Jammu, October 11
To end the ongoing impasse, the state government late last evening called leaders of the agitating employees of the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC).

A 22-member delegation of SRTC employees union met the commissioner secretary KB Jandial to discuss their demands.

“We were called to hold talks and to end the strike. The commissioner secretary offered us three months salary but we refused,” said Ashok Mehra, president of SRTC employees Union.

The delegation informed the commissioner secretary that they wanted ‘one-time settlement’ of their long-pending demands and do not want to come on roads again and again.

The commissioner secretary was holding talks on behalf of the Transport Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon.

“We demanded that the SRTC should be made a government enterprise and like other departments responsible for the profits and losses incurred so that the employees don’t suffer,” said Mehra.

He added that although the Chief Minister had earlier said that he wanted to ‘revive’ the SRTC, nothing had been done till date.

“The issue now is not about pending salaries and implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, it is one-time settlement of the problem,” said Mehra.

The employees have already submitted their resignations to the government en-masse seeking voluntary retirement from their jobs, but they want all the benefits before that.

Meanwhile, to ‘revive’ the ailing SRTC the state government has demanded a special package of Rs 300 crore from the 13th Finance Commission. In the first phase, the government plans to introduce 100 new trucks and 40 buses in the corporation.

In the second phase, 150 new buses would be introduced under the special central scheme in Jammu and Srinagar regions.

“Rs 300 crore is a huge amount and only the Chief Minister can take a decision in this regard, as our talks with the commissioner secretary remained inconclusive. The final round of talks would be held in Srinagar on Monday and we hope that something would come out,” said Mehra.

As many as 4,000 employees of the SRTC have been on strike for the past 48 days demanding release of their pending salaries and other benefits.

Jammu, October 11
Protesting doctors remained away from their routine services on the seventh consecutive day today and held a meeting with the minister for Medical Education RS Chib at his residence, here today.

“During the meeting we put forth a charter of our demands. The minister agreed with us and admitted that they were genuine,” said Dr Satayinder Singh, president of Doctor’s Joint Actions Committee (DJAC) - the organisation that is spearheading the agitation.

“In the two-hour meeting, we made it a point that if the government agrees upon two demands, including parity of PG stipend with the remunerations of assistant surgeons and placement of doctors in pay band three instead of two, we are ready to withdraw our agitation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Association of Doctors Jammu Province (ADJP) today termed the ongoing strike of doctors as illegal and unconstitutional. “The striking doctors tried to malign the grace and integrity of our noble profession and have no agenda for a strike,” said a press release.

“Some doctors in the periphery and medical education department are exploiting the present situation for their own vested interests,” it added.

The association, however, said the genuine demands of doctors have been already discussed with the government and the logical solution would be devised at the earlier.

Commenting upon the stand of ADJP, Dr Singh maintained that the association was playing in the hands of government to sabotage the ongoing peaceful agitation of doctors. 

Jammu, October 11
The Jammu and Kashmir Batwal Community Welfare Association has shot off a letter to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister demanding an economic-cum-employment package.

“We want sanctioning of the economic-cum- employment package for the community based on the report of the ethnographic study prepared by the central Planning Commission in 1994,” read a press release issued by the community today.

The community has also demanded representation of its members in the state legislative council and important government forums, besides recruitment of community members in armed forces, waiving of agricultural and education loans, launching of special scholarship scheme for students of the community etc.

They have also demanded nomination of 10+2 medical and non-medical students of the community to the professional institutions and unemployment allowances to the engineering graduates who have so far not been absorbed in any department.

“We also demand allotment of residential plots on government land to the poor members of the community, allotment of land near Jammu for the construction of community facility hall and allotment of Anganwari centres for the community women,” said the release.

Srinagar, October 11
Zulfiqar Ahmad Abbasi, president of traders’ body in Pak-occupied-Kashmir, said both the governments of India and Pakistan were not sincere in making cross-border trade a success and had not fulfilled their promises.

On the sidelines of inauguration of Kashmir festival by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Abbasi, who is among several Pakistanis here to take part in a conference, said there was no joint working group and banking facilities to smoothen the trade as promised.

