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Deaths fail to move PHE Department
Youth out to get justice for dead brother
Family members of Akshay Gupta, who drowned recently in the Baglihar dam gate opening, blame negligence on the part of project officials for the latter’s death. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma |
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Jammu varsity accounts dept on its toes
Banks gear up to rein in fake currency
After militancy, technology takes its toll
‘True democracy lies in security of minorities’
Pvt hospitals make beeline
for Jammu
Vehicular movement timings changed at Assar
North Zone Dance Competition
JAMMU diary
Development projects get a push in Srinagar
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Deaths fail to move PHE Department
Ramnagar (Udhampur), September 15 The only filtration plant located in the outskirts of Ramnagar town has virtually became defunct as water filtered through this plant is considered as unhygienic and infected. Due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities, most natural resources from where the villagers used to fetch drinking water had either become polluted or dried up. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that a majority of the villagers present in the public darbar at Dalser village raised the issue of contaminated water being supplied to them and demanded overhauling of the system. It was alleged during the public darbar that most of the water supply schemes executed by the PHE Department had virtually become defunct due to the casual approach adopted by the officers at the helm of affairs. Residents of this hill belt earlier depended upon natural resources, especially fresh water springs called as bowlies in local parlance for drinking water but these resources had dried up forcing the people to solely depend upon water being supplied by the PHE Department. “Instead of adopting the centuries-old traditional system the PHE authorities have constructed concrete structures around these bowlies which led to the drying up of these natural resources”, said octogenarian Farqir Chand of Nakki village. Last month when diarrhoea broke out in some parts of Ramban, the authorities had claimed supplying pure drinking water in the affected village but till date the situation has not improved. After the death of two persons, the filtration plant at Sundla village was made functional but other plants are still defunct. Some the “functional” filtration plants are not functioning properly. Interestingly instead of fixing responsibility on the agencies responsible for supplying contaminated water which led to the brealout of diarrhoea, the authorities are more concerned about hiding their misdeeds. One third of the population of Majalata tehsil of Ramnagar subdivision is solely dependent upon the water being supplied from the Mansar Lake for drinking purposes. “It is a known fact that the lake water is not fit for drinking”, pointed out Jagdish Singh of Majalata, adding that a filtration plant had been set up there but it lacks the capacity to treat such a huge quanity of water. Instead of exploring other natural resources, the authorities have been supplying water from the lake, which is getting squeezed due to the taking out of a large quanity of water.
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Youth out to get justice for dead brother
Jammu, September 15 Vikas Gupta, younger brother of engineer Akshay Gupta, who lost his life after he drowned when a gate of the dam was being tested, is not completely relying on the investigating agencies as he himself is trying to find out the “truth”. Though the authorities concerned say that the death of the engineer was an accident as Akshay should not have ventured near the gate, the family members blame that the accident took place due to the negligence of the dam authorities. “Akshay was on official duty to take photographs of the gate, with senior officers watching him at the time of the operation of the gate. How can they say that he was not supposed to be there at the time of the testing of the gate?” asked Vikas Gupta, who himself went to the spot to investigate the circumstances leading to the death of his brother. As per the investigations done by Vikas, the place where Akshay was standing was a safe place as per the design, “If as per design it was a safe place then how come water reached there. As per the statement of the chief engineer it was the fault of Akshay. But why the gate was operated on full opening making Akshay stand at such a vulnerable spot,” said Vikas. “As per the gate-operating norms it has to be seen that there is nobody standing downstream. “If the gate was operating from crack opening to full one, why he was allowed to stand there in the first place. Also, before opening the gate they should have made announcements asking everybody to vacate the area but it was not done,” Vikas says. Sources informed the family that the gate was opened more than 10.34 metres, which was being tested for the first time. The current of the water that rushed out was so strong that it damaged all safety gadgets installed near the gate, washing away Akshay too. “It shows that it is a case of culpable homicide and the officers concerned should be booked in a case of criminal negligence for the death of a young and promising engineer,” Vikas said. The twin daughters of Akshay--Sanvi and Sugauri (5)-- are unable to understand what tragedy had befallen them as they continue to wait for their father to return from office. “We can console the elders but it is very difficult to make his young daughters understand that their beloved papa is nomore. I will continue to fight till we get justice,” Vikas said.
