Jammu, February 4
The state government ordered a major reshuffle in the civil administration in its first Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today.

Giving details, Chief Secretary SS Kapur said Verghese Samuel, IAS, financial commissioner, PWD (R&B), has been transferred and posted as financial commissioner, home.

PS Gill, IPS, director general, youth services and sports, has been transferred and posted as commissioner, vigilance, against an available vacancy. Anil Goswami, financial commissioner, revenue, has been transferred and posted as principal secretary, industries and commerce.

Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, principal secretary, forests, has been posted as director general, IMPA, vice Pramod Kumar Jain, who has been transferred ascommissioner/ secretary, social welfare.

Dr RK Jerath, principal secretary, social welfare, has been transferred as financial commissioner, revenue, vice Anil Goswami.

Sudhanshu Pandey, divisional commissioner, Jammu, has been transferred as OSD in the Finance Department. He will take over as commissioner/secretary, finance, after March 2009, relieving principal secretary to Governor BB Vyas of the additional charge.

Mehboob Iqbal, commissioner/secretary, consumer affairs and public distribution, has been posted as commissioner/secretary, public works (R&B). Shant Manu, MD, J&K State Power Development Corporation, has been posted as commissioner/ secretary, forests. Bipul Pathak, awaiting posting orders after availing study leave, has been posted as MD, J&K State Power Development Corporation.

NK Verma, commissioner/secretary, culture, has been transferred as commissioner/secretary, higher and technical education vice Khazir Mohammed Wani, whose orders will be issued separately.

Abdul Hamid, excise commissioner, has been transferred as commissioner/secretary, transport, with effect from March 1. Dr Pawan Kotwal, commissioner/secretary, industries and commerce, has been posted as divisional commissioner, Jammu, vice Sudhanshu Pandey.

KB Jandial, secretary, information, has been transferred as secretary, consumer affairs and public distribution. Tanveer Jehan, secretary, cooperatives, has been posted as secretary, tourism and culture vice Naeem Akhtar, who has opted for voluntary retirement with effect from February 28, 2009.

Naeem Akhtar will remain available with the GAD till his retirement. Jeet Lal Gupta, director, consumer affairs and public distribution, Jammu, has been posted as secretary, J&K State Finance Commission, while Pradeep Gupta, director, industries and commerce, Jammu, has been posted as excise commissioner vice Abdul Hamid.

Sheikh Ejaz Iqbal, managing director, J&K State Financial Corporation, has been posted as secretary, revenue. Ramesh Kumar Koul, special secretary, finance, will hold the additional charge of the post of MD, State Financial Corporation, till further orders.

Jammu, February 4
Around 150 Hizb-ul- Mujaheedin (HM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including 25 foreign mercenaries, are '' still operational'' in the twin mountainous districts of the state, well-placed sources said here today.

Though three top militants, including two who were behind the 1995 Republic Day blasts in Jammu, were arrested last month, around 100-120 militants are still active in the Doda-Ramban range, the sources said.

''Local outfit Hizbul is more active than the foreign-based LeT in Doda district. Around 100 militants representing the HM and around 20 Pakistanis are still active in this district,'' HK Lohia, DIG, Doda-Ramban range, said.

Lohia said the two militants arrested from Kishtwar district were responsible for the January 26 serial blasts inside Maulana Azad Stadium in which the then Governor, Gen KV Krishna Rao, had a narrow escape.

According to sources, around 30-35 militants, including four or five Pakistanis, were also operating in the Reasi-Udhampur range with some of the top commanders.

''At present, no militant is active in Udhampur district but the figure may be 30-35 in Reasi district, including those from Pakistan-based LeT,'' Alok Puri, DIG, Udhampur-Reasi range, said.

Puri said:'' Mountainous areas, including Mahore, Gool, Gulabgarh, are the most active parts of Reasi district for the militants and their number keeps changing due to the topography of the region as it touches the Rajouri-Poonch range, a border belt used by infiltrators to sneak into Indian territory.'' —UNI

Srinagar, February 4
Kashmir University Vice-Chancellor Riyaz Punjabi has highlighted the importance of Educational Satellite, popularly known as Edusat, in reaching out to large sections of society.

He was interacting online with Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh via Edusat network at the virtual classroom of the university’s Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC). Arjun Singh was in Tirupati for the launch of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“The programme has been envisaged the tremendous potential of the ICT in teaching and learning process in enhancing the capacity as well as efficiency of the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system by the use of appropriate ICT tools. It also aims at making the learning interesting and easy through digitising the learning material, thereby, converting it to e-contents and widening the access of learners to the said e-contents,” a spokesman of the university said.

The facilities like Edusat can be of tremendous help to the regions like Jammu and Kashmir where resources in terms of expertise and specialised fields were less, Prof Punjabi said, adding that the programme will help students to benefit from the vast educational resources and expertise available in other parts of the country.

Srinagar, February 4
The divisional administration in Kashmir is roping in religious scholars to disseminate information to common masses about how to minimise losses during disasters like earthquakes.

As part of the process, a follow-up programme was organised by divisional commissioner, Kashmir, Masood Samoon in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Masood, who was the chief guest, said such programmes could help mobilise public opinion about how to cope up with disasters like earthquakes.

“Two years back, we held a series of programmes in which religious scholars were involved in order to inform people about measures needed to be taken at the time of disasters. The programmes were hailed by people at the UNDP and they wanted us to proceed with such programmes,” says Masood.

Noor-ud-Din, a participant, said the government should not allow construction in areas that were prone to disasters like earthquakes and floods. He said the religious scholars would disseminate information to masses about safety measures needed to be taken at the time of a disaster. Another participant Harbans Lal said he would carry forward the message of the divisional administration to his community so that losses were minimised during disasters.

