Jammu, August 7
Fruit and vegetable vendors continue to fleece people in the city by charging at will due to the failure of the regulatory agencies in fixing and implementing the prices of these perishable commodities.

In the absence of restrictions by regulatory agencies, vendors sell fruits and vegetables without displaying the rate list at their stalls.

The fruit and vegetable mandi in the city is perhaps the only one in the country that doesn’t follow the practice of displaying daily rates. As a result, those associated with the trade are making huge profits.

“The rates vary from shop to shop. At times, the difference is Rs 10 to Rs 20. This is daylight robbery and the practice must end, as the common man is bearing the brunt of the open loot,” said Surjeet Singh, a resident of Sarwal.

The prices of almost all vegetables, including brinjal, onion, cucumber and tomato, have gone up manifold in the city markets and residents have started to feel the pinch.

The administration is only targeting retailers and vendors for failing to display the price list, allowing wholesalers, who determine the prices, to charge at will. The drive against profiteers has remained completely ineffective.

Fruits have become a luxury for the lower middle class. Buying packed fruit juices appears to be a better option for some.

People belonging to the low and middle income groups are already feeling the pinch of rise in prices of staple food items like pulses, sugar and edible oil.

“Even the price of potato is not stable, which is the basic diet of the economically weaker section,” said a consumer.

Sruti Sharma, a housewife, said she was spending around Rs 4,000 every month on vegetables and fruits for her family of four.

“I used to spend almost half the amount two years ago,” she said.

They have asked the government to take immediate measures to check overpricing of essential commodities.

Reasi, August 7
Daily-wagers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department staged a protest seeking release of pending wages today.

Hundreds of workers boycotted work and staged a demonstration in front of the PHE sub-division office, demanding release of their pending wages for the past six months.

“Due to an inordinate delay in the payment of our wages, we have been pushed to the brink of starvation. We apprised senior PHE officers of the matter but they have failed to come to our rescue,” a protestor said.

“I have been forced to borrow money from a relative to pay the school fee of my children. I have exhausted all my financial resources and have no money to finance education of my children. This is all because of the indifferent attitude of the PHE authorities,” Anil Verma, a worker said. 

Jammu, August 7
The Panun Kashmir (PK) today said that lives of Pandit employees in Kashmir were under threat which showed how the fundamentalists were ruling the roost in the Valley once again.

The outfit has demanded that employees should be shifted to Jammu division so they did not become target of militants.

Talking to mediapersons here, PK president Ajay Chrungoo expressed concern over reported threat letters that Pandits were receiving from the fundamentalists.

These employees were shifted to the Valley under the Prime Minister’s employment package. Chrungoo said, “It is a matter of grave concern that the security situation for the Kashmiri Hindu employees has become extremely fragile.”

He said that in view of an increasing intimidation of Hindu employees, both the separatist leadership and those at the helms in the government seem to be indulging in flaunting public postures to escape responsibility.

He added that Panun Kashmir had maintained a consistent stance that the return policy adopted by the government had not remotely anything to do with achieving the return of the internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus.

“The policy only aims to give a cosmetic garb to the ugly and regressive face of the separatist movement in the Valley,” Chrungoo opined.

He claimed the return policy adopted by both the governments in the state as well as the Centre was but a fresh step in further destabilising the Kashmiri Hindus. 

Jammu, August 7
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the state government to issue a white paper on whether it has implemented the 1996 Construction Labour Law and started collecting 1 per cent as cess tax in the state or not.

“It is unfortunate that the unorganised labour class in the state has been neglected by the government. Hence, it has become imperative on part of the government to issue a white paper containing information regarding implementation of laws enacted for the welfare and protection of their rights,” Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Mahasangh national president and former union minister Prahlad Patel said.

Patel was addressing a daylong conference on the unorganised sector in the city along with BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas.

He said the unorganised labour class had already been suffering due to their weak financial position and commercialisation of education had put a question mark on the future of their children.