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Jammu varsity accounts dept on its toes
Jammu, September 15 In absence of fake currency detecting machines the employees of this wing had to deposit thousands of rupees from its own pockets to compensate for the fake currency it received as fee from students last year, said one of the officers on anonymity. The situation is no different for them this year too. They have received a large number of fake currency notes from the students who have submitted their examination and re-evaluation fee in the wing. While highlight this daunting problem faced by them, the official said in the absence of fake currency detecting machines the employees deputed in this wing were facing a lot of problem in detecting fake notes. Describing the difficulty of the employees, he said, “We have six counters in this wing and six employees receive fee from the students. While receiving fee from the students though they remain vigilant but still fake currency notes evade detections from a naked eye, some times. Due to non-availability of fake currency detecting machines, the whole process of receiving fee is time consuming as they have to check the currency notes one by one, due to which sometimes students have to wait for hours to have their turn to submit fee. |
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Banks gear up to rein in fake currency
Jammu, September 15 Due to the international border with Pakistan and China, smuggling of counterfeit notes from across the border has become a menace. An official of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank said a huge amount of counterfeit notes were being brought to the bank to be deposited and many times such currency notes skipped the attention of the teller which resulted into huge losses to the bank. The bank has now installed various counter measures to check the counterfeit notes from being accepted by the bank. Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, president of the supervision and control department of the bank, said, “There were many instances when fake currency notes were recovered from the customers. In march this year, we recovered 97 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination.” He said the bank had taken various precautionary measures to ‘check’ the transaction of counterfeit currency notes. The bank has identified 50 branches where large amount of transaction takes place on the daily basis and where the chances of circulation of fake currency are more. “In all these 50 branches, note sorting machines have been installed and in the border areas of Leh and Uri, the RBI itself has provided such machines free of cost to the bank,” he said. DS Rana, Deputy General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, said: “In all the 33 currency chests across the state, we have installed note sorting machines, which are super sensitive and can easily detect any counterfeit note from the bundle of original notes.” He said the RBI undertakes massive awareness programmes in the state, including the far off areas, wherein general public is made aware about the identification of fake currency notes. Also, it uses visual, sound and print media to disseminate information amongst the local masses regarding the fake currency. “We regularly hold training programmes for different organisations, including bank employees, to differentiate between the fake and original currency notes,”Rana said, adding, “Every bank has been asked to form a forge note vigilance cell to take action against the issuance of fake notes.”
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After militancy, technology takes its toll
Jammu, September 15 A renowned psychiatrist and former DGP attributes lack of interaction between parents and children, financial hardships, unemployment and increased social interaction as the reason behind the anti-social behaviour. “Already faced with nagging problems like unemployment and financial hardships, the youth have been caught unawares by the development in the field of information technology and are not able to filter the information thrown at them at a fast pace,” says Chander Mohan Sharma, head of Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital. Social interaction via cell phones, Internet and other forms of technology has increased manifold and increased emotional surge among the youth makes them prone to suicidal tendencies, he adds. The psychiatrist opines that increased social interaction coupled with frustration in the form of financial hardships, unemployment and untamed usage of technology has resulted into diametric opposite development of the youth. Communication gap between parents and children has also increased and youth by and large have become unguided missiles, he says. “Also, at that age hormones and neuro-transmitters are at peak that need to be controlled through guidance and counselling by psychiatrists, parents and society at large,” he adds. Former DGP MM Khajooria feels that the society today is in turmoil. “While there is degeneration in moral values, job avenues are choked and to aggravate the situation our education system doesn’t prepare our youth for placements. Hence, frustration takes them over and those who lack strong will power go astray,” he says. With the social structure collapsing, wherever the youth find an opening, they fall prey to it, he says. The former DGP feels that society must take corrective measures to reverse the trend. Youth should also understand that the life given to them is scared and they should not waste it away, he says. To tackle the problem, parents, society, educational and religious institutions and the government, including the police should contribute their bit in discouraging such trends, he adds. Echoing similar views, SSP (Jammu) Manohar Singh says: “Agreed that frustration for varied reasons is already there but unfortunately our youth today has no patience and, therefore, they resort to such extreme steps.”