“Such programmes are beneficial for the people as a whole and the religious scholars have an important role in this regard. They are looked upon with respect by people and as such they are expected to deliver,” says Harbans Lal.

Citing the constructions being carried out in the Rambiara nullah in Shopian district, Reyaz Ahmad, a religious scholar, said it was the Army that constructed a school in the area despite it being flood-prone. He said this was followed by the construction of a government school and later by unprecedented construction carried out by locals.

Udhampur, February 4
The demand for a degree college at Majalata tehsil of Udhampur district has gained momentum as various social, political and religious organisations are supporting it.

While local MLA and Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh has demanded the opening of a degree college at Majalata, residents of the tehsil, irrespective of party affiliations, have decided to launch an agitation in support of the demand.

Representatives of all political parties of Majalata tehsil have already given an ultimatum to the state government to fulfil their long-pending demand. Today, Harsh Dev Singh sought a degree college at Majalata so as to mitigate hardships caused to students of the area pursuing higher education.

In a communiqué to the Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of higher education, Harsh Dev said a majority of students were forced to give up studies after Class XII in the absence of a degree college in the tehsil.

He said girl students faced greater trouble as they had to travel around 50 km daily to study at college at Udhampur. This is why the dropout rate among girls is the highest here. He said girl education had been adversely affected in the area, which was a cause of concern.

Harsh Dev said the tehsil with a huge catchment area and the highest number of senior secondary schools in Udhampur district deserved a degree college. He told the Chief Minister that the Panthers Party had filed a writ petition in the high court demanding degree colleges at Majalata, Chenani and Sunderbani in view of public demand.

Jammu, February 4
Every morning, 87-year-old Bimla Devi, a resident of Smailpur village in Samba district, has to walk several kilometres to a nearby village to fetch a pitcher of water, as for the past more than 15 days her village is facing an acute shortage of potable water.

For the past more than 15 days, around 2,000 villagers of Smailpur, one of the oldest and the historical village of the Jammu region, are grappling with the shortage of drinking water.

The villagers say the local authorities is not paying any attention to their misery, as the area women have to walk several kilometres to fetch potable water from nearby villages.

“The problem of water shortage is very old here. However, for the past 15 days all taps in the area have gone dry and to fetch potable water we have to walk a long distance daily,” said Bimla Devi while carrying a pitcher of water on her head.

Smailpur village is situated near the industrial hub of the region; the industrial unit holders in the area also rue the shortage of potable water.

“This is the height of official negligence, the government that should be providing benefits to industrial unit holders in the area is not serious about providing even potable water to the villages and the industrial units located in the area,” said Prem Kumar, an employee with an industry in the area.

The area residents say they have approached the Public Health Engineering Department officers of the area several times to get the water problem redressed, but nothing has been done so far.

“Whenever we approach the PHE officers they turn down our request saying either the water pump was defunct or the transformer of the area was destroyed due to overload,” said Akil, a resident of Smailpur. He added, “Ours is a historical village. It is the native village of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, the founder of the Praja Parishad, but its residents are forced to lead a miserable life due to the apathetic attitude of the PHE officers.”

The assistant executive engineer of the PHE, Rajeev Sharma, said, “We are making sure that proper water supply is restored to the area. We have repaired the motor.”

Jammu, February 4
Happiness was writ large on her face as she boarded the bus for Delhi with her brother last evening. Having secured her “freedom,” Meera Bai had no idea as what she would do to sustain from now onwards.

“I am happy that finally I am going home after a long span of time,” a beaming Meera Bai told mediapersons. Her brother Mastu, a labourer, said: “We had lost all hopes but I am happy that I have found my sister.”

A tribal by birth, Meera Bai came to Jammu through some “maid bureau” in Delhi two years ago. Since then, she allegedly had not contacted her family and was being brutalised at the hand of a Jammu University hostel warden. Her nightmare ended when hostelers of the Sarojini Naidu Girls Hostel, Jammu University, rescued her from the warden (her employer), Amisha Gupta, while she was being “brutally” bashed up. Meera showered all praise on hostelers.

However, the police has yet not filed any chargesheet in the court and is waiting for the statement of the agent who provided Meera to the warden.

A senior official of the police, on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that there were several underage girls doing odd jobs in the city but they could not initiate any action. “Most of them despite being minor, sign contracts with the placement bureaus maintaining that they have come of the age,” he said adding that it is poverty that forces them to do so.

Jammu, February 4
The BJP clarified its support to Independent candidate Ashok Vijay Gupta in the Rajya Sabha elections at a press conference here today.

State BJP spokesperson Ramesh Arora said once elected as MLAs representatives were responsible for making legislations to promote constitutional safeguards and guarantee the safety of common people.

Arora said keeping this factor in mind and to strengthen unity in the region, the BJP had chosen Gupta despite his different ideological approach, as it believed he could plead the cause of Jammu and other parts of the state in the right way in the Rajya Sabha.

He said, “We must rise above political differences and support a candidate who can represent the feelings of Jammu people in a true sense.” He appealed to the MLAs to vote for Gupta to reflect their secular character.

Arora said it was painful that the NC, the Congress and the PDP had not recommended even a single candidate from the minority community for the Rajya Sabha.

Jammu, February 4
A middle-aged pilgrim died under mysterious circumstances while he was on his way to pay obeisance at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Reasi district, police sources said here today. The deceased identified as Danesh Chand Aggarwal (54) of Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi, was found dead at Adh Kuwari on way to Vaishno Devi Shrine, the police said, adding that he had reached the Katra base camp on February 2 along with his family.

The body was taken to the Health Centre, Katra, for autopsy. A case has been registered. — UNI