Jammu, June 2
A major fire broke out at Mohmaya forest on the city outskirts damaging vegetation today. The fire has spread to almost 35 per cent of the forest area.

Eyewitnesses said huge clouds of smoke covered the hillocks since morning. The fire was so intense that the flames were clearly visible from the Tawi bridge. The smoke shrouded the famous Mohmaya Temple situated on the top of a hillock, about 7 km from the Bawe Temple.

The eyewitnesses said the fire had engulfed a significant area by afternoon and a team of forest protection force with a team from the Fire Services Department was struggling to douse the fire.

Nitish Mahajan, owner of a factory on the Mohmaya Road said: “I was on my way to the factory when I saw smoke coming out from the hillocks. The fire was clearly visible near the Mohmaya turn.” A team of firefighters was rushed to control the situation.

“Forest protection teams will be able to douse the fire soon. Such accidents occur mostly due to the negligence of people, who carelessly throw the buds away,” said an official.

Dr MK Khushu, Chief Scientist, Agro-Meteorology Department, SKUAST-J, said: “ Threat increases with the rise in temperature. As mercury has been hovering around 46 degree Celsius with humidity just 15 per cent in the past few days, such accidents are only expected.”

On the impact of forest fire in the surrounding areas, Khushu said it would increase the temperature in the vicinity.

Jammu, June 2
Protests against the unprecedented and frequent power cuts amid searing heat wave have gathered steam in the winter capital city and its suburbs, with the residents blaming the ruling National Conference government of being "insensitive" towards their grievances.

The activists of the National Panthers Students Union (NPSU) staged a protest against the Power Development Department (PDD) at Gandhi Nagar and raised anti-government slogans for unscheduled power cuts in in the state.

Led by Pradesh president NPSU Partap Singh Jamwal, the protesters alleged that the PDD had been harassing the consumers by 14 to 15 hours power cuts in various areas, specially when the temperature was hovering above 45 degree celsius.

“When the Civil Secretariat was in Jammu, the government quarters for the ministers, bureaucrats and other employees, were getting uninterrupted supply of electricity but with the Darbar move, PDD had adopted an anti-people approach,” he said. He added that the PDD authorities were only bothered about the comfort of VIPs.

He declared that the NPSU activists would keep organising protests against the PDD till regular supply of electricity was not ensured.

The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), while reacting sharply to the ‘unwarranted power cuts’, alleged that the people of Jammu were being taken for a ride.

In a meeting, the Chamber expressed concern on the silence of the Chief Minister, the PDD minister and the elected representatives of Jammu especially those in the ministry.

The JCCI president YV Sharma said he had sent a written communication to the Chief Minister informing him about the erratic power supply. He said it seemed that the appeal had fallen on deaf ears. He added that the silence of the ministers had raised questions against the functioning of the government. He also appealed the government to find out the reasons for the present power crisis in the region. Similarly, local residents also organised protests to mark their anger and raised anti-PDD slogans.

Jammu, June 2
While various student organisations have joined hands against the Higher Education Department’s decision of 10 to 15 per cent fee hike in undergraduate courses in the government degree colleges of the Jammu region, there is a new dimension to the controversy.

A detailed study of the revised fee structures for various degree courses over the years revealed that Jammu University was squarely responsible for “putting extra burden” on students by effecting over 70 per cent hike in fees under various heads in just three years.

The Higher Education Department has increased the fees, ranging between 10 per cent and 15 per cent for various undergraduate courses after a gap of nine years - a decision which was supposed to be taken after every two years.

“As all government degree colleges of Jammu are affiliated to Jammu University, a part of the annual fee being charged from students goes to the varsity. The manifold increase in the fee structure of degree courses took place because the university increased its fees by nearly 73 per cent during the past three years,” official sources said.

The sources said the university authorities had not only increased the registration, examination and sports fee, but also introduced several new funds, including corpus fund, digital fund, DIQA, etc.

