Jammu, May 22
With “powerful” motorcycles armed with pressure horns being gifted by rich parents to their adolescent sons, the latter not only create ruckus on the city roads but also put the lives of road users in danger.

In the past one week, nearly 12 accidents have occurred in the temple city where young and at times, underage riders rammed their motorcycles into senior citizens, resulting in the death of at least two of them.

In a bid to flaunt their wealth, rich parents nowadays gift costly motorcycles and cars to their teenaged sons, little realising that their wards might put themselves and others in a serious trouble.

In one such incident recently, a teenager mowed down three senior citizens with his car on the Circular Road.

Talking to The Tribune, SSP (Traffic) Parminder Singh said the traffic police had been doing whatever possible to check road mishaps, especially by keeping a check on underage drivers.

“Wherever we find a driver without a valid driving licence, we immediately impound the vehicle,” he said, adding that in the past four months (January to April), the police had penalised 2,400 motorists, who were driving vehicles without a valid licence.

Similarly, 15,172 persons were penalised for riding two-wheelers without helmets while 3,228 persons were booked for the offence of triple riding on two-wheelers, he added.

Parminder Singh, however, admitted that “powerful” motorcycles in the hands of young boys on narrow roads of Jammu had made things difficult for pedestrians.

“We had been creating awareness among the people through radio,” he said, adding that in the month of August and September the police would launch another awareness campaign for young drivers and their parents.

“If a person dies after being hit by a vehicle driven by a juvenile driver, his or her parents are liable for punishment under the law,” the SSP said while referring to a Delhi High Court judgment. Parents of adolescent drivers should understand that nothing is important than life and hence, they should avoid gifting costly motorcycles to their young and immature sons, said Dr Jagdish Raj Thappa, a psychiatrist.

Udhampur, May 22
Militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has reached a crucial juncture where terrorist outfits have been facing a shortage of cadres, arms, ammunition and money. In so far as the erstwhile Doda district is concerned, the situation is worst for militants where the security forces have attained an upper hand.

Continuous counter-insurgency operations launched by the security forces during the past two years and the distrust of the local populace in “jehad” have left the militants with not enough arms and ammunition. This was disclosed by Javed Ahmed, alias Basharat, a self-styled commander of Pakistani outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Basharat, a resident of the Tetani area of Kishtwar, had laid down his arms before the security forces along with another militant, Ghulam Hyder, alias Yasir, of Polar village.

Basharat said militant cadres were facing an acute fund shortage to run their movement. “Now, the situation has entirely changed. The lack of money and other logistic support have broken the backbone of militancy in Doda and Kishtwar districts,” he said, adding many times they had to live without proper food in the thick forests.

During their preliminary questioning, the militants have disclosed that Hizbul Mujahideen was facing a shortage of manpower and weaponry in upper reaches of the erstwhile Doda district. They admitted that their top cadre had either been eliminated or apprehended while others had surrendered. However, according to them, some Hizbul militants were still active in the area, but they were lying low in the absence of weaponry and finances.

“Intense pressure by the security forces and the ill-treatment meted out to local militants by foreign militants are the breeding disillusionment in the ranks of militant groups,” the Kishtwar SSP, Dr H Mugal said, while quoting the surrendered militants. He further 

said a large number of militants were fed up of the life they were leading and were looking for various avenues to escape the same.

Javed told mediapersons that the situation had been worsened by dwindling local support as people were fed up with the violence. “It is the result of dwindling local support that a majority of the militant groups have been facing a shortage of weaponry, funds and cadre,” he said and informed that he was directed by their masters to recruit teenagers. “Instead of trapping other teenagers, I decided to lay down the arms to live a peaceful life,” he said.

Taking advantage of the prevailing situation, the local police has also initiated some steps to convince the militants to surrender. The families of the misguided youths have also been coming forward to force them to lay down the arms.

Mansar, May 22
If Jammuities can brave driving on a pathetic road, Mansar Lake, situated about 70 km from the city, is an excellent excursion point to beat the heat. The Samba district administration and the Surinsar-Mansar Development Board have added new facilities to beckon tourists. There are more rooms, suites and bathing ghats available to the tourists now.