Patel said the government should ensure free higher and technical education to their children so that they could earn their livelihood.

The leader, while rejecting the entry of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector, said such a decision would prove disastrous for the unorganised labour class.

Manhas said both organised and unorganised sectors in the state had been made to suffer due to the indifferent attitude of the government.

“Non-implementation of the Central laws in the state under the garb of special status has posed a challenge to their survival,” he said.

Jammu, August 7
Minister for Industries and Commerce, Surjit Singh Slathia, inaugurated the newly-constructed health centre building at Bassi Kalan, completed at a cost of Rs 34 lakhs on sunday.

The health centre has a dispensary, wards, doctor’s cabin and OPD. The minister, who conducted an extensive tour of the border areas of his home constituency also launched work on Rs 1 crore irrigation tube well at Sarwa village.

Addressing the public after inaugurating the health centre, he said the centre will cater to the needs of Bassi kalan village and adjoining areas.

He urged the people to maintain cleanliness around the health centre and directed the Chief Medical Officer to lay interlock tiles on the premises of the health centre, besides other beautification work.

Responding to the demands of the local residents, Slathia directed the concerned authorities to start restoration work of traditional pond in Bassi kalan and complete the same in the given time frame.

He said, “The present coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah is dedicated to provide better facilities to the rural people that include road connectivity, potable drinking water, better irrigation, health facilities and education.

He directed the Block Development Officer to immediately start upgradation work of lanes and drains in the village.

Addressing the gathering, the minister disclosed that Rs 1.75 crores has been released to upgrade power infrastructure in Vijaypur area.

He also directed the Municipal Committee, Vijaypur, to launch sanitation drive in the town.

Jammu, August 7
A public meeting was held at Kotla village under the leadership of senior leader from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Som Nath Dogra. The district president, Suram Singh, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Addressing the public meeting today, Suram Singh said that PDP is the only party of the J&K state who was raising the pitch against the difficulty of common man.

He said National Conference has failed to address the basis problems of peoples.

The vice-president, youth wing, Rajinder Singh Manhas, was also present on the occasion. Diwan Singh, Chaman Lal Manyal and Dal Ram Kaith also addressed the meeting.

Om parkash, Des Raj, Nirmal Sohan, Natha Ram, Raj Kumar, GR Sohan, Raj Singh and Chaman Lal Manyal also attended the meeting. — TNS

Jammu, Aug 7
Sarus Nature Club of the Government GLDM Degree College, Hiranagar, today organised a special plantation drive at the college campus in collaboration with WWF India under the national environment awareness campaign.

Dr Ram Krishan, principal of the college, inaugurated the plantation drive by planting a primitive angiospermic plant, Magnolia grandiflora.

He urged the students to actively take part in such plantation drive to protect the degrading environment.

The students of the college also planted saplings of various plants like Zamia Species, Euphorbia species, Cycas Species and Aloe vera in the botanical garden.

Professor Vijay Chandan, Head Department of Botany and Professor Deepshikha Sharma were the convener of the nature club that coordinated the whole plantation drive. 

Jammu, August 7
The National Secular Forum (NSF), Jammu University unit, today organised a function to observe the death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

Dr DL Choudhary, administrator, General Zorawar Singh auditorium, was the chief guest while Ankush Abrol, social activist was the guest of honour.

Vikas Sharma, state president, NSF presided over the function. Dr Choudhary appreciated the initiative by remembering the great martyrs’ of the country while Vikas Sharma said the sacrifices of such great people could not be ignored. He stressed upon the youth’s role to shun their self-centered outlook and contribute for the development of the nation. 

Reasi, August 7
The Army under operation Sadbhavana organised an inter-school debate competition at Talwara in which students from the schools of Reasi and Talwara area participated. The competition was organised by the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion.

On the occasion, Commanding Officer Rashtriya Rifles battalion was the chief guest.

“These kinds of activities will surely enhance the self- confidence of the students," he said.

