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Assembly Elections
Jammu, December 5 From the Congress, AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the scion of Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi had already hit the campaign trail by holding rallies in the Kashmir valley and the Jammu region to woo the electorate. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also been expected to campaign for the party in the coming days. On the other hand, its arch-rival BJP has not yet brought out its trump cards like L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Vinod Khanna and Hema Malini. However, the party’s second rung leaders like Arun Jaitley and Shahnawaz Hussain have held public meetings in Udhampur and Reasi, which are going to polls on December 7. As far as regional players are concerned, the National Conference is banking on the charisma of father-son duo of party patron Farooq Abdullah and party chief Omar Abdullah, of whom the former is a known crowd-puller. Similarly, the PDP’s poll campaign revolves around father-daughter duo of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti. Interestingly, the regional satraps are also not far behind. BSP supremo Mayawati recently held a rally in Udhampur and plans to hold more in the coming days. LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan has also been expected to campaign for his party in the strife-torn state. Though, only the time would tell as to how much these star campaigners boost the electoral prospects of various parties. It has definitely added the glamour
“Movie stars and cricketers do add spice to the poll campaign. They are crowd pullers in the real sense of the term. Being a movie buff, I too will not miss an opportunity to see them in person,” avers a housewife, Priya Sharma. Few of the people and the politicians are skeptical on this count. “Whether the massive crowds will translate into votes or not only the outcome will tell, but such rallies surely serve as a big morale booster for the party workers,” said a political leader.
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Bulgarian rose fails to aromatise valley
Srinagar, December 5 With just 75 hectares under its cultivation, nothing has been done in this respect. The lack of motivation among farmers and absence of techno-practices has been spoiling the show. Kashmir has a potential to be at par with Bulgaria, the largest producer of Rosa Damascene, or at least next to it, says Fida Ali Alamgeer, floriculture development extension officer. Over 10,000 species of rose are grown world over in temperate zones. “Mostly, roses are used as cut flowers and have emerged as the biggest industry,” says Fida. Rosa Damascene and Rosa Centifolia are best used for perfumes with the former being the best essential oil constituent. Damascene present in the plant is an important odour constituent. Otto, believed to be finest and most powerful rose perfume, is a product of steam distillation from rose blossom. “Traditional system is employed to undertake hydro-distillation," says Fida. Solvent distillation is frequently used to extract aroma from rose blossom. “The product of solvent extracted is waxy, light brown, semi-solid material containing phenyl-ethyl alcohol in the same ratio as blossom,” he says. Although rose oil is a complicated mixture of more than 100 different components, major component recovered from blossom is phenyl-ethyl alcohol followed by rose alcohol, geranoil, citronellol and nerol. “Because of solubility of phenyl-ethyl alcohol in water it is usually lost in traditional distillation system unless collected as rose water,” says Fida. He says that chilling enhances bud formation and stem’s length. Flower-picking commences in May and lasts for 30-35 days. "Picking has to be done early morning so that volatile elements don't evaporate as temperature increases," Fida says, adding that on an average, 3 kg of flowers can be picked per hour. Aromatic plant starts flowering in the second year, reaches to maximum in fifth year and attains height of 2 m. Over 1,600 plants can be accommodated in one hectare of land. A plant has a capacity to bear 6-6.5 kg of flowers. A flower weighs 2.5 to 4 g. “One hectare of land has a capacity to produce 2 litre of oil. One litre of oil fetches 20,000 Euro,” the officer says. He suggests that the government should come up with few distillation plants. “Farming community needs to be provided subsidy. A big chunk of fallow land can be utilised for cultivation.” The plantation is done in March, but the land has to be kept ready in autumn in advance. “Plants below six years and above 20 years should not be selected for cultivation,” he says. Apart from rose oil, stem-cuttings, medicines and rose water extracted add additional economic value to Bulgarian rose. It was Mogul emperor Jehangir who brought this aromatic plant to Kashmir from Kashan-Iran, informs Fida.
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Go-Manasa village faces neglect
Jammu, December 5 Home to around 700 families, the village lacks basic amenities. The road that connects this village with the city is in bad shape, making it difficult for the commuters to travel. There is no government dispensary in the village and the patients are to be ferried to the Government Medical College, Jammu, even for minor ailments. The village also lacks a proper public transport, which is a major handicap in taking the patients to the hospital in time. Though there have been private operators, but their jam-packed buses make it difficult for ailing as well as elderly people to travel. "Though the public health engineering department has provided a tap connection to the village for supply of potable water, but water has never been released. For meeting the daily needs, we have dug up pumps or tube-wells in every house," alleged Sardar Singh, a resident of the village. The villagers have been facing acute shortage of water for irrigating their agricultural land. Electric supply has also been playing truant. No attention has been paid towards the educational institutions. Mohan Lal, a resident of the village, said, "There is only one middle school in the village from where around 300 children are pursuing education. After passing middle class, these children have to go to Jammu for further education." Though announcements had been made in the past for upgrading this school to a high school but that has never been done.