Though tourists come here to visit the lake as well as the nearby Surinsar water body, their number can increase if the government provides a well-paved road for a smooth ride. Most of the tourists come here for religious purposes, spend a few hours performing prayers at the Sheshnag Temple and feeding the fish. Only a few of them stay there.

Though the state government is leaving no stone unturned to encourage the tourists by projecting the return of peace in Jammu division, not many efforts are being made for providing basic infrastructure at tourist spots.

The Mansar Lake can be reached via Samba. From Jammu to Samba, one travels on the national highway and then drives uphill about 22 km. This stretch is in bad shape. It not only tests the patience and skill of the driver but also the strength of the vehicle. If there are huge potholes at some places, one has to drive virtually on the rocks at other places. The road is an apt example of official apathy, even though the government has provided new facilities at the lake.

Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Saurabh Bhagat said Rs 22 crore were required for the construction of the road. “The funds for this stretch are to be received from the Central Road Fund. The road is important from the defence point of view and also as a substitute route to Udhampur. Due to the hilly terrain, the road needs more expertise for which the central government has to give the funds,” he said.

He revealed that a special area for children had been set up, besides providing modern safety measures to prevent drowning incidents. “We have done patch work at some places. We hope to get the funds as soon as possible to provide a good road.”

The lake is located in the midst of forest-covered hills. It is considered a holy site known from mythological periods sharing the sanctity and legacy of Mansa Sarovar.

A temple of Hindu deity, Sheshnag, is located on the banks of the lake. It is believed that it is auspicious for newly wed couples to seek the blessings of Sheshnag by performing three parikarma around the lake. A holy dip in the lake is considered to be auspicious. A temple of Durga and two other ancient temples, Narasimha and Parvathi Shiva (Umapati Mahadev), are located in close proximity of the lake which is an ideal spot for boating. There is also a wildlife sanctuary there.

Jammu, May 22
The large number of shops, selling various goods, presents a clumsy picture at the Jammu bus stand. It looks as if the buses are parked in a shopping area, which has been set up in a haphazard manner.

Unlike other bus stands where only few shops are allowed, here more than 222 shops along with numerous kiosks have been given a go-ahead to run their business.

Due to this, the area of the bus stand has shrunk in size considerably. A source informed that in the pre-militancy period, some 50 shops and 200 kiosks were running their businesses from here. Gradually, the number of the shops swelled to more than 222.

These shops, which are sticking to each other without much space in between, find it profitable to run their business from the bus stand premises. It suits them more if they do so from the platform itself, which, too, has around 25 shops.

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists, who come to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine and the Amarnath cave, provide a large base of customers to them. Nowhere else they will get customers in such huge numbers. This is the reason why more and more shopkeepers are keen to occupy space at the bus stand, which has already been clogged. Given the pace of their expansion, it won’t be surprising if in the near future, the entire platform is encroached by them and passengers are be forced to stand outside.

Surprisingly, all this is happening with the permission of the Jammu Development Authority (JDA), which has been charging fee from these shops on a monthly basis. JDA officials seem to be more concerned in minting money from these shops by multiplying them time to time rather than maintaining the bus stand for the convenience of people. Pandu Ram K Paul, vice-chairman, JDA, refused to comment on the matter.

Srinagar, May 22
With the Kashmir youth more dependent on government jobs and not ready to set up their own , Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar, has decided to do its own bit by launching a new serial, ‘Manzelein Aur Bhi Hain’, in which a villager sets up his own projects, thus creating employment opportunities for the youth.

The story is about the commitment of Kamala, a wealthy villager, who, instead of keeping his wealth in a bank, sets up many projects aimed at improving educational standards in the village.

The serial has been shot in the Sonamarg area and urges the business class to come forward, set up units and help bring down the graph of unemployment. In the serial, Kamala’s son who is an engineer by profession decides to establish a factory along with his father in their village, thus providing job opportunities to many youth. It also has a teacher who educates illiterate villagers and makes them aware of the benefits of education.

