Chhan Roriyan (Kathua), June 26
Devotees from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi have started pitching tents on the Lakhanpur-Srinagar National Highway to offer langar to pilgrims coming from across the country for the annual Amarnath yatra starting from June 29.

The Baba Barfani Seva Mandal from Moga in Punjab, which has been serving community kitchen food to the devotees for the past 10 consecutive years here, is the first group this year to have set up tents in Kathua district.

The mandal having members in Canada, Australia and New Zealand collects money from the people and contributes it for the holy purpose.

Providing facilities like breakfast, lunch, dinner and accommodation free of cost to nearly 2,000 people and giving the services of a dispensary, the group said it had never charged a single penny from any pilgrim.

“It becomes possible only with the blessings of Lord Mahadev, who gives us the power and courage to meet the challenges. We serve langar for almost one-and-a-half month during the yatra and use only quality products, as the yatra is very arduous and we have to keep everything in mind while preparing the food,” said Suresh Rawal, vice-president of the mandal. He said this year, they would serve langar till August 12.

“The state government has taken a few steps to provide assistance to people like us, who offer langar on the roadside. Local MLC Subhash Gupta has provided us land without any charges and he has also assured support whenever required,” Rawal added. 

Srinagar, June 26
Governor NN Vohra, who is also the Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), today visited the Baltal, Panjtarni and Nunwan base camps and reviewed the arrangements made for the annual Amarnath yatra,scheduled to commence on June 29.

The Governor, accompanied by Sunita Narain, member of the SASB, and RK Goyal, CEO of the board, first visited Baltal this morning and reviewed the yatra-related arrangements. He particularly reviewed the sanitation arrangements, the operation of the sewage treatment plant, the water and power supply, medicare, access control, establishment of langars, security and other services.

He directed the CEO to ensure daily monitoring and supervision of all arrangements. The Governor also visited a three-day, ‘Art of Living Camp’, at Baltal, organised by the board in collaboration with the Art of Living Foundation and interacted with participants.

Mohammad Ashraf Shuntoo, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, informed the Governor that there would be no difficulty in commencing the pilgrimage on June 29.

At Panjtarni, the Governor visited the camp area and reviewed the status of the ongoing preparations. He directed the officials to ensure that yatris were provided all facilities to make the pilgrimage a pleasant experience.He particularly stressed on round-the-clock cleaning of toilets, bathrooms and the camp area.

After arriving at the Nunwan base camp in the afternoon, the Governor along with Kifayat Ahmad Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, reviewed the facilities to be provided for the smooth conduct of the yatra.

Jammu, June 26
Even as the Centre has been making all efforts to spread awareness among the people about benefits of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, people here are finding it difficult to file applications under the Act.

One has to deposit a fee with an RTI application to get the required information from the department concerned. But in Jammu, the head post office at Gandhi Nagar has no stock of Indian Postal Orders (IPOs) of Rs 10, which is the easiest method of seeking information from any Central government office.

Officials at the post office are not even aware about the RTI Act and how an application is filed. The shortage of postal orders came to light on Thursday when this correspondent went to the post office to file an application. An official at a counter said they had not received the supply of Rs 10 IPOs for a long time.

“The IPOs of Rs 10 have been out of stock for a long time. Despite several requests, we have not yet got the supply,” said the official, and feigned ignorance that the IPOs were mostly used as fee for filing an RTI application.

However, the Chief Postmaster of the state, John Samuel, denied any shortage of IPOs.

“We are having adequate stock of IPOs of all denominations and there is no shortage,” he said. But he failed to reply to a question about the lack of awareness among the staff about the RTI Act.

On the other hand, an RTI activist, Balwinder Singh, alleged that, “The public is facing hardship in filing RTI applications, as the IPOs of Rs 10 are not available in the post offices and those seeking information have to go to banks for getting drafts to seek information under the RTI Act”.

He added that the IPOs,which were the best and the cheapest method to seek information under the RTI Act, were not available and the department should immediately take action in this regard.

Jammu, June 26
BJP MLA Sukhnandan Kumar today said farmers of the Jammu region would once again stage a protest if DAP fertiliser was not made available to them in 10 days.

He was addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here. Accompanied by newly-elected sarpanches, Sukhnandan, who represents the Marh constituency, said the farmers were always forced to launch a stir at a time when they should be in the fields.

“It is so because the farmers do not get seeds, pesticides, water for irrigation and fertilisers on time.As a result, they are left with no other option but to protest,” he said. He added that several times, their crops failed due to natural calamities like drought, flood and cloudburst.

