BILASPUR
Congregation from Oct 9: Swami Vishwaas will hold a three-day congregation of meditation and satsang from October 9 to 11 here at the Luhnu Maidan. This was stated by district in charge of the Vishwaas Foundation Dr Chand Sharma while addressing mediapersons at the Circuit House here on Monday. Sharma said more than 2,000 devotees would participate from all corners of the state and all arrangements regarding their boarding and lodging would be totally free.
CHAMBA
Eight gamblers caught: With the advent of Diwali, eight gamblers were caught red-handed along with cash and playing cards at different places in the district in a raid conducted by the police patrolling party during the last 24 hours. According to Chamba SP Madhu Sudan, separate cases had been registered against these gamblers which included Ramesh, Tulsi, Tilak, Hem Raj, Harish, Dharam Chand and Upjeet Singh- all residents of this region; adding that cash worth Rs 31,420 had also been recovered from them.
Jammu
Arms, 4.5 kg RDX seized: The security forces on Monday seized arms and ammunition, including 4.5 kg of RDX, from a forest in the Mansar area of Samba district. Official sources said acting on a tip-off, the security forces launched a search operation in the Mansar forest area and seized 4.5 kg of RDX, 105 rounds of SLR, a country-made pistol and a bag buried in the ground and covered with leaves. They said some subversive elements might have dumped the arms and ammunition. However, the Samba police feigned ignorance about the seizure.
Housing Board staff strike work: In continuation with their ongoing agitation, the All J&K Housing Board Employees Association on Tuesday protested against the arbitrariness of the department for not paying them salaries as per the sixth pay commission, pension benefits and regularisation of ad hoc workers. They held protest before the office of Managing Director, J&K Housing Board, Green Belt Park Gandhi
Nagar, Jammu. The association also decided to extend two days token strike on Wednesday and Thursday also. The work of the Housing Board got paralysed both in Jammu as well as Kashmir divisions.
Seminar on Urdu language: A one-day seminar on Urdu has been presided over by Prof Sageer Ifraheem of Aligarh Muslim University. Novelist and short-story writer Sham Sunder Anand Lehar was the chief guest on the occasion. “Urdu had played a vital role in maintaining the communal harmony in the past so it is the duty of Urdu writers to write literary pieces which could spread the message of love and brotherhood in the subcontinent, Shohab Inayat
Malik, head of the Urdu Department, said. Three speakers Assdullah
Wani, Liaquat Jafri and Mushtaq Wani described Urdu as a language of peace, love and
civilisation.
Srinagar
Police-public mela: Describing the police-public mela as an effort by the state police to reach out to people and promote its people-friendly image, first lady Usha Vohra said on Sunday that such melas would go a long way in generating resources for ‘deserving’ and ‘needy’ police families. She said this while inaugurating the police-public mela here at Bakshi Stadium. The mela is organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Police Wives Welfare Association (JKPWWA). The first lady along with DGP Kuldeep Khoda, JKPWWA chairperson Indu Khoda, senior police officers and other functionaries of the association visited all stalls.
Udhampur
Federation holds conference: A conference of the Jammu & Kashmir Medical Employees Federation (JKMEF) of Doda district was held at Bhaderwah on Sunday. Sushil Sudhan and Vinod Sharma, president and general secretary of the JKMEF, respectively, and CL Kotwal, president of the Clerical Association, Jammu, also participated. The new district body appointed Mehboob Krapiak Doda as its president and Ashiq Hussain Batt as general secretary. Haq Nawaz and Sanjeev Bhan were appointed president and general secretary of the Pharmacists Association. Sanjeev Bhan. Riaz Najar, Amjad Shokeen, Subash Raina, Riaz Malik, Anil Koul, Farhat Mehta, Tahir Mushtaq and Shameema Akhter were nominated executive members of the district body.
Oz army chief visits
Northern Command Hq: General Ken J Gillespie, Australian army chief, visited the Northern Command headquarters at Udhampur on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Lt Col Michael Ryan and Capt (N) JD Mead. Gen Gillespie. He was accorded a very warm reception on arrival. Northern Command spokesperson Col DK Kachari said during his brief visit the Australian army chief held a cordial discussion with Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, GoC-in-C Northern Command. He also interacted with other senior officers of the Northern Command headquarters and was briefed about the operational and functional aspects of this sensitive formation. A banquet lunch was organised in his honour at the Command Officers Mess.
