Srinagar, May 28
A youth was killed today when his motorcycle was hit by an Army vehicle near Badami Bagh cantt. Shafat Ahmad’s death sparked another round of protests against the security forces in parts of the city.

Locals said Shafat Ahmad and his friend Mohammad Ashraf were on the bike when the Army vehicle hit it. Some of them alleged that the Army wasted some time in clearing its vehicles of road before it could rush the injured to the hospital, resulting in the death of Shafat. Ashraf is admitted to the cantt hospital.

As the news of his death spread with information that he was from Amar Singh College, students of the institution took out a procession raising slogans against the Army. They also raised azadi and Islamic slogans, as is the norm in the valley in every kind of protests irrespective of the cause. Youths forced shopkeepers in Wazirbag to close their shops. Police had to fire tear gas shells to control the crowd. Reports said there were protests in downtown areas as well.

Such issues come handy to the separatists and even mainstream political parties, ever willing to exploit people’s sentiments.

The PDP said in a statement that it was unfortunate that the Army vehicles of late had been involved in road accidents “that have cost precious human lives”.

Demanding stern action against the errant drivers, a party spokesman said the Army top brass needed to take serious note of the accidents involving its vehicles. The spokesman said the bereaved families should be adequately compensated.

Army spokesman Lt Col JS Brar said that the driver had been arrested and an inquiry ordered into the accident.

Jammu, May 28
The quality of telecom services being provided in the state by various companies are not up to the standard and the companies need to take strong measures to redress the grievances of the subscribers.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently conducted a survey on the services being provided by various telecom companies in the state and found that these companies had failed to provide satisfactory services to their customers.

As per the finding of the survey, “The telecom service providers are not meeting the customer satisfaction benchmark.”

The authority demanded a better treatment of customers, particularly in resolving their grievances, by the companies.

TRAI had carried out a customer satisfaction survey for the Jammu and Kashmir service area and the report of which was released recently. The survey covered 1,202 mobile subscribers, 384 fixed line subscribers and 384 broadband subscribers across various districts and cities.

Regarding the mobile phone services in the service area, the survey focused on the customer satisfaction index of Bharti-Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Communications (RCom), and Aircel (Dishnet Wireless).

The results revealed that there was a need to improve the satisfaction level of subscribers on all parameters, except network performance.

The main reasons behind low customer satisfaction were dissatisfaction relating to accuracy of billing, charges not levied as per tariff plans, charges levied for services not availed, and details of itemised charges not given.

For the basic land line service, the survey revealed that there was a need to improve the satisfaction level of subscribers on all parameters, except billing performance.

It also found the telecom companies were also imposing various value-added services on the customers without their consent.

“The survey revealed that about 51.7 per cent customers were provided value-added services without their explicit consent,” the report pointed out.

Jammu, May 28
As many as 20,000 final year students of BA, BSc, BCom who appeared in the examination today, faced problem when they found that their Math (A) paper was based on the previous year’s syllabus.

Members of the Joint Students’ Federation protest in Jammu on Thursday. Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Though they appeared in the examination, they demanded grace marks or to reschedule the examination.

Under the leadership of Partap Singh Jamwal, vice-president of the Jammu Joint Student’s Federation (JJSF), activists of the JJSF along with students of Government Gandhi Memorial Science College and SPMR College of Commerce held a protest demonstration in front of GGM Science College gate.

The protesters raised slogans against the University of Jammu and said the paper was out of syllabus. The students warned that if the university did not take action, then they would boycott their practical examinations.

Talking to The Tribune, Controller Examination, University of Jammu, Prof RD Sharma accepted the mistake and said the students should submit a written complaint and assured that the matter would be investigated properly.

Srinagar, May 28
Taking exception to the statement of Ashok Bhan, DGP, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), that no custodial disappearance has taken place in the past few years, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) said today that 298 persons had disappeared in custody since 2002.

Addressing mediapersons, Ghulam Nabi Mir, spokesperson for the APDP, a constituent of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, said successive state governments had lied on the issue of custodial or enforced disappearances.

“The DGP’s statement is far from the truth and 298 persons have disappeared since 2002. There has been no let up in custodial disappearances in the state and these are going on even today,” said the spokesperson.

Mir said former Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din had said in the Assembly 22 persons disappeared in custody in the first nine months of 2007. He added that successive governments had issued contradictory statements figures of disappearances taking place in the state.

“Ministers and legislators while contesting APDP’s figures have been making contradictory statements about custodial disappearances since 1996. These statements are aimed at misleading the international community,” says the spokesperson. Mir said more than 8,000 persons had disappeared in custody in the state over the past two decades.

“We have time and again demanded the appointment of an inquiry commission to probe all disappearances. If the government claims about disappearances are true, let it order a probe and everything will become clear,” the APDP spokesperson said.

Jammu, May 28
The Child Rights and You (CRY), an NGO, has started a campaign - Sponsor a Child, Sponsor a Dream” - in Jammu. Under the campaign, the people concerned can adopt an underprivileged child by sponsoring his or her education by donating Rs 500 per month. The money will be used to meet out their expenses.

The organisation has started identifying such hapless children through surveying. “To popularise the concept we have started pasting posters reading our mission and contact numbers,” Deepika Thussoo, a child rights activist, said. She said: “As many as 10 persons have already approached us for sponsoring the destitute children.”

She said the organisation had also been working for the children suffering from various ailments like cancer and thalesemia.

The NGO has also identified slum children living in absence of basic amenities. “To make education a reality for the slum children dwelling in Rajiv Nagar besides arranging uniforms, books and footwear for them, we have started raising funds,” she said.

“Concerted efforts are required in this regard,” a child right activist and advocate Sheikh Shakeel said. He said: “Though there are several legislations as safeguards for such children, when it comes to the application of laws they prove a casualty.”

“CRY has recently filed a PIL in the High Court against the non-implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act 1997 in the state,” he said. He said: “The PIL has not only been admitted by the court but the Chief Justice has asked the state government to reply through filing the affidavit regarding the present status of the Act by July 6 and the case would be heard on July 7.”

Srinagar, May 28
NC workers and supporters today celebrated the induction of party president Farooq Abdullah into the Union Cabinet

With the induction of NC president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, the state has got two berths in Manmohan Singh’s new team, the other being Ghulam Nabi Azad

This is for the first time that Farooq Abdullah, elected from the prestigious constituency of Srinagar, has been inducted into the Union Cabinet though his son and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had been in the Union Council of Ministers in the Vajpayee-led NDA government. Omar was the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in 1999 and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs in 2001.

Jammu, May 28
The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, celebrated its annual day on its main campus at Chatha last evening.

B Mishra, chief guest and vice-chancellor of the varsity, stressed upon the faculty to help students become more competitive at national and global levels.

The winners of 10 events organised are Pawan Katara (badminton singles-boys), Souliha Rasool (badminton single-girls), Pawan Katara and Jebi Soodan (badminton doubles) Muzzamil Tak (table tennis single), Wazir and Navjot Singh (table tennis doubles), Umar Gul and Tajamul Islam (carom), and Jameel Khan (chess).

The overall best performance trophy was won by the faculty of veterinary sciences.

Jammu, May 28
On his two-day maiden visit to the state, Major-General Ashok Sinha, Additional Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC), visited the NCC directorate here and the units of the Jammu group.

General Sinha was briefed about NCC activities in the state by Brig Anil Gupta, Deputy Director General.

He was apprised of constraints in the conduct of NCC activities due to the peculiar geographic profile, security environment and the schooling system in the three regions of the state.

General Sinha visited the NCC camping ground at Nagrota to inspect the infrastructure developed for the efficient conduct of camps.