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Doc follows Gandhian way of life
Jammu, December 5 Dr Karan is quick enough to rectify when enquired about his complete name and reasons for carrying the Tricolour wherever he goes. “I don’t believe in casteism, which is why I don’t suffix anything to my name,” said Dr Karan, adding that, “Our national flag is not the Tricolour but tetra-colour as it has indigo coloured Ashok Chakra embedded in the white strip.” Looking back at the past, Dr Karan recalls his tryst with the national flag: “In school, I won a speech competition and was awarded a biography of Gandhiji as well as a Tricolour. Since then both awards have been beacon light for me.” “I used to feel a bit hesitant in the light of national flag code, but later on with the passage of time I garnered courage to carry it wherever I go to spread out the message which our national flag manifests,” averred Dr Karan. According to Dr Karan, the national flag asks for eight promises. “The saffron is a combination of red and yellow stress on sacrifice and valour, respectively. Similarly, white stands for justice and peace while the green endorses hard work and prosperity. The Ashok Chakra having 24 spokes, inspires us to work round- the- clock for the progress of the country.” Dr Karan claims whenever he gets time from the official duty, he visits schools in villages and teaches the same to children and encourages their sense of patriotism. He believes that only youth can bring reform in the country afflicted by several ills. “Indian democracy is yet to mature. Dynastic rule and criminalisation have weakened the Indian polity. Youth have a key role to play in cleansing the system and taking country to new horizons. They should be given a chance in the politics while the elders should act as advisors only,” he remarked. In his post retirement age, Dr Karan, who superannuates in February 2011, wants to reach out to people in and out of the country to generate awareness regarding values enshrined in the national flag besides convincing youth to fight against injustice, corruption, communalism besides other ills that have put our country in peril.
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Radio Kashmir Jammu
Jammu, December 5 This premier media organisation, which turned 61 on December 1, has served like a sentinel, both during the times of peace and the war. It was under the backdrop of the miseries of the Partition that the station had to go on air to counter the Pakistani media, which it continues to do even today. After the signing of the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, Hari Singh, the Maharaja of the then princely state, had felt the strong need to set up an indigenous radio station since a lot of propaganda and misinformation was beamed into the troubled state from across the border. The ever-increasing refugees were also bringing with them different kinds of rumours, which the government of India and the Maharaja's administration had felt to be effectively countered. In these circumstances, RKJ started functioning from Government Ranbir High School under state’s then information and broadcasting ministry. The first live broadcast came on air at 6.30 pm when Maharaja Hari Singh addressed the people of the state, justifying his decision of having acceded to the Indian domain. The radio station continued to function from the school up to 1952, when it was shifted to Panjtirthi locality and housed in “Begum Ki Haveli”, a building owned by former Sadr-e-Riyasat, Karan Singh, who had leased it to the centre. Since 1947, the RKJ has been countering the disinformation campaign unleashed by Pakistan from time to time. Be there the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, Kargil intrusion or the ongoing proxy war, this radio station has been playing an important role in educating and informing the people and simultaneously meeting their cultural aspirations. Former secretary, J&K Cultural Academy, Prof Rita Jitendra, who has an association of over 55 years with RKJ, says the station planned and conceived a number of counter-propaganda programmes during 1965 and 1971. “Noted broadcaster Melville Demello used to visit Jammu to plan programmes on the pattern of ‘A Nation Prepared’, anchored by himself,” she recalls. Radio Kashmir Jammu's legendary announcer Rajinder Gupta is highly nostalgic of those days when he would play the lead roles in most of the counter-propaganda programmes broadcast in 1965 and 1971. “We were equally fighting the war with our vocal chords functioning on high pitch. We were boosting the morale of our jawans and at the same time hitting the enemy hard through our programmes like ‘Zalim Khan’ and ‘Jawabi Hamla’,” recalls Gupta. J.S. Pardesi, having worked as programme executive at this station, recalls how programmes like, “Jai Bharat” and “Fathu Coachwan” were being broadcast during those days. “Even today, we broadcast programmes like `Waqt Ki Baat' and `Haqeeqat Yeh Hai' to counter the Pakistani propaganda,” says Pardesi. The station has not lowered its guard during peace times. Its Pahari and Gojri music, besides Punjabi and Urdu dramas are all-time hits on the other side of the border. That is what the hundreds of letters, the station receives every week from that country, have to tell.
