Jammu, July 1
Acute power shortage has adversely affected business of the local food industry and other commercial establishments here. Erratic power cuts have thus increased their dependency on generators. Malls, trendy eating joints and personal grooming centres are the worst affected due to the power cuts.

With power cuts stretching up to six hours a day, commercial establichments have to increasingly depend on generators to cater to their customers who look for a respite in the centrally-air-conditioned commercial places.

Most shopkeepers, however, cannot manage during such long power cuts solely on the support of generators or invertors and therefore cut off generator supply after some point every day. Since the additional cost of procuring diesel adds to the expense of these shopkeepers and owners of restaurants, hotels and grooming centres, they are looking out for some relief from the government sector wherein they can be given additional supply of electricity during business hours.

“Even though we get a steady stream of customers every day, most of them complain of discomfort when the power is out and the generators are switched off for some time.

This leads to losses in business since some of my customers leave and the expense of running this place is multiplying with additional diesel cost added to the ledger,” said Aditya Khajuria who runs an ice cream parlour and a restaurant here.

The malls too are facing the heat since most showrooms are forced to shut power due to over burdened generators running extra time every day during business hours.

“People head to the mall thinking that the centrally-air-conditioned environment will give them some respite from the heat but that is far from the truth. Though we try our best to keep the generators on during business hours but it is not always possible since they are over used. The food court is badly hit since wastage of food is reported daily as the food items are perishable and rot in the heat in the absence of adequate refrigeration,” said Sdharth, one of the employees at the city Square Mall said on the condition of anonymity.

powerless trade

With power cuts stretching up to six hours a day, commercial establichments have to increasingly depend on generators to cater to their customers who look for a respite in the centrally-air-conditioned commercial places

Most shopkeepers, however, cannot manage during such long power cuts solely on the support of generators or invertors and therefore cut off generator supply after some time every day.

Owners of restaurants, hotels and grooming centres want extra supply of power during business hours

Jammu, July 1
Work on the 50-km Bhaderwah-Chamba road has been going on at a very slow pace and completion of this project seems to be a distant dream. Although completion of this road would boost tourism in Bhaderwah and adjoining areas, the project is delayed due to the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities.

The administration has earlier claimed that the project would be completed by the end of June. “Due to poor road connectivity tourists are not coming to Bhaderwah,” regretted Rashid Ahmed, a resident of Bhaderwah. He said on the one hand the authorities organise festivals and other events to woo tourists but adequate infrastructure is yet to be provided to attract maximum number of tourists.

Another resident of Bhaderwah, Shabir, claimed that it was only during Ghulam Nabi Azad government that sincere efforts were made to explore tourism potential of Bhaderwah but the present government in the state has done nothing to complete the projects started by Azad.

Residents of Bhaderwah have reasons to complain because most of the road projects are still incomplete. Except Puldoda-Bhaderwah road, works on a majority of other road projects are going on at very slow pace.

After a gap of more than two decades, work on the Bhaderwah-Chamba road was resumed in 2010. The authorities had claimed that the route would be opened for traffic in June. The road connects Bhaderwah in Doda district with Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. The road project has been sanctioned under the Inter-State Connectivity Programme.

“We want that work on this road should be completed as early as possible because our culture and climate resembles that of Himachal Pradesh and we feel connected to the state,” said Deepak Manhas, a resident of Bhaderwah. He is optimistic that by the end of this year the road would be opened for traffic. “Once the road is complete, tourists can be convinced to visit popular destinations in Bhaderwah and adjoining areas,” he said. 

Katra, July 1
Natrang Jammu which has made its global presence through its highly acclaimed plays today created history one more time by reaching out to the remotest parts of the state and staged two plays ‘Suno Eh Kahani’ (Dogri) and ‘Choona Hai Aasman’ (Hindustani). Both plays are written and directed by Balwant Thakur.

Raghuveer Singh, SSP, Reasi, was the chief guest on the occasion who not only appreciated efforts of Natrang in sensitising the masses through theatre but also complimented them for reaching out to the remotest and backward areas of the state where such initiatives are of utmost importance.

First play staged on the day ‘Suno Eh Kahani’ in Dogri underlined the need to educate the girl child and sensitise the society about the importance of gender equality and women empowerment. An aspiring theme of the play ‘Choona Hai Aasmaan’ was a big hit. The play prepares the youth who form a majority of the population of the state, to strive for excellence in life. The play begins with local problems like the youth getting involved in drugs and the youth losing respect for their elders. The play also had a young man representing the youth, which is also the biggest workforce in Kashmir. The character of the Youngman is shown wanting to lead the world. The character finds that he is unable to make any headway under the present circumstances. He is shattered on finding that people here are engaged in petty fights initiated by anti-national elements. How young minds are infused with negative thoughts, thus ruining their life and career was the theme of the play. The artistes who staged the play included Neeraj Kant, Dimple Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Pawan Verma, Rohit Verma, Mohd Yaseen, Pankush Verma, Rahul Singh, Tajasvi Sharma, Sajra Qadir, Rajni Bhatti, Balwinder Singh, Sushil Raina , Atin Tikka, Ashwani Bali, Suneel Sharma and Basnet Romilla.