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‘True democracy lies in security of minorities’
Jammu, September 15 He gave an exclusive interview to The Tribune. Q: How can we mitigate the bad effects of marginalisation of communities, especially in the context of Jammu & Kashmir where Kashmiri Pandit migrants want to go back to Kashmir, but can’t because of the fear of elimination? A: It is necessary to provide equality to both communities, Hindu and Muslims, in Kashmir. Before that, full security should be provided to the minorities. Protection of their identity is important as insecurity is rooted in identity crisis. Q: You have written extensively on the intricate relationship between nation-state, minorities and multiculturalism. You have also held the view that Europe and India have much to know each other. Please explain? A: Europe, too, has minorities and multiculturalism in name of colour and religion. So, nation-state is a perceived idea of diversity. But in J&K, diversity is coupled with inequality. True test of multiculturalism and democracy lies in status and security of minorities”. Q: As a chairperson of the Programme Advisory Committee Gujarat Harmony Project, held post-Godhra riots, you championed the cause of peaceful coexistence of groups and communities. Is it possible in context of J&K? A : It is tragic whenever any riot takes place; we pay our attention to relief and rehabilitation, but not on the idea of eradicating the reoccurrence of such tragedies. J&K must precipitate reconciliation between Hindu and Muslims by involving them in interactive and recreational activities to bring them closer. Q: Why is it so that we have not been able to remove prejudices against low caste marginal in our villages? A: This is a 5000-year-old problem which will obliterate gradually. Still, a lot of progress has been made on this front, as the problem of untouchability is fading out and low caste communities are gaining access to good education and employment opportunities.
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Pvt hospitals make beeline
for Jammu
Jammu, September 15 Given the government’s confession about poor medical infrastructure and lack of super-specialist doctors, lesser thrust is being given to private-public partnership in the health sector. However, a few private hospitals that have made a mark in the hospital sector have started OPD consultancy services in Jammu. Stressing that private investment in the health sector was needed as the state required access to newer technologies and super-specialist doctors, Health MinisterSham Lal stated recently that the government was working on a long-term policy to ensure quality-healthcare services for the people of the state. The minister added that private investment in the health sector was needed as the state required access to modern
technology. A private medical service provider, Fortis Escorts Hospital, has, to begin with, started OPD services at Rotary Bhavan, Gandhi Nagar. “We have not collaborated with any hospital. It’s an independent venture,” said Dr Rajeev Gupta, medical oncologist and hematologist of
the hospital. “Patients seeking cancer treatment will now get consultancy and eventually super- specialty facilities at our newly opened centre,” he said, adding that “our oncologists would keep visiting the city on a
deputation basis . Eventually, we will provide services in neurology, cardiology and joint replacement.” Last year, though a Gurgaon-based Artimis
Hospital had collaborated with Madaan Hospital the collaboration could not work out reportedly owing to infrastructure problems. Among the local private hospitals Maharishi Dayanand Hospital and Medical Research Hospital has tied up with Apollo Hospital - from where doctors visit once
a month. Similarly, Max Health Care organised a two-days free cardiac OPD at Medicare Nursing Home, Gandhi Nagar. Padamshree HS Rissam attended to heart-related queries of cardiac patients and provided free consultation services. Other local private hospitals include Madaan Hospital, Care and Cure Hospital, B En Hospital, Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences and Hospital. Aastha Nursing Home, Medicare Nursing Home and Medi Aid. |
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Vehicular movement timings changed at Assar
Udhampur, September 15 According to an official handout, issued by the authorities on the directions of the Minister for Roads and Buildings, the timings of the traffic movement at Assar have been rescheduled keeping in view the widening of the newly constructed road patch between
Ramgarh Bagger and Assar which is being carried out on a war-footing basis. As per the revised schedule, vehicular movement shall be closed from 5 am to 8 am, 10 am to 1 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm. Whereas, it will remain open from 8 am to 10 am, 1 pm to 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm to the next day
morning 5 am. It is pertinent to mention here that after the September 7 road accident, people in a large number had come out on roads and staged demonstration against the authorities for not expediting the ongoing widening work on the track between Trungal and Assar. Keeping in view the resentment of people, work on the track has been expedited to be finished as soon as possible. |
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North Zone Dance Competition
Jammu, September 15 In the solo performance category for seniors, Parvinder won the first prize, whereas Shubam Dubey and Neha got the second and third prize, respectively. Similarly, in the duet category for the performers, who were below 15 years, Bhuvan and Saral clinched the first position, whereas Ritik and Ashim won the
second prize. However, amongst the duet performers above 15 years, Monika and Manisha won the first prize, whereas the second prize jointly went to Simran and Parminder as well as Rinku and Rachita. In the group performance, the Trance Dance Group of boys won the first prize, whereas the second prize was won by Model Academy. RS Public School got the
third prize. The event was a part of the dance workshop organised by the Trance Dance Group at