“In 2009, each student was paying Rs 45 as sports fee. At present, the varsity is collecting Rs 210 per student as sports fee. Similarly, the registration fee has been increased from Rs 135 in 2009 to Rs 180 in 2012,” sources said.

They added that in 2009-10, the aggregate total of funds which were being charged by the university from each student was Rs 1,130 which has now gone up to Rs 1,955 in three years.

Sources said that each degree college deposits Rs 1,000 per student with the state government as pool fund out of admission fee on yearly basis, while remaining funds are utilised for the infrastructural development and for providing other facilities to the students.

“The new fee structure has been implemented as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, it will not be applicable in the private colleges, who will issue a separate notification after getting approval of the government,” sources said.

The Principal GGM Science College Prof Satinder Singh, who is also the nodal officer of all the city colleges, said the government had no intention to hike fees of various undergraduate courses for the sake of collecting money from the students.

“The high inflation and growing need for improvement of basic amenities and infrastructure has led to a nominal hike in fee structure from current academic session. The hike is aimed at utilising the money for better amenities to the students - be it in the form of refreshment, sports infrastructure or other activities,” Singh said. He added that although the government was supposed to revise fee structure after every two years, but the decision for increasing fees was taken after a gap of nine years.

Jammu, June 2
Student bodies are up in arms against the decision of the Higher Education Department to implement new fee structure from this academic session for undergraduate courses in colleges which are under Jammu University.

The fee has been raised by 10 per cent and student organisations have warned to take the path of agitation if the decision is not taken back.

The new revised fee structure will be implemented in BA, BSc, BCom, BBA, BCA and other courses being run by the government colleges in the state.

Most of the organisations have termed the decision as unjustified, which will deprive thousands of poor students from education, as they cannot afford the rise in fee.

On one side, the Higher Education Department says the hike is reasonable keeping in view the general rise in education cost and is much less than the fees of private institutions, but on the other, students term the hike against the norms.

“It seems the government wants that more students should leave higher education. This rise in the fee will put pressure on students and parents equally. Particularly, the girls will be compelled to leave studies,” said ABVP city secretary Arun Prabhat Singh.

The student bodies said the government was not able to create proper infrastructure and provide teaching staff in the newly opened degree colleges, which forced many students to shift to the capital cities for education.

The officials said, “The new structure has been implemented as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, the new structure will not be applicable in private colleges of the state, who will issue a separate fee increase notification after getting approval of the government.”

The last hike was made in 2004, when the department had revised the fee structure after a decade, which has met resistance of the student organisations.

Partap Singh Jamwal, vice-president, Jammu Joint Students’ Federation (JJSF), said there was a huge resentment among the youth and it might lead to agitation.

A senior officer of the Higher Education Department said, “We have increased the fee by 5 to 10 per cent keeping in view the increase in the education sector. It is still much less than what private colleges charge.”

Jammu, June 2
In a major boost to the standard of sports in the state, the Union Sports Ministry, under its ambitious National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) scheme, has sanctioned a special financial package to the tune of Rs 6 crore for the construction of a state-of-the-art multipurpose sports complex at MA Stadium in Jammu.

The hall will be constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore, out of which a grant of Rs 6 crore had already been announced by the ministry, while the remaining amount will be provided by the state government for the completion of the project. This was stated by Kiran Wattal, secretary, J&K State Sports Council, while talking to The Tribune over the phone. “The hall, once completed, will cater to the disciplines of gymnastics, wushu, squash, wrestling, etc,” the secretary said.

“The basement of the complex will be utilised for holding practice sessions in various disciplines, while the top floor will be the main playing arena. It will be available exclusively for conducting competitions in multi-disciplines.” “After the construction of the new multipurpose sports complex, the existing multipurpose hall will be utilised by shuttlers who have been demanding a facility to conduct various competitions,” Wattal added.

“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the president of the J&K State Sports Council, and Sports Minister RS Chib are keen on bossing sports in the state and it is only due to their efforts that the Union Sports Ministry has agreed to announce such a huge amount for creating sports infrastructure in the state,” the secretary maintained.

“Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken had visited the state several times in the past to review the progress of sports schemes and activities here. He had expressed his desire to build adequate sports infrastructure for the sportspersons so that they could compete at the higher level,” Wattal added.

“Deepak Verma, Director General of Sports Authority of India, during his visit to the state had emphasised the need for constructing sports training centres in Jammu,” Wattal said. “He had also assured the sports council of providing expert coaches in various disciplines to overcome the shortage.” On the selection criteria of contractual coaches/instructors on a permanent basis in the Sports Council, Wattal said: “Coaches who have attended the NIS will be given basic pay grades, while the instructors who have done certificate courses will get a comparatively lower pay grade.”

Jammu, June 2
Jammu State Morcha (JSM) today said the report submitted by the Interlocutors was against the sovereignty of the nation and had been prepared with ulterior motives for making Jammu and Kashmir as an independent country located in the geographical domain of the Union of India. It alleged that the the report aimed to ultimately drive away the state from the Indian Union.

Addressing a joint press conference, JSM leaders said two of the three Interlocutors had well-conceived ideas about J&K issue and also received invitations from the anti-India and pro Pakistan conferences and seminars organised by Washington-based Pakistani agent Gulam Nabi Fai.

“The report, therefore, has mainly focused on the agendas of the National Conference (NC) and PDP. Most of the content is copied from the documents of these parties. The report submitted is completely in favour of the Kashmir valley and political parties. It has completely ignored the Jammu and Ladakh regions and their leaders as obvious from the report,” Varinder Gupta, chairman of JSM said.

“JSM feels that the suggestions made by the Interlocutors will be dangerous for the integrity of the country and will make the situation more vulnerable to the separatist tendencies. It will definetely keep J&K in an uncertainty and turmoil,” he said.

In fact the interlocutors viewed the problem of J&K from the perspective of the Kashmiri leaders who were responsible for the present turmoil in the Valley and always worked to keep the J&K issue burning for their vested interests, JSM leaders said. “The Interlocutors are against any solution that reduces the hegemony of the Kashmiri rulers over the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions. Both the Ladakh and Jammu regions want to be free from the domination of Kashmir rulers,” they added.

Others present in the conference included HB Khajuria, Nathu Ram Gupta, Chander Udey Sharma, Surjeet Singh Jamwal, Divender Sharma, Vishav Bandhu Gupta, Devinder Singh Jamwal, VD Dogra, Subash Sharma, Vijay Sharma and Yash Pal Gupta.

Jammu, June 2
Natrang will start ‘Children Theatre Workshop-2012’ from June 7. Addressing mediapersons, Natrang director Balwant Thakur said the workshop would be organised at Amar Singh Club and Natrang Studio Theatre.

“The workshop will be conducted by Sumeet Sharma, who is Masters in Dramatics and has a good experience in children theatre and also uses theatre effectively as a means of personality development. During the workshop, a children’s play will be prepared, which will hone the talent of children,” he added.

Jammu, June 2
JK Public School organised its annual prize distribution function here today. RS Chib, Minister for Medical Education, was the chief guest on the occasion. He also distributed prizes among meritorious and outstanding students.

Speaking on the occasion, Chib said private educational institutes were also playing a vital role in spreading education.

“Private schools should focus on co-curricular activities, along with academic development of the students. I would also suggest them to cater the students who are not economically strong,” Chib said.

Prominent among others present on the occasion included Anuradha Gupta, DC, Excise and Taxation, and Raj Daluja, chairman of the school.

Jammu, June 2
Kingfisher Cricket Club (KCC), Jammu, and Siddininayeth Sports Club (SSC), Mumbai, notched up convincing victories over their respective opponents to move into the ongoing All-India 8th Gufran Memorial T20 Cricket Championship being organised by Young Star Cricket Club, Doda, at Sports Stadium, Doda, here today.