The BJP MLA blamed the present coalition government in the state for the situation. He said, “If we talk about Jammu district, the requirement of DAP fertiliser for June was 5,000 MT, but just 1,550 MT was released. As far as July is concerned, the requirement is 6,500 MT but it is feared that again the minimum quota will be kept for Jammu”. He said the Chambal brand fertiliser for Jammu was just 1,560 MT while it was 2,373 MT for Srinagar.

“In the sowing season,there is not a single bag of DAP available, while the buffer stock for the next three months is being stored in Kashmir, which is a clear case of discrimination,” Sukhnandan added. 

Srinagar, June 26
Governor NN Vohra inaugurated a 10-day Kashmir comedy theatre festival at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre here last evening. The theatre festival has been organised by the Jammu Kashmir Film Makers and Artists Cooperative (JKFMAC) Ltd, with a view to revive and promote the rich cultural heritage of the state.

In his address, the Governor, who was the chief guest at the function, said this was a very good occasion that the JKFMAC had decided to once again commence their activities, by organising a series of comedy theatre presentations.

The Governor expressed hope that the drama festival would mark the beginning of a new phase, which would witness the restoration of art, heritage and glorious traditions, besides providing opportunities to youth to participate in varied artistic performances.

He wished the JKFMAC success in its initiative to document, preserve and propagate the composite cultural heritage of the state. The Governor also released a book titled, “Theatre Akh Tarruf”, written by veteran theaterist, Ashok Jailkhani. — TNS

Srinagar/Jammu, June 26
The second Mughal Road car rally was flagged off by Minister of Tourism Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister of State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani here today. “Seventy vehicles comprising 140 drivers and navigators are participating in the race and the winner will get a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh,” Director, Tourism, Farooq Shah said.

This is the second edition of the rally on the ancient 84-km Shopian-Bafliaz stretch of the Mughal Road.

The route linking Kashmir with Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu division has several rest houses, huts and many other historical monuments constructed by Mughal emperors.

Meanwhile, the first leg of the car rally was completed with the participants reaching Jammu in the evening.

The rally being organised by the Department of Tourism has only one woman driver, Divya Mighlani, who is coordinated by her navigator, Aprajita Juneja.

“The rally is definitely going to bring the state on the world tourism map. It has already created a lot of enthusiasm and we are looking forward to more such rallies in future,” said Robin Singh Mehta, Director, Tourism.

“In view of the importance of the road, I am excited about the rally,” said Divya, who has been participating in such events for the past five years. “Driving is considered predominantly a male sport. I want to change the perception,” she added.

Jammu, June 26
Psychologists have taken an initiative to provide support to AIDS patients in the city. Under the project, Saksham, eminent psychologists have started imparting training to counsellors to motivate AIDS patients to live with dignity and honour.

“The mental health factor is always ignored while treating such patients. Therefore, our stress is to address the psychological aspect of the patient and to create a feeling of love for life in his/her mind,” said Dr Chand Trehan, capacity-building officer of the project.

She said such patients were always gripped by fear of rejection and ostracism by their family members and society. Therefore, it was important to remove the fear.

Further, the project also aims at building a rural community outreach mode to address the complex needs of rural prevention, care and support requirements in the high-prevalence and highly vulnerable districts.

Psychologists with the help of volunteers, who are called master trainers, are imparting training to the counsellors appointed by the State AIDS Control Society (SACS) and have deputed them in almost all districts of the state.

The first batch of over 22 counsellors has already been trained and the next training course will start in October. Dr Arti Bakshi, HoD, psychology, Jammu University, is heading the project.

Emphasising the need to address the psychological factor of the AIDS patients, Dr Trehan said the fear of severe mental disorder always loomed large over the patients due to a high level of depression. “Depression can be best managed by psychological counselling,” he added. A few doctors and other social activists are also coming forward to render services to the project. 

Jammu, June 26
Two houses in the city were damaged in heavy rain that lashed the district in the past 24 hours. The two houses are located in Jhulakka Mohalla in the old city area here.

However, there was no loss of life. According to the police,the outer walls of the houses collapsed and vehicles parked inside got buried under the debris.

“A team was sent to the spot to enquire into the incident.However, there was no loss of life,“ a police officer said. Meanwhile, trees in some areas of the city and the outskirts fell due to the rain.

Leh, June 26
Leh has become the first district in the state to have its own five-year perspective plan 2011-16 for all 93 panchayat halqas of the district and Leh town for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as per the wishes and needs of people.