Rajouri, July 1
The Station Commander, 25 Artillery Brigade, Rajouri, Brig TK Chawla, flagged off an educational and motivational tour for the youths of Rajouri district from Air Landing Ground (ALG), today.

The tour has been organised under ‘OP Sadbhavana’ to showcase the development of the country to the rural youths and also to provide an opportunity for them to visit historical places in central India.

The nine days tour with theme National Integration and Awareness consists of 23 youths and two teachers from Rajouri district. They will be visiting historical places in Delhi, Jaipur and Kota.

The chief guest and station commander, TK Chawla, said tour is aimed to instill a sense of awareness and national integration among the youths of the area. They will also meet important army officials and civil dignitaries at various places during their tour. — OC

Jammu, July 1
Agitated over the lack of response from the Controller of Examinations over the issue of non-declaration of results of various departments of Jammu University, National Secular Forum (NSF) member today criticised the University authorities for the delay. The students’ body has held the university responsible for the delay in the re-evaluation results of MA sociology, mathematics, English, political science, education, economics and other subjects.

Talking to mediapersons after holding a protest, Forum secretary Balveer Kumar condemned the Controller of Examination, for non-functioning of the examination wing as it has not declared the results of the examinations held six months ago.

Kumar said examinations of first and third semester of MA economics, Hindi, MCA, sociology, commerce, English and more than 10 other subjects were held in November-December last year but the examination wing of the university has so far failed to declare the results. He also said the university has failed to declare the results as per its own calendar.

He said the Controller of Examination wing has also not taken any steps to solve the problem. He said the second and fourth semester examination is complete but the re-evaluation results of some semesters are yet to be declared. He said it will not be tolerated and the NSF will launch an agitation in protest.

Sunil Kumar, Amit Sharma, Jagmohan Singh, Chaman Singh, and Sanjeev Kumar were also present.

Jammu, July 1
Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) has alleged that Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) have no coordination to complete the sewerage laying work in Rehari-New Plot area.

The movement has started a series of protests against the delay on part of the executing agencies to complete the work initiated by them.

The Municipal Commissioner, K L Khajuria, along with ERA Staff visited Sunil Dimple, president JWAM, assured that the pending work initiated at Amphala, Janipur, New Plot, Sarwal, Rehari Chungi, Bakshi Nagar, Subash Nagar and Talab Tillo would be completed soon.

Traders took out a protest rally near Amphalla and alleged that they were facing huge losses, due to the dilapidated condition of the entire road (BC Road to Janipur).

Sunil Dimple, president JWAM, said dust created by the digging work is casting bad effect on the health of the people. He alleged that substandard material was used to lay the sewerage lines and there should be a proper investigation by an independent agency.

Dimple demanded that Chief Minister, Omar Abdulla, should order an inquiry on the way tenders have been issued.

He alleged that neither PWD, R&B nor the JMC are ready to own the responsibility for the mess created in the city due to the unplanned works taken up by various agencies.

Dimple said the government has no intention to construct fly-over at Rehari, Chungi and Jewel Chowk which could streamline the traffic mess in the city.

He demanded construction of multi storied parking at Panjterthi, Super bazaar, Shalamar, and at bus stand Jammu. He said Metro Rail, Mono Rail and Construction of Circular Roads must be undertaken to solve the traffic problem faced by the people of Jammu City.

Jammu, July 1
The National Conference, MLC, Ajay Sadhotra, while addressing a public meeting at Sangechak (Rattanpur) in Marh constituency, said farming has become costlier and the farmers need attention of the government to achieve targets.

Sadhotra expressed concern over the curtailment of funds of central sponsored scheme, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) in the state. He said farmers were facing lot of difficulties as farming has become costlier and return of the crop is very less.

He urged the Government to take immediate effective measures to ensure that the farmers get their crops due.

“The Crop Insurance Scheme should be strictly implemented in the state as Government of India is also committed to it. In case of any damage to the crop, the farmers could get cost of the crop. Delay in implementing Crop Insurance Scheme has caused frustration among farmers,” said senior National Conference leader.

Sadhotra said every farmer must get Kissan Credit Card; so, that he could manage his farming and crop easily. J&K Bank has introduced Kissan Credit Scheme. It needs to be implemented in letter and spirit by the agriculture department.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Raghbir Singh Manhas, Ch Keemat Lal Sarpanch, Piar Singh Sarpanch, Kasturi Lal, Raj Kumar, Mulakh Raj, Ch Ram Dhan, Tara Chand and Surinder Sharma.