“The trade is still based on barter of goods which is not something that excites traders on both sides. Our money is often held up in absence of a common banking facility. Both governments are to blame for this,” he said.

He said the cross-border trader was advertised as a means to prosperity and closer ties between the two sides, but it is more of a nuisance as things stand today. The infrastructure required for such trade is not there and official cooperation is mandatory for this, he said. “When a trader sending his goods to this or other side is not sure about his returns, then he would be inhibited in business,” he said.

When told about exploitation of cross-border trade for hawala by people having links with militants, he said barter trade was one of the reasons for it. He, however, quickly added that traders in Kashmir told him that it could be conspiracy to derail the fledging trade.

Srinagar, October 11
Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has urged the Centre to initiate a composite and meaningful dialogue process with Pakistan and Kashmir leadership for an everlasting solution to the Kashmir issue.

Addressing Friday congregation at the Jamia Masjid here, the Mirwaiz hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his proposed visit later this month had a defined policy on resolving Kashmir. The Mirwaiz-led APHC has pinned all hopes on the proposed visit of the Prime Minister, ahead of the reports about resuming of dialogue process with the Hurriyat Conference.

The APHC had two rounds of talks with the Centre; one during the NDA government and another during the UPA government. However, the second round of talks with the UPA government could not take place prior to the last Lok Sabha elections.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and Sajjad Ghani Lone of the Peoples Conference also had separate meetings with the Prime Minister. Hardline APHC chairman Syed Ali Geelani has been averse to the talks with the Centre.

The Mirwaiz in his address pointed out that the resolution of long-pending Kashmir issue at the international level was being regarded as inevitable to ensure peace not only in Kashmir, but also in the sub-continent and the South Asia.

Udhampur, October 11
To strengthen its base in rural areas of the state, the Sangh Parivar has been trying to involve more and more people in the ongoing “Gau Gram Yatra, which started from Haridwar and passing through different parts of the country reached here on Saturday. The message of the yatra is to educate people on the importance of protecting the cow.

The yatra passed through different areas of town and adjoining villages today. Different organisations of the Sangh Parivar have constituted committees at the village-level, which have been arranging various programmes in their respective villages.

A number of local religious leaders have been asked to deliver their sermons at different villages. The religious leaders have been “educating” the masses about the threats being posed to the Hindu society from different quarters.

As activities of various Sangh Parivar organisations have been confined only to urban areas, the yatra is a clear-cut attempt to strengthen their base in rural areas. 

Jammu, October 11
Drought has hit up to 80 per cent of the area in all the 10 districts of Jammu province and the state government has initiated the process for giving compensation to the farmers under the National Calamity Fund.

Scanty and delayed rainfall coupled with lack of irrigation facilities has caused enormous damage to crops. A survey by Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Federation, released recently, has claimed that drought had engulfed 80 per cent of the area in the province.

“The survey is close to the real situation on the ground. A special ‘girdwari’ of damaged crops is on. We have initiated the National Calamity Fund to compensate the farmers,” said Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal.

He said there was heavy damage to the maize crop and over 50 per cent of paddy crop had also been affected. “The worse-hit districts are Doda and Kishtwar, and the Kandi areas.”

The federation, a joint platform of several organisations of farmers, also submitted the detailed survey report to the government.

Hari Chand Jalmeria, convener of the federation, said a memorandum has been handed over to Additional Divisional Commissioner Jial Lal Jalmeria seeking the Prime Minister’s intervention in the matter.

“The mustard crop could not even be sown in most of the areas,” he said while quoting the survey. “Last year, Rabi crop was hit and now it is the Kharif crop that has borne the brunt. This means that two continuous seasons have brought losses to the farmers,” he added.

The federation also urged the CM Omar Abdullah to take up the matter of lack of irrigation facilities and climate change with the Prime Minister during his expected visit to the state next month.

They also urged the state government to initiate welfare schemes for the benefit of farmers and not be content with merely providing compensation to them. The farmers said the government should also provide them free seeds and fertilisers for the next season.

Jammu, October 11
Nineteen out of 23 MSc students -- nine doing M Phil and the remaining 10 students doing Phd -- have cleared the preliminary exam of the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) this year.

