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A day after: signals elicit mixed response in city
Won’t end chaos: MLA
14,500 take J&K civil services examination
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Aspirants get taste of official apathy
SRTC strike unjustified: Mgmt
Rajouri stinks as MC
looks the other way
DYSS hardens stance against defaulters
Counselling session for youths by RR
Rs 5-cr project to develop Sumah as heritage site
Sangram Cricket Club log win
Akashdeep helps SAI win
Seminar on story writer Manto
Sports authority finalising trials to select contingent
Ex-servicemen rally organised
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A day after: signals elicit mixed response in city
Jammu, August 5 While the Traffic Department has been lacking in raising awareness on traffic signals, people have started following the rules, although with some exceptions. Traffic lights have been made functional at 10 places out of 30 and have been installed at the cost of Rs 1.2 crore. The Tribune had launched a sustained campaign to get these traffic signals operational. The government has embarked on the project of installing traffic lights in both capital cities of the state to regulate traffic and ease traffic jams. The project has been undertaken by the respective municipal corporations of Jammu and Srinagar by using their own resources. “Motorists are following the rules and are voluntarily stopping their vehicles when the signals change. But some drivers do jump the lights and we stop them,” said a traffic policeman at Bikram Chowk. The traffic signals have been made functional at Satwari, Bikram Chowk, Jewel, Green Belt, Gandhi Nagar, Chhatri Morh, etc. The signals will be made operational at other locations shortly. “It’s nice to see these lights working at last. It is the duty of motorists to follow the rules. Awareness can help restore some order on the roads,” said Nidhi Sharma, a resident of Gandhi Nagar. Another motorist, Rahul Bhat, said: “The traffic scenario in the city is really grim due to lack of staff at the disposal of the traffic police. But these measures can help solve the problem to some extent,” he said. The project has seen a lot of delay since it was announced by the state government in Legislative Assembly four years ago. The J&K Traffic Police was initially asked to conduct a survey to choose the areas where these signals could be installed, but it was later rejected by the government. The Jammu municipal corporation then invited tenders from companies, but the process remained slow. |
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Won’t end chaos: MLA
“The situation also demanded other measures like construction of flyovers, widening of roads and improvement in the management of traffic,” he said. He regretted that these measures had been a victim of political whims. Gupta referred to the withholding of approved schemes for the construction of flyovers on BC Road, Janipur Road, and road from Bikram Chowk to Talab Tillo, in addition to creation of parking spaces. Referring to growing congestion and traffic jams, Gupta also pointed to the absence of parking space and laxity in regulating traffic at such points. He also pointed to the poor maintenance of roads and inordinate delay in repair of roads and lanes after digging these for laying of sewerage or cables. Gupta said mismanagement in handling overloading in both urban and rural areas was resulting in accidents. He said effective steps needed to be taken to deal with the problem. |
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14,500 take J&K civil services examination
Jammu, August 5 Out of 18,000 candidates, over 14,500 appeared in the examination at 29 centres, including 18 in Jammu and 11 in Srinagar, set up by the commission. The state government had appointed 29 senior officers of the administration as “observers” to ensure transparency and hassle-free conduct of the examination. The examination was conducted to fill 65 posts. Sonika Sharma, one of the candidates who took the examination for the second time, said: “Both the general studies and optional subject (sociology) examinations were easy. I think the merit will be quite high this time.” Another candidate, Vishal Gupta, at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, said: “I was appearing for the first time and got confused in the general studies examination. The optional subject (psychology) was difficult but it was a good learning experience.” Dr TS Ashok Kumar, secretary and controller of examination, PSC, said around 82 per cent candidates took the examination today. “There was no report of any untoward incident from Jammu and Srinagar. The administration, police and other functionaries worked in close coordination. We congratulate them for ensuring a hassle-free and smooth examination at all centres,” he said. He added that the commission would make efforts to declare the results of preliminary examination at the earliest. The examination was conducted in two shifts. In the morning shift, the candidates appeared for “general studies” paper, while the examination for “optional subject” was conducted between 2 pm and 4 pm. Sources said the administration had put in place elaborate security arrangements to keep a close vigil on impersonators. “The candidates were allowed to enter the examination after proper verification of admit cards,” a source said.