Jammu, July 1
In its weekly theatre series, Natrang staged ‘Diary kuse lok naath di’, a play in Dogri. It is based on the story, written by one of the most celebrated Dogri writer, Prof Madan Mohan Sharma.The play was adapted and directed by Dimple Sharma.

As the title suggests, the play revolves around the diary of Lok Nath. The writer’s son finds a diary from a park and takes it back home. The cover of the diary was so tempting and attractive that the writer could not resist going through it, knowingly that peeping into someone’s personal affairs is not a good habit but after reading the pages of the diary, he finds it interesting and dramatic.

Whenever there used to be any unusual happening in the life of Lok Nath, he used to pen down it. The life of Loknath is portrayed in such an interesting manner that a common man relates their own life with his life.

Pawan Verma as Lok Nath portrayed the inner conflicts of the character in a beautiful manner. Dimple played the role of narrator himself. The lights were executed by Rahul Singh and Mohd Yaseen handled the hall management. Sumeet Sharma co-ordinated the show and Rohit Verma presented the show before the audience.

Doda, July 1
A week long orientation course for new techniques of teaching in Hindi concluded at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Bhaderwah. Participants from different zones of Doda district participated in the orientation course.

The Personnel Officer (PO) of the Directorate of School Education, Narupa Rao, was the chief guest during the validation function of the course in which resource persons from State Institute of Education (SIE) educated the participants about new techniques of teaching in Hindi.

Anita Kumari was course coordinator in the week long orientation programme. Anita Kumari, Anil Sharma, BR Shastri and Parshotam Singh Shastri were the resource persons in the course who taught the participants about emerging techniques in teaching Hindi.

Participants appreciated SIE for organising such a workshop at Bhaderwah. 

Jammu, July 1
The representatives of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), today, warned the government against ignoring reserved categories for contractual appointments.

They charged the National Conference (NC) led coalition regime with the violation of reservation norms, while making appointments in different government departments.

During the one-day conventions of confederation of SC, ST and OBC organisations, speakers pointed out that from past few years more than 40,000 youths got appointment in various government departments on contractual basis.They said that reservation norms were not followed while making these appointments.

R K Kalsotra, chairman of the confederation, said contractual appointments were a deep rooted conspiracy by the present dispensation to deprive weaker sections to take benefit of reservation.

He said that contractual, daily wager and base appointments were made without following any reservations norms.

He said that if government wants to appoint youths through contractual system, then reservation norms should be followed.

Speakers in the conference expressed their strong resentment against weaker section policies of the coalition regime and alleged that government was trying to deprive reserved categories of their constitutional rights.

They especially mentioned that unlike other parts of the country, OBCs in Jammu and Kashmir were not getting 27 per cent reservation.

They said that instead of getting 27 per cent reservations like other parts of the country, OBCs in this State were getting only 2 per cent of the reservation which was a glaring example of discrimination with weaker sections.

Darshan Bhagat, Sabar Choudhary, Lok Nath, Devraj Bhagat, Ravi Angral, Ramesh Sarmal, Ashok Bhagat, Rohit Verma, Gani Malik, Slah Choudhary and others were present on the occasion.

Jammu, July 1
To create awareness among people of Gujjar community for their social and economic empowerment, a workshop was organised by Gujjar Educational and Social Welfare Society, J&K, at Udhampur.

The District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, PK Pole, was the chief Guest and Additional SP, Benam Tosh, was the Guest of Honour on the occasion.

DDC said the organisers needs to be applauded for holding a valuable awareness programme to promote education among the Gujjar community.

Additional SP lauded the efforts of the NGO, Gujjar Educational and Social Welfare Society for educating the community and spreading awareness about the social issues.

On the occasion, six students belonging to Gujjar community were honoured for their meritorious performances in different classes.

Hazi Allha Din, Gulam Rasool of District Reasi, Mohd. Shafi and Nawab Din Chechi were also honoured for rendering excellent social services for the upliftment of the 
community.

Among others, chairman of the society, Bashir Mohd and other functionaries of the organisation were present on the occasion.

Jammu, July 1
Doctor’s Day was celebrated at Government Hospital Sarwal here today. The doctors got together in the office of the Medical Superintendent and remembered Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, who left an indelible mark in the history of medical profession in India.

Dr Arun Sharma, Medical Superintendent, spoke about Dr Roy and the importance of Doctor’s Day.

The doctors had sweets and snacks together and pledged to serve humanity with a missionary zeal.

The Day is celebrated on July 1 as a mark of respect to the contributions of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.

The day also marks the date that Crawford W Long, MD, of Jefferson, GA, administered the first ether anesthetic for surgery on March 30, 1842.

Dr Sharma said large population of India depends on the efficiency and responsibility of doctors to a large extent at all times.

“Medical professionals in India have shown remarkable improvement over the years and made definite progress in their field that needs to be acknowledged,” Dr Sharma said.