensure fire tenders at the venue and other vital points to meet any eventuality. The Chief Education Officer (CEO) was directed to organise skits and cultural programmes, besides the District Youth Services and Sports authorities would organise sports events during the mela.

Rajouri, November 15
The Rajouri and Poonch police have foiled an attempt of bovine smuggling in the late night hours of Wednesday and seized 36 Tata mobile vehicles, along with about 65 drivers and about 230 bovines.

Most of the traders involved in smuggling belonged to the Kashmir valley and reportedly involved in the trade in nexus with the police officers posted on Rajouri-Bafliaz (Poonch)-Pir-ki-gali and Shopian in Kashmir.

In the clash more than seven policemen were injured. A case against the alleged smugglers has been registered.— OC

Jammu, November 15
M R Das bowled a deadly spell to scalp four wickets as the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) struggled at 219/6 in 89.4 overs against Assam Cricket Association (ACA) at stumps on the opening day of Col C K Nayudu trophy match, played at GGM Science College Hostel Ground here today.

The JKCA won the toss and opted to bat first. The team got off to a disastrous start after losing opening batsman U N Mir at an individual score of 4 runs. After that, Divya Pratap and Pranav S Gupta stitched together a brilliant partnership of 163 runs for the second wicket before Pratap was dismissed for 74 runs that came off 199 balls.

Pranav too was unlucky not to get a well deserved century. He was caught by Sajid Khan on 93 of the bowling of P D Sonowal. After his dismissal at 180/3, the JKCA suffered a dramatic collapse and lost next two wickets at the same score without adding a single run. For ACA, M R Das was the chief destroyer with four wickets while S A Das and P D Sonowal shared a wicket apiece.