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Aspirants get taste of official apathy
Adding to their woe, the invigilators in the examination halls used mobile phones, which were banned for candidates. The candidates had an heated exchange with the invigilators who expressed helplessness over the sorry state-of-affair at the school, which had been declared a heritage building. A candidate said: “It was very difficult to take the exam. The leaking ceilings due to accumulated water on the rooftop of the building, poor seating arrangements with broken desks having spider webs and dust all over them and a loudspeaker outside created unspeakable problems for the candidates.” A female aspirant remarked: “It was a reflection of official apathy and neglect. The entire heritage building is a shambles. The poor infrastructure spoke volumes about official apathy. We couldn’t take a two-hour examination in the school properly. It puts a big question mark on the quality education being imparted to students.” She said the sight of some rooms in the school was frightening with cement falling from the roof.
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SRTC strike unjustified: Mgmt
Jammu, August 5 A senior officer of the corporation said under the agreement reached between the management of the corporation and the office-bearers/workers of the SRTC employees union on March 10, 2008 and subsequently modified on March 24, 2008, the corporation was to explore commercial exploitation of its landed property in order to meet the liabilities.
“The clause 3 of the agreement of March 10, 2008 reads ‘Release of 42 slabs of COLA w.e.f. March 31, 2008 out of proceeds of economic exploitation of the assets of the corporation’,” an official said. The corporation has decided to sell 5 kanal of prime land at Pathankot, 138 kanal at Pampore and a bus yard at Bikram chowk to meet the liabilities of the corporation, which has gone bankrupt. Sources said after deferring its ambitious plan to sell its land resources for over four years and sorting out the legal problems, they had decided to generate money to initiate reforms in the corporation. J&K SRTC Workers Union representative Ashok Mehra said the sale of property was not an option as it would destroy the corporation. “The agreement was to first explore other options, but the management is not doing so and is just selling its assets. That is what we are opposed to,” said Mehra. Though the state government is providing a budgetary support of Rs 17 crore per year to the corporation, most of it is being used on paying off debts incurred by the corporation during the last decade. Corporation MD Jagmohan Singh said they were going ahead with the sale of property to spend the money generated on modernising the fleet and meet some of the liabilities. “Whatever is being done is for the betterment of the organisation. It was a collective decision. We are not doing anything against the rules,” he said. Once a frontline service provider in the state, the SRTC is struggling to stay afloat with its share in the transport sector falling to under 3 per cent. Not only has the corporation lost its wheels, the “flawed planning” is pushing it off the road. In 1980s, the corporation had more than 60 per cent share in the transport sector and almost 90 per cent of its fleet was operational. At least 1,466 vehicles were auctioned since 1990, of which only 886 were replaced. |
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Rajouri stinks as MC
looks the other way
Rajouri, August 5 To top it all, the Rajouri municipal committee failed to do its job as the garbage that was meant to be picked up blocked the drains and trash, thrown outside the bins, got washed away in the streets. While the authorities provided only a few dumpsters for the collection of garbage, most lay dumped in stores of the civic body, thereby exposing the claims of the civic body of not having dumpsters for the collection of garbage. As a result, people have been forced people to dump garbage on roadsides. With very few dumpsters available, heaps of garbage remain piled up on the roadside, leading to cluttered roads and clogged drains. People have been dumping garbage on the roads, especially outside the “Rana Havi Patti”, just short of the famous Rajouri Memorial. Instead of disposing of garbage and other waste material at a dumping site, the Rajouri MC has been dumping the garbage into a nullah in the town. They blame people for not providing them with any space to set up a garbage dumping site. Besides, the corporation