Director, DDK, Srinagar, Dr Rafeeq Masoodi, believes that the serial touches the sensitive topic of unemployment in the valley which has taken a heavy toll on the psyche of the youth. “It is important that the youth change with changing trends and developments around the world. They should stop pursuing government jobs when young entrepreneurs are achieving success across the globe.”

Jammu, May 22
The toppers of Class XII have big aspirations in their life. One has topped in science while another in the arts stream. While one wants to become an IT professional, another has set her sights on the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Dipesh Gupta, a student of RS Jagriti Niketan Higher secondary School (HSS), Kathua, who secured the first position in the science stream by scoring 91.6 per cent marks, said he wanted to become an IT professional and would seek admission in a good engineering college.

Disclosing the secret of his success, he said, “The reason behind my success is that I had a clear concept and full command on my subjects. I did well because I had done a lot of hard work”.

While giving credit to his teachers who helped him a lot during the examinations, he said, “The credit goes to my schoolteachers who always put their soulful efforts to clear the concepts”. Dipesh has planned to pay obeisance at the Vashno Devi shrine.

Another topper is Prety Bhagat, a student of Green Model Higher Secondary School, Doda, who has got the first position in the arts stream by securing 83.1 per cent marks. She has an aim to become an IAS officer.

Talking to The Tribune, she said, “Proper strategy with regard to time management is the mantra of my success. I followed it for the entire year. I divided the whole syllabus in parts and prepared one topic everyday”.

She said: “Before the beginning of the examinations, I had revised my syllabus thrice, which helped me in achieving this position. I even utilised my holidays for studying”.

Prety said once she read an interview of a woman IAS officer which also inspired her to prepare herself for taking the Civil Services Examination.

She said, “Some parents try to impose their wishers on their children, but my parents have always been supportive and allowed me to choose a right career for myself”.

Srinagar, May 22
It has been a unique event on the campus of the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, which hosted a three-day international workshop on “Energy Challenges in J&K State: A Case for Energy Research Institute” from May 20.

It was jointly organised by the University of Kashmir, University of Jammu and Maghreb Petroleum Research Group, University College, London. The workshop was inaugurated by Governor NN Vohra at Convocation Complex on the Hazratbal campus here. Experts in the field of energy and a number of students of the university and colleges in the Kashmir valley participated. The experts stressed the need for the formulation of an oil exploration policy for the state.

A workshop on “Hydrocarbon Exploration Activity in Jammu and Kashmir State: Current Status”, held during the meet, observed that the ONGC had suspended all its activities in petroleum exploration since 1987 in the state. Previously, two wells drilled in the tertiary sequence of Jammu were stopped due to technological failure, while drilling in Kashmir was confined to Karewa beds only. The gas seeps in the Kashmir valley can be of thermogenic origin and need to be ascertained.

The participants expressed concern over the suspension of the exploration works. The point was raised by Dr Bindra Thusu, professor, Maghreb Petroleum Group at University College London, and Prof GM Bhat, geology department, University of Jammu.

Thusu expressed concern over the issue saying the exploration of natural resources had become a victim of the turmoil that began in early 1990 in the state. He lamented that the exploration was affected only in Jammu and Kashmir and not in other trouble-hit areas like Assam, and said the exploration was being done in many other areas under the grave threat of wild animals. The two experts recommended the resumption of exploration in the state for enriching the energy resources.

Jammu and Kashmir was considered to have potentially rich rocks of geo-thermal energy, which needed to be tapped. But focused research needed to be initiated for the same, the experts pointed out.

Recommending the ONGC to resume its activity in the state, the geoscientists suggested that the directorate of geology and mining should be reorganised as the directorate of energy, geo-science and mining and the proposed directorate should initiate research for hydrocarbons on the model of the Gujarat Sate Oil Corporation and ONGC should provide the data on the exploration activity done by it.

