Srinagar, July 10
There is good news for those Amarnath yatris,who suffer from diabetes, as they will henceforth be provided special food.

“Special sugar-free food stalls have been set up at Baltal and Pahalgam base camps, leading to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath,” Srinagar-based PRO of the CRPF, Prabhakar Tripathy, told The Tribune.

He said the decision was taken at a meeting of the Inspector-General of the CRPF (Operations), BN Ramesh, with organisers of community kitchens along the two yatra routes.

“Earlier,there was no such facility.So, they (yatris) had no other option but to take food provided at langars, which created problems for them. The IG (CRPF) requested the ‘langarwalas’ to use sugar-free tablets while preparing the food to which they agreed,” Tripathy added.

He said a team of 400 commandos of the Quick Action Team had been deployed to help the yatris in case of an emergency or natural calamity.

“Apart from 5,000 CRPF personnel deployed along both the routes on regular duties, the 400 commandos have been deployed to assist the yatris,” Tripathy said.

The CRPF has also taken adequate measures to control the law and order situation along the yatra routes.

“During an encounter yesterday in which three militants were gunned down, the CRPF redeployed some of its companies en route the yatra so that anti-national elements do not take advantage of the incident and try to disrupt the pilgrimage,” Tripathy added.

He said the CRPF was committed to facilitate the smooth conduct of the yatra and for the purpose it had set up various medical camps.

“Besides providing medical aid to the yatris, the CRPF also provides help to ponywalas and porters. An exclusive medical camp has been set up at Sangam which is the most difficult part of the yatra,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Amarnath yatra is progressing satisfactorily.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board today said that since the weather in the yatra area had improved, there was smooth movement of pilgrims along both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes.Over 2.34 lakh yatris had paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine till yesterday.

In regard to the weather in the area, the CEO said as per the Meteorological Department’s forecast for the period between July 11 and July 15, the sky was likely to remain cloudy in Kashmir division.

The details of the forecast were available on the website (www.amssdelhi.gov.in) of the Indian Meteorological Department. These could also be taken from the Shrine Board’s website (www.shriamarnathjishrine.com).

Udhampur, July 10
Besides creating unhygienic conditions, the unchecked dumping of garbage and construction material on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the Shiv Nagar area here is causing problems for the movement of Army vehicles.

The dumping of the construction material on the road, despite ban orders issued by the Udhampur Deputy Commissioner, has created traffic bottlenecks on the road already clogged with wrongly parked private civilian vehicles. The Army is particularly bearing the brunt as it becomes difficult for light and heavy vehicles of the unit located there to pass through the traffic jams.

The wrong parking and dumping of sand, gravel, stone chips and bricks have led to many serious accidents, involving the civilian population. But the MC authorities concerned have not taken any action. Interestingly, the local Municipal Committee is virtually headless. Due to a bitter political feud, the post of its president is still vacant and the matter is pending in court.

Vikram Gulati, Principal of the Shivalik College of Education, who lives on the school campus, said though it was primarily the responsibility of the MC, the college management had tried to purchase the plot being used as the garbage dump. However, its owner rejected the offer.

“We feel helpless as the owner did not even accept our suggestion that he should at least construct a boundary wall to prevent the misuse of the plot. We also took up the matter with our area councillor, but nothing came out of it,” Gulati said.

The Executive Officer of the local Municipal Committee, Ravi Kumar, did not respond to several calls made on his cellphone since Saturday to have his version.

When the matter was brought to the notice of Udhampur Deputy Commissioner Baseer Ahmed Khan,he said he was unaware of any representation submitted to his office. However, he promised to look into the matter.

Srinagar, July 10
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that the government and doctors were equal partners in the stupendous task of providing quality health care.

“The government is providing adequate infrastructure, medicines, gadgets and modern training to doctors and students, who have to provide quality health care with a missionary zeal”, he said

Speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of Government Medical College, Srinagar,here, the Chief Minister said that the development of a society depended on the status and degree of medical services.