The department takes pride in 44 students having cleared the KAS exams and six having become Indian Forest Services officers in the last few years. The Zoology Department also boasts of 45 such success stories.

Both departments, which are on same premises, have become a hub of aspirants of administrative services. Prof Anima Langer, head of the Zoology Department, says, “Ever since the Botany Department was separated from bio-sciences in 1998, students got more facilities to carry out research.” She says the department opens around 9 am and closes around 6 pm.

Sarika, an M Phil student in botany, who is now preparing for the KAS mains, says, “We have chosen botany and zoology and half of the syllabus of zoology is quite similar to that of botany. It is easier for us to prepare these subjects for the KAS. The paper of general studies needs extra preparation.”

It is job insecurity that is pushing these students to look for other avenues, says Anil Sharma. “It will take me four to five years to get a good dignified job in the academics, but I’ll become an officer in a single year by clearing the KAS exam. Moreover, it is a prestigious career that gives immense exposure to public life.”

Kunzes Dolma, another botany student, says “It is more difficult to crack IAS/IPS exams as compared to the KAS exams. We get the benefit of being locals. It gives us an opportunity to serve in own state.”

Amit Virmani, Block Development Officer (KAS Officer) and a former student of Botany Department, says, “Being science students, who are generally focused, intelligent and hard working, it is easier for them to study for long hours. They also get time for extra studies as research students are not required to attend classes.”

Shubha Mehta, Social Welfare Officer and a also former botany student of Jammu University, emphasises that her passion for science, especially plants, continues even during service and she keeps updating herself about plants.

Former students continue to interact closely with the department even after becoming KAS officers, says SC Gupta, Head of Geology Department. 

Jammu, October 11
Lazy Sunday morning turned into a celebrations with the gathering of mediapersons, university students, taxi drivers and tourists outside the gate of Jammu University, who had gathered to celebrate Amitabh Bachchan’s 67th birthday. The host was his look-alike and fan Surinder Kumar, a taxi driver, who has been nicknamed as Big B by people who know him. Not only this, he has got, ‘mard’ tattooed on his chest, getting inspired from the actor’s film of the same title.

This has become a tradition for Kumar to celebrate Amitabh’s birthday every year with same gusto by cutting a cake and sharing snacks and cold drinks. He does not mind spending from his pocket on his idol’s birthday.

Talking about his fascination, he says, “I am mesmerised by the actor’s charismatic acting capabilities and simple dancing style. None from the younger generation could come even close to him in those respects.”

The taxi driver had also run from his home and earned money by doing stage shows, mimicking Amitabh in Rajasthan, when he was a teenager.

Despite being besotted, his high self-esteem prevents him from going to Mumbai to meet him. He sends out a message through media that the actor should contact him on his phone and invite him.

People too respect Kumar for his sentiments. Shiv Kumar, computer-operator in the university, said: “We have been seeing Kumar celebrating Amitabh’s birthday and his son’s marriage. We share his joy by participating with him every year.”

Jammu, October 11
Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, while issuing notices to the Commissioner/Secretary of the Finance Department and other respondents, stayed the proceedings pending before the Commissioner, Sales Tax, in which Max Insurance Company had challenged the notice issued by the Commissioner, Sales Tax, notifying that the services provided by the insurance company to its policy holders are taxable @ 8 per cent plus surcharge @ 5 per cent on the amount of premium collected by the insurance company.

Max Insurance Company pleaded that the petitioner was not a dealer within the meaning of J&K Sales Tax Act, 1962, as is not engaged in the business of dealing in goods, and sought quashment of the show cause notice.

The assessing authority issued notice dated May 22, 2007, informing that the insurance services are taxable as per notification issued vide SRO 117 of 2007 and the Finance Department called upon the petitioner to get itself registered under the J&K Sales Tax Act.

The assessing authority directed the petitioner to furnish the security deposit for an amount of Rs 80,000 for the purpose of registration as “dealer” under the provisions of J&K Sales Tax Act.

Udhampur, October 11
Smelling foul play in the mysterious death of his son Gurdeep Singh, who died on September 28, Jagir Singh came from Talwara, Punjab, to Ramnagar to seek justice. Though the death of Gurdeep Singh has been described as accidental by the Ramnagar police, Jagir Singh alleged that his son was murdered and later thrown on the road.