lacks proper mechanism to dispose of garbage, due to which the garbage is dumped in open dumping sites, leading to air pollution, and contamination of soil and ground water. These open landfill sites produce toxic chemicals. Mahrajkar Singh, general secretary, Mountaineering Club, Rajouri, said: “They are polluting the Rajouri stream, which will ultimately lead to loss of aquatic life in it. It is also causing problems to people who pass through the area, as foul smell emanates from the stream.” Due to the negligence of the municipal authorities, the flora and fauna in the stream had been badly affected, he added. “We have asked the MC employees not to throw garbage into the stream, but they do not pay heed to our requests,” Mahrajkar said. Mohammed Aslam Manhas, an MC official, said: “We are aware of the problems being faced by the people but we do not have a dumping site to dispose of the garbage. A dumping site at Kalakote - a forest land - has been selected but it will take another six months to start operations there.” He said Rajouri District Development Commissioner Sougat Biswas had instructed them to take the garbage to the Sundarbani plant for disposal. “We have started the process by hiring four carriage vehicles and now two vehicles carry the town’s garbage to the Sundarbani dumping site every day,” he said
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DYSS hardens stance against defaulters
Jammu, August 5 The DYSS has also made it clear that the students of these educational institutions (both government and private) will not be eligible to take part in the selection trials to be conducted shortly by the department for selecting state team in multi-disciplines for the upcoming edition of 58th National School Games. According to sources, the District Youth Services and Sports Officer (DYSSO), Jammu, Tirath Ram, had convened a meeting of zonal physical education officers of all the 14 zones and expressed concern over the prevailing scenario. Sources said the district sports officer had permitted the students of the erring institutions to compete in inter-school tournaments on the assurance that they (schools) will deposit the games fund. But after sending numerous reminders, the district sports officer has now decided to tighten noose around the erring institutions. A senior official of the DYSS said, “We have given ample time to the erring institutions to deposit games fund in the stipulated time. Now, strict actions would be taken against them.”
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Counselling session for youths by RR
Rajouri, August 5 The event was attended by 30 youths of Saaj and its adjoining areas. The participants were told about the process of recruitment, preparation by candidates for cracking examinations and opportunities available after selection. A participant said they were able to learn about the job and employment opportunities available through such endeavours of the Army.
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Rs 5-cr project to develop Sumah as heritage site
Jammu, August 5 He said the state had a rich cultural heritage but there was a need to popularise the heritage at national and international levels to attract tourists and pilgrims. The Centre-funded project under the Border Area Tourism Development Programme to develop Sumah is being executed by the Tourism Department and is estimated to cost about Rs 5 crore. Sumah is an ancient holy place and is visited by a large number of devotees on various religious occasions. Various components of the project include construction of a double-storey dormitory, hut, development of old spring, bathing ghat, development of a park, construction of a tiled walkway, construction of a footbridge, a water body and an approach road, etc. Sharma said the government had declared all monuments as state projected heritage sites. He added that a lot of money was being spent on the restoration and conservation of these heritage site areas of the state. Emphasising his commitment to link Akhnoor’s past with present by preserving heritage sites and working on their upkeep, Sharma said instructions had been issued to the authorities concerned to put the work of conservation and protection of historical monuments and sites on fast track. Sham said all regions of the state had distinct identity and cultural heritage, which was being protected and showcased as heritage tourism. He said the restoration and conservation of heritage sites of the Jammu region was also getting focused attention of the government.
