J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Dental surgeons to get regular jobs
Jammu, December 2
The Health Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, yesterday announced that the Jammu and Kashmir Government would take steps to regularise the services of the dental surgeons employed on ad hoc basis.

Heritage conservation: Govt to seek
experts’ help
Srinagar, December 2
The Jammu and Kashmir Government plans to frame a legislation with the help of experts for the conservation and preservation of the heritage structures, which has remained neglected for decades.

74 BJP members nominated
Jammu, December 2
The chief of the state unit the BJP, Mr Ashok Khajuria, yesterday announced the inclusion of 74-member with five vice-presidents and three general secretaries in the BJP’s fold. 

Time to focus on Kashmir issue: PDP
Srinagar, December 2
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has said the party was working on a comprehensive political and economic programme for the settlement of the Kashmir problem.

Dental surgeons to get regular jobs
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 2
The Health Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, yesterday announced that the Jammu and Kashmir Government would take steps to regularise the services of the dental surgeons employed on ad hoc basis.

Mr Sharma, who was inaugurating the inter-state dental conference here, said more than 350 dental surgeons would be recruited for being deployed in the primary health centres throughout the state.

He said a team of the Dental Council of India would inspect the Indira Gandhi Dental College here in January for recognition of the institution.

The construction of the new building of the dental college would be completed next year. The seats in the dental college would be increased to 50 from the existing 20 when the institution was recognised.

The minister said he would examine the demand for setting up a separate directorate of dental services in the state. In the meantime, it had been decided to strengthen the dental set-up by appointing district dental officers in all district headquarters.

He urged the private practitioners to make their fee affordable for the common people.

Mr K.B. Jandial, Health Secretary, said the government had decided to introduce postgraduate courses in the dental college, Srinagar.

He said a high-level committee would be set up to look into various demands of the dentists.

Dr Rakesh Gupta, Chairman of the conference, demanded that the post of the Director, Dental Services, be created here as such posts existed in all neighbouring states.

Mr Rigzin Zora, Power Minister, was also present.

Dentists from the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi are participating in the three-day conference.

Heritage conservation: Govt to seek experts’ help
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 2
The Jammu and Kashmir Government plans to frame a legislation with the help of experts for the conservation and preservation of the heritage structures, which has remained neglected for decades. The government has already taken steps to protect the heritage buildings like the Maharaja Palace in Jammu. Such steps were yet to be taken in the valley which has a recorded history of 5,000 years.

The Chief Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, said here today that his government would seek the help of experts to frame out a legislation so that concrete steps could be taken in this direction. He said this while addressing a seminar on the Kashmir Heritage Day at the SKICC. The seminar was organised by UNESCO and the Peoples Empowerment Mission.The Union Minister for Water Resources was the chief guest on the occasion.

The Union Minister, Prof Saifuddin Soz, said that there was no law for the preservation of heritage and lamented that Srinagar Master Plan had no plan for the conservation and protection of the heritage sites. He urged the Chief Minister to "build a model for protecting the heritage". "We want a bill to be passed by the Assembly", Mr Soz added.

Mr Shyam H.K. Chainani, Honorary Secretary, Bombay Environmental Action Group, in his keynote address stressed on the need to enlist the heritage sites for a systematic process of conservation and preservation of heritage structures in Srinagar. Ms Minja Yang, Director, UNESCO, also attended the seminar.

74 BJP members nominated
Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 2
The chief of the state unit the BJP, Mr Ashok Khajuria, yesterday announced the inclusion of 74-member with five vice-presidents and three general secretaries in the BJP’s fold. Mr Omkar Seth, a leader of the breakaway group of the Jammu State Morcha, has been included as a member of the BJP’s executive committee.

The senior BJP leaders, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Mr Daya Kishan Kotwal, Dr Nirmal Singh, Babu Parmanand, Lala Shivcharan Gupta and Mr Jugal Kishore have been nominated as members of the 45-member executive committee.

Mr Ranjit Singh, Prof Hari Om, Ms Suresh Jamwal and Mr Chander Prakash Gupta have been appointed as the vice-presidents. The general secretaries are Mr Ajay Jamwal, Mr Shamsher Singh Manhas and Mr Bali Bhagat. At least 35 members have been included as special invitees.

Mr Sat Sharma has been nominated as the treasurer, while Mr Rajesh Gupta will function as the additional treasurer. Sofi Yusuf has been nominated the President of the Kashmir unit of the party, while Mr Sonam Paljor has been given the charge of Ladakh.

Mr Narsingh Dass Rajwal will be the President of the Scheduled Caste Morcha whereas Mr Pawan Khajuria will head the Yuva Morcha, Mr Sukhnandan Kumar has been given charge of the Kissan Morcha and Mrs Usha Choudhary will head the Mahila Morcha.

Time to focus on Kashmir issue: PDP
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 2
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has said the party was working on a comprehensive political and economic programme for the settlement of the Kashmir problem.

Addressing a party convention at Budgam today, she said the PDP’s premise was that the time had come to work out a solution "that is practical, realistic, and acceptable to all parties".

Referring to the recent statement of Dr Farooq Abdullah, demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, she said it sounded “music to our ears to hear this from a person who promulgated POTA in Jammu and Kashmir, even before it was implemented anywhere in the country.”