In the first match, SSC Mumbai got the better of Dhodut Cricket Club by 50 runs. Batting first, SSC garnered 159 runs in the stipulated 20 overs losing six wickets in the process. Prateek was the top scorer with 40 runs, while Abbas contributed handy 36 runs.

For Dhodut Club, Sharoz and Amir clinched a wicket each. In reply, Dhadut Club perished for a paltry 109 runs in 15.5 overs. Sharoz and Amir were the main contributors with 31 and 24 runs, respectively.

For SSC Mumbai, Prateek and Abbas fetched three wickets each. Abbas was declared man of the match.

In another match, Kingfisher Jammu toppled Punjab Cricket Club by 47 runs.

Electing to bat first, KCC Jammu posted a total of 166 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Rashid played a fine knock of 66 runs, while Ajit Pal Singh contributed valuable 39 runs.

SP Aadia claimed two wickets for Punjab Cricket Club, while Vipin chipped in with one wicket. In reply, Punjab CC managed to score 119 runs in 19.2 overs.

Raj Kumar and Karan contributed 21 runs each. Ashu was the wrecker-in-chief for KCC Jammu who claimed four wickets, while Raman Dutta bagged two wickets. Ashu of KCC Jammu was adjudged man of the match.

Jammu, June 2
Ganderbal Gladiators dispatched Star Eleven, Safapora, by four wickets in the final to clinch the Intra-District T20 Cricket Tournament of Ganderbal Premier League played at Shaheed Commando Shabir Malik Sports Stadium, Gandoora here today.

Star Eleven Safapora won the toss and elected to bat first. They garnered 111 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Ganderbal Gladiators did the needful in 16.2 overs losing four wickets in the process. Sayim Mustafa of Ganderbal Gladiators team was declared man of the match, man of the series and best batsman of the tournament, respectively.

Mehraj-ud-Din Sofi of Ganderbal Gladiators team was declared the best bowler. Total 68 teams from Ganderbal district participated in the tournament wherein Sports Minister RS Chib was the chief guest on the occasion.

Later, the minister distributed prized among the winners and runners-up teams.

Jammu, June 2
GGM Science College got the better of ICC, Jammu, by nine wickets today in the ongoing 3rd Prof Pran Nath Memorial Cricket Tournament being played at GGM Science College hostel ground here. ICC’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as the whole team was bundled out for paltry 81 runs in 26.5 overs. Sahil was the top scorer with 21 runs, while Imran and Manzoor scored 11 and 8 runs, respectively.

For GGM Science College, Deepak Manhas was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps while Mayank and Bandeep chipped in with two wickets apiece. Varun and Rohit took one wicket each. In reply, GGM Science College overhauled the target in 9.4 overs with a loss of one wicket in the process. Sahil Bhalwal remained unbeaten on 26 runs whereas Avinash also made a useful contribution of 35 runs.

In another match, skipper Rajkumar led from the front by cracking a brilliant century to help Jammu University (JU) beat SPMR Commerce College by a mammoth margin of 135 runs. Batting first, JU XI got off to a disastrous start by losing three wickets but partnership between Rajkumar-Kulvinder and Rajkumar-Amit pulled the team out of the woods. The team accumulated 260 runs in 48.5 overs.

Rajkumar contributed 111 runs off 100 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and three sixes. Kulvinder chipped in with 36 off 44 balls studded with five hits to the fence while Amit scored valuable 26 runs, including three boundaries. For SPMR, Pankaj was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul. Prashant claimed two wickets while Ravi and Avinash shared a wicket apiece.

In reply, SPMR College of Commerce made mess of a target and the whole team was bundled out for 125 runs in 34.3 overs. Ravi Kumar was the top scorer with 25 runs, including four boundaries while Prashant and Amit contributed 18 and 16 runs, respectively. For JU, Rajesh, Amit, Rajkumar and Subhash scalped two wickets each. Rajkumar Bakshi was adjudged the man of the match which was officiated by Saleem-ur-Rehman and Harsh Nayyar as umpires. Raghav Verma was the scorer.