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Preserving Jammu’s culture through theatre
Jammu, December 5 None could come even close second to him in his endeavours. Today, he takes pride in having organised 150 plays and 1,800 shows at the national level, besides 60 plays abroad. He gets nostalgic when he looks back. "I lived in Jyoti Puram, an urban town situated on a hilltop in Jammu. I was lucky to have friends from all communities studying with me in school, since I lived in a locality which was inhabited by employees of Sial Hydroelectric Project. My school would stage plays from different theatres such as Marathi and Bengali. This initial exposure ignited passion for theatre in me.” Thakur missed the same quality of theatre when he went to study law at Jammu University so he created his own group, Natrang with the help of close friends. “We would get up at 3 in the morning and practice till 8 and then after attending classes, we would again start practicing from 3 in the afternoon till 8 at night. This cumulative passion and camaraderie led us to win numerous competitions at the zonal and national levels,” he recalls Later, he took on theatre as a full-time career after completion of his education and never looked back since. "It was a huge challenge for me to prove the common perception wrong where artists such as poets, writers or theatrics do not have any social status.” Today, he has certainly come a long way with prestigious honours such as National Sangeet Natak Akademi award and Ford Foundation Fellowship in his kitty. He is also credited for according a worldwide recognition to the Dogri theatre. His Dogri play “Ghumai” was a runaway hit. “I reverted to my roots in Dogri culture. It gave me lot of scope to experiment with local and folk stories which were relevant to global audience too.” One can see through his theatre, which crosses the language barrier. It entails power packed performances, rich visuals, socially relevant story lines, all this without any support of heavy sets. “Baba Jittoo”, “Mere Hisse Ki Dhoop Kahan Hai”, “Hum Hain Na” and many others showcase his signature style. His journey has simply been eventful. “I created ground for theatre in a place like Jammu which lacked both tradition and audience. I brought stalwart like Barry John here who got shocked to see good theatre happening in the city. Now, I want to establish an international theatre centre here backed by private sector so that theatre can thrive without any hindrance,” he concludes.
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Polls witness clash of families
Udhampur, December 5 While BJP candidate from Reasi Baldev Raj Sharma has been fighting the electoral battle against his wife, Meenakshi Sharma who is contesting as an independent candidate, Panthers Party candidate from Ramban assembly segment Neelam Kumar has been facing tough fight from his brother, Amit Kumar. Although Baldev Raj Sharma's fight has been against his Congress rival Jugal Kishore Sharma. The decision of National Conference candidate Jagjeeven Lal’s wife to join the electoral battle has made the election interesting. Both Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jagjeevan Lal are former ministers. Meenakshi Sharma, wife of BJP candidate Baldev Raj Sharma, had actually filed her papers as an independent candidate but she could not withdraw her candidature on papers so she has been considered as an independent. Although Meenakshi Sharma has been campaigning for her husband, rival candidates have made it an election issue. The siituation is different in the Ramban assembly segment where fight between two brothers is the talk of the town. Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has nominated Neelam Kumar as party candidate for this reserve seat while his brother Amit Kumar has also filed his nomination papers as a candidate of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). As the political rivalry reached their house, some elderly members of the family tried to convince one of the brothers to withdraw from electoral battle but of no avail. The JKNPP candidate, who is elder among the two, claims that he is in a comfortable position so there is no reason for him to withdraw. Similarly, his younger brother Amit Kumar says there has been a strong wing in favour of the BSP so he should be allowed to fight the elections. The border district of Rajouri also witnessed an interesting contest where Congress candidate Shabir Khan fought his uncle Mohammad Aslam who was a sitting MLA and candidate of the NC. In Gulabgarh and the Gool-Arnas assembly segments, the two brothers have been fighting on these seats. Elder brother Aijaz Ahmed Khan, who is a sitting MLA of Gool-Arnas assembly segment, is contesting, as the Congress candidate while his younger brother Mumtaz Khan is the Congress rebel in the neighbouring Gulabgarh segment. Both Aijaz and Mumtaz Khan are sons of Gujjar leader Haji Buland Khan, who remained MLA from this belt three times.
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Letter
The Jammu Municipal Corporation has failed miserably to maintain sanitation in the city limits. Refuse collectors overflowing with waste and garbage being dumped into drains are a common sight in the city’s various localities. Though the authorities have placed refuse collectors in the residential areas, its staff is hardly bothered even if the people are disposing the garbage elsewhere instead of dumping it in these. In a few areas, the refuse collectors are placed on the road, which pose a threat to the commuters driving at night. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of city residents to cooperate with the authorities in maintaining cleanliness. It is high time that the MC authorities pull up their socks and also take the help of the residents to make the city clean and green.
Sneha Verma,
Jammu
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Letters, J&K Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.
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