The formulation of the perspective plan is mandatory for the implementing agency under the MGNREGA to provide a development perspective to the district as well as to identify works.

Besides the plan for all panchayat halqas, Leh district has also prepared a micro-level plan for each village and for the first time any planner or researcher will have detailed information about the resources, problems, strengths and needs of the villages.

Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Tsering Angchuk said during the formulation of the perspective plan, 16,524 households in all 93 panchayat halqas and 8,550 households in Leh town were found entitled to employment under the MGNREGA.

He added that, “The people have demanded seasonal fragmenting of wage employment out of the guaranteed 100 days per year under the scheme during the formulation of the perspective plan. Although there were variations in different regions of the district, a majority of them preferred to work on an average for 33 days during spring, 23 during the summer, 29 during the autumn and 15 days during the winter.”

The development of household land under eight categories of permissible works identified under the scheme emerged as priority number one, followed by irrigation and rural connectivity.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) formulated the plan with technical assistance from the TATA Social Trust under its ongoing support programme. The work on the plan was started in December, 2009, and completed in November, 2010.

TATA support programme coordinator Sonam Jorgais said, “To begin with the perspective plan for the MGNREGA, we conducted a trial at Phyang village. Fortyfive local field workers, who had been provided one-month training, spent three to four days during the winter in the village,which is the period when people are free. An awareness campaign about the rural job scheme was also organised in each village.”

Jammu, June 26
‘Jeb Katra’, a play written by Sadat Hassan Manto and directed by Neeraj Kant, was staged at the Natrang Studio Theatre here today as part of its weekly series, ‘Sunday Theatre’.

In the play, Jeb Katra, Kashi, who is a pick-pocket steals a bag of a woman, Bimla, and finds some letters in it along with some money. The letters reflect that she is leading a sad life and wants to put an end to it.

On seeing this, Kashi, deeply regrets his action and decides to help her. He finds her and apologises to her, besides convincing her not to commit suicide, by assuring her that he will help her in leading a good life.

In return, she promises to make him a good human being. She tries her best to teach him morality, ethics, compassion and other human values.

However, Kashi finds it difficult to apply the values in his life as he has no control over his actions.

After stealing for so many years, he has become a kleptomaniac. He steals even if he doesn’t want to. This hurts Bimla, who thinks all her efforts have gone waste.

One day,Pandit, a character from Bimla’s past, enters her life and blackmails her over some issue.

He produces a few letters written by her, which could ruin her life. In return for the letters, he demands a hefty amount from her, which she cannot afford.

Bimla wants to take the help of Kashi in stealing those letters. But she is shocked when she approaches Kashi.

To prove himself good, Kashi, has cut his fingers. A gush of emotions runs in the veins over such a transformation of a pick- pocket.

Rohit Verma as Kashi portrays the emotions with professional ease. Niharika Sharma also showcases the pathos required for her character. They are equally supported by Rahul Singh, Mohammad Yaseen, Sakshi Prakash, Vinay Manhas, Sachin Saini, Master Manik, Smily Katoch, and Vaishali Verma. 

Srinagar, June 26
The Army, in association with the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti of Rajasthan and the Pritam Spiritual Foundation, organised a four-day free artificial limb distribution camp at Khanabal near Anantnag from June 22 to 25.

An expert team of paramedics examined over 200 patients and prepared artificial limbs as per the specific requirement of each individual. Hand-paddled tricycles, wheelchairs, polio-calipers, crutches, walking sticks and hearing aids were also distributed among the patients.

The artificial limbs were handed over to the individuals by Maj-Gen Gurdeep Singh, GOC, Victor Force. The camp received an overwhelming response not only from the surrounding areas, but also from far-flung areas like Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Uri and Sopore. 

Srinagar, June 26
Four persons were killed and 10 others were injured in road accidents in the Kashmir valley yesterday. A Tata Sumo hit two pedestrians, namely Akbar Ali Gazi and Kousar Hussain Mugloo, near Alamgari Bazar Chowk,killing them on the spot.

A bus hit a boy, Arif Ahmad Shah, at Chursoo in Awantipora, killing him on the spot. The driver of the vehicle fled the spot.The police has registered a case in this regard. In another accident, a boy was killed and two others injured when his motorbike collided with a roadside pipeline in Chadoora Budgam. A Sumo overturned at Bindoo Zalangam, resulting in injuries to seven persons,including the driver of the vehicle. — TNS