In the past 50 years, Government Medical College had produced eminent doctors.“The doctors from this institution have not only made their mark in the state, but also their ability and calibre had become the benchmark in other parts of the world,” he said

The college had made a lot of progress. “You do not have to rest here. The world of medical sciences is confronted with huge challenges. New diseases and variations in diseases surface daily, new technology emerges day after day and new drugs and medicines are introduced continuously to address the diseases.So, treat these in a befitting and proper manner”, he said, and urged the doctors to keep pace with developments in the medical field in the world.

The Chief Minister said his government would provide all assistance to medical colleges and health institutions to grow and develop as modern institutions. “Our duty is to equip you better and provide you all possible facilities.You have to deliver in the shape of best quality services to the people”, he said.

Jammu, July 10
Stressing the need for a national consensus to solve the Kashmir problem, former Chief Minister and patron of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said today that the strengthening of democracy in Pakistan had thrown up an opportunity to take some bold initiatives for the resolution of the issue.

“The strengthening of democratic institutions and the emergence of a strong civil society in Pakistan, which has taken a tough stand against military dictatorship as well as against terrorism, is a positive sign and our country has to utilise this opportunity to solve the Kashmir issue once for all,” he said while addressing a rally in Jammu to wind up his week-long tour.

He said there was a need for parties across the political spectrum of the country to evolve a consensus on resolving the Kashmir issue with Pakistan as this was a bone of contention between the two countries. “The Kashmir problem has dampened the immense economic potential of South Asia since 1947 and the solution of the problem is in the interest of both the countries,” Mufti said, and appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take some bold steps to restore peace to the region.

While recalling the historical initiatives taken by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for establishing peace in the state,the Mufti said the BJP had to rise above party politics.“It is high time all the political parties of the country come forward for solving the Kashmir issue once for all because the situation is conducive in Pakistan,” he said.

Claiming that his party had pioneered and implemented the agenda of reconciliation, Mufti made it clear that the PDP would not allow the peace process to be derailed and sabotaged.

Charging the ruling National Conference with adopting oppressive policies to stifle genuine aspirations of the people, he said during the then PDP-Congress regime, all the political prisoners were released.

He said the previous regime had created an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity in the state, but the same had been vitiated by the present government due to its policies. 

Srinagar, July 10
Minister of Finance and Ladakh Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather has called for efforts to achieve revenue realisation targets for power supplied to consumers.

Speaking at a meeting here today to take stock of the latest revenue position in Kashmir,the Finance Minister said enhancing the revenue on account of energy supplied to the consumers was important for boosting the state’s fragile economy, and added that while the state was importing energy worth Rs 2500 crore annually,it was getting a revenue of Rs 969 crore only.

Expressing his dismay over the poor revenue realisation in many electric divisions, particularly in Circle-II, excluding Bandipora and the Pulwama and Bijbehara circles, the minister warned that the government would make engineers and officers accountable for this.

He said the Centre had set a revenue target of Rs 1600 crore for the state this year which shall have wide implications over the current year’s annual plan of Rs 6600 approved for the state recently.He also favoured 100 per cent metering of power connections and computerisation of the power printing systems.

The department fixed a revenue target of Rs 651 crore for the current fiscal out of which Rs 75.12 crore had already been realised in the first quarter.The department had provided 5666 additional power connections during the first quarter of the current fiscal,thus raising the total number of consumers to 6.93 lakh in Kashmir division.

The department also installed 29128 electronic meters in the first quarter,including 10105 in unmetered locations.

Srinagar, July 10
Asking the people,especially those living in the far-flung areas, to involve themselves in the implementation of various schemes, Minister for Rural Development, Law, Panchayati Raj, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar said that the recently concluded panchayat poll was a major step in the decentralisation of powers.

The minister was speaking at a public rally at Hagrpora Pattan today.

Asking the public to come forward and take the benefit of various welfare schemes initiated by the state government, the minister said the government did not believe in rhetoric but sustained action, which could be felt on the ground and it was due to their faith in good governance that the people voted overwhelmingly for their respective representatives in the panchayat election.

Earlier,Union Rural Development Secretary BK Sinha called on the minister.They discussed measures to promote the flagship scheme,MGNREGA, in the state.