At the end, Commanding Officer distributed prizes among the winners and participants of the competition.

Jammu, August 7
Buoyed by the decision of the University of Jammu to construct an archery centre on the campus, the archers of the state have expressed hope that the centre will help them further hone their skills.

The Directorate of Sports and Physical Education, University of Jammu, had recently submitted a proposal to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar, to seek approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The ambitious project is set to cost Rs 20 lakh, including Rs 14 lakh for the purchase of equipment and imparting training to the players.

Archers expressed happiness at the coming up of an archery centre in the city. “Finally, there is something to cheer about, as there aren’t many options available here. This initiative of the university will boost our morale in preparing for competitions at higher levels,” said Nipun.

“A number of players of the state, especially from Ladakh, have moved to institutes outside the state to hone their skills,” said another budding archer.

“Some of our players have even fetched medals by representing the respective states where they receive coaching,” he claimed.

“There is no dearth of talent in the state, provided we get adequate facilities to prove our worth not only at national but also at international level,” said another archer.

“Instead of allowing other institutes to cash in on the lack of facilities in the state, the government should open an exclusive archery centre in the state,” he added.

“The Directorate of Sports and Physical Education has taken an initiative that will go a long way in uplifting the game in the state,” the archer said.

“Lack of archery centres in the state is one of the main reasons for the lacklusture performance of archers in various national events every year,” opined another archer.

Jammu, August 7
The inter-school competitions in the disciplines of kick-boxing, jeet kunedo, thang-ta, rope skipping and chess for boys and girls got underway today at Shastri Memorial Higher Secondary School, Patoli.

The tournament is being played under the supervision of the District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Tirath Ram, Jammu.

Earlier, the competitions were declared open by KL Kharu, principal of the school who was the chief guest on the occasion. Ravinder Gupta was the guest of honour.

Meanwhile, in u-19 boys Jeet Kunedo, Neeraj Kumar of HSS Paloura defeated Neeraj of BSF Paloura. In another bout, Akshi Ghai beat Mridul Kerni in an exciting contest.

Results:

U-19 boys jeet kunedo: Paras Mehra beat Akshit Khajuria, Aashish Sharma beat Vikas Dayal, Akashdeep Mahajan beat Kunal Sharma, Hitesh Langer beat Akash Choudhary and Ritvik Gupta beat Rishab Jamwal.

U-19 boys thang-ta: Sahil Bhagat beat Akshay Jamwal, Ajay Kumar beat Vishal Manyal, Rahul Singh beat Vasim Akram and Ramanpreet Singh beat Arun Seth.

U-19 boys chess: Suksham Mohan beat Arjun Kapoor, Sidharth Mani beat Vikas Kotwal, Yakash Chopra beat Anshul Bhagat, Aditya Sanmotra beat Karandeep, Pranshu Kabra beat Abhay Sharma, Ayush Jamwal beat Gourav Koushik and Akash Gupta beat Vikrant Gupta.

Jammu, August 7
Ibrahim Raina has been elected as president of the Kashmir Rafting Operators Association (KROA) while Manzoor Joo was elected as the vice-president.

The office-bearers were elected during the annual general meeting of KROA held at Yanner village near Pahalgam.

Mohammad Yousuf was elected as general secretary while Hakeem Mohammad Yousuf as joint secretary. Uzair Nazir was elected as treasurer of the Association.

The executive committee was also elected during the meeting. The elections were held in the presence of Rauf Tramboo and Mehraj Din, presidents of Travel Agents Association of Kashmir and Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir, respectively.

The association has decided to hold series of activities for the promotion of Yanner as a model village for adventure and heritage tourism. It was also decided that first ever Yanner festival would comprise of rafting and sport angling championships. During the meeting, the director, Operation of Adventure Call Tours, Mohammad Yousuf, said there is an urgent need to explore rivers like Veshu nallah, Kishansar and Drass rivers for commercial river rafting in the state.