Regarding hydrocarbon prospects in the state, the geoscientists informed that to prove an area to be potentially prospective, a period of three to five years of research was required. J&K, they added, was already on the hydrocarbon prospective map of India and to find leads and prospects required another five to eight years of research.

Given these time constraints, the experts said, it was high time to formulate an oil exploration policy for the state. In this regard, a modest beginning had been made in the geology department of the University of Jammu in collaboration with University College London and the University of Lille.

Udhampur, May 22
Drinking water seems to be a luxury in the Kishtwar area despite the fact that the Chenab,which is considered to be the lifeline of Jammu and Kashmir, passes through this town.

For the last one week, inhabitants of Kishtwar have been protesting against an acute shortage of drinking water. The authorities give lame excuses in this regard. The agony of the residents can be gauged from the fact that the authorities have not made any arrangement for the supply of water and people have to fetch contaminated water from natural resources from the far-flung areas.

Two pipelines supplying water to Kishtwar and the Mandal belt of the region, the Laala irrigation scheme and the Niagarh water supply scheme, are the only sources from where water is being supplied to Kishtwar town and its periphery. For the last one week, the main pipeline of the Naigarh water scheme has been punctured at several places and the authorities have failed to repair it.

“We have deputed some teams to repair the pipeline”, executive engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE) department R L Dhar, told The Tribune and gave an excuse that the main supply line was punctured due to movement of nomadic people in the forest area. “It is difficult rather impossible to protect the main pipe from the cattle as it passes through the remotest areas as well as from the forest”, he said and claimed that the same would be repaired shortly to solve the problem.

Although he claimed that water was being supplied to Kishtwar through alternative sources, residents alleged that authorities failed to solve their problem. “More than 40,000 residents of Kishtwar and adjoining localities have been confronted with the problem of the acute shortage of drinking water but the authorities are not serious about mitigating our woes”, rued Shaheen, a student who smelt a conspiracy in the repeated damage of the pipeline. The locals have given an ultimatum to the authorities to streamline the water supply in two days. 

Jammu, May 22
The Vice- Chancellor of University of Jammu, Prof Varun Sahni, has appointed Prof J.S. Tara of the department of zoology as the new Dean, Students Welfare (DSW).

He has also been made in-charge of campus security. He replaces Prof Dhian Singh Bhau, who was holding the charge.

Meanwhile, Prof Bhau has been appointed director of the physical education department. He has relieved Prof Lokesh Verma (HoD Education), who was holding the additional charge of the physical education department.

Two-day national seminar

The thrust of a two-day national seminar which would be organised by the history department on “Writings of Regional History and Historiography of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh” on May 29 and May 30, would be on addressing the issues of conceptualising region, regional interaction and the significance of regional history; exploring the dimensions of society of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh; search for alternative sources and the agenda for future research.

Proposal on NCC

A proposal to start NCC on the campus was discussed by the university authorities with Brig Anil Gupta, deputy director- general, NCC, Jammu and Kashmir. The proposal was accepted by the Vice-Chancellor who promised that it would be examined.

Morning, evening walk

The university authorities may ban morning and evening walk in the campus with a view to strengthening security arrangements.

It is learnt that the authorities may not issue new passes to the walkers after the expiry of their present cards.

Jammu, May 22
An initiative by the Bhadarwah campus of Jammu University for the empowerment of women has started yielding results. The campus had introduced a certificate course in basic skills of computer application in 2006. Eight batches of e-learning have been trained in basic computer skills so far.

“Empowerment is a multifaceted and multidimensional concept. Women empowerment is a process in which women gain greater share of control over resources - material, human, intellectual and financial - and decision-making process,” said director, Bhaderwah campus, IA Hamal.

“Education is the main instrument for the transformation of society. By educating womenfolk, there are substantial economic and social returns,” said Neelam Qayoom Sheikh, a former student of e-learning.

Varun Sahni, Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University during his recent visit to the Bhaderwah campus along with UGC officials, commented that spreading of education that too in the field of information technology among women by the campus was a step towards the preparation of this society for the future.