Jammu, March 16
The Department of Agriculture has completed a survey for assessing the loss cause to wheat crop by airborne disease yellow rust in border areas of Samba district recently.

The chief agriculture officer (CAO), Samba, Arun Kumar Makhnotra today submitted the survey report to the district administration. To disburse compensation, a basic administration team of the Revenue Department and a technical team of the Agricultural Department had been constituted

“The impact of the disease was visible in the entire command area that constitutes at least 14 agriculture zones. The disease has affected the wheat crop over 11,000 acres. However, the intensity of the loss varies from region to region,” revealed Makhnotra.

With Dugh village in Ramgarh sector still the epicentre of the epidemic, as many as 25 villages primarily came under the attack of the disease.

The survey report says extreme loss has been reported on 7,000 acres, wherein the loss of crop is more than 70 per cent. On 2,500 acres, the loss has been pegged at 60 per cent, while on the rest of 1,500 acres, the loss is 20 per cent and is considered to be moderate in nature. “Wheat on 4,400 acres was saved with the department’s timely efforts,” revealed Makhnotra. He added that only the crop that suffered more than 70 per cent loss would be considered as damaged.

The fungal disease was first reported from Chamliyal village on Feburary 16.

Experts believe that yellow rust stops growing with the rise in mercury as climatic conditions cease to favour the pathogen. But HoD, plant pathology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology, Dr VK Razdan cautions, “If the crop is about to harvest, there is no use spraying fungicide. But if the crop is yet to mature, farmers can spray the solution of water and propaconazol, a fungicide available in the market under different brands, on the infected crop.”

“One millilitre of chemical is sufficient in a litre of water,” he said, adding that keeping in view the enormity of the disease the farmers needed to be alert.

Razdan further asked the farmers to seek an alternative to PBW 343, as this variety of the seeds had proved susceptible to the disease.

Srinagar, March 16
The police today averted a major tragedy with the timely detection of an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing about 20 kg on the airport road.

A police spokesman said the Saddar police and CRPF 83 Bn detected the IED hidden in a municipal garbage dump near Chinar Colony on Indira Gandhi Road.

The bomb disposal squad defused the IED on the spot without causing any damage to life and property.

Meanwhile, the police has seized two AK-47 rifles, five AK magazines, 94 AK rounds and one hand grenade during searches at Bawan, Handwara in Kupwara district. The searches followed an encounter between militants and the security forces in which two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed on Saturday.

Jammu, March 16
The declaration of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to seek a mandate from the present Assembly to change the name of Anantnag to Islamabad by introducing a Bill in the Assembly, has stirred a hornet’s nest in other political parties. 

The Pannun Kashmir (PK), an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits (KP) has also aired strong views against this statement in a press meet stating it is a clear declaration of misusing the Assembly for communal and exclusive agenda. 

The organisation stated that it condemns all forms of communalism and urges the new coalition to stop anybody from using the Legislative Assembly for promoting communalism and secessionism.

“Anantnag is not a chowk whose name can be easily changed. The place has ancient civilisation history of J&K of 5,000 years old. The remark of the PDP is highly objectionable,” said Dr Ajay Chrungoo, chairman of the PK. 

The declaration by the PDP that it will seek the resolution of the Kashmir issue through the aegis of the new Assembly is a significant departure from its past position. He said, “While the PDP was a part of the ruling coalition, it always maintained that their government and the elected representatives were merely an interface between Pakistan, India and Kashmiri Muslims and are responsible only for day to day problems. 

But now its new course is a clear signal that the party would use the Legislative Assembly to separatist’s agenda now.”

He further said democracy in the state is a cardinal expression of the Indian sovereignty rather than a ploy to wreck it. “We condemn all those unequivocally who are raising the issues of final settlement with Pakistan. 

If they think that a concession to Pakistan in Kashmir is directly linked to the stability in Pakistan, then they are pushing the nation on a suicidal path. The chaos in Pakistan is an outcome of its ideological character and it will continue to be unstable until it embraces pluralism and right to equality as its core ideology,” He added. 

He said the solution to problems in J&K was in empowering those people who have unflinching faith in the Indian Constitution and the unity of nation.

He said this could be done by reorganisation of the state, which must include the creation of union territory, north and east of Jhelum for internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus. 

Jammu, March 16
Governor N.N. Vohra has stressed the need for imbibing and propagating the Gandhian values and philosophy, especially among youth. Interacting with a delegation of the Sarvodaya International Trust (SIT), Jammu and Kashmir Chapter, here today, Vohra emphasised the need for promoting the values of truth, honesty, simplicity, non-violence and ethics to enrich society.