The minister favoured the enhancement of wages given under MGNREGA from Rs 121 to 180 per day. He also suggested that the number of wage days should be increased from 100 to 150 per year.

Srinagar, July 10
Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir have expressed resentment against what they called concealing of significant details of the “Gujjar Era” in the new books of history published by various states of the country as part of the university and school curriculum.

The Gujjars today asked the University Grant Commission (UGC), the National Council of Educational Research and Trainings (NCERT) and school boards of all the states to include all rudiments of “Gurjara-Pratihara”, who ruled various states of India between 6th-11th century AD, in the history books.

The community, through the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation of the Gujjars, requested the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development to issue a directive to all textbook publishers, including all boards, university commissions and councils, to portray the accurate and factual picture of the “Gujjar Era” in India in all books of history.

The communication sent by the foundation read that the organisation had already wrote to the Union Minister of Culture to declare the main historical forts, temples, coins and other arts of “Gurjara-Pratihara” kings as protected monuments of India.

Jammu, July 10
As part of its Sunday Theatre series, Natrang staged Urdu play, “Intzaar ka Doosra Rukh”, here today.

The play has been written by Shadat Hassan Manto and directed by Neeraj Kant. Before the play,rich tributes were paid to Natrang actor Hemant Bholla, who died after a brief illness last week.

Today’s play had a new aspect of the drama,”Intzaar”, which has already been presented by Natrang.

When the play opens, the main character, Bilkis, is getting ready to meet her lover, Mantzar. Knowing that Mantzar will be equally excited to meet her, Bilkis is trying her level best to leave her house to reach the place where they will meet.However, her mother deliberately tries to keep her busy in household chores so that she cannot go.Bilkis makes every effort to avoid the work and makes excuses which sound genuine.Finally, though quite late,she succeeds in leaving the house.

However, after waiting for his beloved for a long time,Mantzar is exhausted and taken to a doctor for treatment. When Bilkis reaches his house, she finds no one.She gets angry and thinks Mantzar is totally unconcerned about her. She says she will never come back and leaves her lover’s house.

Sajra Qadir as Bilkis acts well.The acting of Rajni Bhatti as her mother,Sakshi Prakash as Suraiya, Vinay Manhas as Salim, Syed Fardeen as Mantzar and Vishal Sharma as a friend is equally impressive.

Jammu, July 10
Though Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been trying hard to set an example of good governance by reaching to the masses through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, some Cabinet ministers in the NC-Congress-led government are not even ready to respond to calls made by the public.

Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed has set an “odd” caller tune on his BSNL cellphone. Whenever one calls him,the caller tune says, “Hello, I am on international roaming. I will get back to you once I come back.”

These days the minister is staying in Srinagar and almost everyday the state Information Department releases his statements to the press. But, the “odd” caller tune on his cellphone makes everyone think twice before making a call to him.

“I had to talk to Peerzada due to some urgent work, but his caller tune made me feel that he had gone abroad,” a senior politician said. The Chief Minister has directed all his ministers and officials to attend to phone calls.

Though repeated attempts to call Peerzada failed, the General Manager, BSNL, Jammu zone, S Sawarkar, said, “Yes, one can set any caller tune on his cellphone by choosing it from various websites. There are a number of caller tunes available on websites and people are using them.”

Jammu, July 10
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has said the government will provide amenities like drinking water and transportation to pilgrims visiting the Baba Sidh Goria Devsathan at Swankha village in Samba district.

Interacting with senior officers after visiting the shrine, Bhalla told them to provide the facilities to the pilgrims.

He asked the Assistant Regional Transport Officer and the traffic police to ensure that there were adequate mini-buses and autorickshaws on the route so that there was no overloading and inconvenience to the pilgrims. He directed officers of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department to ensure sufficient supply of rations and told them to keep a check on the quality of food items.

Jammu, July 10
The Bishnah Grid Station, which will improve the power supply to the Jammu region when commissioned, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah soon.

“The Chief Minister will inaugurate the ambitious project,” Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmed Khan said here yesterday.

Reviewing the progress of the project at Lalyana, he said the grid station, costing Rs 69.25 crore, when commissioned, would improve the power supply. — PTI