Rotary Club. Besides the talent scout for TV show Woogie Woogie on Sony, Gurpreet Kour judged the performance of the dancers. The best dancers would be selected for the same talent show. |
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Transformers pose threat to lives
They are walking on razor’s edge, just two steps away from possible death. Dangerously located naked transmission lines and voltage transformers in the winter capital continue to pose a serious threat to the residents. The Power Development Department has installed a number of voltage transformers in the city but without properly covering them. Transmission wires without insulation and the transformers without any cage around it are a common sight in the winter capital. Perhaps, the department would wake up from its deep slumber only after a tragedy strikes the residents. Teachers turn contractors
A majority of government teachers as well as non-teaching staff in Mendhar Tehsil of Poonch are working as contractors. They are more concerned about marking their attendance and leaving the premises immediately so that they can take stock of the work at the site of their contracts. One wonders why the administration is maintaining a dead silence on the matter which concerns the future of thousands of students. Craze for dance among youth
The most common places where the Jammu youth these days could be seen are dance classes programmes. They are very much focused on improving their dancing skills. “Thanks to the reality shows on TV, now the youth in Jammu too is fascinated towards learning new art forms and dancing skill is one of them,” said one of the instructor at a dance class. The reality shows have changed the way the competitions are held. In the recently held dance competitions, organisers made the judges sit among the audience. A big screen on the rear wall of the stage kept showing the logo of different sponsors. (See picture) Film fever
grips villager
Does common life affect cinema or the cinema impact common life? Or is it both way possible? Recently at a village panchayat in RS Pura, an enthusiastic farmer visibly miffed over thin attendance in the meet stood up and said, “All of you watch movies. Have you ever noticed how a single villain storms into the village and starts thrashing whomsoever he wishes to whereas the entire village holds breathe in fear and come to the rescue of the poor victim.” “It happens because the villagers stand divided. But if the villagers were united they would have taught the villain a lesson,” he remarked clinching his fists. Coming to his point he said: “Same is happening to us. People with vested interests are just like villains. In one way or the other, they are harming us but we don’t dare to step out of our homes to fight for our common cause.” Bike riding boys are using pressure horns with weird sounds to tease and irritate people. They blow the horn to scare the fairer sex. Girls left shocked and surprised, this is becoming a common sight. Traffic cops can surely step in and teach such teasers some lesson. (Contributed by Ravi Krishnan Khajuria, Shariq Majeed, Tejinder Singh Sodhi, Ashutosh Sharma, Sunaina Kaul) |
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Development projects get a push in Srinagar
Srinagar, September 15 In a meeting of the District Development Board, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the board’s chairman, announced Rs 120 crore for the flyover, which has been long in the pipeline, but has seen little work on ground. The only existing flyover in Srinagar leads from near Maisuma to the secretariat and it has partially succeeded in relieving the congestion of traffic full of VIP movements as the area houses the Assembly and the High Court besides the secretariat. Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is the only MLA from Srinagar to have a Cabinet berth and is seen to be a champion of developmental projects concerning the capital, said: “The government is planning to strengthen the road network in coming years in the city and beautify and refurbish a host of heritage sites and gardens it has”. “Srinagar has been neglected in the past, but we will work hard to give its due status,” he said. Otherwise a hothouse of separatist ideology, Srinagar sent National Conference candidates to the Assembly from all of its eight segments in the last year’s elections and the ruling party considers successful implementation of developmental projects here as a key to its strategy to rebuild its eroded base in the valley. Among other announcements, Rs 10 crore has been allotted for the beautification of the Dastigeer Sahib Shrine and another Rs 10 crore for the renovation of Mazar-e-Shohada, a memorial for those who were killed in a rebellion against the then Dogra rule in 1931. Abdullah also sanctioned Rs 2 crore for improving sports infrastructure in the city and Rs 3 crore for streetlights to be installed on the city roads by the Power Development Department. Abdullah gave Rs 5 crore for the development of heritage places in downtown and Rs 63 lakh for the completion of Khalifapura community hall in Khaniyar, a constituency in downtown represented by Sagar. A town hall to be constructed by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has got Rs 1 crore.
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A brother is out to get justice for his elder brother who lost his life while performing his “professional duties” at Baglihar power project on September 4.
TK Oommen - renowned sociologist, retired professor from JNU, only scholar from Asia and Africa to be elected as the president of the International Sociological Association, an organisation sponsored by UNESCO, visiting professor to international universities such as of California and
Berkely, author of 21 books on sociology, panel member of the Rajender Sachar Committee appointed by the Prime Minister - was in the town as a chief guest to the national workshop on “Social Justice and the Marginal” at Jammu University recently.
With the advent of many reality shows and dance competitions on the television, the youth in Jammu is getting attracted towards learning various art forms.