The Governor, who had served as chairperson of the Delhi Chapter of SIT for many years, shared his experiences with the delegation and the initiatives that had been taken to propagate Gandhian values and lifestyle in Delhi.

He suggested that the Jammu and Kashmir Chapter of SIT could consider organising debates, song and painting competitions to create awareness among the students about the Gandhian thought and value system.

Similarly, the Ex-Services League could undertake some activities to generate awareness about Gandhian thought and belief.

The delegation, headed by Dr. S.S. Bloeria, chairman of SIT, Jammu and Kashmir Chapter, presented to the Governor a resume of its activities since establishment and its future roadmap.

Jammu, March 16
The first lady of the state, Usha Vohra, has stressed on the requirement to change the mindset of society so as to transform the status of women. “Neglecting women power indicates waste of human resource and that change in the mindset of society vis-à-vis women is required to transform the status of women.” she said

She said for poverty alleviation, gender equality and empowerment was an effective weapon.

Usha said this while inaugurating a three-day inter-disciplinary workshop on “Women and Development: Canada and India”, held at business school seminar hall of Jammu University (JU).

The programme was organised by the Centre for New Literatures, Cultural and Communication, JU.

Usha said the government had enacted a number of legislations and their effective implementation could yield better results.

Usha emphasised the need for strengthening the micro-credit system, effective information and educational strategies, as also establishment of a national mission on socio-economic status of women.

On the occasion, various eminent educationists expressed their views, including vice-chancellor, JU, Prof Varun Sahni, who said to understand the voice of women it was important to understand their silence, adding that their muteness speaks volumes of their plight.

Jammu, March 16
Four double-storeyed houses were destroyed completely in a devastating fire in Banihal town in Ramban district during wee hours today. Sources said a huge fire broke out in the Rallu locality of Banihal town destroying four houses and goods worth lakhs of rupees.

At least six persons, including firemen, were injured while fighting the blaze, they added. The sources said though fire engines left the fire station in time, they were stranded on the link road leading to the incident site due to haphazard parking of vehicles.

Similarly, rescue vehicles of the police and 12 RR, led by the SHO, Banihal, were also stranded, delaying the rescue operation by over half-an-hour, the sources said. Police reports said the fire broke out from one of the damaged houses and within no time engulfed the entire locality. 

Jammu, March 16
A politically stable Pakistan is in the interest of the state, as any turmoil there always has negative repercussion in the Kashmir valley. Former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mohammed Sayeed said this during a party convention in Jammu today.

“A politically stable Pakistan is in the interest of the people of the state, as any upheaval in Pakistan has its effect in the Kashmir valley,” said the Mufti.

Commenting on the recent development in Pakistan, he said there was no role of the Army and the political leadership showed maturity to end the impasse.

“Reinstating Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhary and other judges is a welcome step toward the stability of Pakistan, and I am hopeful that things would become normal there,” the Mufti said.

Launching a tirade against the state government, he said the government had failed to deliver and was now shying away from the ‘hollow’ promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir during elections.

“The NC and Congress government is running without any agenda. Even after more than two months of the formation of the government they haven’t come out with any common minimum programme,” he alleged.

The Mufti said the ideology of the ruling parties were poles apart.

He said the NC had assured people that there would be zero tolerance of human rights violations. However, the incidents of human right violations were still going on in the valley.

“Two innocent civilians were killed in Bomai and the Chief Minister had assured a time-bound inquiry into the incident. However, on the one hand the government has failed to come out with the report of investigation and on the other the Army has refused to cooperate in the inquiry”, the Mufti said.

He said before coming to power the NC had promised that it would eradicate unemployment from the state, but nothing had been done so far. The leader said the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the implementation of “self rule” formula propounded by his party were the only viable solution to the Kashmir crisis,

Regarding the Lok Sabha elections, the Mufti said his party would contest all six seats. He said the party would decide the probable candidates in the coming days.

Bhim said the entire area was suffering under drought but the administration did not supply them ration. 50 per cent people have not been provided ration cards and Below Poverty Line Certificates are issued to the persons associated with the ruling parties.

Srinagar, March 16
Director of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Abdul Hamid Zargar has said a heavy patient rush to the institute hampers its functioning and called for curtailment of load to improve its efficiency.

He said the institute had performed over 10,000 major surgeries last year besides carrying out over two lakh investigations each month even as no new infrastructure had been added during the last two decades.