Ramnagar SDPO Sanjay Sharma, who is supervising the investigation, said: “Justice will be given to the family of the deceased,” adding that the father of the deceased met him.

The body of Gurdeep Singh, who was putting up at Hiranagar, was found with multi injuries at Kanah village in Ramangar of Udhampur on September 28. His motorcycle was found lying on his body.

His family was called from Punjab and the body was handed over to them after the postmortem.

However, the family alleged that Gurdeep was murdered as he was having an affair with a girl of the same village where his body was found.

Srinagar, October 11
While stating that 12 per cent of the world population suffers from mental disorders, Martin Sloot, Head of Mission of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - India, said 16 counselling centres were running in the Kashmir valley under their aegis.

Addressing a gathering here yesterday, Sloot said the organisation had been carrying out counselling services for mentally ill people in Kupwara district since 2004.

“Kashmir was one of the first mental health projects of MSF and we are working in tandem with Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir. This year, our focus is on integration of mental health with physical health. We are planning to hold mental health round table in the future in Kashmir,” he said.

Dr GA Wani, Nodal Officer, National Mental Health Programme (NMHP), said the programme was introduced in 2008 in Jammu and Kashmir. “In the first instance, 16 doctors, including me, received training at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Later, we trained other doctors as well,” said Dr Wani.

Giving a detailed account of patients suffering from various types of mental disorders, the nodal officer said 14,682 patients visited the counselling centres based in different districts across the Kashmir valley.

“Kupwara had 4,723 cases while the number was 3,662 for Srinagar, followed by Budgam (1996) and Baramulla (1,183). We have trained 93 doctors and 92 paramedics at the Regional Institute of Health and Family Welfare. This year, we have acquired seven or eight drugs for persons suffering from various mental disorders,” he added.

Sharing his views, Dr Ghulam Qadir Allaqaband said increasing public awareness about mental health and reducing stigma is the need of hour. “Conflicts and wars have damaged the structure of our society. The rate of suicide has also increased,” he said.

He added that use of alcohol has increased by 30 per cent, which was non-existent earlier

Recently, the MSF in collaboration with the Directorate of Health, Kashmir, held a week-long programme on mental health awareness in Srinagar and Kupwara districts. 

Jammu, October 11
The state government has directed the officials of the Traffic Department to cancel the route permits of the mini-buses not sticking to the timetable and against those vehicles which resort to overloading.

Charing a high-level meeting of transport officers, Minister for Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon said: “The route permits of the mini-buses not sticking to the time-table resulting in public inconvenience due to long gap between two consecutive passenger mini-buses should be cancelled.”

He also asked the officers to act firmly on the complaints of overloading by cancelling the route permits of the defaulters, adding that a clear message should go to the public that violation of law will not be tolerated at any cost.

Akhoon asked for building a clean image of the Transport Department by bringing in greater accountability and transparency in its functioning.

He told the officers: “You have to be honest in your dealings, sending a right message to the lower staff as well as public, thereby, bringing a change in their mindset regarding the functioning of the department.

Stressing on cutting down unnecessary delays in issuance of licences, fitness certificates and route permits, the minister directed to take measures to stop the involvement of agents through greater accountability in the offices. It was decided that a check-list of essential documents required for the issuance of licence be prepared for easing the monitoring and officers were asked to make the entire process time-bound.

Jammu, October 11
The National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) has appealed to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to provide a special financial package of Rs 8,000 crore for complete funding of the expenditures for the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations.

Addressing a workers’ rally here today, Subash Shastri, president of the NMC, said a special package would provide all benefits of the 6th Pay Commission to the state government employees and pensioners as well as payment of arrears on account of pay revision.

Shastri hailed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for the timely implementation of the 6th Pay Commission report, release of 6 per cent pending DA instalment due from January this year and enhancement of wages of daily wagers from Rs 70 to Rs 100 per day. Shastri urged the Chief Minister to release the pending instalment of DA due from July this year at 5 per cent in favour of the state government employees and pensioners well before Diwali.

He also urged Omar to intervene personally and ensure that all anomalies in the SRO 93 were removed and arrears on account of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations to be released in two instalments.