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Sangram Cricket Club log win
Jammu, August 5 In reply, JCC lost first two wickets in the span of three overs. Rajeev and Sumit scored a 66-run partnership. Later, JCC batsmen were bowled out for 145 runs in 18.2 overs. For SCC, Ajay and Raju shared three wickets apiece. |
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SOF organises award ceremony
Jammu, August 5 Amrit Malhotra, Chairman, J&K Legislative Council was the chief guest while Soujanya Sharma, joint director (information) and KC Singh were the guests of honour. Masud Chaudhary, founder Vice-Chancellor of Baba Ghulam Shah Badashah University (BGSBU), Rajouri, was the special guest. Over 150 students from different schools of J&K and Himachal Pradesh were acknowledged for excelling in cyber, mathematics, English and science olympiad and were awarded prizes, medals and trophies by the dignitaries. Shreya Sharma of Spring Dale English School, Kathua, was awarded a scholarship for achieving excellence in English. In all, 23 principals and teachers of the award winning schools were felicitated for the performance of their respective schools. The SOF had launched Girl Child Scholarship Scheme last year wherein 75 girls were given scholarships. This year, 150 girls from the economically weaker section will be given scholarship worth Rs 10,000 each across the country. The SOF also provided scholarship to 125 students who excelled in English. |
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Akashdeep helps SAI win
Jammu, August 5 Deedarpora XI scored first goal in the 5th minute through Showkat Ahmad but SAI scored an equaliser goal through Simran Singh in the 10th minute. Akashdeep Singh then scored his first goal in the 29th minute for SAI. Deedarpora XI managed to reduce the margin 2-3 as Rajinder Singh scored a goal in the 35th minute. In the second half, Akashdeep scored his second goal in a row in the 41st minute and the third goal in the 50th minute to complete a brilliant hat trick. After trailing by 3-5, Deedarpora managed to score a goal in the 55th minute through Kewal Singh to make it 3-5. — TNS |
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Seminar on story writer Manto
Jammu, August 5 The mega event would be organised on August 26-27 at Jammu University. The inauguration function would be organised on 26th of August in which Manto’s famous stage play “Toba Tek Singh” will be staged by the Artist of Ameture Theatre Group. According to sources, near about 30 luminaries of Urdu from various parts of country are participating in the seminar. Prof MPS Isher is personally monitoring the arrangements of the programme. In this connection he has constituted various committees for the smooth conduct of the two-day national seminar. Prof MPS Isher said, “ 30 luminaries of Urdu who have given their consent to participate in the two-day national seminar include Prof Beg Ehsas, Prof Majeed Bedar, Dr Khwaja Ekram, Dr Shahid Pervez, Dr Ali Javed, Prof Shahnaz Anjum, Dr Aqeel Sheikh, Prof Waseem Bralvi, Prof Sageer Ifraheem and Dr Seema Sageer, Prof Nazir Ahmed Malik, Prof Majeed Muzmir, Dr Irfan, Dr Altaf, Ghulam Nabi Khayal, Dr Anwer Zaheer.
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Sports authority finalising trials to select contingent
Jammu, August 5
He said, “The state contingent had performed exceptionally well in the last edition of the championship. We should continue to work hard to achieve better results this time”. When asked about the issue of any notification regarding conduct of selection trials to select the teams for national school games, Ashok Kumar said “we have few State level tournaments in multi-disciplines left and immediately after that we will start the process”. According to sources, the department has instructed its officials to conduct the domestic tournaments in a smooth manner to avoid any mess. Further, the DYSS has emphasised upon selecting players on the basis of their performance in these tournaments so that a best possible state contingent could be selected. Last year, state contingent fetched 27 medals in squay martial art which include 10 gold medals, eight silver medals and nine bronze medals. The championship was held in Goa in November. Wushu was another discipline wherein J&K team managed to win 16 medals including one gold medal, 11 silver medals and four bronze medals. Other disciplines wherein State contingent participated include football, kabaddi, throw ball, basketball, speak tak raw, swimming, hockey, handball, netball, rifle shooting, softball, thang-ta, kho-kho, cricket, wrestling, yoga, net ball, roller hockey, dogeball, kabaddi and badminton.
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Ex-servicemen rally organised
Batote, August 5 The aim of the rally was to reach out to the needy families of the ex-servicemen and the martyr soldiers by resolving their day-to-day problems and extending all possible help. During the rally, latest information regarding the pension and other facilities declared by the government concerning the employment of their children, canteen facilities and Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) was displayed through various stalls. A medical camp was also organised at the venue where ex-servicemen’s families and villagers were examined and provided free medicines. Thirty five ex-serviceman and war widows from various parts of Ramban district besides officers from Army and civil administration including BMO, Ukhral, Dr Kulbhushan, Maj (Retd) SL Khajuria, Deputy Director , Zila Sainik Board, Doda, and the sarpanches and panches of the area were also present on the occasion.
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The introduction of traffic signals, which were inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand yesterday, has elicited a mixed response from road users across the city.
Mixed feelings of exhilaration and apprehension marked the J&K Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination, which was conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) across the state today.
Jammu, August 5
Jammu, August 5
Jammu, August 5
“The coveted sporting event is likely to commence from September. This year J&K has been entrusted the responsibility of hosting the national cricket tournament at Srinagar”, said Ashok Kumar, deputy director, DYSS.