“Now we have started a process of up-gradation of our infrastructure,” an official spokesman quoting Zargar said. The director said the SKIMS, which was tailored for a few cases, witnessed a load of hundreds of admissions every day, and despite the staff being augmented every now and then, the gap in demand and supply had continued. 

“Despite being under relentless pressure, it has continued to provide efficient care. The SKIMS administration, aware of the insufficiency of the Outpatient Department area and emergency services against the backdrop of heavy loads of patients, has taken up the issue with the state administration”, Zargar said.

He said the SKIMS had also taken up the issue of cross referrals back to hospitals, once the patient does not need specialised SKIMS care and it has been agreed to in principle by the government and the same would be kicked off in 2010.

Giving details of the huge influx of patients to the SKIMS, Zargar said over 5 lakh patients attended Outpatient and Emergency Departments (OPDs) in the past one year. In comparison, around 48,000 patients were admitted in 2007-2008. In 1989 and 1990, only 12,000 and 8,000 patients attended the OPDs, respectively, he said.

The director said in accident and emergency cases, 67,000 patients were seen in 2008 while as this number was only 14,000 in 1990, 24,000 in 1995 and 33,000 in 2000.

Zargar said in order to check heavy rush, the SKIMS administration had several times in the past requested people that only those patients should attend the SKIMS who are properly referred by their primary-care physicians.

Jammu, March 16
The telephone helpline service created by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) for the students appearing in Class X and Class XII examinations is a non-starter.

The board claims to have made a wider publicity about this helpline, but neither the students nor the school teaching staff in most of the schools, have knowledge about this helpline.

Secretary, BOSE, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed claims that all principals and students had been informed about the helpline through circulars issued by the board, besides publicity through print and electronic media.

Principals of some schools expressed ignorance about this helpline. Students of different schools, who were appearing in board examinations, echoed similar views.

Contesting the claims of the secretary of the board on the basis of anonymity, the principal of a government school said, “We have not received any letter or circulars about such service. How can we expect the students to know of this facility and make its use.”

Sheikh said all 13 helpline numbers were functioning and they have received more than 100 queries and complaints etc, on these helplines so far. But on the verification all helplines were found almost defunct. This number does not exist, is the reply one receives from some helplines and on others the bell goes on ringing but no body responds the call.

When this affair was brought to the notice of Sheikh, he said, “There can be a technical fault in some lines, I will check it out to ensure that all lines are made functional immediately.”

Srinagar, March 16
A state of the art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Centre was inaugurated by Lt-Gen Yogendra Singh, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services and senior Colonel Commandant, Army Medical Corps, at 92 Base Hospital here yesterday.

A defence spokesman said the centre added a new dimension to the delivery of medical care to the valiant Army troops deployed in the valley.

The availability of the MRI as a high end diagnostic facility for the management of critical injuries was a long standing need of the hospital.

Lt-Gen Yogender Singh reaffirmed the commitment of the Armed Forces Medical Services to provide the latest diagnostic and therapeutic facilities to the troops deployed in counter insurgency operations at their places of posting. Ex-servicemen and their families in the valley could also avail of the facility. 

Jammu, March 16
With the arrest of four persons and recovery of 11 mobikes and a scooter, the police today claimed to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves.

Jammu SSP Manohar Singh said four persons, Gafoor Ahmed of Pansara tehsil in Reasi district, Ashok Kumar, alias Sanjay, (presently putting up near Bari-Brahmana railway station) and Vinod Kumar (presently putting up in Mandlik Nagar, Jammu), both natives of Sarla Bhaga in Reasi district, and Mahroof of Darhal in Rajouri district (presently putting up in Bakshi Nagar), had been arrested in connection with 12 cases of theft.

Vehicles worth more than Rs 5 lakh had so far been recovered from them.

Srinagar March 16
Two persons were killed and nine injured in road accident in the Kashmir valley in the past 24 hours.

Two minor girls, Mymoona(4) and Rutba (8), were seriously injured when they were hit by a truck in the Batamaloo area here. Rutba later succumbed to her injuries in hospital.

Zubaida was hit and injured by a private jeep at Adina, Magma, in Budgam district. She was rushed to the SKIMS, Soura, where she succumbed to her injuries.

Four persons were injured when a Tata vehicle overturned near Sopore.

Two pedestrians were hit and injured by a Wagon-R at Kupwara Chowk today. 
A woman, Mubeena, was injured when she fell down from a scooter near Kunzar bridge in the Tangmarg area of Baramulla district.